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GUEST EDITORIAL
By Jon Gold
PWTorch.com Reader

I just read your critique of the Mick Foley interview, and was motivated to write. Feel free to dismiss this as the rambling of a disgruntled Foley fan, but...

I think you're judging Mr. Foley pretty harshly. I agree that unprotected chairshots are a dangerous thing in wrestling, and they should be heavily sold to underline their impact. But to try and take him to task for making everyone who sells a chairshot look like a wimp, and to say Foley is bad for wrestling in general... I gotta disagree.

I think it would take a LOT to make Foley "bad for the business," and one stiff chairshot improperly sold is not going to change all the great things he did for the industry (wrestling autobiographies, anyone?). I also have a real issue with the "moral high ground" you seem to be trying to claim.

I would go so far as to say that the ENTIRE sport of wrestling, from chairshots to bumping to drugs to ladder matches to diving headbutts, is not good for the health of its employees. It is an exploitative relationship, with all of the hardships and problems of the road well attested to, much less the physical and mental effect of bumping for 300 or so nights a year. It's bad for the health of its performers whether or not their style is "hardcore," and kills young men before they're 40. And we support it, with our time and money. We decide whether or not it repulses us morally that none of these guys diving onto concrete have health insurance.

So, how do you manage to block that out and single out Foley as some sort of representative of all that's wrong in wrestling? Aren't there much more deserving targets you could direct your criticism toward?

And really, we all know TNA sucks - what did you expect from the booking? Do you think he just decided himself to get up after that chairshot to apply the Mandible Claw? No, I'll bet that spot was planned ahead of time, with input from the writers. Again, your criticism seems strangely misdirected.

Abyss gets thrown into tacks, set on fire, and basically does everything he can to kill himself to get over (and still fails), and Foley, a man who has proven he can withstand more abuse than the average human (and has made a lot of money doing it), takes one stiff chairshot and suddenly it's bad for wrestling? It seems to be some sort of weird double standard, at least from my perspective.

As for Foley's ability to "be a healthy, mentally alert father," I can attest, after seeing his commentary on the WWE 24/7 replay of the Showdown at Shea from 1980, that he definitely has all his wits about him. Hell, I'm more inclined to think Mike Adamle has suffered serious brain damage in some way.

And finally (you're welcome), do my eyes deceive me, or is Wade Keller marking out for the WWE Hall of Fame? Yeah, it's nice to watch the older stars have their ego's stroked, and it's a feel good show for everybody. But to think the WWE's handpicked list of people they think "deserve" to be in their hall of fame is in any way representative of what a real wrestling hall of fame would look like is ridiculous. I have a feeling Bruno Sammartino and the Macho Man would make it into the real one. It's a gimmick, like everything else, and I'm sure everyone there knows it is too (besides the fans, apparently). It's seems pretty amazing to me that even bastions of smart-markish excellence such as the Torch actually believed Ric Flair was retiring. It's a sad day for smarks, I tell you.

Anyways, there, I've vented. Sorry for the vitriol, but man, I loves me some Mick Foley. Did you ever see him in World Class? When I was a kid, he scared the piss out of me. So I think I have a little bit of a soft spot for him. Obviously. Plus his books were great.

My apologies for the length of this thing, and thanks for giving me an opportunity to rant. No matter if I agree or disagree, the Torch is always a quality product. Thanks for all the hard work.

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