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SEMI F I NAL SPROBLEM

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MEDI ATI ON 47MAY2017

In 1998, Mr. MeekMahon was a very happy man – he had bought out his rival promotion Nitro Wrestling Nights (NWN) and therefore, his company, Real Raw Wrestling (RRW), became the biggest professional wrestling company1 in the world, without any real competition. The era from the late 80s to the late 90s was known as the golden era of wrestling as the two companies would consistently produce storylines and characters (gimmicks) which attracted main stream attention both from the public and the media. RRW is aired on the television and has become the largest wrestling company in the world. In 2005, the mainstream appeal of wrestling was long gone and the number of viewers had dropped drastically from about 8 million viewers a night, right after NWN‟s buyout, to about 2 million viewers a night. According to many wrestling purists, the reason for this sharp decline was the absence of real competition, which had made RRW very complacent. They were producing bland characters and regurgitating storylines and angles.2 Also, the „product‟ was a shell of its former self in terms of the violence and the language used. NWN was always viewed as the company with the more violent storylines which attracted an older (though not mature) crowd. RRW had failed to capture this market and had lost most of this demographic. In 2001, Mr. MeekMahon had gone public with RRW, wherein he, his wife and two adult children were the majority shareholders. In 2004, due to certain distasteful and controversial storylines, a few major sponsors had threatened to pull out, which had adversely and directly affected RRW‟s share prices. Therefore, he deliberately diluted the language and violence in the product to keep the product family friendly and less controversial. This was done to keep its sponsors happy (Mainstream companies including Twix, Mattel, Subway) and retain its prime-time spot on the television network. By late 2003 many independent wrestling federations had sprung up (commonly known as the indie scene). A few successful wrestlers had also managed to break through the indie

1

Professional wrestling is a dramatized athletic performance that portrays a combat sport. The content – including match outcomes – is scripted and choreographed, and the combative actions and reactions are performed to appear violent without injuring the wrestlers. 2 In professional wrestling, an angle is a fictional storyline which is practiced and rehearsed several times.

scene. The most successful wrestler to come out of the indie scene was William Brooks (who played the gimmick3 of „DJ Punk‟, also hereinafter DJ Punk). RRW has a policy of signing up such „indie stars‟ and trade marking their gimmick as their own. DJ Punk had managed to trademark his gimmick before sighing up with RRW and was allowed to retain the same. DJ Punk signed up with RRW in 2006. RRW has its own training facility called Power Generator, where wrestling prospects are trained and the more successful ones are offered to join RRW. The most successful wrestling prospects out of RRW‟s Power Generator is Jimmy Dust. He joined RRW in early 2002 and became a legitimate mainstream star by 2005. Jimmy‟s gimmick and booking is carefully crafted by the RRW management. He is a “good” guy, who overcomes the odds (such as fighting multiple bad guys at once and beating up the tyrannical authority figures) to win. He is a favourite among the children‟s market and the top merchandize seller. He has also had multiple reigns with the RRW Championship. Jimmy Dust has however been criticized by the hardcore fans and wrestling purists as being a one-dimensional character – and RRW pushing him as the top star for the company is seen as one the reasons for the decline of RRW. DJ Punk had become one of the top wrestlers by early 2009. He has amassed a huge cult following among many hardcore fans and had managed to bring back many older fans who were jaded by the family friendly product to RRW, as his fighting style and promo style4 was reminiscent of the dead NWN. He is also popular among the late teens and the mid-twenties crowd as he is a fresh and edgier character. By 2012, DJ Punk was the second biggest star – second only to Jimmy Dust. On one of the shows of RRW Jimmy Dust lost the RRW Championship to DJ Punk. DJ Punk as the champion of the company has to represent RRW in talk shows and in interviews.

3

In professional wrestling, a gimmick generally refers to a wrestler's in-ring persona, character, behaviour, attire and/or other distinguishing traits while performing which are usually artificially created to draw fan interest. These in-ring personalities often involve costumes, makeup and catchphrases that they shout at their opponents or the fans. 4

In wrestling, a promo is short for "promotional interview", a dialogue or monologue used to advance a storyline. The act of delivering such an interview is known in the business and by fans as cutting a promo. A promo targeted to denigrate or insult another individual is said to be cut on the target. A promo is designed to help the audience identify or dislike a wrestling gimmick.

DJ Punk has given multiple interviews to sports channels and magazines, but unlike Jimmy Dust, his interviews are controversial, not least of all because he criticises the management of RRW in general and Mr. MeekMahon in particular. In one such interview with a leading sports channel, DJ Punk heavily criticized Mr. MeekMahon – calling him a relic of the 90s who did not know how to run a multimillion dollar company. He also shed light on the fact that RRW‟s management heavily favoured the alumni of Power Generator and usually treated indie stars to “job” to Power Generator alumni such as Jimmy Dust.5 RRW also has an „Anti Bullying Campaign‟, an PR move by RRW, where wrestlers go to schools and colleges to speak up against bullying. DJ Punk claimed that the indie wrestlers were bullied backstage by the Power Generator alumni,6 and openly criticised the intentions of the company behind the „Anti Bullying Campaign‟. This interview went viral instantly. The blunt aggressive style of Punk and the controversial nature of the interview resulted in millions of „shares‟ on various social media platforms. Resultantly, Punk gained a lot of mainstream attention. This also augmented the viewship of the next RRW episode – a staggering 3.5million viewers. Moreover, Punk was able to retain the viewers with his fighting and promo style. The largest event of RRW – Mania Wrestling is in about a month‟s time, while Punk‟s contract runs out in a week. Both RRW and Punk are in the re negotiation stage of his contract, through a mediation process.

5

When a wrestler is booked to lose a match it is described as "a job". The act itself is described with the verb jobbing. 6 Professional wrestling has a long history of older talent making it tough on younger, more inexperienced wrestlers. Indie stars have alleged in the past that they were required to carry Power Generator‟s alumni‟s wrestling gear or pick up outrageously expensive bar and restaurant tabs.