RGWhat316
02-08-2006, 08:17 PM
From wwe.com, pretty much how everyone should feel.
I know I promised to share some thoughts on Ric Flair this week, but I honestly feel that I need to address a subject that is more urgent. Like a lot of you, I had some strong feelings about last Friday’s “Eddie’s in Hell” episode of SmackDown, Apparently, some of my fellow WWE performers feel like I have a certain amount of “juice” in the company, and I feel like my thoughts will probably echo, to some degree, what is on their minds.
To a large degree, I am enjoying writing “Foley is Blog.” I hope you’ve enjoyed it as well. But, in a certain sense, I regret trying to manufacture controversy in order to get people interested in my web log. To be honest with you, the Flair piece was going to be a classic case of bait and switch, as I would bait the reader with the prospect for juicy Foley rebuttal to Flair’s criticisms of me and then switch to a largely complimentary analysis of Ric’s recent in-ring performance. So, for those of you who are interested in such an article, I will try to deliver it next week.
I also wonder if my following concerns might be more appropriately expressed in a personal phone call to Vince McMahon.
Before last Friday Night’s SmackDown, the Rey Mysterio/Eddie Guerrero stuff made me feel a little … weird. And not “weird in a good way,” either. More like weird in an uncomfortable way. Weird in an “I’m not sure this should really be on a wrestling show” way.
I know there has been a lot of talk since Eddie’s death about what Eddie would have wanted. I really don’t know. I didn’t truly know Eddie well enough to make that call. I had known Eddie for more than 10 years, though. I considered him a friend, and deep down, like most people who knew him, I genuinely liked him a lot. I can’t say with any certainty whether Eddie would have wanted his memory to be such a large part of the current SmackDown product.
I was truly blessed to have been Eddie’s roommate on the December 2004 SmackDown tour of Iraq. It had been quite a while since I’d had a roommate in WWE. Sure, I’ve been a notorious cheapskate on the road for many years — and many of the legendary tales of my thriftiness are not altogether undeserved. I will confess to sleeping on the cot at the Red Roof while representing the WWE as world champion, and I am the proud initiator of “Foley’s Four Hour Doctrine,” which settles the hotel vs. airport debate at a strict four hour limit. More than four hours before a wake up call for an early flight: hotel. Less than four hours: airport. You can read a book, listen to music, watch a DVD, (although I never owned a DVD player when traveling), and catch a nap. Just don’t waste hard-earned money on such a short hotel stay.
I’ve mellowed over the years. Father Time seemed to release the vice-like grip I’d had on my wallet for so many years. I traveled less, learned to love the tranquility of solitary, 200-mile drives, and learned that sleep was far more fruitful when not accompanied by drunken voices, loud sex, police sirens and the occasional gunshot. So, over the years, I grew out of the habit of rooming with anyone — to the point where I actually feared the potential of such an occurrence.
Such an occurrence was inevitable in Iraq. I shudder to think of the sounds that would come out of Big Show’s body. I shuddered as well at the prospect of the words that would come out of JBL’s mouth. Fortunately, I got Eddie. I may not have known Eddie as well as I might have, but I remember breathing a sigh of relief when “Foley and Guererro” was announced. For Eddie Guerrero was respected and admired not only for his incredible in-ring abilities, but also for his kindness, soft-spoken demeanor and deep faith.
We stayed up late the first night talking not only of wrestling, but of God and family as well. Actually, I’m not sure we talked about wrestling at all.
So often in life, we fail to tell people who are important to us just how we feel about them until it’s too late. Upon hearing of Eddie’s death, my sole source of comfort (other than firmly believing that Eddie Guerrero is in a better place) was that I had not been a victim of that failure. I had been able to tell Eddie how much I had enjoyed spending time with him and getting to know him better.
No, I didn’t know Eddie as well as some. And, as I mentioned earlier, I’m not an expert on what Eddie would have wanted. But, I have to believe that what Eddie would have wanted — and what we gave him last Friday on SmackDown — are two very different things.
I do not believe that Eddie’s wife appreciated the “Eddie’s in Hell” declaration. She just lost her husband. Mourning his loss is difficult enough.
I do not believe that Randy Orton needs this type of cheap heat to be effective. No one knows better than I that Randy is an incredible talent. He can wrestle, he can talk, and he exudes an extreme brand of cockiness in the ring that makes him a natural bad guy. He doesn’t need this.
I’m not against having Eddie’s memory as an enduring legacy of SmackDown. I was touched by Batista’s recent heartfelt words, and I don’t doubt for a moment that Rey Mysterio feels genuinely motivated by his late mentor’s spirit. And as I’ve told Chavo on a few different occasions, I considered the frog splash a tribute to Eddie on the night of his death to be one WWE’s truly great moments.
But the recent SmackDown episode did not honor his legacy, it exploited his death. I hope it will end, and the sooner the better. For by exploiting his death we achieve what I thought wouldn’t be possible: We cheapen his life.
I know I promised to share some thoughts on Ric Flair this week, but I honestly feel that I need to address a subject that is more urgent. Like a lot of you, I had some strong feelings about last Friday’s “Eddie’s in Hell” episode of SmackDown, Apparently, some of my fellow WWE performers feel like I have a certain amount of “juice” in the company, and I feel like my thoughts will probably echo, to some degree, what is on their minds.
To a large degree, I am enjoying writing “Foley is Blog.” I hope you’ve enjoyed it as well. But, in a certain sense, I regret trying to manufacture controversy in order to get people interested in my web log. To be honest with you, the Flair piece was going to be a classic case of bait and switch, as I would bait the reader with the prospect for juicy Foley rebuttal to Flair’s criticisms of me and then switch to a largely complimentary analysis of Ric’s recent in-ring performance. So, for those of you who are interested in such an article, I will try to deliver it next week.
I also wonder if my following concerns might be more appropriately expressed in a personal phone call to Vince McMahon.
Before last Friday Night’s SmackDown, the Rey Mysterio/Eddie Guerrero stuff made me feel a little … weird. And not “weird in a good way,” either. More like weird in an uncomfortable way. Weird in an “I’m not sure this should really be on a wrestling show” way.
I know there has been a lot of talk since Eddie’s death about what Eddie would have wanted. I really don’t know. I didn’t truly know Eddie well enough to make that call. I had known Eddie for more than 10 years, though. I considered him a friend, and deep down, like most people who knew him, I genuinely liked him a lot. I can’t say with any certainty whether Eddie would have wanted his memory to be such a large part of the current SmackDown product.
I was truly blessed to have been Eddie’s roommate on the December 2004 SmackDown tour of Iraq. It had been quite a while since I’d had a roommate in WWE. Sure, I’ve been a notorious cheapskate on the road for many years — and many of the legendary tales of my thriftiness are not altogether undeserved. I will confess to sleeping on the cot at the Red Roof while representing the WWE as world champion, and I am the proud initiator of “Foley’s Four Hour Doctrine,” which settles the hotel vs. airport debate at a strict four hour limit. More than four hours before a wake up call for an early flight: hotel. Less than four hours: airport. You can read a book, listen to music, watch a DVD, (although I never owned a DVD player when traveling), and catch a nap. Just don’t waste hard-earned money on such a short hotel stay.
I’ve mellowed over the years. Father Time seemed to release the vice-like grip I’d had on my wallet for so many years. I traveled less, learned to love the tranquility of solitary, 200-mile drives, and learned that sleep was far more fruitful when not accompanied by drunken voices, loud sex, police sirens and the occasional gunshot. So, over the years, I grew out of the habit of rooming with anyone — to the point where I actually feared the potential of such an occurrence.
Such an occurrence was inevitable in Iraq. I shudder to think of the sounds that would come out of Big Show’s body. I shuddered as well at the prospect of the words that would come out of JBL’s mouth. Fortunately, I got Eddie. I may not have known Eddie as well as I might have, but I remember breathing a sigh of relief when “Foley and Guererro” was announced. For Eddie Guerrero was respected and admired not only for his incredible in-ring abilities, but also for his kindness, soft-spoken demeanor and deep faith.
We stayed up late the first night talking not only of wrestling, but of God and family as well. Actually, I’m not sure we talked about wrestling at all.
So often in life, we fail to tell people who are important to us just how we feel about them until it’s too late. Upon hearing of Eddie’s death, my sole source of comfort (other than firmly believing that Eddie Guerrero is in a better place) was that I had not been a victim of that failure. I had been able to tell Eddie how much I had enjoyed spending time with him and getting to know him better.
No, I didn’t know Eddie as well as some. And, as I mentioned earlier, I’m not an expert on what Eddie would have wanted. But, I have to believe that what Eddie would have wanted — and what we gave him last Friday on SmackDown — are two very different things.
I do not believe that Eddie’s wife appreciated the “Eddie’s in Hell” declaration. She just lost her husband. Mourning his loss is difficult enough.
I do not believe that Randy Orton needs this type of cheap heat to be effective. No one knows better than I that Randy is an incredible talent. He can wrestle, he can talk, and he exudes an extreme brand of cockiness in the ring that makes him a natural bad guy. He doesn’t need this.
I’m not against having Eddie’s memory as an enduring legacy of SmackDown. I was touched by Batista’s recent heartfelt words, and I don’t doubt for a moment that Rey Mysterio feels genuinely motivated by his late mentor’s spirit. And as I’ve told Chavo on a few different occasions, I considered the frog splash a tribute to Eddie on the night of his death to be one WWE’s truly great moments.
But the recent SmackDown episode did not honor his legacy, it exploited his death. I hope it will end, and the sooner the better. For by exploiting his death we achieve what I thought wouldn’t be possible: We cheapen his life.