WWE: Big Show, Eve and the Problem with Evoking Real-World Situations

The Big Show was forced to make a public apology on Monday Night Raw after he did an impression of John Laurinaitis.

The apology was forced out the "World's Largest Athlete" by the Executive Administrator of Raw and SmackDown, Eve Torres, who threatened to fire the big man and then went on to question the employability of a "seven-foot-tall, 441-pound, 40-year-old freak".

This ties in well with the general feelings of hardship that many people are experiencing around the world. It is not an uncommon situation for someone to be working in a job where they feel underappreciated or over-criticised because they fear that they will not find another job.

Connecting with older fans on this emotional level is a good sign that the WWE is looking to refocus the product to interest everyone, rather than concentrate on one specific demographic. However, the risk of using these real-world scenarios is that it blurs the line between reality and fantasy.

In reality, the Big Show has been part of the WWE (and WCW before that) for 20 years. Further consideration also relates back the fact that Big Show is a multiple-time champion with many appearances at WrestleMania. Show has even starred in his own WWE movie which could lead to other acting performances in the future.

The bottom line of this thinking leads to the conclusion that the Big Show must be a very wealthy man who, if forced to retire, could have a comfortable existence without ever having to work again.

Suddenly the idea that the Big Show would be worried about finding new employment is preposterous.

This doesn't make the idea a bad one, it just means the WWE needs to think a little harder over the execution of such ideas. The same situation involving Zach Ryder, Mason Ryan or even Brodus Clay would have been far more effective as they do not have the experience or wealth to fall back on.

The other big problem with creating storylines that merge fact with fiction is when a storyline conflicts with one of the WWE's media initiatives. In this case the "Be A Star" anti-bullying campaign that the WWE have been so keen to push on viewers.

One of the big catch lines of that organisation is "show tolerance and respect." Neither Big Show, in doing the impression of John Laurinaitis, nor Eve, in her negative comments toward Big Show's size, showed any connection with that sentiment. 

This may be acceptable for a heel who is supposed to behave badly, but having a top face openly mock someone does appear to be sending out mixed messages. Someone who has never seen a WWE program could even interpret the situation as a physically bigger bully getting their comeuppance for making fun of a smaller person.    

So the problem with evoking real-world situations is that the WWE has to actively monitor what could be drawn into a story from the real world and how those additional facts could be interpreted. Even if that interpretation can be seen as absurd.

Clearly this is one of the WWE's opening attempts at using real-world analogies to bolster feuds and it is a move that has plenty of potential. Hopefully the WWE can move forward with this idea but learn that the blurring of truth with fiction can lead to some unexpected results.