Friday, July 27, 2012

Paul Bearer: Angst Ridden Teenager?


Well I'm mildly disappointed to report that for the first time, I've been blocked by somebody on Twitter.  And on top of that, I genuinely don't understand why.  You'll probably recall from my discussion with Shane Helms, I make a conscious effort to keep all of my interactions on Twitter civil and respectful.  I simply refuse to stoop to somebody's low levels.  And hey, I'm 30 years old.  I really don't find much joy acting like an immature kid when debating something.

The thing is, this wasn't even a debate.  As many of you are likely aware, Roddy Piper got into an issue with some wrestling site because they reported that he made suggestive comments towards Kaitlyn, which made her feel uncomfortable.  Both the Legend and Diva denied the reports, and Piper (rightfully) wanted to know which site started the rumor.  My good friends at WrestleChat.Net pinpointed it to Ryan Clark of WZR Online.  Out of curiosity, I checked out Ryan's Twitter feed and discovered that he also reported that Paul Bearer was rumored to be at Raw 1,000, even though Paul Bearer himself, in a Twitter message sent to Ryan, denied this fact.  So I sent the following message:


 - There's also a funny interaction between &  where Paul outright says he won't be on 


Later, Paul Bearer surprisingly wrote back saying this:


 And your point is....


The somewhat aggravated tone of his message confused me.  I reread what I wrote, and honestly in no way did it seem like I was making any sort of attack on Paul.  Nonetheless, I answered:


 - ...that he reported false news despite the subject confirming otherwise.


I wanted to make it perfectly clear that my initial message was directed at Ryan, and not him.  But once again, Bearer wrote back with a less-than-friendly response:


 Whatever...


At this point, admittedly, I was started to feel a little disrespected.  Paul Bearer, like many celebrities on Twitter, demands to be treated with respect.  And he does deserve that.  But shouldn't I be afforded that same courtesy?  Just because I'm not famous doesn't mean I should be spoken down to.  I mean, when I saw him write "Whatever...." as a response to what I had said, I honestly thought he came across like some immature, angst written teenager (hence the title of this post).  The guy is almost 60 years old, why not handle the misunderstanding/issue with a little more decorum?  So I asked him the following:


 - Why the hostility? My argument is in defense of people who have lies reported about them


This seemed like a pretty reasonable question, and I wanted him to understand my stance.  In no way was I attacking him.  In fact, I was attempting to stand up for those in the wrestling industry who have false information reported about him.  Certainly that doesn't deserve such aggressive messages.  His response:




What the hell?  I didn't even know how to interpret that.  Was he laughing in my face?  Was he laughing at the fact that I seemed offended or bothered by his messages?  Did he consider this all a misunderstanding?  What was I missing????  I wasn't behaving like a jerk, so I asked:


 - I'm just a lifelong fan and a nice person. Not sure what I did to warrant this angst


Following that message, I noticed that his responses were no longer showing up on my iPad (they still remained on my laptop, however).  So I got curious and decided to check out his profile, which now came up as protected.  I hit the "Follow" button, only for a message to say that I've been blocked by the user.

Keep the following things in mind:  At no point did I ever use offensive language.  I honestly do not believe anything that I've said could be reasonable interpreted as an attack towards him either.  I also did not inundate him with messages.  Aside from the original message (which wasn't even directed towards him, it simply referred to him), every message I sent was in response to a message he had sent me.  I also have no hostile history with the guy.  I've repeatedly sent kind, supportive messages whenever he's mentioned his late wife and his grandchildren.

Honestly, I don't know what to make of the guy.  One second he's telling people to "God bless," but the next he seems to want to act bitter and angry towards people who don't deserve it.  I'm not devastated by this, as it's not as if he ever said anything substantial or mind blowing on Twitter (but hey, thanks for the daily reminder about where we can all find your website).  Honestly, I'm just not sure what I said or did to warrant such a hostile and disrespectful interactive exchange.  Perhaps next time he tells somebody to "God bless," he should remember the golden rule.

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