Post by Pennyroyal_Tea (admin) on Dec 24, 2004 4:11:42 GMT -5
Vince McMahon came out to start the show. Cole said that the WWE employees have met with thousands of troops over the past several days, making it sound like he was actually there in Iraq, meeting with the troops himself. If I find out that he wasn’t there, I will be pretty disgusted. McMahon said that just like the all volunteer armed forces, every one of his employees that was there for the show volunteered to be there. He said they were there to say “Thank you” to the troops for all they have done. Vince then started complaining about how all the media coverage of the war back in the United States was negative. He said the media never focused on the positive things that the troops were doing. Which is fine and all, and actually a nice sentiment, but the media’s job is the report the news. News tends to slant towards the negative anyway, and so of course they are going to focus on the negative stuff. Negative stuff is a proven ratings getter. Negative stuff brings all the boys to the yard.
Vince then introduced Lilian Garcia, who would be acting as the ring announcer for this show. Before my head could explode in protest of another bastardization of the brand split, Cole helpfully informed us that Garcia grew up in a military family and had volunteered to come along for the trip herself. It doesn’t hurt that she looks better in a short skirt than Tony Chimel, which deserves to be mentioned in terms of boosting the morale of the troops. Garcia sang the National Anthem, and did a very nice job of it.
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The End: After the match, Cole called the holiday visit in Iraq “an annual tradition.” I’m not sure that the war is going to last forever, but I may be wrong. They then showed a video package of the wrestlers on the plane and interacting with the troops. The only bad part of this was that it was to the tune of “Higher” by Creed. Enough cannot be said for how horrible a band Creed was. And enough also cannot be said for how they are no longer together, and how pointless it was for WWE to promote them in this way. In any event, this was a fantastic segment. It was really touching how appreciative the troops were and how it genuinely looked like the wrestlers were really making a difference in their lives by showing up to entertain them. The segment ended with McMahon speaking of “the fighting spirit” of the troops. God bless all of them.
Full report at www.pwtorch.com/artman/publish/article_11236.shtml
Vince then introduced Lilian Garcia, who would be acting as the ring announcer for this show. Before my head could explode in protest of another bastardization of the brand split, Cole helpfully informed us that Garcia grew up in a military family and had volunteered to come along for the trip herself. It doesn’t hurt that she looks better in a short skirt than Tony Chimel, which deserves to be mentioned in terms of boosting the morale of the troops. Garcia sang the National Anthem, and did a very nice job of it.
...
The End: After the match, Cole called the holiday visit in Iraq “an annual tradition.” I’m not sure that the war is going to last forever, but I may be wrong. They then showed a video package of the wrestlers on the plane and interacting with the troops. The only bad part of this was that it was to the tune of “Higher” by Creed. Enough cannot be said for how horrible a band Creed was. And enough also cannot be said for how they are no longer together, and how pointless it was for WWE to promote them in this way. In any event, this was a fantastic segment. It was really touching how appreciative the troops were and how it genuinely looked like the wrestlers were really making a difference in their lives by showing up to entertain them. The segment ended with McMahon speaking of “the fighting spirit” of the troops. God bless all of them.
Full report at www.pwtorch.com/artman/publish/article_11236.shtml