commentaries POINT. COUNTERPOINT. EXPLOIT.

The Raw and Smackdown tribute shows to Eddie Guerrero were moving and touching; it was a fitting way to honour a man who gave so much to the fans and to the industry itself. For once I felt as though WWE was taking the high road and was actually doing the classy thing.

But now I'm not so sure.

Is WWE exploiting Eddie's memory? Is Vince cashing in on a tragedy? The answer is not yet known, but it certainly seems as though WWE is going down an all too familiar path. Eddie's nephew, Chavo, abandoned the horrific Kerwin White gimmick (of which the predominant, if not only, characteristic was that he was somehow "ashamed" of his Latin heritage) and was once again wrestling as Chavo Guerrero. It makes sense: this was the personality fans knew best and enjoyed the most. Moreover, Chavo was clearly uncomfortable in the role and it was certainly not catching on; the gimmick looked dead in the water anyway. Perhaps, most importantly, was that there was no logical way for the character to carry on without being terribly disrespectful to Eddie and the entire Guerrero family at a time of tragedy. Even if Chavo was willing to accept such a role it would have likely been branded as tasteless by fans and the media alike and would thus have died off similar to the fate of Muhammad Hassan's character. That in and of itself was the best (and possibly only) path to take.

But then I noticed that Chavo was back on television. He was hardly a prominent figure on Raw before the tragedy, so it could not be denied that he was being given more screen time than the Kerwin White character ever had. As Kerwin White, Chavo was basically a character that popped up in various backstage segments, rarely given much of an opportunity in the ring (his only notable match was at Unforgiven when he lost to Shelton Benjamin; it was a throway match meant to basically fill time and get the much more marketable Benjamin on pay per view). Now Chavo was not only competing, he was winning. Heck, on the Eddie tribute show he pinned JBL, the man who held the WWE Title for ten months, from Great American Bash 2004 through to Wrestlemania 21. Then Chavo racked up wins against Rob Conway and then again against recent tag champion Lance Cade. Suddenly Chavo was listed on WWE.com's newest feature, The Power 25, which ranks superstars from both Raw and Smackdown according to their recent win/loss records. He may have only been ranked 19, but Chavo was clearly on a bit of a roll. Could something bigger be in the works?

As long as Eddie Guerrero is on the minds of fans, the case could be made that there is an excellent chance that Chavo might continue to get more and more wins and maybe even an Intercontinental Title run in the near future. Some may feel it is a bit immoral to cash in on Chavo's name and his connection to the much more beloved Eddie, but this would hardly be surprising.

WWE has a long history of cashing in on sensitive subjects and real life situations, no matter how uncomfortable it made fans. It sometimes seems as though Vince wants us to be uncomfortable, doesn't it? Whether he's pushing a mentally challenged wrestler (Eugene, summer 0f 2004) or running a storyline surrounding necrophilia (Kane-HHH; No Mercy 2002), Vince loves anything remotely controversial. He loves publicity so much that he even made a tag team gay for the purpose of a storyline in which a highly publicized "wedding" was held for the two, only to swerve everyone and reveal they weren't actually gay. GLAAD was especially miffed at that one. Does Vince McMahon worry? Of course not. Vince obviously subscribes to the theory "there is no such thing as bad publicity" and will do whatever it takes to make WWE even remotely worthy of water cooler conversations.

Should we be surprised if Vince exploits Eddie's memory? Not at all.

WWE has always twisted and exploited other events to suit its own needs. Does anyone else remember Stephanie McMahon, just two days after 9/11 somehow relate the terrorist attacks to those who pursued her father in the steroid trials of the 1990s? 9/11 and the subsequent Iraq war has proven to be a wealth of material for Vince. Character-wise, it (more or less) gave rise to Hassan and Davari, the team of La Resistance (capitalizing on the French government's opposition to the war in Iraq), not to mention to the team of "Un-Americans:" Test, Lance Storm, Christian, and William Regal. Granted, in the latter example the group was established before 9/11, but they certainly stuck around after the attacks. Don't forget all-American Kurt Angle winning the WWE Title away from then hated heel Steve Austin (in his hometown of Pittsburgh nonetheless) at Unforgiven 2001, an event which took place on September 23, 2001 (just 12 days after the attacks). Coincidence? Hardly.

McMahon must love Iraq. Let us not forget the way that Vince capitalized on the Gulf War with the "Iraqi sympathizer" Sgt. Slaughter fighting (and losing to) another all-American do-gooder in Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania 7.

Then there was the disastrous effort WWE undertook to capitalize on the professional baseball strike of 1994-95 both with an ad campaign ("We Never Have an Off-season") and an inane character in Abe "Knuckleball" Schwartz, who would constantly remind us he was, of course, on strike.

Naturally, real life scenarios that affect WWE superstars have also found their way onto WWE television. From the legitimate heat between Goldberg and Chris Jericho to the brawl between JBL and The Blue Meanie at ECW One Night Stand (and the subsequent Smackdown match between the two), it seems as though nothing is off limits. When Ric Flair was arrested for a road rage incident in December 2005, Edge immediately went on television and began to address the situation. Naturally it was a way to earn Edge cheap heat, but it was definitely a cheap shot to a man who is as respected as Ric Flair. One would assume Edge would want to shy away from personal experiences making their way onto the air, after the summer of 2005, when his real life love triangle between himself, Matt Hardy and Matt's longtime girlfriend Lita became public knowledge. The two were then forced into a feud, their dirty laundry aired before our very eyes.

All of this and I have yet to speak of the ongoing exploitation of women on WWE television. Whether Trish Stratus is made to bark like a dog (just before Wrestlemania 17 in 2001), Vince's own daughter, Stephanie, is forced into HLA (Hot Lesbian Action), or just a good old-fashioned lingerie match, women are constantly being exploited by WWE.

So what's the point?

The point is Chavo Guerrero is a phenomenal talent who should be able to attain success without having his family connections and the tragic loss of Eddie Guerrero exploited. Sadly though, Chavo has been going nowhere for quite some time. Even before he made the jump to Raw, Chavo had not had much success on Smackdown since his days as Cruiserweight Champion (when Chavo Sr., AKA Chavo Classic accompanied him to the ring) almost a year before he made the jump. Upon moving to Raw Chavo's career continued its steady, downward slide. Thus, any success Chavo gains in the coming months will no doubt be because of Eddie's death, since WWE was clearly not interested in him as a performer beforehand. Now they realize the value in his name and he suddenly gets TV time as a result. Not shocking at all. We should not be surprised if Vince tries to capitalize on Eddie's death, but we should not be willing to accept it.

Yes, WWE uses a great deal of exploitation, but certain topics are definitely off-limits. 9/11 should have been, but it wasn't. Exploiting a wrestler's death, especially one who was so respected and loved as Eddie, is clearly wrong. Hopefully, WWE will realize how valuable Chavo is to the company as a performer, not as a sympathy act.

BONUS: The Hierarchy of Death

As a sideline, I would just like to note another disturbing trend related to Eddie's death: the outpouring of emotion seems imbalanced when compared to the prior deaths of other wrestlers.

Did we get a tribute show when Crash Holly died? Nope. Barely a mention of his passing was made. What about the Big Boss Man, a man who worked for the company for many years? Did it seem that WWE even really cared? Yes, they have always mentioned these deaths on both their website and their television shows, but they have never gone to such extreme lengths.

I know what you're thinking: Eddie was a prominent person onscreen at the time of his death. Yes, that is true. But what about Owen Hart? Heck, Owen died during a show and Vince never even stopped production for the guy. Now were there any tribute t-shirts printed up and sold to help the Hart family. I know WWE and the Harts were not on the best of terms, but why does Eddie deserve such sympathy and not Owen?

This is not to say anything of the new drug testing program that WWE brought in immediately following Eddie's death, to ensure the safety of its performers. But why now? Had the company finally realized that enough was enough? Or was Eddie's death somehow more meaningful, more important? Many within the industry had been calling for some sort of drug policy for quite some time, yet WWE never blinked when other wrestlers died. Suddenly, Eddie passes away and WWE springs into action as fast as possible.

Is there some sort of hierarchy of death within WWE? Does your status in the company and on the card somehow relate to how valuable you are as a person overall?

I'm not saying this is true or not, I'm just saying that it makes me think and ask some questions.

Hopefully it makes you ask some questions as well.

UPDATE, AUGUST 2006: Well, lookie here - Chavo did not get the push I perceived per se, but he is set to be involved in a major storyline on Smackdown with Rey. However, Rey DID get a huge push after Eddie's death by actually winning the World Title. His entire pursuit of the championship and subsequent reign was devoted entirely to Eddie. You see? I was right after all, I just picked the wrong guy to get the huge, somewhat unjustified push. Thank you, Vince McMahon, for both proving that I was right and that you have no soul.

Scott "(Kerwin) White was Not Right" Hellings

-December 13, 2005

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