The Steel Cage

Seth, I only read about it, but I have to say that for starters I really don’t like her involvement with Edge and that this latest episode is just way over the top. I don’t get the whole thing.

Yep, like Sean I'm more fracked out with her "moving on" storyline than her being involved in a funeral.

I mean really... Edge?... she can do way better than that.

I look at it a different way. Yes, the funeral angle may seem distasteful, but at the same time, Vickie has very little talent. By that I mean her on screen presence and portrayal is bad. Yet she's still on TV and involved in pivotal storylines. So is Vince and the gang putting out bad TV and letting Vickie hang around for the hell of it, or, are they taking care of their own and making sure Vickie has a paycheck to support her family after her husband, who literally gave his life for the business, passed on? And from her point of view, I'd bet she'd even screw a mannequin in a casket if they asked....

I say its bad taste. I am happy that she is able to make a living in an environment that is very looks-conscious, but I think the storylines they are putting her in are pretty awful.

I'm kinda beyond being offended by any of the Vickie Guerrero stuff at this point, especially since she had Eddy's death certificate (which specifically listed steroid use as a contributing cause) sealed right after the Benoit murders/suicide.

Why be offended? It's entertainment. Take it for what it is. It is ridiculous to be offended by entertainment, whether it be comedy, movies, or wrestling. If you don't like what you are watching, they invented this nifty device called a "Off Switch"

I don't really think it's all that distasteful, I'm sure there have been film actors who lost a loved one do a scene at a funeral at some point so why not in wrestling. My father died when I was a teenager but it's been a few years and I wouldn't be uncomfortable attending a phony funeral on television.

The moving on story is a little bit weird but Eddie's been gone for a few years and many widows or widowers would be dating by this point - some wouldn't but it would certainly not be unheard of. The Edge relationship is a bit over the top but wrestling lends itself towards over the top everything.

I have yet to buy into the idea that Vickie's involvement is WWE "taking care of Eddie's family" or anything of that ilk. It is actually Vince using Eddie Guerrero's widow in an attempt to garner a few extra ratings because he knows many of us will find the entire thing so offensive that it could garner a few of those controversial ratings points that he has always had an arousal for.

If Vince truly wanted to take care of anyone but himself he would simply give Vickie and her family a check once a month and say that he is honoring the rest of Eddie Guerrero's contract. He could also say it is a check that covers Eddie's royalties. Vince could even suggest that he just wants to take care of the family so once a month WWE cuts a check to the family of a wrestler that no longer works for them because he died under their watch.

As for the funeral; it most certainly is offensive. Everyone likes to portray these types of things as "only entertainment" or "nothing more than any other television show", but that cannot be.

First, if it is taken at face value and determined that Raw, Smackdown, ECW, TNA or any other wrestling promotion/program out there is nothing more than just another television show then the logic still doesn't hold up.

Does anyone believe that the producers of Eight Rules would have ever green lit a show about a funeral in a tongue and cheek way less than three years after John Ritter's death? Of course not because the public (and even Ritter's family and loved ones) would have found it distasteful. Same thing for any other show, including WWE "sports entertainment."

However, everyone knows that WWE and wrestling in general cannot be summed up as "just another television show." It goes beyond entertainment. It is its own unique hybrid that very few other entities share a common bond with. Perhaps roller derby or American Gladiators can lay claim to living in the same universe as pro wrestling, but that is about it.

In wrestling the characters are not just characters. They are, nine times out of ten, extensions of the real life people behind the characters. They are playing exaggerated versions of themselves and that is it.

Eddie Guerrero was not a character, and neither is Vickie Guerrero. They are real people, and as far as Vickie is concerned, she is playing nothing but an exaggerated version of herself. Thus it becomes offensive that she would allow herself to be a part of any angle that would mock the somber and respectful tone of a funeral ceremony.

None of this stuff would even be an issue of people like Vince McMahon (and even Vickie Guerrero) would take the time to examine wrestling from the point of view that it is being portrayed as fictionalized real life rather than "it's just entertainment."

I agree that wrestlers and wrestling are different from regular actors or TV shows but I still don't see what's so distasteful about having a widow appear in a funeral skit.

As I've said, I lost my father when I was young. Chances are that anyone reading this has lost a loved one at some point. There's a solid chance that any other wrestlers involved in the skit have lost loved ones and possibly more recently than Vicki that we just don't know about. People die all the time, should no one appear in funeral scenes?

If it had been the week after his death I would agree but how many years need to pass before it's ok to have her in a funeral skit? Never?

Vince COULD just cut Vicki regular cheques I suppose. I mean I'm sure he could afford it, but I don't think it's necessary at all. I work for a great company and we have great benefits but if I died tomorrow the cheques would stop, that's just how it works. And I would be ecstatic if someone offered my wife a high paying job out of respect for me, no one gave that to my Mom when her husband died and he died AT WORK. I don't know the first thing about Vicki's experience or education but I don't think it's a stretch to believe Vince is paying her more than she would otherwise be able to earn. It's entirely possible that the woman would RATHER work for her pay than just get a widows pension at any rate.

Of course I haven't seen the skit yet, if a dummy designed to look like a zombie Eddy pops out of the casket THAT would be distasteful.

Why don't we just ban the Undertaker while we're at it?