Vince McMahon Death angle causing stir

The controversial Vince McMahon 'death' storyline is causing quite a stir in the wrestling world and raises the issue of how much blending of fiction and reality is acceptable in pro wrestling. This is definitely the most controversial angle in recent WWE history, which is saying a lot as over the past decade we've seen Brian Pillman pull a gun on Steve Austin, Mark Henry make out with a cross dresser, Triple H have simulated sex with a corpse, women making out on Raw only to be beat down by 3 Minute Warning, the exploitation of Eddie Guererro's death and countless other angles.

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This angle was first set into motion a couple of weeks ago when Vince McMahon made reference before his ECW title match with Bobby Lashley that he felt something catastrophic would be happening soon, which set the wheels in motion for this angle. Since then he's made similar statements on RAW, feeling something bad was going to be happening soon. The last couple weeks also featured McMahon acting (badly) like he had lost his mind.

This past Monday night on Raw saw a deranged Vince McMahon, after a 3 hour long Vince McMahon appreciation night which featured many surprise guests and repetitive interviews on how McMahon either made wrestling or was an asshole, come to the ring only to leave without saying a word. He made his way to his limousine backstage, paused for a few moments as if he anticipated something was going to happen, then got in the limo which followed with the limo exploding.

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The Times Leader in Pennsylvania had an article about the stunt. In it, they report that WWE's Steve Poremba saying that "No one was in any danger". They also report that the stunt was supervised by Zenith Pyrotechnology, based in Deer Park, N.Y., and that the explosion was actually filmed at the arena late Saturday night, the footage of the burning hulk taped Sunday night and the whole mess spliced together, according to Andy Kratz, the township's zoning officer. The Times-Leader also contacted the FBI to see if they were investigating the 'car bomb' incident on Monday's RAW. Special agent spokesperson Jerri Williams for the FBI's Philadelphia office said "The 'federal agent' (referenced on the WWE.com Web site) is definitely not the FBI. We have not been made aware of any car bombings. We would definitely have been informed."

On the local 11 PM news that night on ABC in Wilkes-Barre, PA, (where Raw was taped) they covered the Vince McMahon explosion angle from Raw. The local news confirmed that McMahon was neither hurt nor killed and that the segment was taped well in advance. The Wilkes-Barre police department received over 50 calls asking about the condition of McMahon, however, many of the calls were probably from reporters looking for humorous quotes.

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However, the angle seems to have worked with many minor websites and even some radio stations reporting the incident as real. Vince McMahon has topped the Yahoo! Buzz Index overall top movers for the first time ever as searches for the boss soared by 2977%.

Perhaps the most controversial, and morally questionable, move is WWE's own web site reporting that McMahon has been presumed dead and then the rest of the TV shows this week (ECW and this Friday Night's Smackdown) continuing to act as if McMahon is dead and having the shows in his memory. On this Friday's Smackdown they go a step further, and even have a memorial and ten-bell salute at the beginning of the show with the entire Smackdown roster, which has only been done in the past for the real-life deaths of Owen Hart and Eddie Guererro.

While I personally didn't mind the angle when I saw it Monday night, I thought WWE would be quick to report that McMahon's body was not found in the limo. However, acting as if McMahon has passed away and fooling whatever percentage of the viewers are buying into the angle is pretty morally reprehensible. It also makes light of the aforementioned real life deaths that have occurred in wrestling.

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Whether or not this means the end of McMahon's on-screen character, or if it's an angle of McMahon staging his own death or Shane McMahon trying to take out his father to take control of the company, the lines have already been crossed. It seems as most fans feel the same way, is in our Weekly Poll this week where we asked 'Is WWE going too far with the Vince McMahon Death storyline?', an resounding 67% of readers are saying they are (a number which has been rising each day), with only 24% saying that they aren't and 9% saying that they can't say yet.

It does appear however that most fans aren't buying that Vince McMahon is actually dead. On this Friday's Smackdown when the tribute to McMahon was done, the segment was met with a resounding chorus of boos.

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