Kharma

Good old J.R. has not caught a break on WWE television since I can remember . One week his business is trashed, a few weeks later he is drenched with barbecue sauce, and now he is portrayed as a sexist jerk thanks to a May 30, 2011 RAW promo by Kharma.

For a guy that wasn’t even on RAW, Jim Ross came out of the broadcast as one of the biggest heels in the WWE. A short anecdote told by Kharma as she gave her WWE exit speech prompted a backlash against J.R. the likes of which he probably hasn’t seen since his last WCW production meeting.

It all started at about 10:30 PM/EST on May 30, 2011. WWE "Diva" Kharma entered the ring to cut her much anticipated promo on RAW. Kharma confirmed a week of rumors about her pregnancy in her promo and said she would be leaving the WWE temporarily due to the recent turn of events. Ironically, she used an old story about Jim Ross to turn herself babyface and kill a lot of goodwill Jim Ross has created with the WWE Universe for almost two decades.

Kharma told a story on RAW about trying out for Tough Enough Season 2 in 2001. Kharma recalled Jim Ross turning her down for the opportunity to compete that season in Tough Enough. Kharma then said that Jim Ross told her she was "too fat." The crowd booed and instantly the monster who had been stalking Kelly Kelly for a month was now cheered as Jim Ross’ Twitter account blew up with a barrage of nasty tweets from outraged WWE fans.

I went on to Twitter to check out the post-RAW tweets as I normally do and also saw a ton of anti-Ross tweets. J.R. himself started tweeting in response to the numerous angry tweets he had received about Kharma. I was just stunned that so many people would be so short sighted as to blame Jim Ross for oh I don’t know…doing his job!

Don’t blame Jim Ross for telling Kia Stevens she needed to lose weight to become a WWE wrestler, blame Kia Stevens for showing up out of shape to the Tough Enough tryouts with little to no training. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to watch WWE programming and see that you need to be in great physical shape to be a WWE superstar. Could you imagine the backlash in the office if the WWE Executive Vice President of Talent Relations put Stevens through? The guy was just doing his job!

It is also very important to take a look at the big picture here. This wasn’t Kia Stevens walking into the Tough Enough tryouts in 2011 with ten years of seasoned training as arguably the best female pro wrestler in America. This was a barely trained Kia Stevens walking into Tough Enough overweight and asking to be put ahead of men and women who showed countless hours a day of commitment to their physical conditioning as part of becoming an elite professional wrestler. If physical conditioning was a big part of the criteria and she didn’t meet it, why should she get passed through?

Now should Jim Ross have told her she was "too fat"? Who knows if this story was even true? If so, it is a really tough debate to make right now in this world of politically correct language. She wasn’t trying out for the ballet. She was trying out for pro wrestling. Jim Ross isn’t there to make friends and let’s face it, he is just pointing out the obvious. Could he have had used better language? Sure, but it wouldn’t have mattered regardless.

Maybe I am crazy, but it sounded to me like the language actually inspired Stevens to go out there and prove him wrong? What if he gave her the runaround? Maybe she would have never went to Japan and earned her way to the WWE the hard way? Nobody will ever know the answer to these questions, but I think if you are going to bash him for what he said, it is also fair to keep in mind what happened after he said it.

Finally, what Stevens didn’t say on television is that Jim Ross was actually partly responsible for bringing her to the WWE last year. Ross and Steve Austin were big fans of Stevens and met her at a Cauliflower Alley Club banquet. The two actually helped her get into the WWE after meeting her three years ago. He just simply happened to recognize her talents and offer to help her out. Those same talents she didn’t have in 2001.

Take a look at Jim Ross’ track record of recruiting talent when he was running that department for the WWE. J.R. didn’t miss often and hit on a lot of talent that would turn into some of the biggest WWE superstars. I tend to think he knows what he is talking about and if Stevens wasn’t WWE material in 2001, I’ll lean towards his judgment.

So if you are going to call Jim Ross out for not putting Stevens through Tough Enough, praise him for recognizing her talents in 2010, and give the guy a break. He was just doing his job. He was casting for a part that she didn’t fit in 2001. She fit the part in 2010 and gave the woman an opportunity to fulfill her dream.

Since her departure due to her high risk pregancy, Stevens has only shown her face once and that was during the 2012 WWE Royal Rumble match entry as 21st only to be eliminated minutes later. Since her return to the Royal Rumble, the WWE Universe began to speculate the change of the current Divas Division. Speaking of the current state of the Divas Division, which brings us to the current Divas Champion and Kharma's likely Wrestlemania opponent, Beth Phoenix. A match between the two has been a dream match since each woman dominated their respective companies.

From 2007 through 2009, Beth was the top woman in the WWE, and Kharma under her Awesome Kong moniker, built a reputation for the TNA Knockouts division through a series of tremendous matches with Gail Kim.

Beth and Kharma are the complete opposite of what modern-day WWE looks for in their Divas. Both women are powerful and talented in-ring performers with backgrounds in professional wrestling.

A match between the two at Wrestlemania would not only provide the company with a legitimate wrestling match at the event for a women's title since Mickie James challenged Trish Stratus at Wrestlemania 22. It may also change the direction of women's wrestling in WWE.

Kharma brings with her intrigue and fan interest that was missing from the Divas Division during her absence. It is apparent, from the way she is treated as a major star, that the creative team is motivated by her character and her presence. As a result, the Divas' focus receives the attention it is often lacking.

Whatever path she takes on the Road to Wrestlemania, she gives fans something in terms of women's wrestling in the sport's top promotion they have not had in years: A reason to care.