michael cole calls josh matthews a faggot

First topic message reminder :

Michael Cole said the following on Twitter to Josh Matthews on Saturday afternoon:

"@wwejoshmatthews fa**ot"

After a negative response from fans, Cole responded with the following:

"I apologize to any and all who were offended by my tweet toward young Josh Mathews. It was obviously not meant the way it was taken. I was not ordered to apologize I said I am sorry because I am. Now can I get back to being a character again please?"



later on today this happened


Thanks to TMZ.com for the follow quote from a WWE rep:

"WWE has alerted GLAAD to the situation and spoken to Michael Cole about his post. He has removed it and apologized for using hateful language. Michael will be included in the training session being done by GLAAD. WWE takes this very seriously and is against discrimination of any kind based on sexual orientation, gender, race, religion or other."



he is on twitter to enhance his character not make hateful jibes. jackass

OOOOOOOOH your in trouble

Do you think they are planning on having a feud between Matthews and Cole after Wrestlemania? Matthews was on Tough Enough and so must have basic wrestling skills.

Dicey Reilly wrote:OOOOOOOOH your in trouble

Be quiet you, else you’ll be on the naughty step.

As soon as the topic was brought up I knew it was a hotbed for opposing views. All I request that even if you have a difference of opinion that you at least respect the other persons view on it.

For me it’s just scratching at the surface of even if WWE should be a product that is aimed at children as it currently is.
It is when you break it down teaching kids that the only way to resolve a disagreement is to beat the other person up. That in itself is surely wrong?
Yet I watched it as a kid, I turned out relatively normal (hush now), I know right from wrong, I have a fairly decent moral compass.
Am I being a hypocrite to then not allow my children the same?

I've never understood the mock outrage thats associated with anything that happens in pro wrestling when the very basics of it allow for two guys to beat each other up until more often than not one other is lying flat out in the ring and very seldom its done in an honourable way. So how anyone can justify promoting violance while vilifying certain name calling is beyond belief

Hero wrote:
Yet I watched it as a kid, I turned out relatively normal (hush now), I know right from wrong, I have a fairly decent moral compass.
Am I being a hypocrite to then not allow my children the same?

And now at every opportunity (birthday parties/ weddings/ Bah Mitzvahs etc) Hero blades himself and elbow drops his sports jacket.

Exactly Hobo...normal

Hero, I share your moral dilemma. I definitely wouldn't encourage a child to watch wrestling. The content of the TV shows is about as crass as it gets.

Personally, I'm fascinated with the industry itself (which is even more morally bankrupt!) more than the TV product, it's a guilty pleasure I suppose. Again, it's difficult to balance, but I'm not perfect enough to deny myself one of my main interests. Similarly, I hate the tobacco and alcohol industries but still smoke and drink. And I think the adult movie industry is pretty despicable but still watch adult movies! I'm not sure you're a hypocrite, I think if you're secure within your own moral compass and know right from wrong it's ok to have guilty pleasures. It's when you no longer feel guilty about them you've got a problem!

I absolutely agree that wrestling by its very nature is not a PG product. Two people argue, they have a fight, the winner of the fight is the winner of the argument. But the matches are a drama, a morality play, and I don't agree that, just because it is a product which glamourises violence, it should not adhere to certain rules of decency. A scripted drama revolving around simulated combat does not have any place for homophobia, racism, or even sexism, with one possible exception: That at the end of the feud, it has been firmly established that discrimination is a bad thing. If it is used as a storyline tool it should be the centre of the whole feud. In the case of "insulting" someone by calling them gay, it would also need to be established that it is not an insult to be called gay.

Now would that really make for a fun storyline? No. So I think they should avoid it completely.

And if you're in partnership with the biggest gay rights organisation in the country, anyone in your organisation who uses homophobic language in a public setting is a complete idiot, and is lucky to keep their job.