One of the most unsettling aspects of Netflix’s Making A Murderer series was watching the manipulation of Brendan Dassey by the police. Whether you ultimately believe in the innocence of either Steven Avery or Dassey himself, the tactics employed by the men trying to coerce a confession out of a troubled teenage kid were unethical at best. Which is probably one of the reasons a judge last week overturned Dassey’s conviction, leaving the state in the position of having to either retry or release him.
Attentive viewers know that Dassey was hoping to get home in order to watch WrestleMania. Onion, Inc. staffer (and A.V. Club contributor) Ashley Ray-Harris certainly took note, which is why she launched a Change.org petition to get Dassey lifetime passes to see WrestleMania. “Brendan was clearly taken advantage of by the cops and his attorney in Making A Murder,” Ray-Harris explains. “His conviction being overturned is only the beginning of correcting this injustice. I figure lifetime passes to Wrestlemania can’t hurt either.” Obviously, like all Change.org petitions, this gesture is largely symbolic, but the hope behind it—that WWE will take note and decide to make a charitable (and press-grabbing) move by bequeathing Brendan permanent access to its yearly event—is real enough.