We sit here a week removed from the what some yahoo on the internet has deemed the worst WWE TV match of the year….the match on 205 Live between Sarray and newcomer Lash Legend.  It seems that at one point in the match Lash went for an elbow drop and it…….didn’t land precisely.  Oh, the horror.  And that one move launched a thousand hot takes and armchair expert analysis of everything that Ms. Legend is apparently not getting right.  Now let’s be clear, the people doing this are idiots.  But let’s humor them for a minute.  Not about the elbow drop, but about their intentions.  Because not surprisingly I suspect they are not pure.

First I gotta ask:  Why on earth are you mad about this? 

It’s literally her second match, on a show that very few people watch (I’m one of them), and she didn’t land an elbow drop clean.  OK………..  I mean, if you want to be a stickler for that kind of thing you can find at least one move that didn’t hit perfectly in pretty much every match that takes place.  But more importantly it’s her second match.  Ever.  Did she violate some protocol of real serious wrestling or something? Of course she didn’t.  So why are you mad?  Because she’s gotten on TV so quickly after coming in cold?  Because she’s ‘taking’ someone else’s spot (in your mind)?

Is that what bothers you?  That she’s going to leapfrog some people who ‘wanted it more?’  That you may be watching her in a main event instead of someone you thinks ‘deserves it?’  Are you going to keep pointing to one elbow drop six years from now the way that some people still insist on mentioning ‘suffering succotash?’  Or are you one of those people who insists on proving that the Performance Center is  failure, and is willing to replay five seconds from somebody’s second ever match over and over as evidence?  You can keep doing that, but that won’t change anything that happens with her going forward.  Just like you can keep omitting Bianca Belair from your narrative about the PC but you can’t take away her 2021.

I hate to be the one to break it to you but there is no sacred road to becoming a big time pro wrestler.  Before the 2000s most of the guys were discovered in a gym, or working as a bouncers, or were washouts from pro sports.  The guy or gal who wanted to be a wrestler when they were a kid, went to a wrestling school as a teenager, started working when they turned 18 and toiled on the indies for 10 years is a pretty recent thing.  And even now it’s not the only way.  Yes the WWE is recruiting way more athletes who are not indie veterans and teaching them how to become WWE superstars.  And why shouldn’t they?

You’re much more likely to strike gold with Bill Goldberg than a guy who did it ‘the right way’, that’s the reality of the business.  Lash has already shown she can talk and has the personality stuff down, and she’s a freak athlete to boot.  She’s well on her way to getting this job down and when she does the sky is the limit.  And yes that means bypassing some of your favorites.  I’m sorry that years of being plugged into the IWC has convinced you that ladies like Lash Legend need to be gatekept away from success in the name of the integrity of the business.  That’s a bunch of nonsense, and harping on one elbow drop for weeks, months, or years isn’t going to stop her.

So I’m guessing that it’s not just an elbow drop, it’s more about her and where she came from and where she’s working and that she may one day be a face of women’s wrestling and since you can’t stop that you’ll harp on whatever you can find to say that she’s actually not that good.  But is it really just that, or is there something else at play here?  Is there something else that’s bothering you about her?

Are you calling them racist, Robert?

Well, they got irrationally angry about an elbow drop that wasn’t done perfectly in a match on a show that not that many people watch.  A move that did not factor into the finish, and did not injure anyone.  They’re treating that as if she walked out in the middle of the match or something.  That’s like getting angry about a dropped pass on second down even after the next play goes for a touchdown.  It’s weirdo behavior and if there’s no other explanation, and you can find other examples of them expressing similar sentiments towards Sasha and Bianca and Naomi and Alicia Fox while ignoring when others do the same thing during their matches then it’s more than ok to look at them funny.

And that’s it.  Treat her rationally and respectfully the same way you want your favorites treated, or we’re going to look at you like you have the problem.    Don’t go from zero to 11 about something that insignificant unless you’re willing to have everybody staring at you like you’re the idiot.  It’s not 2013 anymore; talk foolishness and we’re gonna fire back at you now.  Keep that to message boards and all.  And while you’re at it get ready to cry even more when Lash Legend starts to live up to her name.