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Stephanie McMahon Wants Top WWE Star To Play A Gay Character


Ziggy Vercetti

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Darren Young made headlines in August 2013 when he came out as gay in a casual airport interview with TMZ, becoming the first openly gay active WWE Superstar. If you never came across the interview, though, youd probably have no idea that Young is gay since his sexuality was never made apart of his character during his time with WWE.

 

While its not known why WWE didnt portray Youngs character as gay, Stephanie McMahon revealed two years ago that the organization was considering introducing LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) characters and themes to its weekly programming in the future.

 

Throughout my life, I have grown up knowing gay [WWE] Superstars and executives, McMahon told NBC Out (a digital portal on the NBC News website targeted at the LGBT community) in an August 2016 interview.

 

Its always been accepted, but now its about getting that message out there.

 

McMahon added that WWE is committed to inclusive storytelling and said when it makes sense absolutely we will integrate LGBT storylines into our programming.

 

WWE didnt have imminent plans to do so then, but McMahon said there will absolutely be an opportunity for an LGBT storyline in the near future.

 

This could finally turn into a reality as behind-the-scenes, McMahon wants a WWE Superstar to portray a gay character and she has a specific person in mind.

 

She wants Finn Balor to play gay.

 

There is resistance to McMahons idea from her own husband, Paul Triple H Levesque, who strongly disapproves it.

 

Its said that if Balor or a different WWE Superstar portrays a gay character, it wouldnt be for laughs. The description of her idea of a gay character is empowered.

 

Through its partnership with GLAAD, an LGBT media advocacy organization, WWE is prioritizing sensitivity with their creative writers.

 

Weve had GLAAD come in and speak to our entire writing team and give a whole tutorial on sensitivities, the right words, the wrong words, why those words matter, McMahon told NBC Out.

 

In terms of any issues that require a degree of sensitivity in terms of how theyre being handled, we are always going to incorporate our partners, like GLAAD, to help us tell those stories the right way, because we do want to be sensitive to our audience, we want to be sensitive to the community and we want to make sure that were telling the right messages in the right way.

 

McMahon has liked the idea of a gay character in WWE for several years. Last September, former WWE creative writer Brian Solomon revealed in an interview with F4WOnline.com that back in 2001, he pitched an idea to McMahon about Brock Lesnars character being gay and she liked it.

 

When the idea was pitched, Lesnar had not been introduced on WWE television yet as he was in the companys developmental system. He was working dark matches before Raw and SmackDown to get him ready for his debut on the main roster, which occurred the night after WrestleMania X8 in March 2002.

 

Solomon said that Lesnar wouldnt exhibit any of the stereotypes of gay men, such as prancing around, but would be an ass kicker. Lesnar would never make an issue of the matter, but if a WWE Superstar made fun of his sexuality, then he would take it upon himself to crush that wrestler, making him a huge babyface in the process.

 

According to Solomon, Stephanie liked the idea of a strong gay character as it would make the WWE look good with the progressive community.

 

Lesnar himself wasnt fully on board with the idea so it never came to fruition. Instead, a watered-down version of the gimmick was eventually used on Billy Gunn and Chuck Palumbo in what eventually played out as a storyline that saw both characters admit theyre not gay.

 

While Stephanies idea seems to imply that Balor is gay or bisexual in real-life, thats not necessarily true. However, little is publicly known about his personal life since the WWE Superstar tries to avoid dating rumors. In October 2015, Balor appeared on WWE Unfiltered with Renee Young and she tried to get him to talk about his dating life, but he dodged it.

 

As Balor talked about his love of Legos, Young asked him if he tells people on dates that hes building Legos (interestingly, Young specifically said people rather than girls or women).

 

I dont have time to go on dates, Balor said while giving a hearty laugh.

 

Balor quickly changed the subject back to Legos, making note of WWEs StackDown playset, which are like Legos but actually arent made by the Lego company.

 

There has also been speculation that he once dated Becky Lynch, but their relationship has been confirmed as strictly wrestling related by the Irish Lass Kicker. Balors track record of keeping his private life out of the public eye ended last December when this photo surfaced of him out on a date with WWE personality Cathy Kelley at a New York Knicks game.

http://www.pwpix.net/stephanie-mcmahon-wants-finn-balor-to-play-a-gay-character/

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TL;DR please?

 

Steph wants to make Finn a gay character so that gays have someone to look up to I guess

 

Get someone who's actually gay. ...like Darren Young?

 

Also, he would lose a lot of his female fan base, no?

 

In this day and age, he may be more likely to gain more female fans than anything else.

 

 

Tumblr fan girls are weird

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Get someone who's actually gay. ...like Darren Young?

 

Also, he would lose a lot of his female fan base, no?

To the contrary I would presume. They would only love it, Finn already is kind of a gay icon as it is.

 

 

But then they can't marry him or whatever weird shit Tumblr gets up to

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They also have Sonya Deville who's actually gay. Though I believe on Lilian's podcast she's said she wouldn't want to play a gay character, just a character who happens to be gay.

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Im sorry but this is hilarious.

 

Im so proud of Darren Young and what hes accomplished as a gay man in WWE. I wish Finn Balor was gay. Finn Balor should be gay. Lets make Finn Balor gay.

 

I am all the way for LGBT representation in everything in every way possible but I dont think we have to force things. I would much rather an actual gay person be in this role because one that helps normalize it in society in general and two, youd have an actual gay man successful in an industry that may not necessarily seem invitng for gay men to exist in. Who knows? Maybe this can give people confidence to come out if they havent already. Though Im not for people pretending, Golden Lovers do it well and do it tastefully and if WWE MUST make someone gay, I say they make sure not to drop the ball on Velveteen. Only problem with him is he may perpetuate stereotypes but other than that I think thats the logical way to go since people already love him.

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They had the perfect opportunity with Darren Young - who I believe is actually bisexual. This kind of thing needs to be done properly, and given a lot of thought given the potential to either alienate the LGBT sector of the audience - most likely by playing to stereotypes.

 

I'd say subtlety is the key to it working - and not just saying to someone "okay your gimmick is, you're gay".

 

As for Finn, I always suspected that he and Bayley were more than friends. They've certainly got very good chemistry from what I've seen.

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Yeah the most important thing is that they dont make it a gimmick. I dont want anyone to turn into Rico or Billy & Chuck.

 

That's the biggest risk, or they do it with someone who is known to not be legitimately homosexual.

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It did seem interesting when watching Finn's documentary special and ride along on the wwe network that Finn and Karl Anderson hug alot, tell each other I love you and Karl even calls Finn babe on the phone.

 

But eh, I'm sure they are just close best friends. Maybe Stephanie noticed that and thought hmmm I got new character for him

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