Regarding the controversial rape scenario at this weekend's ROH show, Gabe Sapolsky has told PWTorch in an email that the angle will be dropped and there will never be anything like that in ROH again.
The following is the report from PWTorch reader Cal Henderson previously published on PWTorch from his eyewitness account, along with his girlfriend's reaction:
Larry Sweeney comes out with Bobby Dempsey for his talk show. He brings out Alison Danger as his guest and proceeds to level accusations that she's a slut and that she has a whole locker room full of new guys just waiting for her. Danger says she doesn't need to hear that crap from Sweeney but as she turns to leave, Sweeney hits her over the head with the mic. Then he turns to Dempsey and says that it's time for him "to be a man" and feel her up. When Dempsey refuses, Sweeney hits him over the head with the mic and Dempsey lands right on Danger, face-down. Sweeney kicks Dempsey to make it seem like he's having sex with her and then goes on to say that Sweet and Sour Inc. is going to begin a hostile takeover of ROH. The girlfriend did not like the Larry Sweeney segment at all. She's not a feminist but she's sensitive to assault on females and Sweeney encouraging Dempsey to have sex with Danger almost completely turned her off to ROH. I thought it was typical Sweeney, who was great in his role as usual -- I'm intrigued by this "hostile takeover" he was talking about -- but it was a little over the top. To make things worse, the crowd wasn't really booing Sweeney and was in fact encouraging Dempsey. NYC was a little rowdier than usual, more on that later.
Another PWTorch reader who did not sign his email sent the following account of the angle:
As someone who witnessed it live from about 10 feet away, allow me to explain what actually happened. Larry Sweeney did a comedy angle that featured a spot that we see on a weekly basis on WWE programing. Bobby Dempsey laying on top of Allison Danger in a 69 position that we've seen hundreds of times by the likes of Trish Stratus and the McMahons. While laying in that position, Sweeney screamed in an over the top voice "Suck her tits! Grab her boobs!" While tits is a pretty vulgar word, it was delivered in an almost Will Ferrell tone. It was pretty clear it was for comedy and he didn't REALLY want him to rape anyone. I would say that Batista simulating sodomy with a flag while La Resistance lay in said 69 position was MUCH MUCH MUCH more sexual and inappropraite than this ROH angle could imagine being. In fact, the word rape was never mentioned and there was no implication of rape or sex. Just two "unconscious" people and 6 words that when read without having heard the tone could be easily misinterpreted.
KELLER'S ANALYSIS: I haven't seen the angle and I haven't commented on it. I also think it was a mistake, even having not seen it. The question isn't whether it was a mistake to simulate rape, but probably whether it came off as terribly offensive or an obvious attempt at comedy that strayed into uncomfortable territory. I also don't blame anyone for coming down hard on the idea of doing the angle in the first place. I have been outspoken against the tone TNA projects with its misogynistic tone and treating women almost exclusively as sex objects, former "sluts" and "strippers," or loud-mouth meddling "bitches." ROH has a stellar track record, which Bruce Mitchell pointed out in his column, but this was a mistake. The totality of Gabe Sapolsky's booking is honorable. I've said many times that ROH's DVD library will be cherished for decades to come as a glory era for "underground" indy wrestling by all who discover it as they age past the teenage WWE-type mainstream wrestling. I also think, based on the reaction from those who did see it and those who have heard about it, this angle shouldn't be put on the DVD, but instead written off as a mistake. We all make calls we wish we could take back. I think there are bookers who have sought out controversy and thrive on backlash for tastelessness. I don't believe for a second Gabe is one of those bookers. His track record says the opposite, in fact. His renouncing of it afterward rather than stubbornly defending it is a credit to him, also.
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