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The Specialists
KEY MOMENT OF THE WEEK (highly recommended read!): U.S. Government Remembers the Wrestling Industry Jan 4, 2009 - 3:56:24 PM
After a year of apparent inactivity, U.S. government Rep. Henry Waxman issued a letter to the Officer of the National Drug Control Policy, stating that the WWE and TNA have not done enough to address the problem of steroid abuse in pro wrestling. Whether the letter will have any major impact on the industry remains to be seen, but it certainly proves the government have not forgotten about wrestling.
The heat was very much on the WWE and Vince McMahon in the summer of 2007. After the Benoit double-murder-suicide, the WWE was not only fodder for every scare-mongering talk-show host in North America, the U.S. government was beginning to take notice. The wrestling industry had benefited from decades of self-regulation, during which numerous wrestlers died before the age of 40, as the Government seemed to have no interest in regulating such a lowbrow form of entertainment.
A tragedy like that of the Benoit family seemed to have finally awoken the American government to the abnormally low life-expectancy for pro wrestlers that has been blindingly obvious to anyone with even a passing interest in the sport over the past 20 years.
Key WWE employees were interviewed by government officials, including the McMahons and Dr. David Black, who oversees WWE's Wellness Policy. However, as the media storm subsided, the interest from the government seemed to disappear. Apparently legitimate sports such as baseball were more of an immediate concern. The promise of improved testing was enough for the government leave the wrestling industry to its own devices.
Now, Henry Waxman has brought the issue of drugs in pro wrestling back to the public's attention, and in doing so has identified a key deficiency in the WWE Wellness Policy: wrestlers who fail a test serve their suspension on the road. The misguided logic from WWE management is that a failed test is the fault of the individual, thus suspending a wrestler when they may be involved in a major storyline punishes the company and its fans. This undermines the whole rationale for having a Wellness Policy in the first place.
Any pretense that the policy serves solely to protect the wrestlers disappears with the prospect of test failures serving their suspensions on the road. That wrestlers who are unable to cope with the WWE schedule without chemical assistance are forced to continue to perform suggests that the Policy is designed to shield the WWE from government and media scrutiny, rather than have any positive effect on the wrestlers on the WWE roster.
By not accepting the WWE Wellness Policy at face value, Henry Waxman has identified a major failing with drug testing in the wrestling industry. However, if he wishes to truly make a difference to the well being of professional wrestlers, he needs to look far deeper than simply the steroid issue.
There is no mention in his letter about misuse of other drugs, such as pain medication. If Mr. Waxman feels that this is not a major issue, he should examine the circumstances in which Lance Cade was fired in October 2008. Cade suffered a seizure on a plane, which Jim Ross referred to in his blog as "a major league mistake while utilizing bad judgment."
This came weeks after Cade posted on his own website that he was working through his injuries due to his love of wrestling. An ill-advised expectation for wrestlers to work hurt for the good of the company and to protect their spot only serves to shorten their careers and, from a management perspective, their long term drawing power.
The benefits of introducing an off-season or rotating the wrestlers on the road have been discussed by Wade Keller and other writers for a number of years. That the McMahon family has not considered introducing such measures is tremendously short-sighted, as it would benefit both the individual wrestlers and the company as a whole.
Barack Obama has spoken about a lack of "adult supervision" in the financial markets; that self-regulation has lead to fraud and irregularities on Wall Street. This same analogy can be applied to the wrestling industry, which has proved through numerous premature deaths over the years that it cannot operate safely without the same "adult supervision."
Drugs in pro wrestling are a major issue, but their prevalence is the result of a number of factors, including the schedule and attitudes within the industry. Henry Waxman makes a very pertinent point about the problem with keeping suspended wrestlers on the road. Nevertheless, if this is to be more than just a publicity stunt, the government needs to implement a root-and-branch review of the pro wrestling industry.
From a wrestling company standpoint, implementing actions like a offseason
(say in December) would hurt the bottom line. Would wrestling fans be
expected to pick up on the storylines after a month.
Perhaps one day there will be a union for wrestlers, as they are still in a
sense independent contractors. Wrestlers are assumed to "work through
injuries". Even in the dog-eat-dog world of professional football, there
still remains a sense of caring for the well-being.
If WWE can point to suspending Jeff and William Regal as signs that the
Wellness Policy is working (remember, according to WWE the Wellness Policy
found out that MVP had problems with his heart), they can also point to
Lance Cade and perhaps many untold stories.
Why wasn't a Wellness Policy put into place before 2006? According to Vince
McMahon, "there wasn't enough money to implement such programs". Wrestling
companies obviously still care about their wrestlers to some degree, but
all of this is part of the culture. It's has deep roots.
And if Washington held the heads of both WWE and TNA about steroid use like
they did with baseball, both of them would send out a platoon of lawyers to
spin it and to drag it out, hoping that Congress would lose interest. And
they probably would.
The problem with this is that there is no clear-cut solution. Introducing
things like an off-season, wrestler's unions, or a Congress appointed third
party that is independent of both WWE and TNA to make sure they are playing
by Washington's rules (this is something I would be in favor of)is
something that I'm sure WWE and TNA have looked into, but they are fearful
because it might hurt the bottom line and corrupt their own business model.
Matt
04 Jan 2009, 13:20
Ultimatlely nobody would be looking at this unless it was going to hurt the
bottom line. Losing chris benoit and eddie guerrero certainly shrank the
main even wrestler pool, while the easier travellimg less drug- adled life
of MMA workers surely persuaded Lesnar and Lashley to go (not to mention
Hollywood for the Rock. Couple this with all the other wrestlers forced
into retirement prematurley due to injuries (Stone Cold, Foley etc) and we
really do see the effect on the bottom line, its just very hard for short
sighted people to link things like that together unfortunately.
Soon (read 20 years) this ridiculous prohibition of chemicals will be over.
It is only a matter of time. The same thing happened with Alcohol. For
people complaining that these athletes/entertainers should be looked out
for need a lesson in free will. No one is forced to inject themselves with
poison in order to get a bigger body. These are choices that people make.
Whether it's steroids, hgh, marijuana, cocaine, ibogaine, DMT, or cough
syrup the people who CHOOSE to alter their chemistry with these substances
CHOOSE to do so. People have been altering their bodies and minds since
humans were able to conceptualize altering them. If the people who alter
their natural chemistry choose to do so, then they will reap the
consequences of the seeds they have sewn. It's a personal choice to take
these substances. Free Will......you have to CHOOSE to make the right
choices...the "right" choices can't be forced upon you.
AudeSapere
04 Jan 2009, 17:44
Ignoring the comment above (Why have "laws" or a "judicial system"? People
will still CHOOSE to break it!), I don't believe an off-season needs to be
enforced for all wrestlers at once. What if wrestlers had one solid month
off a year in some sort of rotating order? In fact, the business might even
benefit in a way not directly related to wrestlers' health. If an
established main-eventer takes a month or two off to recuperate and spend
time with his/her family, that leaves a potential opening for younger stars
to step up, fill the gap and become valuable commodities in their own
right. Additionally, we all know that wrestling fans generally have the
memory of a mayfly. You know how it's a big deal when Undertaker returns
after a few months, or the shocking appearance of Cena at the Royal Rumble?
Imagine Randy Orton standing in the ring with the title belt, having plowed
through all feasible challengers, declaring to be an unstoppable,
unbeatable force... and Shawn Michaels's music hits to a deafening ovation.
After a few months off, he'd fallen out of the main event spotlight in the
minds of the fans, and now he's back to reclaim his boyhood dream. Even old
standby veterans can seem fresh and new under such an arrangement.
scatha
04 Jan 2009, 20:47
I agree with you, AudeSapere. A time off for awhile, just to rest up and
heal and be with their families would help the wrestlers minds and bodies
more than any drugs could. Then, as you say, coming back, UN-ANNOUNCED,
would shock and surprise the people and make them even more into watching
the WWE. If we can think of this, why can't the boys and girls who run the
place do so? ? ? ? ? ? ?
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After a year of apparent inactivity, U.S. government Rep. Henry Waxman issued a letter to the Officer of the National Drug Control Policy, stating that the WWE and TNA have not done enough to address the problem of steroid abuse in pro wrestling. Whether the letter will have any major impact on the industry remains to be seen, but it certainly proves the government have not forgotten about wrestling.
