Wrestlers have legit concerns — and a few jokes — after Twitter moves to paid verification

If you’re not on Twitter all the time, or paying close attention to all the drama on the social media platform since Elon Musk took ownership of it last year... first & foremost, good for you!

If you’re like me and can’t look away because of work and/or a tendency to do things you know are bad for you, you already know about what The Verge called “Twitter’s blue check apocalypse.” For those blissfully unaware, the nutshell version is that yesterday (April 20), Musk & team removed the familiar blue “Verified” badge from all users and accounts that the previous Twitter owners gave out so we all had a way to tell if we were dealing with the actual person or entity (or people they paid to run their online activity) they purported to be.

Now, businesses and government organizations can apply for a yellow “Verified” badge. But any blue checks you see will be because the account is paying $8 per month for Twitter Blue, a program which provides features like editing tweets and posting longer messages & video... and gets you the blue checkmark that used to mean someone at Twitter had confirmed you are who say you are.

Musk will tell you this is making the platform more egalitarian. Most users will tell you it makes the virtual place even more prone to confusion and misinformation than it already was by making it impossible to tell the difference between a bunch of different Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson accounts.

We use Rocky as an example for a couple reasons. One, while he’s enough of a business he’ll probably eventually end up with a yellow check, he has yet to buy a blue one. Two, because he used to be a pro wrestler, and that’s a profession where a lot of people rely on Twitter to establish and grow their own businesses.

Naturally, a lot of them had reactions to yesterday’s change. Alexa Bliss, who’s raised the alarm about imposter accounts in the past, has a crucial concern:

Confronted with someone who buys into what Musk is selling (and is using their newfound status to pretend to be a fictional organized crime lawyer), Bliss explained her issue more fully:

Her co-worker Dijak is having some fun, but also points out another potential issue with Twitter Blue:

And their fellow Superstar Zelina Vega has a suggestion for another way folks can use the cost of their Blue subscription fee:

Your favorite foul-mouthed joshi has a more succinct approach to the whole situation...

And unlike the poors, AEW World champ MJF paid up — and used it to further his current angle in the process...

... Max’s friend sent his $8 bucks, but Sammy Guevara is still waiting for his check to clear...

Let us know what you make of this clustermuck, Cagesiders.