AS I SEE IT
Bob Magee
Pro Wrestling Between the Sheets
PWBTS.com
So what's Stamford Syndrome?
I'll assume most of you know what Stockholm Syndrome is. If
not, the Cleveland Clinic defines it as "a psychological
response to being held captive where sufferers form a
psychological connection with their captors and begin
sympathizing with them."
Well.... "Stamford Syndrome", then, is a set of behaviors
where those who've had to suffer from a one promotion major
wrestling universe where all they could do was watch WWE
television...and no matter how much shlock, how many bad
angles, how many talent had their time wasted....WWE became
their norm for wrestling. They identified with it.
Ergo, any promotion challenging it must automatically be
bad, and as such must be attacked online by any means
necessary...even if what they say in response is completely
untrue and/or unfair.
(Please keep in mind that I'm not talking about WWE
FANS...even the most rabid. There are obviously tons of
them. They should love and enjoy WWE to their heart's
content. I truly hope they keep enjoying it for years to
come. What I'm talking about are the obsessive E "stans"
that attack all that AEW does...in bad faith.)
As a result of Stamford Syndrome, there are online grifters
who make money off of clicks, so they run anti-AEW material
in order to get clicks from angry AEW fans, as well
sufferers of the Syndrome. Who are some of those online
grifters?
In April 2022, Tony Khan tweeted that "an independent study
has confirmed that much of the staunch anti-AEW online
community aren’t real individuals, it’s a staff running
thousands of accounts + an army of bots to signal boost the
tweets". Social media screamed, hollered and complained that
Khan had lost his mind.
Yet time has proven him right. We've all read the tens of
thousands of social media posts. Tabloid at best and
slanderous at worst, they attack supposed drug use by Tony
Khan, bad booking, the company going out of business each
week, depending on the ratings of a particular TV show or
news item. They attempt to change the perception of a
company that has a top three rated show on Wednesday
nights...for weeks on end..and create hundreds of social
media accounts and yes, those bots Elon Musk claimed he was
removing from Twitter.
These types would complain if AEW gave them free ice cream
bars and puppies (maybe not CM Punk ones, but I digress).
Then there are the websites and their related social media,
including longtime websites that should know better. But
they're addicted to monetizing the clicks that come with
anti-AEW stories...again, whether true or not.
So then there's Wednesday night's angle. Tony Khan takes the
step he wouldn't take for five years...and actually takes a
bump from The Young Bucks to get over Jack Perry as the
Scapegoat. They did it all the way...with multi billionaire
Shad Khan coming out to "check on his son".
The grifter and Stamford Syndrome types went
nuts....conveniently forgetting, of course, about Austin and
McMahon, Nash and Bischoff, hell...going back to Jerry
Jarrett getting jumped by heels in Memphis (all of which
Tony Khan self-admitted wrestling nerd Tony Khan has
studied).
Tony Khan had the last laugh. The show ending angle was
reported Thursday morning on (intelligently) on
NFL.com...which because of the NFL Draft had tens (if not
hundreds) of millions of impressions Thursday and throughout
the weekend. Sporting News.com wanted him to come into the
Draft War Room wearing a collar.
The Chucky T and Trent Parking Lot Brawl (which was filmed
early Thursday), had Tony Khan there in the background, but
wearing a neck brace after the Wednesday beat down.
NFL Network and Rich Eisen were all over it Friday, with
Eisen explaining how he was "concerned" for Khan's welfare
while having to make draft picks wearing the collar.
"Have we checked in on Tony? We just saw him, I just hope he
didn't hurt himself when he was applauding." When asked
about it with "You've been concerned both nights!", Eisen
replied "I'm concerned about anybody that gets piledriven!"
It gets better.
Khan was wearing the neck brace on day 3, and Rich Eisen was
still plugging him on draft coverage. "Suddenly" Rich Eisen
asked Khan to donate this neck brace autographed for auction
to his annual Eisen's Run Rich Run charity, a 40-yard dash
on the third day of the NFL Draft that benefits St. Jude's
Hospital and other charities.
Khan will autograph the brace, and then it will be put up
for auction by Eisen, with the proceeds will go to St. Jude
Children’s Research Hospital via Eisen's charity..."when he
no longer need[s] to wear it".
It turns out that Tony Khan has appeared on Eisen's show
when he and/or AEW are in LA. So, if I didn't know better
(and I don't), I'd swear these two cooked this whole deal up
together.
Anyone who'd like to bid on the neck brace (or otherwise
contribute to Run Rich Run) go to
https://www.stjude.org/get-involved/other-ways/run-rich-run-
nfl-40.html.
Until next time...
