Samoa Joe Blasts Vince McMahon’s Dumb Wrestling Take
Do you prefer pro wrestling or sports entertainment? Does it make a difference? Samoa Joe thinks the whole debate is all a bit silly.
Sports entertainment is perhaps the most well-known of Vince McMahon’s own linguistic semantics as he tried to distance his WWE from the term “pro wrestling.” However many fans of the business just want to see pro wrestling and aren’t ashamed of it.
AEW, NJPW, Ring of Honor, TNA, and almost every other wrestling company on earth happily refers to its product as pro wrestling but that might explain why Vince McMahon wanted to take a different approach as he wanted WWE to stand on its own.
But is any of this important or is it just a case of semantics? Samoa Joe knows his answer.
Samoa Joe Calls Out “Silly Semantics” In Wrestling Debate
Speaking with Joe Murray on 98.5 The Sports Hub, Samoa Joe was asked if AEW was the place for pro wrestling and explained why he thinks WWE might now soften its stance on its sports entertainment label with Vince McMahon now gone:
We call it pro wrestling. We’re very proud of that label. The sports entertainment thing, it’s a very debated thing, either or. I give credence to both. I think both are wonderful art forms, but when it comes to AEW, we’re pro wrestling, and we’re pro wrestlers, and we’re proud to say that.
We’re not trying to morph it into something else that maybe is more palatable to the mainstream. I think the mainstream is totally fine with the label ‘pro wrestling.’
At this point, I think it’s just silly semantics on both sides, to be honest with you. I think both sides are just kind of being dumb about it. I think the major reason why they were being dumb about it on the other side is probably gone, so maybe they’ll switch up their tone.
Vince McMahon was forced to resign as TKO Executive Chairman following a bombshell lawsuit that was filed accusing him of serious sexual assault and sex trafficking during his time in charge of WWE.
One major change has already taken place in the company after McMahon’s exit with WWE signing a deal for a centre-ring sponsor with Prime. One of Prime’s founders and current WWE US Champion Logan Paul has admitted that the deal wouldn’t have happened with Vince McMahon calling the shots.