Welp…Enzo officially suspended.
The fact that nobody really pick up this story pretty much tells me that it’s not really a big deal to anybody right plus i feel anybody that throw allegations like this under their twitter handle instead of they’re real name kinda send a red flag as far as validity of the allegations. Anyway, if this gets pick up by the medias which i feel it won’T then don’t be surprise if Cedric Alexander wins the title on sunday and Joins Rich Swann on the suspended list until the whole thing is resolve.
Why do you choose to ignore the fact that Phoenix PD confirmed that a report was filed and the incident is still under investigation?
didn’t know that part of the story, like i wrote before, i just heard of the story through this board as it wasn’t reported anywhere until just now when WWE decided to suspended him. If i would have known the whole story i wouldn’t have written what i’ve written.
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There’s nothing in the story to say Enzo was taking drugs, it just says they got her fucked up on meth, weed & coke, and even then it’s her side of the story right now.
I think it’s pretty common knowledge that he does smoke weed(as well as others in the company) but that’s just a fine with the company.
I’ve noted his meth eyes since day one… However to be fair, I’ve said the same about SF Giants outfielder Hunter Pence’s eyes for years and I doubt that Pence knows what meth is.
That being said, except on rare occasions, usually the dude supplying the party favors is partaking in those party favors. Sure, once in a blue moon, they aren’t but doubtful Enzo is the exception…
I’m impressed with Enzo being a functional meth head…I’m not impressed with his choice of DM chicks.
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Just as a primer for anyone who hasn’t heard or read a lot of the studies done by people in the sort of world we live in today.
Rape tends to be a crime that leaves little evidence, tends to be mishandled (three stories there) by police and the courts, and tends to be committed in private by people. Not to mention that the ideas of toxic masculinity that exist in society (oversexualization, “bro culture”, there’s definitely better examples but I’m trying to get this out quickly here) do really rather help men commit sexual assault and rape without even really realizing it. There’s some larger sociological underpinnings there that would take a lot of time to get through, and chances are there isn’t much I can say to change your mind within the context of rape allegations, so we’ll move on from writ large concepts into specific mythology.
The popular myth behind stuff like this is two-fold. First, there’s an idea that women are banding together to conspire against the rich and the famous to try to get them fired or to get money from them or what have you. I have not seen any reputable proof that this has ever existed. There’s definitely individual cases of blackmail, but that’s a crime committed by criminals so it doesn’t make sense to me to throw out everyone’s stories just because it’s theoretically possible for crimes to be committed by people. I don’t know if there’s any good data on this, but I’m going to guess that most sexual extortion is committed by people having affairs and not raping. I don’t have any evidence to back this up though, that’s just speculation.
The second big myth is that this is all a big witch hunt. So there’s throngs of women and any man who gets accused by them is done forever. Two sides of the same coin. This idea is ALSO ridiculous. The only people who have felt any real effect from this are people who have had THRONGS of women come forward as a result of abuse over an extended period of time with many converging points of evidence that more-or-less line up. Weinstein lost his job but has yet to be convicted. Cosby did not lose his job, technically speaking, (hard when you’re a freelancer really) but did lose fans and got criminally charged - and even that ended in a mistrial. Ghomeshi lost his job but failed to get convicted. Donald Trump is the fucking President. This myth of men somehow being forever castigated and punished because of this fringe of an accusation is a ///myyyyyttthhhhh/// with only the screams of scared men to support it. If it gets to the point where random men are losing jobs and getting locked up for completely baseless accusations, then so be it, let’s not have that in society. But more realistically, what’s happening is women are banding together, accepting that they’re probably not going to get any relief from the courts, forming whisper networks to inform each other about bad men, in an attempt to keep each other away from people who behave inappropriately, without having anyone get convicted (or even tried) for anything. It’s an economic hardship, maybe, on these men, but women are not obligated in any way to deal with men they choose not to, so unless you want to strip people of their autonomy, you pretty much -have- to be okay with these networks existing.
Let me tell you virtually exactly what’s going to happen. Enzo got suspended pending investigation. If charges have been filed, it probably will get settled out of court. If it gets investigated, there will be problems with the evidence. The trial will have tons of people discrediting the victim in the media and the courts (they will talk about her psychological instability, sex work, and drug addiction specifically). This will lead to Enzo’s exoneration. WWE may decide to cut him due to the spectre of the whole thing but he will be able to find other work at the drop of a hat. Might even make more money. His “witch hunt” will have all the potency of homeopathic cyanide.
Doesn’t mean he didn’t do it, doesn’t even mean he did. But if you’re going to blindly call this a witch hunt without even attempting to acknowledge the systemic problems with jurisprudence related to crimes that tend to be committed in private against vulnerable people, you haven’t been paying attention, full stop.
I want to address a couple of very specific things to this case to conclude.
First, this woman has had mental health issues, is a sex worker, has issues with drugs. Great, none of that exonerates Enzo. People who have had psychotic breaks can still get raped. Sex workers get raped ALL THE FUCKING TIME. As a matter of fact, mental health issues, drug abuse and sex work tend to go hand in hand, especially in regions where sex work is illegal. It’s really important to understand that this doesn’t exonerate, NOR convict Enzo. It just means that this woman is vulnerable, and the reflex to not believe her just because she’s a person of ill repute is a misguided and deeply stigmatizing force in our society today, and only serves to put those people in further danger in their daily lives.
Secondly, regarding what @Brad_The_Archivist said but also what I think a lot of people feel, the “court of public opinion” currently stands as the only place where women tend to feel safe going with their accusations. The refrain of “we believe survivors” doesn’t mean “we want to jail rapists without evidence”, contrary to the belief of some people. Of course people who have been violated want justice, but the very facts of rape generally being tried as a criminal offense (this article specifically talks about child sexual abuse but the legal facts are correct regardless) makes it nearly impossible for any women to deal with any of their issues. If you really want the court of public opinion to NOT be the best option for people, you need to address the factors that make it so, and understand what needs to be done, not only in terms of education but in terms of how crime and punishment work in this context, and the difficulties behind it.
Final note, even when victims of sexual violence subject themselves to invasive rape kits, that tends to not work. States are still working on ways to make the use of rape kits more transparent. There’s allegations of mishandling of that evidence literally all over the place. Rape kits are also less effective virtually by the second after you’ve been victimized. If anything (say, profound intoxication, unconsciousness, psychological trauma) stops you from getting that kit, it may end up saying little to absolutely nothing. They are not the smoking gun you might think they are.
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@Deezy sorry I didn’t actually mean to single you out there by replying specifically to your post. Meant to just post it to everyone.
Unfortunately this is a wait and see kind of situation.
Well written.
He’s done. Either he’s a total idiot or a total idiot & a rapist.
Fantastic post. This should be sticked to the top of any similar thread going forward.
From the reports that I have read, it doesn’t look like her allegations have been ignored. The police have opened an investigation and that hasn’t concluded yet. So to say that the court of public opinion is that only place women feel safe to present their allegations is meaningless in this situation. So if proper justice is to be served, it seems the steps have already been taken to start that process.
My argument is against the swift and unfounded verdicts from the public, for or against the alleged victim. Lets leave the verdicts to the courtroom.
Saw her video where she talked non chalantly about her ex boyfriend raping her and then decided to prank him on video by pretending she was pregnant because no one dumps her and she wanted him back. Yeah. It was a rollercoaster of emotions.
Dafuq? Its like the cruiserweights are cursed… injuries, the flu, Domestics, now rape.
Jesus.
Don’t but it… if Enzo was getting that fucked up, it would have shown up on a drug test. And he’s not important enough or liked enough for a look the other way situation.
Innocent till proven guilty… so I’m calling bullshit until proven otherwise.
You’ve missed the point, I’m afraid. Yeah, people have laid charges and had investigations and all that, but it doesn’t change the fact that in most cases so far, that’s turned out to be completely and utterly useless - perhaps even worse than nothing because it tends to exonerate rapists. There’s a massive amount of frustration around sexual assault trials that has absolutely not gone away. This particular woman’s allegations have not been ignored (yet) but that doesn’t mean they won’t be soon.
I do understand the idea of not having the public hold your trial. Obviously that’s a bad idea. But it would not be this way if it weren’t for some deeply problematic issues that I went into in my post. (Or at least, it wouldn’t be so strongly this way. Everyone still has opinions no matter what.)
I don’t think you should be brushing off the simple fact that in this situation nothing has failed this woman yet. You have just assumed that it will eventually fail her.
If this crime truly did happen, the police should come to that conclusion and punishment served out. If the police fail her and Enzo gets away with it, then I would say rally the masses on social media, pick up your pitch forks and touches to try and get justice.
Doesn’t matter what is on her twitter feed in the past or what we, strangers, view of her character based off of it. Facts are she claims this occurred, took it to the authorities, and it’s being investigated as it should. WWE did the EXACT right thing, and if even a smidge of this turns out to be confirmed Enzo should be gone. No room for this crap (and that’s using my PG language).
Edit: as for the court of public opinion thing, I assume, unless it’s proven 100% false, the public, especially the wrestling public, will let enzo have it in a big time, and loud way. I don’t even see how WWE could put him on TV now without some choice chants ringing out that aren’t to PG.
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I think you’d be well served to reread the sections I wrote about how rape is virtually impossible to do anything about in the courts. Pay close attention to when rape happens, how beyond a reasonable doubt is an impossible standard to meet generally, and how rape kits are unreliable even when they’re not being mishandled by states.
Look, if rape trials had any sort of record of working, I’d agree with you. If there weren’t systemic roadblocks to a reasonable trial when it comes to sexual assault, fine, point conceded. But there is no record and there are roadblocks. This leaves a lot of survivors feeling (quite rightfully) that the only thing they have is each other. This is why whisper networks exist and why people chanted “we believe survivors” when Ghomeshi got acquitted. (Granted, that was a Canadian trial but both countries have similar judicial issues).
I will absolutely brush off the fact that a court nor the police have misbehaved yet. I’m virtually certain it will happen, and if it doesn’t happen, it will be a massive, unprecedented victory for survivors, and I will gladly point it out, I will shout out the investigators and the judges proudly. Even if there’s an acquittal on reasonable grounds (eg: they were proven to never be in the same place, enzo has an alibi, etc) I will be happy. I don’t want a witch hunt, obviously. But the lack of faith demonstrated by people didn’t come from nowhere and doesn’t exist in a bubble.