4 – STAGE NAMES vs NICK NAMES
For centuries magicians have adopted stage names – whether it be changing an unattractive name like David Kotkin to David Copperfield, Steven Frayne to Dynamo, or just adding a ‘The Great’ or ‘The Amazing’ to the front of your real name.
Donald Trump never needed to learn that lesson because, just as his father had passed on his hard earned fortune to young Donald, his ancestors changed their surname of Drumpf to Trump.
However, Mr Trump seems to think that everybody needs a stage name and has been very generous in giving them out – especially to his political opponents.
- “Crooked Hillary” Clinton
- “Little Marco” Rubio
- “Lyin’ Ted” Cruz
- “Low Energy Jeb” Bush
In fact, the NY Times recently published a list of 239 people, places and things Trump has insulted just on Twitter alone – and Jimmy Kimmel took Trump to school courtesy of the Troompa Loompas who were not impressed with Trump’s bully behaviour.
How did Mr Trump come to the conclusion that fifth grade insults and bullying were the best way to win an election?
Perhaps it’s due to his time in the WWE. That’s right, Donald J Trump has been a character in the world of professional wrestling since 1998. He was even inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013 – amid non-stop booing during his entire time on stage. Vice Sports takes a look at his WWE career here.
In the WWE he was a natural fit with all the larger than life characters, saying and doing outrageous things to provoke reactions from the audience. Hurling ridiculous insults at each other and delivering cringe worthy, intentionally politically incorrect dialogue just to get the fans riled up. Just take a look at some of the insane storylines WWE fans have sat through over the last 20 years.
Except, maybe, Donald doesn’t realise it’s all an act.
Maybe that’s why Mr Trump has done and said even more outrageous things in the last twelve months alone.
The WWE performers are delivering scripted lines that make them look like bullies and bigots and, when they leave the building, they are just normal people again. They even run their own anti-bullying campaign.
Donald improvises lines that make him look like a bully and bigot, but then when he leaves the interview his character doesn’t change at all. (Some people say it does, but only a few)
The WWE “heel character” formula is simple. Just make statements that even the most dense WWE fan will recognise as being untrue. If you lose a match, say that you really didn’t lose it at all. Trump has followed that formula to the letter:
- He calls Elizabeth Warren a racist, then he says things like: “Black guys counting my money! I hate it. The only kind of people I want counting my money are little short guys that wear yarmulkes every day.”
- He says his proposed tax cuts will give tax relief for middle class Americans “in order to achieve the American dream”, but a close look at his policy shows he personally will profit in the billions.
- He accuses people of being child molesters, while a lawsuit alleges he raped a 13 year old girl.
- He says he supports people with disabilities “Nobody gives more money to Americans — you know, the Americans with Disabilities Act—big act. I give tens and tens of millions of dollars and I’m proud of doing it.” and then… this:
If the USA has to have a WWE character as President, could it at least be a fan favourite? Someone like Stone Cold Steve Austin who does incredibly cool things like this.
Mr Trump… STAGE NAMES ARE GREAT, NICK NAMES ARE NOT