Back during the pandemic during fan-free shows, WWE started having a gang of masked thugs in all black coming in and attacking people, destroying property, etc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYEhMlPJhvE&list=PL9nslxQEplSSV12UYlUJLD8g7GYulhUXU&index=4&ab_channel=WWE
Madden confirmed the rumor that the Retribution faction was based on Antifa, the left-wing anti-fascist and anti-racist political movement in the United States.
After the group debuted, there were rumours and reports that Retribution was inspired by Antifa, the anti-fascist and anti-racist political movement in the United States. Later in the interview, Mace confirmed that the group were meant to be portrayed in a similar manner to Antifa but was told to stop by FOX, who broadcast SmackDown
More on the overall story:
He said, "The thought was and as I understood it, they weren't sure where they were going. But the initial thought when they had the little guys -- that's actually how I ended up in Retribution was they had the little guys with the ski masks on making a mess. And then everybody bragged on it, because they were like, 'Look at how small these guys are, Drew McIntyre would kill these guys.' So the next week, they said, 'Vince said get some bigger guys.'
On why the Antifa idea was nixed, Madden said it was because of FOX. He said, "But as I understand it, we were meant to be Antifa. When FOX, because it was on SmackDown, found out that there was an Antifa angle on Smackdown on their FOX program. They said, 'Hey, stop.' So confusion happened. They were like, how do we pivot this because they had already dedicated a decent amount of time to this angle. And then they gave us supervillain masks. And I'm like, Cool. Let's lean into being -- I really wanted to be like, like Power Rangers. Yeah, I wanted to be Puddies...we looked crazy, but like, I feel like there's a vibe for that."
I remember that being cancelled. The whole purpose of being a heel is to piss people off and be edgy. Also mirroring things that are happening can work. You could easily make a heel faction based on some weasels like antifa. I love watching wrestling from back in the day and I still watch now but it’s not the same. Also the online forums are filled with whining about offensive angles or articles from 20 year olds saying the attitude era wasn’t as good as you remember
They're publicly traded now so they run away from anything with the slightest whiff of controversy.
And back in the 80s there was mostly just syndication deals or with new cable networks like USA that were desperate for content with reliable viewers.
Fox is also network TV so there's all the BS that comes with that.
Sad but true. I have a tiny bit of their stock but nowhere near any amount to give suggestions
Mirroring current events generates some of the best heat imaginable. When Nikolai Volkoff was singing the Soviet national anthem and the Iron Sheik was yelling “Iran number 1, USA hack-ptew!” back in the 80s, fans wanted to fucking kill those dudes for real.
Meanwhile people wanted to kill Piper just for being Piper.
Seriously, what a legend he was.
Yes! I love watching old Iron Sheik promos. As a kid I had no idea he was a proud naturalized citizen in real life. Then again as a kid I thought Kamala was really Ugandan. Slaughter got real death threats and they had to put security at his house. He said he loved it because it meant his character was getting major heat. That Davari guy after 9/11 could’ve worked but I guess he couldn’t take it.
Check out this video of Mean Gene Okerlund outtakes: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ct-zOyh7hZY&pp=ygUSbWVhbiBnZW5lIG91dHRha2Vz
It features Kamala, Sgt. Slaughter, and Volkoff all out of character. Seeing Kamala speak coherent English in particular is a mindfuck. Sheik is also in the video, but apparently his “out of character” behavior is the same as his in-character behavior because he’s a lunatic.
Also special props to Mean Gene in this video for being hilarious and ripping cigarettes, all while being the smoothest interviewer in the business.
Wrestling fan here.
NOBODY liked the Retribution angle.
Like so many things in WWE over the decades, it was done solely for the amusement of one man: Vince McMahon.
It got inducted into WrestleCrap.
I do think if written well you could have a heel faction like antifa and mock them. How long have you been a fan for? Been watching since I was a little boy in the 80s. Hogan is my all time favorite
Started watching wrestling regularly in January 2006.
My first Raw was the one right after New Year's Revolution, where Edge (Adam Copeland) won his first world title via being the first cash-in of the Money In The Bank.
My first Smackdown was the one where Batista (Dave Bautista--so easy to forget he used to wrestle) had to surrender his title due to injury, Teddy Long announced a battle royal for that night's main event to determine a new champion, and Kurt Angle came over from Raw to win it.
Never would have started had I not had so much fun with Smackdown vs. Raw 2006 on PS2, which I got on a whim thanks to great reviews.
I quit watching wrestling in 2013 because I was sick and tired of having my intelligence insulted. Stayed away for six years, AEW brought me back, and now with Vince gone and a reported increase in quality of WWE shows, I may start watching them again.
Cool. Ruthless Aggression was a nice era to start. I watch WWE mostly but try to keep up with AEW. My favorite time frame as a fan is 80s through Ruthless Aggresion.
I did watch on-and-off when I was a kid. I remember catching some Superstars episodes in the late 1980s, a random Raw from 1994 that built to King of the Ring (the main event was Tatanka vs. Crush and ended in either double-DQ or double countout), and a random WCW Saturday Night that Hulk Hogan showed up on.
But I wasn't regular until 2006.
Gotcha. May age 5 my mom said wrestling was garbage and I wasn’t allowed to watch so of course my signings and I watched religiously. We mainly watched WWF on Saturday mornings and in Oklahoma we got the Von Erichs. When we got cable we would watch NWA/WCW on TBS
Honestly, good.
WWE writers know good writing like a BDSM water-sports fetishist knows good taste.
They could have the best setting for a story in their lives, and they'd still fuck it up.
True. But I think a faction mocking antifa and blm would be cool.
They would try, but then they would fuck it up regardless to the point that everyone would hate it. Both Leftists and us.
Both of the most popular wrestling stables of all time (DX and the nWo) were anti-authority rebels.
Ironically the people in it were anything but anti-authority or rebels. Hogan literally ratted out wrestlers for trying to start a union back in the WWF. Almost everyone is DX is now a WWE executive.
Also they had stars- Hall, Nash, Hogan, HBK. Retribution was a bunch of tiny guys, Mia Yim and Mustafa Ali.