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Although this story is already a few days old, for those of you that might not have heard it, Dustin Runnels, aka “Goldust“, has been fired from WWE.
Runnels went into semi-retirement from in-ring action last year after suffering an injury. Despite not wrestling anymore (at least, for the foreseeable future), Runnels was kept on as an employee, becoming a backstage agent. The job of a backstage agent is to help the wrestlers work on their promos, as well as set up matches and finishes, to make sure everything goes smoothly. Unfortunately, it is because of this position that appears to have led to Runnels’ termination.
In case you didn’t watch Friday Night Smackdown! this past Friday night, there was match between the teams of Titus O’Neil & Darren Young, and Ezekiel Jackson & Yoshi Tatsu. At the end of the match, Tatsu was pinned by the heel team after a combination powerbomb/clothesline from the turnbuckles. This was a little bit different compared to O’Neil and Young’s finisher the previous week, as they used a combination hoist/clothesline from the turnbuckles on one of the the Usos. Apparently, the modification to the move was a suggestion of Goldust, who instead of telling them the idea of the move and having them practice it to make sure it went well, simply told them about the move and that they need to use it. The end result was a very botched move by the heels, that looked awkward on television and could have potentially injured Tatsu, who was on the receiving end of the move (he was okay).
This move was the catalyst for Runnels’ firing, but in my opinion, I think there was more to the story. Yes, the move was botched and looked terrible, but generally you fire the wrestler performing the move if it was dangerous, rather than the guy who came up with it. In all honesty, I think WWE has been looking for an excuse to fire Runnels for a while now, and they simply used this as the excuse to do so.
For those of you that aren’t on Twitter, I can tell you that Goldust has a Twitter account, and it’s one that has gotten him in trouble with the company on more than on occasion. Although the wrestlers are technically allowed to use their social network accounts however they want, they are still monitored by the company, and it is suggested the wrestlers stay as professional as possible. Runnels has not always adhered to this policy, continuously insulting fans, even blocking them from his account simply for saying “hello” or asking honest, non-threatening questions. I follow Runnels on Twitter, more for the perverse humor of seeing act nuts than anything else, and I can personally attest to him doing this on repeated occasions. Not only that, but often times starts off his day on Twitter by flat-out telling fans he’s going on a “blocking spree” for the day, and especially takes delight in insulting fans who enjoy the sports that he doesn’t (especially soccer, which he has repeatedly stated “is for girls”). Runnels has gotten in trouble for this repeatedly, having had his account shut down by WWE numerous times for his behavior. Every time they finally open it back up, he apologizes and acts normally for a few weeks before going back into his routine.
I could be wrong, but something tells me this kind of behavior led to his firing more than simply a botched move. While it may seem like a stupid reason to fire someone, when you consider not only how much stock WWE takes in Twitter, but the fact that it’s a tool used by the wrestlers to connect with fans, it makes sense. Runnels’ behavior on the micro-blogging site has been repeatedly unprofessional, and when you work in a company that makes nearly all of its money from fans and wouldn’t exist without its dedicated fan base, I have to side with the company.
Although the official reason for his firing was the botch last Friday night, like I said before, I think it was simply an excuse to finally be rid of Runnels and his increasingly bizarre and unprofessional behavior outside of the company.
