Bullying In The Locker Room: Tradition or Toxic Masculinity?
Recently there has been a lot of talk surrounding the Mauro Ranallo and JBL situation going on in WWE. As a wrestling fan, I've been a fan going on about nine years, there has always been talk about backstage "ribbing" as they call it. Which is pranks or a little veteran on newbie hazing.
There is light hearted ribbing and then there's JBL style ribbing. Where he'll do something so outrageous and atrocious that it makes you wonder why he's still working with the company. He'll rib to the point where it comes across as actual harassment. With the things that are out there that both former and current wrestlers have said, he can be classified as a bully. A big bully. But let's start with what's going on right now.
So Smackdown Live color commentator Mauro Ranallo has been missing from WWE TV for quite some time now. He took some time off right around Wrestlemania citing mental health reasons. For those who don't know, Ranallo was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder when he was nineteen and has bouts or depression every once in a while. If you or someone you know suffers from BD you know that this is a common thing that occurs. But after being away for a while, he came out and said that what brought on this particular bout of depression is the constant and severe bullying and harassment he's been subjected to by one John Bradshaw Layfield.
Now like I said, anyone who's been a fan for any number of time has heard of JBL's notorious tendency to take things too far and not only tease to the point of bullying but even cause workers to quit the company. Like Rene Dupree did after being on the receiving end of JBL's hazing while he was in WWE as a member of La Resistance. Or the case of Joey Styles, where JBL kept pushing and pushing until Styles got sick of it and laid him out with a punch.
What this entire situation shines a light on is the fact that the backstage area of a wrestling promotion can be a toxic environment by in part to the old school attitude of "Boys will be boys" and that thick skin is required to be accepted by the rest of the locker room. As these stories came out there were and still are people who are defending JBL and saying that Mauro should have stood up for himself or stood his ground. But that's classic victim blaming and it encourages this toxic behavior to continue.
This is turning into a real public relations nightmare for WWE and for a company who's main charity efforts is a non bullying campaign called Be A Star, it's incredibly hypocritical and tone deaf for them to keep these kinds of people and energies around and to still foster this old school tough environment. There's an entire group on social media posting #FireJBL and it's not a small bunch. How long before advertisers and partners decide they don't want to be affiliated with a company that encourages bullying among it's workers. Now when this starts to effect their bottom line, then will WWE do something about it? Who knows.
But what I do know is this: There is no excuse to constantly be on someone's back and berate and throw insults at them to the point that they don't want to come to work.
WWE, for good of your workers and your product: #FireJBL and change the way your wrestlers treat each other. No one deserves the abuse.
And if you or someone you know is being bullied, get in touch with someone. Whether it be a teacher, a counselor, a parent, or a manager or boss if it's happening in the workplace. You don't have to sit and take it.
There is light hearted ribbing and then there's JBL style ribbing. Where he'll do something so outrageous and atrocious that it makes you wonder why he's still working with the company. He'll rib to the point where it comes across as actual harassment. With the things that are out there that both former and current wrestlers have said, he can be classified as a bully. A big bully. But let's start with what's going on right now.
So Smackdown Live color commentator Mauro Ranallo has been missing from WWE TV for quite some time now. He took some time off right around Wrestlemania citing mental health reasons. For those who don't know, Ranallo was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder when he was nineteen and has bouts or depression every once in a while. If you or someone you know suffers from BD you know that this is a common thing that occurs. But after being away for a while, he came out and said that what brought on this particular bout of depression is the constant and severe bullying and harassment he's been subjected to by one John Bradshaw Layfield.
Now like I said, anyone who's been a fan for any number of time has heard of JBL's notorious tendency to take things too far and not only tease to the point of bullying but even cause workers to quit the company. Like Rene Dupree did after being on the receiving end of JBL's hazing while he was in WWE as a member of La Resistance. Or the case of Joey Styles, where JBL kept pushing and pushing until Styles got sick of it and laid him out with a punch.
What this entire situation shines a light on is the fact that the backstage area of a wrestling promotion can be a toxic environment by in part to the old school attitude of "Boys will be boys" and that thick skin is required to be accepted by the rest of the locker room. As these stories came out there were and still are people who are defending JBL and saying that Mauro should have stood up for himself or stood his ground. But that's classic victim blaming and it encourages this toxic behavior to continue.
This is turning into a real public relations nightmare for WWE and for a company who's main charity efforts is a non bullying campaign called Be A Star, it's incredibly hypocritical and tone deaf for them to keep these kinds of people and energies around and to still foster this old school tough environment. There's an entire group on social media posting #FireJBL and it's not a small bunch. How long before advertisers and partners decide they don't want to be affiliated with a company that encourages bullying among it's workers. Now when this starts to effect their bottom line, then will WWE do something about it? Who knows.
But what I do know is this: There is no excuse to constantly be on someone's back and berate and throw insults at them to the point that they don't want to come to work.
WWE, for good of your workers and your product: #FireJBL and change the way your wrestlers treat each other. No one deserves the abuse.
And if you or someone you know is being bullied, get in touch with someone. Whether it be a teacher, a counselor, a parent, or a manager or boss if it's happening in the workplace. You don't have to sit and take it.
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