Through The Ropes
By Josh Stewart

Is WWE finally A-OK inside the Beltway?

Probably not forever. But at least for the time being, when the Wash-ington politicos grumble about what is wrong with this country, World Wrest-ling Entertainment probably won’t be at the tip of any of their tongues.

That’s a new one. Remember the Parents Television Council chewing on the ear of any lawmaker who would listen, urging them to squash wrestling entirely before a generation of America’s youth was lost?

How about after Owen Hart’s tragic death, when the business was portrayed as so reckless and careless that cockfighting seemed a more noble and respectable pastime?

And who could forget the Lionel Tate murder case, where WWE was for all intents and purposes accused of producing a weekly handbook on the best ways to keep a child from reaching the age of 10?

Well, those days are over. The po-liticians are still all over wrestlers, but only because they don’t want to be out of the shot when a very beneficial photo op becomes available. Now, WWE is still taking bows for going to Iraq to celebrate Christmas with the troops in the middle of a war zone.

At a recent USO banquet, WWE superstars were hobnobbing with the upper crust and being lauded as patriots, some of the best that America has to offer. Funny! A few years back, some of the same people who offered those comments might have stabbed one of the wrestlers with their chilled salad fork if given the chance.

The company’s voter registration campaign is also drawing raves, and everybody in political circles still re-members the reaction The Rock re-ceived at the 2000 Republican Na-tional Convention. The religious right was more than willing to lower its guard for a few minutes and let a man who has taken sexual innuendo to new heights have his say.

Members of that same right have made less than subtle comparisons be-tween today’s professional wrestling and hardcore pornography, but that didn’t matter while The Rock was drumming up support.

That’s why many in this country equate dealing with politicians and cleaning their toilets. WWE is the flavor of the month, not because of any sincere respect for the sport, but mere-ly because it’ll bring votes right now. After the votes are tallied and the elections are confirmed, look for WWE to get lobbed into the recent steroid scandal that has plagued other sports.

Not that the company shouldn’t be, which I have said before, but the hy-pocrisy of using and then abusing the business is more than distasteful.

Luckily, Vince McMahon isn’t so wrapped up in his newfound buddies that it’ll make him change any element of his content. He understands that his company will always have a supply of fair-weather friends who will be impressed with WWE’s call to duty for the troops, then disgusted by the lingerie match that follows.

Remember, WWE thrives in a business where it makes things seem real when they’re not. It distracts you from what’s really going on and tries to get you to see an alternate reality. In other words, WWE is politicians. Who better to understand that a handshake only leaves you more vulnerable for a left hook?

You can contact Josh Stewart at throughtheropes1@cs.com.