Triple H

Media Ignores WWE & Floyd Mayweather

WWE was hoping for a bigger splash with the national media when they brought in professional boxer Floyd Mayweather. That has not been the case.

Big Show Action Figure

Media's Mild Reception Whenever a wrestling company brings in celebrities for segments and storylines, they do so because they're hoping for some additional coverage from the media. In the past, WWE has done received quite a bit of coverage from the media for celebrity involvements. In particular, Donald Trump and Mike Tyson generated plenty of interest in the product during their appearances. Well, WWE tried the formula again this week with professional boxer Floyd Mayweather. Unfortunately, though, the media isn't biting. While there's been some coverage of Floyd Mayweather's foray into the world of professional wrestling, it hasn't been a media blitz. In fact, there was a lot more coverage from the media when a dozen or so WWE wrestlers were listed in a federal drug probe for purchasing drugs from an online pharmacy. The mild reception from the media could be a sign of backlash over events that transpired within the last 12 months. Professional wrestling received several black eyes last year from the media. The lack of attention paid to Floyd Mayweather's involvement is just another blow delivered.

Fan Support

Hypocrisy is at an all time high right now in professional wrestling. Just a few months ago, wrestling fans believed that it was a stupid move to bring in a professional athlete from another sport in order to receive coverage from the mainstream media. Well, after Sunday night, that practice has become acceptable again.

The reaction to Floyd Mayweather has been mixed.

There's a significant amount of wrestling fans who are also fans of Floyd Mayweather as a boxer. Those fans are excited about his involvement in Wrestlemania this year.

The rest of the fans, though, appear to not really like Floyd Mayweather. In fact, if you based things solely on crowd reaction, you would have absolutely no clue that Floyd Mayweather is playing the role of the babyface. He's being treated like a heel by the audience.

During the Big Show's apology last night on Monday Night Raw, fans were quite emphatic about voicing their displeasure over the segment. The fans simply did not like the fact that the Big Show was apologizing for something that he didn't need to. Granted, it's hard to blame the fans for being confused, though. At No Way Out, Floyd Mayweather took cheap shots and ran. That's something a cowardly heel character in wrestling would do.

If this keeps up, WWE may have to bring in Rey Mysterio, who was backstage at Monday Night Raw last night. Putting Rey Mysterio with Floyd Mayweather could help the fans understand that the boxer is supposed to be the one getting cheered.

Closing Thoughts

Don't expect this media snub to prevent WWE from using celebrities on wrestling shows. If anything, it'll get them to do it more often.

Kane

Kane worked a dark match prior to the No Way Out pay per view. He defeated Shelton Benjamin by pinfall after nailing a choke slam.

Big Show

Big Show actually suffered a legitimate broken nose last night at the hands of boxer Floyd Mayweather. The punches were especially stiff.

John Cena

With the way his match ended at No Way Out, you can expect to see John Cena in the WWE Heavyweight Championship match at Wrestlemania.

Steve Austin is said to be a disappointed with how Ric Flair's retirement storyline has turned out. This wasn't really what he had in mind when he came up with it.

Mick Foley

Mick Foley is said to be retiring again at the end of 2008. By our count, he's still a couple of thousand retirements sort of the legendary Terry Funk.

Speaking of Mick Foley, he's expected to make his return to WWE again soon. There are reports that he will work a program with Umaga over the summer.

Kurt Angle

Kurt Angle lost the IWGP 3rd Generation Championship to Shinsuke Nakamura. The belt was unified with the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.

Yuji Nagata

Yuji Nagata, one of the top wrestling stars in Japan, was rushed to the hospital this week. He may have suffered a mild stroke.