It’s a Big Dog Eat Big Dog World

*** WARNING:  YOU ARE NOW ENTERING A WRESTLING NERD DISCUSSION ZONE!!! *** PLEASE KEEP ALL EYES AND EARS INSIDE OF KAYFABE AT ALL TIMES *** In keeping with what I wrote earlier, this match makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, in spite of it being a fucking awesome spectacle I’ve already watched twice since last night. Or, I should say, the ending made no sense, as it’s completely and totally outside of reason for Dolph Ziggler to be at ringside for this match considering the agreed upon stakes.

If they are on shaky ground with Drew being within interfering distance of all of Dolph’s match he has no stake in, having Dolph put in the same position for a match that will likely determine whether or not he wins his match and retains his championship on Sunday is so dumb it almost breaks the logic of the show. And it speaks to a real-life problem we currently find ourselves grappling with every day: what happens when (whether they are cultural, societal or political) norms are used by people with malicious intent.

Now, this bit won’t devolve into a discussion of political civility — because, fuck that shit — but it’s hard not to notice the parallels between the lack of enforcement surrounding, for instance, the constant violation of the emoluments clause and Dolph Ziggler’s bleached blonde ass costing Seth the match because he found himself actively involved in the proceedings. If you want to have Seth lose because, whilst the referee was enforcing what one presumes are the rules for outside interference, he was hit with something dastardly by Drew, that’s fine.

But that’s not what happened: Dolph got as involved in the match as one possibly could without automatically triggering a disqualification, then directly cost Seth the match. Now, you could say that Dolph’s involvement was done with the idea in his character’s mind that getting Drew disqualified meant he had to be on his best behavior. But in doing so, you’d make it very clear as a ref that you’d never actually seen a wrestling match before. And you could say that it was Seth’s fault for getting distracted in the first place, but considering just how involved Dolph was in the proceedings, it’s seems like it was basically impossible for him to not at least engage with what was happening.

None of this is to say that the match didn’t work or that there needs to be a re-reading of the rules before every match so everyone understands the do’s and don’t’s. In a world without nobility, however, they need to — sooner rather than later, preferably — make a serious effort of codifying these things so that the entire show doesn’t simply become a battle of who can break the most rules while still getting away with it. That’s what the World Cup is for.

*** WARNING:  YOU ARE NOW EXITING A WRESTLING NERD DISCUSSION ZONE!!! *** PLEASE ENJOY YOUR COMPLIMENTARY CHILI CHEESE PRETZEL DOG MILKSHAKE!!! NOW WITH EXTRA DOG SHAKE!!! *** 

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