ap.lep.wtf

Lately I've been watching a lot of old (mainly 2003-2005) WWE stuff, and there was one thing that I somehow remembered being a thing but also don't remember ever being on TV, the Tim White Lunchtime Suicide skits.

Starting at Armageddon 2005, we'd see former referee Tim White at a bar he owned, attempt to take his own life from depression after suffering a career injury at a previous Hell in a Cell match, to sell the brutality of the match, with another such match happening that PPV, then the next week we'd see that he failed and would try again, and so on. These mostly were online, and given the things WWE has gotten in trouble for before that's not really a surprise, but I think because of that, the whole series feels really weird to watch.

Even completely ignoring the subject matter, there's something eerie about each video. There are no crowd noises, not unusual for a WWE promo, but it does make them feel unusually "quiet"; Tim White and Josh Matthews act less like humans and more like cartoon characters (even by WWE standards) with the former trying increasingly over-the-top ways to off himself, and the latter being completely oblivious to it until it's too late, while all still being presented like a regular WWE promo. Then it ends, complete with a "THE END", bringing the now-obviously fictional angle to a close.

I really wonder whose idea this was, there's just no purpose for it in terms of selling tickets/merch, even the Armageddon skit (for the record I haven't seen this one) since you're already there/watching it, it seemed like they just wanted to have fun and make something weird, like a set of Looney Tunes shorts with WWE employees who had free time.

Playlist (Armageddon and one other skit are missing)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bOvHJKBL28&list=PLE2BAD7407573EBDD