Mick Foley upset at Tough Enough Amanda "slut-shaming" Sara Lee

The low point of last night's WWE Tough Enough finale was the decision by the company to air footage of Amanda Saccomanno complaining about Sara Lee's sexual activities at weekends and accusing her of "sleeping her way to the top". It reeked of desperation on the side of both guilty parties. For Amanda, who was clearly less popular than Sara Lee throughout the series, it was a classless attempt to smear the reputation of her opponent and sway public opinion in her favour, whilst WWE were motivated by ratings, plain and simple.

One person who was very unhappy over this turn of events (and rightfully so) was Mick Foley, who correctly branded Amanda's tactics as "slut-shaming" in an outspoken Facebook post entitled "The Night Mick Got Mad":

"Yes, I kind of lost it for a few minutes while watching the season finale of WWE ‪#‎ToughEnough‬. Although I hadn't commented publicly on the show since the ouster of Patrick Clark seven weeks ago, I'd been watching with my younger kids (who claim it's "best show ever, in the history of TV) and have actually enjoyed the shows the past few weeks - when the emphasis was put on wrestling, instead of random "challenges". I hadn't planned on commenting on the show, voting, or telling anyone who to vote for.

Then I heard it - Amanda publicly "exposing" rumors of Sara Lee's sex life, in an an attempt to sway voters against her. My immediate thought: she just slut-shamed Sara Lee on national television" - and it struck me as a hateful, petty, vindictive thing to do. Alas, for Amanda, the tactic seemed to backfire, and the bikini model from Yorktown Heights lost in a nearly 2-1 landslide, despite having advantages in almost every category that would seem to matter - beauty, body, athleticism, a save from The Miz, and her self-professed "it" factor.

So I broke my silence, sent out a tweet about how I felt about the situation, and could not have been happier with the outcome of the show. Someone pointed out to me that, in fairness to Amanda, that "apparently there was evidence, Mick". To which I replied "I don't give a crap if there was "evidence" - it was mean-girl bullying, and the antithesis of showing tolerance and respect."

There's a chance - probably a good chance - that WWE will hire Amanda to a developmental contract. If they do, I suggest they give her a little talk about sexual bullying, or "slut-shaming" - described by the Urban Dictionary as "an unfortunate phenomenon in which people degrade or mock a woman because she enjoys having sex, has sex a lot, or may even just be rumored to participate in sexual activity." I wish one of the judges, coaches or other participants would have publicly acknowledged Amanda's accusation. They didn't. So I have.

What's the big deal? Simple. Slut-shaming affects lives. It destroys lives. Sometimes, when the burden of public shaming becomes too much to bear, it can even end them.

I've put my time and money behind what I believe, which is the reason I'm proud to be part of the upcoming "UnSlut: A Documentary Film". Please watch and share the trailer. You might just make the world a little better place for all mankind. Just turn down the volume if you're watching at work....that "S" word come flying out at you a few times. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXvh9c79gqg"

Although Foley didn't outright say it, the wording of his post points towards the hypocrisy of WWE promoting their Be A STAR (Show Tolerance And Respect) anti-bullying campaign, whilst allowing someone to be bullied on their reality television show Tough Enough.

There's another latent hypocrisy here. Would a male contestant ever try to shame his rival with accusations that he was sleeping around with female NXT wrestlers? If he did, would anyone perceive it negatively? Most likely, he would be praised for being such a stud. On his radio show last week, after Amanda had called Sara Lee "a ring rat" on Tough Talk, Dave Meltzer noted how he hated these double standards in professional wrestling and how it had always bothered him how male wrestlers got a free pass for extra-marital affairs and sleeping around on the road, whilst female wrestlers would often be bullied over similar behaviour. Meltzer finished off the discussion by saying that:

"I know women in wrestling that have gotten reps for doing stuff that PALE compared to what guys do. I also know stories of women that are sleeping around in wrestling, I mean there have been times where I've heard about stuff where I know it's also, I'm not saying it's false, because it's not, but it's greatly exaggerated in some cases."

The fact that WWE would happily allow someone to be slut-shamed on their television suggests that these double standards likely still exist inside the company and that they aren't quite as progressive as they make themselves out to be.