The new "Ask the Specialists" Roundtable is the latest spin-off from the "Ask the Torch" feature. CSI led to CSI: New York and CSI: Miami, which is where you'll find the Specialists tackling a daily topic submitted by PWTorch readers to askpwtorch@gmail.com.

Ask the Specialists Roundtable #19

- Question from VIP member Austin: My question has to do with WWE's use of little people on their broadcasts. We constantly hear about how Vince McMahon wants WWE to be a mainstream entertainment company rather than a "rasslin" company. Why on earth does he then subject his audience on a semi-regular basis to segments involving midgets? I can't think of ANYTHING about wrestling that screams "low-rent carny side-show" more than trying to get yuks at the expense of little people. Obviously Vince has a reputation for having a juvenile sense of humor, but with how protective he is of the brand can't he see how low brow this makes them look?

- "Mr. TV" Justin James (@Justin_M_James) responds: Austin, I cannot agree more. I can honestly say that while I consider myself a pretty empathetic person in general, shows like “Little People, Big World” have opened my eyes a bit. While I never found little people humor to be terribly humorous, I now find it offensive. And with these shows being pretty popular, I can’t help but think that the general public will increasingly be down on using little people the way WWE has been. I know that with the mixed crowd of people I had at my house for WrestleMania, that I would have been soundly mocked for being a WWE watcher if the “Wee-LC” match had appeared (or the Daniel Bryan vs. Kane match, for that matter).

- "Mr. PPV" Nathan Kyght responds: Honestly, my opinion is that he just doesn't get it. Much like when Natalya Neidhart was given the gimmick of flatulence, or when Hall of Fame announcer Jim Ross was made fun of for having Bell's palsy, or a litany of other offenses - there is always going to be a frat boy sense of humor that is going to pervade WWE. The "little people" humor is apparently something that someone is getting a kick out of, or it wouldn't make television.

Do I think it makes the company look low brow? Absolutely. You can easily see these segments being made fun of on shows like 'Talk Soup,' and really, who's to argue? It's a pity as well, as El Torito and Hornswoggle had a really fun TLC match on Sunday. Watch that match on mute, and it's great. With commentary? It's just a big joke. Shame.

- "Common Fan" Jimmy Eaton (@TheCommonFan) responds: Good question, Austin. I definitely agree that it's very low brow and comes off juvenile. I chuckled at times during Extreme Rules but something tells me with how often this is down, it just makes Vince roll over hysterically in laughter. It's just an example of someone thinking something is funny while others think it's low-rent. But in those cases, if the boss is the one who loves it, it'll be on TV and will be booked as such.

I find the commentary to be the absolute worst out of all this but again, it's probably lines being fed via Vince himself at least in some cases. I'm with you, but it the "midget" community wants to take a stand and is that offended, it's pretty simple. Don't do what's asked. But, on the other side I'm sure they get paid handsomely and maybe aren't as offended as others are. They probably have a blast being on TV. I can't really fault them for that and believe that it could be much worse than it is now.

- "Showstopper" Shawn Valentino responds: Thank you for your question Austin. I totally agree with your belief that incorporating midgets in wrestling program is a complete embarrassment. I do not have much to say other than that the only time I want to see midgets on my wrestling shows is when they are getting obliterated by King Kong Bundy, a la WrestleMania 3. Jesse Ventura's commentary during that "match" was one of my favorite wrestling moments!

- "Mr. Europe" Brian Leahy (@CobyHectic) responds: I'd love to give some kind of answer about how massive midget wrestling was in the '50s and '60s or how successful AAA have been with their minis division for the last 20 years...I'd like to, but I can't.

There's plenty of things that make WWEs brand of wrestling low brow, from John Cena's poop jokes, to stereotyping non-Americans, to objectification of beautiful females, and wrestling 'midgets' just sit on one end of that spectrum. Unfortunately, that's where VKM and Co. get their yuks from and as long as their is little people willing to get paid to do it, we'll likely see it on WWE programming. You're right, he is protective of the brand, and that's why you'll never see Hornswoggle doing 1 percent of the TV spots you see John Cena doing, or how they won't put a WeeLC match on a PPV poster, but will stick it on a pre-show for giggles. They'll find ways to sneak this kind of stuff in, enough to be off-putting to those of us with sensibilities, but not enough so that anyone just watching the last 15 minutes of Raw would notice.

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[ FYI: The specialists consist of a mix of current PWTorch contributors providing their opinion on today's wrestling scene and modern wrestling history questions, including Shawn Valentino, Michael Moore, Ben Tucker, Jon Mezzera, Justin James, Brian Leahy, Jimmy Eaton, Nathan Kyght, Tony Donofrio, and Mike Roe. ]

[Torch art credit Neal Obermeyer (c) PWTorch.com]

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