Must read update from Meltzer
http://www.wrestlingobserver.com/wo/news/headlines/default.asp?aID=20158
A fabulous rant by Dave Meltzer, as he goes off against Ken Kennedy’s “personal choice” essay. My favorite line: “What personal choice did Nancy and Daniel Benoit make?” Amen.
And then, further down the update, we discover that Mark Henry wanted to retire 3 years ago, but Benoit convinced him to return. Well, damn, we should have known THEN that he was no good.
I’m no good with the touchy-feely stuff, so thanks for letting me know that it’s okay to start using Benoit as the punchline for tasteless jokes now. Here’s my contribution:
How many Benoits does it take to screw in a light blub?
Four, because three are dead and can’t do anything!
I feel like the only way things will ever change in the WWE is if wrestlers keep leaving the company. In the past few years, Christian, Chris Jericho, Big Show, Lance Storm, Tajiri, Trish Stratus, Stacy Keibler, and Lita - all of whom were anywhere from fairly to very over and could still contribute - have all left the company to pursue other interests, realizing that they didn’t need to be working a full-time schedule anymore, and having saved enough money to be able to make such a choice. I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to say that most of those named were tired of seeing their peers breaking down/dropping dead, and they didn’t want to stop living just yet.
How could you forget the Rck.
I meant the Rock.
I considered Rocky, but he left to go do more work, on what can be argued is an even busier schedule. And, he basically left at Vince’s urging, because Vince could make more money with an Exec. producer’s credit on a movie than he could with Rocky in the WWE.
Slam has an interesting article, Wrestlers who kill: A history lesson. A list of wrestlers who have either commited murder or wound up killing themselves.
http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/Benoit/2007/07/08/4323331.html
Doesn’t the fact that those people you listed have proven more than capable of working, saving and then walking away perfectly happy belie the whole “wrestling kills” line?
I’ve never had the problem with Mark Henry that others seem to have with him. He’s meant to be the big, fat monster heel in the mold of an Earthquake or King Kong Bundy and I think he plays his role fine. The only person I can think of who was significantly better in that role than Mark Henry is Vader. Of course, Vader was several standard deviations above the average fat monster heel.
Wow. Meltzer’s article put a tear in my eye.
I love Wrestling, and because I love it, I really hope its inner workings and sub-culture changes into a more healthy one for the performers who have entertained me over the years.
I’m really torn. I understand Scott and Meltzer have an issue with what Kennedy wrote in relation to Benoit that makes sense. But Kennedy did make sense on the financial aspect of saving money cause it won’t last forever and comparison to athletes in other sports and Hollywood going broke after their careers are over!
Yeah, but from what I’ve seen the lower card guys (especially starting out) aren’t making that much after travel. If they have kids at home and a spouse not working, they won’t have that much to save. And guys on most indys are probably living hand to mouth. It’s really easy for a guy starting out and getting a push to say all these things.
Meltzer articulated his points well and had a lot of important things to say but I can’t 100% agree with him. He’s talking out of both sides of his mouth regarding the steroids issue - he should at least make a point to say “independently of the fact that the Benoit murder-suicide probably wasn’t caused by steroids i think this should be used as a wake up call to make changes regarding steroids”. He’s doing the same reactionary stuff that the media is about the steroids, jumping to conclusions and assuming that steroids are an every day fact for 90% of the guys in the business. Also he lost a lot of credibility saying that Nancy Grace comes off as informed or intelligent in any way, she doesn’t. She’s one of the worst examples of our diseased TV newsmedia, instead of being patient, researching, acquiring facts and finding credible sources she gets on a soapbox about things she knows little of and starts pontificating. To say she has any credibility is to destroy your own.
Wrestling does need to change, but less because of the Benoit murder-suicide and more because of the drug and steroid related deaths which I honestly believe were not a big factor in this incident. He also needs to stop pointing fingers at people in WWE and asking them to speak out. WWE must have corporate confidentiality agreements and wrestlers have to feed their family, going on record saying wrestling needs a union or blasting the wellness policy is just begging for a release. It’s not Finlay’s fault that he was sent as an ambassador of the company and given a script of things to say, that’s what ANY company would do running damage control whether you agree with it or not and it doesn’t lessen my respect for him.
Not to turn this into a bash on Meltzer but I have to make this point somewhere. I just ordered a subscription to the newsletter not what it used be. Yeah it’s got a lot of info you can’t find on the web, BUT PO’d that I paid for a “Wrestling” newsletter thats sometimes half if not more about MMA.
That’s another thing, he CONSTANTLY talks about UFC and other MMA promotions and makes comparisons all the time. Drug testing in MMA and drug testing in wrestling are two different things, MMA is a competitive sport and wrestling is an entertainment product. I don’t disagree that it’s a good idea in wrestling that should absolutely be implemented but in the case of MMA it’s inarguable that it should be mandatory and they shouldn’t be tooting their own horn for having it. MMA is a young sport and who knows what will happen with these guys down the line. It’s entirely possible that the guys who broke out in the 90s start dropping dead in the 2010s and they pull the curtain back and find the same things as in wrestling. They are very careful about their public image since unlike wrestling, the media treats them as sports and not entertainment but who knows what, if anything they are covering up? MMA people do not compete exclusively in California and there are months between fights. Can you prove the guys aren’t doping? Many certainly LOOK like they are.
And about MMA’s “mandatory” testing for drugs:
http://ufcjunkie.com/2007/04/26/report-ufc-opts-for-no-drug-testing-at-ufc-69-or-ufc-70/
Yeah.. and there have been quite a few positive drug test for MMA guys recently… so if Meltzer is talking about their drug testing as superior, then maybe he should check some sources. Because in that link, a VP for UFC says they couldnt do anything if they got a positive drug test, which I thought was odd, because if they are under a contract, you could fine or suspend them
MMA’s guys seem, if anything, MORE likely than wrestler to use steroids since they have to move around weight classes. You can get a push in wrestling if you’re a small guy, like for instance, Chris Jericho. It just takes a lot of extra work. I am willing to bet that street drugs are no stranger to MMA culture either.
That maybe one of the biggest crimes Vince McMahon ever got away with was getting Pro Wrestling deregulated in many states by playing the “it’s entertainment, not a sport card” Unfortunately that trend was started right here in my state of New Jersey in 1989.
What exit are you?
I’m exit 98 off the Garden State Parkway. No joke.
Is that the Asbury Park area? I’m exit 9 off the turnpike and around 120 or so for the parkway.
Exit 137 or 136 off Parkway. Revel Revel Jersey Represent!!
Guys, The fact of the matter is that we love this business, and we push this guys to deliver… and if they dont, we bitch about it… What benoit did, was not a result of steroids, he simply was a quiet sick fuck… lets turn the page and move on… musicians will die, actors will die, jocks will die… hell, maybe Ill die too. Whatever it has been said, I know all of you will tune in monday night for your weekly quota of the stuff we love.
While I doubt that Chris Benoit did this because of steroids (it’s probably a needle in the haystack of multiple factors causing this) we don’t actually know what made him do it and it’s all speculation. I’m sort of chafed by anybody linking it to “rage”-everything about the crimes signifies depression. The bibles, the slow and methodical way they were carried out, his own suicide, the “I’m sorry” text message. When I think of rage I think of someone having a short temper, striking their spouse, breaking things and the like-not carrying out something methodical and ritualistic like this.
Meltzer is ignoring the facts of what COULD happen if the government interferes. Basically wrestling in the United States could get regulated to the point where it becomes unfeasible and unprofitable to do business here, there’s already the states with things like blading bans, strange athletic comission regulations (Missouri requires female wrestlers to get a pregnancy test before ALL matches. Sounds like a bunch of sexist, right wing pro-life posturing horse pucky to me). If that stuff starts spreading nation wide WWE would basically have to severely reduce the amount of shows they do, greatly lower the size of their touring roster and make all sorts of undesirable changes. It would also become COMPLETELY impossible for smaller organizations like Ring of Honor and PWG to do business.
It’s a double edged sword, all fans want the wrestling business to get better and their favorite wrestlers to stop dying but we also don’t want the government to crush the industry like a bug which they are not above doing.
I really can’t believe that people are using the fact that a wrestler who has worked for every company in the recent past snapped and killed his whole family and himself over a three day period to take shots at Vince. Its just pathetic at this point. You know who killed those people? Chris Benoit. You know who should be blamed? Chris Benoit. Ocasionally, people should be responsible for there own actions. And if you really believe that ‘the industry’ is responsible, maybe you should stop supporting it by fucking watching?
Obviously, Benoit killed his family and himself and Vince can’t be blamed for that. But the Benoit murders raises the questions as to why so many people under the age of 50 have died in the last 5 years. Heck, one minor leaguer died because of ephedrine and there was action by Congress.
I’m not saying the government should regulate wrestling, but I think wrestling has to clean up its act.
Even if you believe the industry isn’t the problem, what would be wrong about employing full-time concussion specialists? What would be the harm in a more liberal vacation policy for active performers? How would implementing these kinds of steps — which both Meltzer and Wade Keller, among others, have called for — hurt the product? Congressional intervention/regulation should be a last resort, but at the very least, what these publications are doing is calling for positive changes within the business, not for its’ abolition.
what if we boycotted a sponsor? if we flood…i dunno snickers’ inbox with emails (or send them actual letters) threatening to boycott their product unless they pull their ads from the WWE i bet we’d get the company’s attention. include a fan’s list of demands asking for stricter independent drug testing and more comprehensive medical benefits for performers. think it’ll work? i mean if we’re as relentless here over our hatred for HHH and Cena we might just do something.