By James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor

-- The New Haven Register published a lengthy and comprehensive review of the "WWE steroid and health issue" hovering over former WWE CEO Linda McMahon's Senate campaign.

The newspaper report went into detail on virtually every "wrestler health issue" in play, but allowed some of the classic defenses from WWE's hired crew to go unchecked for the sake of appearing even-handed.

The report included the usual head-shaking quotes from McMahon's campaign spokesman, Ed Patru, trying to deflect criticism from McMahon, who is in the middle of a heated Senate race.

Also included are quotes from WWE's lead attorney, Jerry McDevitt, Michael Benoit, the father of Chris Benoit, Dr. Jerry Maroon, the medical director for WWE's concussion testing as part of their Wellness Policy, and other players in the discussion, including Marc Mero, who identified his personal drug use while in pro wrestling contributing to current health problems, and wrestling author Irv Muchnick.

Patru tried to downplay the steroid issue by repeating the fallacy that "there is no competitive advantage for someone to use steroids" because match outcomes in WWE are predetermined.

Dr. Maroon commented on concussion testing: "The program now is clearly as good as any in the country in concussion management."

In actuality, WWE does not have a good track record for actually applying the paper policy on concussions. For instance, Ted DiBiase showed signs of a concussion during a PPV match last month and the match was allowed to continue for another five or six minutes.

Michael Benoit was quoted in the story saying doctors told him that Chris Benoit had "lost the ability to control his emotions" due to sustained brain damage from his career in the ring and potentially from drug and alcohol abuse.

"The human skull isn't designed to take the kind of abuse that they script into these matches," Benoit said.

Another big item in the story is an admission that WWE "looked the other way" on the steroid and health issue in the mid-1990s to compete with Ted Turner's money in WCW. The following is a key passage from the report based on Linda McMahon's testimony to Congress in 2007 and new comments from WWE attorney Jerry McDevitt.

McMahon said her husband suspended the program because "It was not cost effective, and again, there was a competitor not doing it, it was just not a level playing field."

Turner, who founded the first TV superstation, WTBS, and CNN cable news, had signed away much of the McMahons's 'talent," as professional wrestlers are called, with large guaranteed salaries, paying them "pretty exorbitantly," McMahon said.

WWE attorney Jerry S. McDevitt told the Register last week that Turner "essentially tried to dry up the talent pool" and the McMahons could not be sure whether their business would survive.

-- Related to the Connecticut Senate race, McMahon has a second opponent on the ballot for the Republican primary vote in August.

McMahon is essentially clear to face Richard Blumenthal later this year for the Senate seat, but Republican candidate Peter Schiff has obtained enough signatures to qualify for a spot on the primary ballot.

McMahon's chief Republican opponent, Rob Simmons, is keeping his name on the ballot despite stopping his campaign. The August vote will now feature McMahon vs. Blumenthal vs. Schiff.

-- Former U.S. VP candidate Joe Lieberman, who holds the other Senate seat in Connecticut, remains undecided on whether to vote for McMahon or Blumenthal in this fall's Connecticut Senate race.

In an interview on CNN's "State of the Union" this weekend, Lieberman said, "There's a high probability that I'm going to spend the rest of this year focusing on my Senate responsibilities." Lieberman said he is leaning toward voting "quietly and privately" rather than making a public endorsement.

Link: Report on TheHill.com.

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