Wrestling Thread 7: FTR Baldhausen • Page 619

I mean, Cody is a carnie millionaire that loves that shit lol him and Vince are cut from the same cloth

 

Cody gonna cut a promo about how Dusty would’ve told him to do it

 

Cody Tatum

 

Well this is bullshit right here, Cody has no barring on what other workers do.

 

Clucky is in the running for worst take of the year

 

Wrestlers are performers and, particularly in artistic live performance, these casts want to put on the show they planned/rehearsed/worked towards, and will work through health issues all the time. Lucy Dacus performed in Michigan lying on a couch because of a back issue, it happens in music, theater, film, television, everywhere. While there’s absolutely a backwards, antiquated capitalist conservative mindset that performing your work duties despite serious injury is commendable, I wouldn’t dismiss on a performer to performer basis their decisions regarding what they’re comfortable working through for the craft they love. It’s more the institutions for rewarding the narrative first and foremost, and response from fans and media can perpetuate the problem.

 

So three things.

-A lot of what you post in here is scorching hot.
-The video game thread.
-The entire tour and music forums.

 

My takes become facts HANK

 

When Punk puts Eddie over just remember who booked that originally

 

Me! I've been fucking saying that the entire time!

 

Is Eddie's run gonna be a CD situation where you get the feel good moment and Adam Cole wins it inexplicably a week later?

 

100%

 

God, I can only hope so. Add OC winning it from Cole and I can basically stop watching all wrestling because that'll never be topped for me.

 

The ultimtae irony, he wins at Forbidden Door and then loses the belt to Christian Cage on Dynamite

 

he does though.

if he works hurt and WWE praises that sort of behavior, it pressures other wrestlers to work hurt too.

 

*especially* those wrestlers who are disposable to WWE which is everyone but like 8 people

 

I think two things can be true at the same time:

1.) The entire “Pain is just weakness leaving the body” mantra that was highly prevalent when I (and I’m assuming most of us) were growing up was not just bullshit, but deeply problematic. Especially as it relates to young athletes. I don’t know about the rest of you, but that literal phrase was painted in my high school locker room. With all the stories and data we have on the dangers of concussions and playing through the pain, I get that this entire sentiment is deeply flawed and in some cases, dangerous, like @clucky was getting at.

2.) I personally still struggle with where exactly that line is, as someone who I think mostly turned out for the best because of how sports taught me to push past my own limitations, especially when it comes to professional athletes. Rafael Nadal just won a 22nd grand slam, and did so by essentially numbing his entire foot to combat a major injury he’s been dealing with. That’s fucking insane, and maybe he shouldn’t even be out there on a court if that’s the lengths that he has to go to, but he’s also an adult with a team of medical advisors around him and did something incredible in the face of adversity (helps how openly he has discussed that what he had to do is not a long term solution, and if he can’t find a longterm solution in the near future, he will not be able to continue playing the sport for much longer). Perhaps part of what complicates this Cody matter even further is that while he’s a pro athlete, he’s not participating in a “real” sport. Honestly, I don’t know if that makes it better or worse, the fact that they could control the entire situation to do everything in their power to keep him safe while working with an injury.

So, yeah, I guess I think it’s both inspiring and a little stupid what Cody did.

 

Again he doesn’t, he chose to preform hurt and could have easily sat out. Would you rob a bank if someone told you to? I don’t think you would. People can make it’s own decisions.

 

And I do agree that perhaps the biggest talking point here is the ripple effect this has in terms of culture. What happens if Mustafa Ali tears his pec or something a week from now while in the middle of a story. Is there more pressure, real or imagined, to push through it because that’s what Cody did. What about for a guy with even more standing than Cody, like Roman? What about a super young talent in the midst of a huge push who isn’t yet established the way a guy like Cody, Roman, or even Ali are? There’s no way to deny that Cody’s decision to go out there, and the WWE’s decision to promote and present Cody going out there and performing with that sort of injury, shifts the locker room culture for everyone in some way.

Does so in many different ways, even beyond injuries. Like, the next time a performer stands up for themselves—a la Sasha and Naomi—how is that now viewed by both the company and the locker room after Cody did what he did at HIAC? Is that fair or unfair. I’d like to think that we as fans, WWE as a company, and wrestlers as a whole can look at situations like this on a case by case basis, but that’s probably insanely naive to think.

 

I just don’t think it’s necessary to bash Cody for what he did last night.

 

I think that complicates it compared to most other sports players is that Cody theoretically imparts dangers onto his opponent that simply isnt true for a Rafael Nadal or basically anyone other than like, an O-lineman in the NFL (and even then, the team is choosing to play that player as coaches, not players, make those decisions).

And now the next guy wanting a push, who's dealing with a partially torn quad, has to go out there and work the match if he wants the same credibility in Vince's eyes as Cody just got.

This isnt even kayfabe, where of course now anyone working "injuries" looks silly after what Cody pushed through...real life, WWE is a company with a completely fucked perspective where Cody raised the standard of "push through it" even higher.

 

Yeah there is certainly a line somewhere. Cause I do agree that there is something brave about someone getting hurt and powering through cause they need the money and the paycheck.

I think part of it is, what is the adversary you're overcoming?

When you hurt your leg but manage to continue your job as a waitress while wearing a boot yes you're over coming the adversary of your injury, but the real adversary you're overcoming is the bullshit capitalism that is forcing you to work while injured. Same goes for a rookie that gets hurt and works through the injury cause that is what the job excepts of them.

In order for what Cody did to be inspiring, I think it has to rely on the WWE (or maybe the WWE universe) being the bad guys and making Cody have to wrestle.

 

I dont see this as bashing. Its possible to be personally very impressed that Cody pulled that off (from a pain tolerance and intelligence side of things), but also be really leery about what it means if its a 5* match and WWE's Match of the Year.

 

Honestly, Cody shouldn’t have been the one making that decision, I don’t think. Again, speaking from personal experience as an athlete (low level D3, so not even near the levels of a Cody), but if given the choice, 98% of athletes would probably choose to try to perform or play. Shit, I may be dealing with a muscle strain and I still find it super difficult to not work out through it, when the best thing really for me is to just take a week off. And there is nothing really to gain for me anymore by doing that. But it’s what we were taught to do. If anyone were to make the call, especially when putting it in the context of how this now impacts the culture of your locker room, WWE should be the ones making that call and taking the flak if you disagree with it.