After Zaria emerged as the last woman standing at “WWE NXT” Revenge, WWE tried to create a sense of closure for her, and her former friend Sol Ruca, by showing a cinematic vignette. Instead, the company created an online uproar.
In the video, featured on the April 28 edition of “NXT,” Ruca’s face broke off into pieces, then turned to ash. Meanwhile, as she walked through towering, burning waves, Zaria vowed to scorch everyone and everything in her path forward. Many fans across the social media were quick to realize and chastise the scene afterward, particularly for its usage of AI (artificial intelligence). WWE Hall of Famer Bully Ray and TNA’s Tommy Dreamer, on the other hand, weren’t totally against it.
“Zaria’s entrance is part of that AI. It gave her a futuristic look,” Dreamer said on “Busted Open Radio.” “She looks like a futuristic warrior, like a Mad Max type of vibe … I loved like when the pieces of the face broke off. That’s like futuristic crap.”
While he seemed to personally enjoy the AI-generated video of Ruca and Zaria, Dreamer also recognized that, in general, artificial intelligence has a swarm of criticisms around it, with one of them being that it encourages laziness. Additionally, AI puts the work of real artists at risk.
“AI is taking away thought. AI is taking away artists, music, all that stuff,” Dreamer said. “So that’s why it has such a negative connotation. Then even, I’ve had wrestlers come up to me and be like, ‘Here’s a promo.’ And I’d be like, ‘Wow, that’s pretty good. Did you write it?’ And they’re like, ‘Well, I used AI,’ and I’m like ‘Yuck.’ AI’s talking the people in. I like it, but you have to make this your own. So I think that’s why it has a negative connotation … Also, AI would take away a lot of jobs from millions of people in an industry of all industries.”
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