I'm sure many of you have seen the on-air interviews on youtube or tv about the Benoit murders enough times to make us sick. My question is at this point what do you think of the points made from both sides?
A few things that I know for sure are:
1. The media loves to quickly point fingers, heavily exaggerate the truth, heavily speculate and sometimes flat-out lie.
2. We can not conclude anything until the toxicology reports come in.
3. This sort of thing does not just happen in pro wrestling.
I have heard good points from both sides. (I am referring to the marc mero/Finlay debate on CNN below)
Marc Mero said there needs to be some kind of change. Health care, other benefits like other pro sports get. These sort of things have been attempted in the past in the wwe by jesse Ventura (which he talks about in his book) but supposedly he was double crossed by Hogan (hogan is said to have told Vince about this and vince put a stop to it).
Finlay said that the wrestlers make a lot of money and can easily afford healthcare. This is true, I mean really how hard is it for anyone under WWE contract to afford healthcare.
Mero seems to say that steroids has cost the lives of the 60+ wrestlers on the infamous list.
Finlay said that only 5 were under contract at the time of death, and that those other men made the choice themselves. He says its up to the individual what he does to his/her body.
Mero said that wrestlers are inadvertantly told to take steroids to keep up with the schedule and look big on tv.
Again Finlay says its a choice.
Here is my take.
I have never wrestled the schedule that these guys have had to do so I can't speak on that; however I just do not believe that steroids need to be taken in pro wrestling (I am not denying that they are taken though). I think it is a shortcut that can provide some people with an easier way to cope with stress. Everyone has stress in their lives. Everyone has a choice on how they deal with it. Also one does not need steroids to be big physically; one also does not need to look like Hulk Hogan to be World Champ (ex. HBK, Foley, Sting, Flair, Edge, rey mysterio, ect ect)
For, example, a father with a family of three working 70 hours a week has an incredible amount of stress. Some poeple would turn to drugs or alcohol, some would quit their job, some would cheat on their wives. That is up to the individual. I completely agree with finlay that it is a choice. Brock Lesnar was a huge star and main eventer, he quit because he couldn't take the schedule. GREAT! Good for him, that IMO was the right choice. He decided that it wasn't for him. Its not the end of the world, he has been successful in other ways. (plus he gets to bang sable haha)
There are only 5 wrestlers who have died on WWE watch. The media hates when someone argues against this. Why? If Jerome Bettis died today of heart failure would the NFL be to blame? If so, that is ridiculous. Heart failure can be caused by just about anything, everyone's body is different.
As far as the random drug policy the wwe has, is there a better way to do it? People cheat drug tests all the time and will continue to do so. Benoit was tested in April and was negative, who is to say he didn't take drugs the next day? There is nothing the WWE or anyone can do about that. It is way too outrageously expensive, even for Vince or any other sports league, to test someone everyday.
In conclusion, I agree with mero that something needs to change, but that is basically just pointing the finger. The real question is what can be done instead? There is not an answer to that, people will do what they want regardless of any guidelines that are in place.
Sorry about the rant I was just all fired up.
imp:
