(followme: @awesomeojoe )
Hi Guys,
This is my first attempt at a article/ rambling by myself ever. Why am I writing this you curiously ask yourself? Boredom in work is most definitely a reason and the other being a passion for pro wrestling which was never left me being the other. I’m no “in the know” wrestling analyst and I’m far from a wrestling visionary. I’ve no wrestling experience other than watching as much as I can in the last 25 years and jumping on my mamas bed acting out my fantasy booking as a young child. That counts for something right?
As I said, I’m no visionary, I’m no wrestling genius and I most certainly will be wrong on any facts I happen to type. I’m a simple wrestling fan from Ireland, and with the desire to do some sort of hobby in wrestling, I’ve decided to try my hand at writing a weekly blog about a topic in the news as so many other fans do. Will mine be different? Probably not. But hell, I’m just gonna pick a topic and give my view on the whole situation and hope what goes on paper is actual half way interesting.
So what will I right about? Plenty of topics in the news in the last 7 days. Tough Enough is back, Elgin is in G1 and Mickie James lives. But Id like to right my first piece about Jessica “Hovak” Cricks and how social media and she don’t mix. In the last week her dream has probably turned into a nightmare.
Now firstly let me say I actually like Havok. I’ve seen Jessica on Impact Wrestling and the first thing that stood out to me is her look. She has this unique look that you don’t really see too much in WWE anymore and in my opinion, her look as a character is awesome. Her in ring work and cardio leave a bit to be desired but id love to see someone like her in WWE someday.
When Awesome Kong / Kharma turned up, it was such a refreshing change to see a diva of her size and it’s a pity she didn’t last long. Ladies like Havok and Kong are absent from WWE in modern times and it’s a shame. So in short, I’ve nothing against Jess as an in ring worker or character.
Last week, Impact Wrestlings wrecking machine knockout was down at the WWE training facility and got herself a try out. Good for her right, getting a chance to try out and probably become huge star? Things didn’t go according to plan for poor Jess as Havoc was about to ensue ,pun intended.
When some members of twitter got wind of her try out, some remembered or tracked down some tweets sent by Jess years ago which were perceived as being homophobic and down right racist. Naughty girl Jess. With screen grabs and re-tweets, these tweets were all over social media and it wasn’t long before WWE higher ups were made aware of these comments.
Now I’m relatively new to twitter and hadn’t seen these tweets until last week myself. Needless to say these tweets were in bad taste and the WWE hiring team would most certainly not take kindly to these kind of remarks. WWE likes a good image, and like most companies they like to distance themselves from any sort of racism, homophobia or anything of that nature. And As soon as Jess got wind of what was blowing up on twitter, she went into damage limitation mode, sending out a long message explaining herself to the best of her ability. But was it too little to late and was she only trying to save her ass or was she genuinely sorry for ‘mistakes’ she made in the past.
Now her tweets, in my perception were homophobic and racist and I don’t see them as mistakes. Racism and homophobia hurts people and I don’t buy the whole “it was just banter with friends” excuse. Blaming an ex is another poor excuse. People defending her like she was just a kid who made a few mistakes is not a valid defence in my book. I liken it to when a teenager dies of drugs and people post “ah well it was just a mistake”. No it wasn’t, I like most teens know the dangers of drugs. I was taught by my parents and by teachers in school that drugs can kill and harm you and they do nothing but bad. If someone doesn’t heed those warnings its their own fault. Same way I was raised to not be racist and or homophobic and clearly Jess wasn’t raised the same. She only has her self to blame for this situation and if it affects her dream of working in WWE then she has reaped what she has sewed. Posting comments like she did aren’t acceptable no matter what and its biting her in the ass.
She, and other human beings, should have the brains to use social media with caution, especially if she wants to represent the biggest wrestling company in the world.
From reading her apology, which she has now deleted, she sounds like someone who is very remorseful, no doubt. But it may be too late as it may end up costing Jess her dream job and it’s a pity as Id love to see her get better as a performer and Id like to see her being the best Havok she can be on the big stage. She has the potential to be a great female monster heel but alas she may never get the chance. I guess that’s the price she may have to pay for spewing hatred in the name of “banter”.
The lesson her is simple and 2 fold. If you’re a young up and coming wrestler, please use social media wisely. And if you’re a human being, don’t be a homophobe or a racist.