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Submitted by Wevv Mang on Monday, August 20, 2007 at 1:28 AM EST
Ridin’ With The Bossman – Great American Aftermath Greetings! It’s been a while, hasn't it? Yes, I am still alive, and yes, I have been watching wrestling. Not with any great enthusiasm, or any great deal of thought put into what I was watching. No, basically, I just sat back, and watched the shows. Just to see what WWE was going to do after the Benoit tragedy. I was mildly entertained; I’ve skimmed news blurbs, and read about two more wrestlers died. There are some other things I’d like to discuss first. Mainly, Benoit. It’s been months since the tragedy happened, and the toxicology reports have come and gone, and the media furor has died down. But it hasn't gone away, not completely. It’s still there, lurking. Other news has taken it’s place, but it would be foolish in the extreme to think that the media has forgotten about the tragic deaths of two people, one a child, and the mystery surrounding the motive leading up the events. Benoit was found to have a very high level of testosterone in his system. He also had Xanax. Alcohol may have played a role, but due to the decomposition of the body, exact levels could not be determined. The ratings for the special stories on news shows went up, setting record highs. Larry King, the one that went on one hour before Raw, seems to be the only exception. On that show, the guys who spoke the best in my opinion, don’t work for WWE. On a side note, I had no idea that Marc Mero was Randy Orton’s uncle. Now, for the most part, the wrestling community seems to have pushed the Benoit murders and suicide from their thoughts. The general public had other sports scandals to occupy their attention. In fact, Just about every sport is getting hit with a scandal. Michael Vick and his alleged ties to a criminal dog fighting ring. There still is Barry Bonds and his steroid investigation, and Barry so far, has just tied the record. Then there is the NBA ref who threw games to help ease his gambling debts. Then there’s the Tour De France and it’s doping scandal. Football just started training camp, and there’s a few player who have violated the NFL’s substance abuse policy. Muscle tears abound, but then again, it’s the first few weeks of real training. Mixed martial arts, groups like Pride and UFC, who follow a rigorous testing policy, since they have to be sanctioned in states like California (who has a very strict policy), have been hit with steroid scandals. Seth Sherk and Hermes Franca have tested positive. The one thing that came out of the Benoit horror is that Benoit’s doctor got busted for distributing steroids. And Benoit wasn’t the only one getting prescriptions from this guy. Then, earlier this week, the hammer fell. Not only that, other doctor’s started turning up, not just for steroids, and some not even for steroids, but prescription abuse. In other words, leads into a long-standing investigation were finally turning up. Congress has come a calling, as Vince told us on last week’s Raw. They sent a letter to WWE. That letter can be read here: Letter to WWE From reading the letter, it looks like Congress is just after more information. It all depends on how much WWE cooperates, whether this will be made into something bigger. WWE is no stranger to being part of a congressional inquiry. They’ve been there before. In 1990. The fall out from that trial bent WWE out of shape for years. In fact, it was only a few years ago that Steph brought it up again. It’s become part of the WWE mentality. Us against them. A mentality that extended to fans disagreeing with their angles. If you didn't like an angle, then you hated WWE. And were the enemy. It’s still there to this day, but not as strong. Until more information and actual action takes place, all I have to go on is conjecture and guesses, and estimates. Judging by the shellacking that WWE has gotten when they’ve tried to send corporate tools out to spin their side of the story, I hope they learned a lesson. Fit Finley was horrible. Kennedy may be able to talk in a ring, but when it’s not scripted, he got pounded. Jerry McDervitt reminds me of those shady corporate lawyers, the ones who always hang out in shadows and whisper in their clients ears. Stick a cigarette in his mouth, and the image would be perfect. On Larry King, he was just there, and conversation drew down to a close, as the WWE guys seemed to fall silent. But make no mistake. The congressional inquisition is not a trivial, friendly matter. Especially not now. It could get ugly, especially if WWE keeps trying to take stabs at Congress for investigating a serious matter. It may be under the guise of “sports entertainment”, but it’s not going to win any favor. Zit’s one thing to poke fun of the government, but when you’re the subject, and you’re saying it on a weekly basis in front of three million viewers, well, Congress knows how to play rough too. And they have the advantage. This isn't about finding WWE guilty. It’s not a win-lose situation. It’s a group of politicians deciding what steps should be taken. Something is going to happen to WWE. It’s just a matter of what. It could be as simple as telling WWE to toughen up their Wellness program and leave it up to WWE to figure it out. Or, it could be decided that WWE is a lethal work environment, and from there, whoa boy, just about anything can happen. WWE doesn't have a union to fall back on to help them out. The fact that WWE is a major contributor to the US military when it comes to entertainment will play a factor, but still. Broadcasting outlets are finally feeling some freedom from the FCC, and believe me, they were scared. The networks banded together to fight them off. They're not in the clear yet, and the last thing they want to do is start causing trouble again. Especially for wrestling. Smackdown and Raw may be their top rated shows, but in the world of network programming, nothing is irreplaceable. That UFC seems pretty popular… Could WWE vanish overnight? No. I don't know what power these committees have, but they could hand down a harsh sanction, which would lead to closer scrutiny, and trials, and so on and so forth. In other words, years. These are just information gathering meetings. Barry Bonds broke Hank Aaron’s record. It’s been two years now since the world learned of Balco. Barry got off practically scott-free. Congress was blamed with botching the trail. Not pressing hard enough, not willing to take on a billion dollar sport, giving them a slap on the wrist, whatever. The speech by Aaron has been allowed to slide, but there’s too much material for pundits not to make a joke out of it. “Reach for your dreams”? How quickly will it, or has already, been turned into reaching for pills and needles? Congress will give the NFL a free pass. The NFL does have a much stronger testing policy, but I highly doubt that it’s foolproof. In fact, one of the Chicago Bears tested positive for steroids. Baseball was a wake up call to the other sports. Basketball, well, they have other problems. But it’s the off-season. But wrestling? Wrestling has always been the bottom of the barrel when it comes to sports. Sad but true. Wrestling is an easy target. WWE hasn't helped themselves, going for crappy controversial angles in recent years either. The deaths of young kids being blamed on pro-wrestling hasn't helped either. WWE is innocent in nearly every single incident, but there’s a reason that lawyers can throw wrestling at a jury and get easy sympathy. As Greg Gumble himself once said on a nationally televised football game a few years ago: ‘Wrestling? That’s worthless!” But that public perception may change. And not for the better. Now, it may become: “Wrestling? Isn’t that the sport where all those guys keep dying?” In fact, as part of the Flavor Flav roast on Comedy Central, a joke was made comparing someone to Chris Benoit. The time frame for making jokes is over, and granted, it may have been a stretch, but it seemed like the audience got it. Death and Wrestling is getting associated more closely. How that could be a good thing is beyond me. I truly believe that Vince wants to do the right thing, and cares about his employees. The problem on my end is from that is appears like WWE really isn't doing anything. A little research turned up rumors that Vince is serious about getting guys off steroids. Performers have gotten smaller. Well, most. A rumor turned up that apparently there are grief counselors at the shows. Or at least, there were. That seems like a bad idea, as that’s like having an AA consoler available at work, only right in the middle of everyone’s cubes, offices, or right up front where everyone can see you going in. In other words, it’s on display for everyone to see and make snap judgments about the motive for even walking into the office. Some guys have gotten smaller, and as they shrink, it seems like we’re getting less wrestling on our TV. That’s not a good thing, in my opinion. The increase in skits just means that it’s going to be hit or miss, and puts more pressure on the writing staff, who I have never had much faith in. We’re had some good skits, no doubt about that, two weeks ago, but last week? Meh. But that’s a different topic entirely. Right now, it’s what has WWE done in the wake of the Benoit tragedy. I know what has happened. Two more wrestlers have died. John Kronus, once part of ECW, a member of the tag team, the Eliminators, once ECW Tag Team Champions passed away. He was found in his apartment in New Hampshire. He is survived by his fiancée, and his nine-year-old son Gage. The cause of death is suspected to be from an enlarged heart. He had recently undergone knee surgery. Kronus died in his sleep. Bryan Adams, formerly known as Crush, and part of demolition passed away. He was 43. He as found not breathing by his wife. Paramedics were unable to revive him. Cause of death has not been released, and an autopsy is pending. The death of Bryan Adams made the news. It raised the question again about death and WWE. The only saving grace from making the news bigger was the fact that the media messed up by saying he was a WWE wrestler, when in fact, he was not employed by WWE or had been, for some time. The media let it drop. But it does show that they are paying attention. And are hoping the public decided to go into a frenzy. WWE missed their deadline to submit their information to Congress. Their letter response to Congress about it can be read here: Response Letter From WWE Bottom line, WWE has a program in place, the guy running it is willing to describe how it works. Basically, what the program does is test for drugs, prescription and other, determine the levels in the system, and whether they may be hazardous, and check the heart for problems. WWE is getting the records from Dr. Black, and have hired one of Dr. Armstrong, the guy who does all the surgeries, and is a leader in sports medicine (he does NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL sports stars operations, co-workers. A Dr. Tracy Ray. This Doctor is going over the records of what was prescribed, and whether it was in necessary levels and so on. The public may have learned that WWE is being investigated by Congress. They’ve even requested information recently from TNA and the NWA. Congress more than likely only recently learned of TNA’s existence when they hired Pacman Jones. The government is doing something. The WWE published a lot of official letter on their website following the death of Benoit’s family. Same with Bryan Adams. Then, on their television show, they called the government, not straight out, but basically a bunch of poopyheads. How mature. Other than that, not much appears to have been done on WWE’s part. Some talent was sent home, like Jeff Hardy, which is noticeable to the fans by Jeff’s absence. Yet, the big message that WWE should have sent to fans, being: “We are concerned, we care, we are doing something, and this is what we’re doing.” Was not done. What type of public displays? What type of positive message? The kinds that fans can read and say to themselves, that’s what they were looking for. Messages like more extensive testing. Messages like people got fired. Messages like suspending wrestlers, even though they may have been main event level. Messages like coordinating with outside agencies to help raise awareness of the dangers of steroids. Bottom line, I’m not sure what, but something positive. Not whining and defensive posturing. That just makes WWE look guilty, and that they are trying to hide something. Now, I do understand that the taunts towards the government were part of a show. That’s all fine and dandy, except for one thing. THAT message went out louder than the conciliatory letter about cooperating. One is an angle for entertainment, but when mixing the two, lines get blurred. As for the firing of people, well, it should have happened. At some level. There were problems before Benoit snapped. It did catch people by surprise, but the fact that no one really seemed to be looking is a lapse. Too late to make a difference? For that crime, yes, to the possibility of future incidents? No. Some one slipped up, and in such incidents, well, it is ultimately management’s responsibility. Vince makes the final calls in decision like that true, but what’s the point of having some one in charge of talent, if Vince is micromanaging everything? It’s not the best answer, but it’s hard to argue that when you hear some one has been fired from a company, it does indeed make that company look like it’s doing something. And if Johnny Ace were to be canned, well, it’s not like that wouldn’t have some merit. An announcement that there would be more frequent testing? A good signal to the public that WWE is reacting in a way to ensure the safety of their talent. A definite pro-active step in my mind. And that’s the kicker out of all of this for me. I know it takes time to make changes. Time has passed, and well, it’s back to business as usual. WWE should have taken steps, and instead it’s government that has taken the lead. That’s gotta be embarrassing to say the least. The government is not known for being on top of things. “Slow” is a polite word to use when describing the speed of the government. Katrina anyone? WWE should have been leading the charge. WWE is the leader of the business after all. And WWE reacted like the government is accused of doing. Sitting on their hands, and trying to just wait until it blows over. WWE should have learned their lesson from the media storm. WWE should have learned their lesson from the first steroid trial in 1991. People were paying attention then, and asking questions. Not just about the murders. But about the fact that so many wrestlers have died in such a short amount of time. WWE is not entirely to blame, but they aren't blameless. How much is a matter of debate, and personally I don't think it’s a lot. The rumor seems to be that many knew steroids were being used, or growth hormone, or whatever. It was rumored to be something that was overlooked, with a wink and a nod. Again, it’s not just the roids, but the style. How many have resigned or been let go, and said that the pressure was too much? Again, it’s a matter of conjecture, but it does indicate that there is a problem. WWE dropped the ball. And for this fan, it was disappointing. Ratings have been down since the Benoit murders. A lot of reasons could be read into the reason why. However, there is one that I will offer. It was a hope that something was going to be different after Benoit went nuts. Instead, it was a reinforcement of the same old, same old, right down to the booking of the shows. That’s not what I was looking for, both as a show, and from the company that I’ve spent so much time paying an obsessive amount of attention to. So, what will happen? It’s the same question I’ve been asking myself for weeks. Will Congress impose changes on WWE? Will the wrestlers stop dying? Will it make any difference? All I do know, is that Vince doesn't like to be told what to do. Especially from a group like Congress. Whatever they suggest, the mere fact that some organization is telling him what to do, no matter how good of a suggestion it may be, or not, will chafe him. WCW was turned into something different because it wasn’t a WWE idea. ECW was turned into what it is now, much different from what it was. Why? Vince didn't think of it. So, maybe those suggestion made by Congress will be transformed into the WWE version instead. But then again, in the simplest of ideas, a slight change can make it something other than it what intended. And that’s all I got for today. I apologize for the lack of columns lately. But, I’m going to see if I can change that. The will hasn't really been there, but if I’m going to go out, well, let’s see if I can do it with style. So, until next time, Thanks For Readin’ and Thanks For Ridin’ Wevv Mang Please label all feedback as FEEDBACK. mrwevv@mac.com *NEW GALLERY* Even MORE Hot Shots of TORRIE WILSON Tearing the Night Up!
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