The Invasion Heard Around the Wrestling World
I nearly wrote about this incident in previous weeks but every time I did, it didn’t feel relevant. In a one-off homage to the WWE’s “invasion” of WCW Nitro, members of NJPW’s Bullet Club decided to stroll over the a nearby WWE show and invade. They mimicked much of that original stunt from way back in 1998, yelled for the release of their friends, and even recited the speech from Independence Day. It was all really dumb in some of the best ways and yet in the days and weeks since the WWE has revealed, once again, to have no sense of humor.
Cease and Desist
During their invasion video the Bullet Club joked about some of the real – and not real – legal restrictions placed on them. They mentioned how they couldn’t “Too Sweet!”, mention their famous hand gesture, or even mention Cody Rhodes’ last name. At the time only Cody’s name was actually true since the WWE held the rights to his characters during his time with the company. That even included his and his famous father’s last name. Then the WWE decided to make it all true.
Shortly after the video went up the WWE’s lawyers made fantasy into reality. The Young Bucks were slapped with a cease and desist order citing the Too Sweet phrase and handshake and any use of them on merchandise. The WWE claims they own those gestures since they purchased the WCW years ago and that’s where much of the Bullet Club’s gimmick originated (see NWO).
The Young Bucks say they’ll fight the legal challenge. It’s clear the invasion angle hurt someone’s feelings from inside the WWE. Despite the Bullet Club’s use of these phrases and gestures for years, and their originators even work for the WWE now. It’s such a weird, petty, but not entirely unreasonable legal move. It does seem to fall in line with a WWE like response, overt and ruthless, but it didn’t end there.
Jimmy Jacobs
Turns out if you show up to a WWE event you might run into some WWE talent. Jimmy Jacobs isn’t the most well known indie wrestling name but he has wrestled the same circuits that many of the current crop of wrestlers frequented. After his career passed him around he landed a job within the WWE creative department. It wouldn’t be unusual, after so much time, for Jacobs to have friends all over the world and in all kinds of companies. So when members of the Bullet Club were right outside as we arrived for work, Jacobs did what any good friend would do, he snapped a photo.
Jimmy Jacobs was fired for that photo. Despite there being several instances of WWE wrestlers interacting and sharing moments with wrestlers from other companies, Jacobs’ interaction with the Bullet Club was singled out. It didn’t help that Jacobs shared the photo the same day as the invasion video, but it’s hard to blame him for the timing. Unless you’re the WWE.
It’s baffling that the self-described biggest and best wrestling company in the world would sink to such a low level. If NJPW and Bullet Club are small fish in a big pond, why bother? The WWE has always operated with combination of paranoia and a chip on their shoulder. Perhaps the ones steering the ship aren’t looking out for what’s best for their wrestlers and employees but instead only out to control them. It’s getting harder and harder to forgive some of the missteps the WWE continue to make.
