I can't help myself; I am a Professional Wrestling fan. The WWE (formally WWF) runs through my blood like NASCAR to a drunken redneck. So it should come to little surprise to those of you who know me how I could conjure up this idea. I don't watch the televised events with as much regularity as I did during my youth but if I am flipping through the channels and spot a man in his underwear, in front of 20,000 people, on national television, well I will generally stop flipping and listen to what he has to say. Hell it must be important if he's in his skivvies speaking his mind. Can you imagine if Anderson Cooper from CNN was reporting live from the Democratic Caucus without his shirt on in just his Fruit of the Loom white drawers? You'd stop and listen and give that pioneer of the journalism world your undivided attention. When I see 88 year old Ric Flair standing in just his red panties and saggy man boobs I stop and do the same thing.
The way this all started for me was when I was back home on leave. I was flipping through all of the channels relishing the fact I could drink a Heineken, while wearing sweat pants, and eat homemade popcorn with the white cheddar cheese sprinkled over it. Life was good, life was real good. Then as I came across Sports Center I saw the latest development in the never-ending soap opera of which we call Major League Baseball. The scandal, being steroids, has remained constant for the past decade with only the faces changing; the fresh face being accused this time was future Hall of Famer Alex Rodriguez. I have since traveled back to Iraq so following current events has proved to be very challenging but while I was home on leave I received the vibe from all media outlets that A-Rod hurt the public even more than that of the self righteous Roger Clemens. I'll admit I don't have all the facts due to my limited time to the necessary resources but everything that follows from this point forth is only my opinion.
I will tie Professional Wrestling into this, patience.
The reason why I believe that people took such offense to A-Rod being associated with such scandal is really quite simple; he is a very, very likeable guy and represented everything that was good about the game. It was easy to hate Barry Bonds, it was easy to accept the fact that Mark McGuire juiced, and it was easy to not believe Roger Clemens and all of his public efforts to clear his name. Alex Rodriguez didn't possess biceps the size of tree, he always presented himself in the utmost professional manner, and then there is the obvious fact that he could have any woman he so desires. You show me a woman who would turn A-Rod down and I'll show you a lesbian. Then there is the part that A-Rod became a star at such a young age in Seattle on a team that shared Griffey Jr. Everybody loved Griffey and it seemed like such a natural acceptance of A-Rod. Rodriguez appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated with Derek Jeter when they were both new to the league giving sports fans' a glimpse into the future. He was one of baseball's Golden Boy's and the odds on pick to break Barry Bonds all time home run record, without a cloud of controversy and skepticism looming over his head. In such a dark time for a sport with such a proud history, Alex Rodriguez was showing baseball fans that there was still one person playing the game with the integrity it so deserved. After all the years of hard work, building up his image, being the youngest person to ever reach all homerun milestones, it all came crashing down with one allegation. That is why I believe baseball fans took this so personally.
One night while I was home, after I heard about and read up on A-Rod's fall from grace, AFN (Armed Forces Network) was showing a special Encore presentation of a WWE Pay Per View event. That is one advantage to living in Europe, AFN will show Pay Per View events all the time and you never have to pay a dime extra for the program. Celia was flipping through the channels and quickly flipped by the wrestling program but changed back after I pleaded with her. I have watched wrestling for most of my life but I could probably count on one hand how many times I have actually watched a Pay Per View event on TV. The numbers are that low. So when this option presented itself to me needless to say I was stoked. I sat on our floor like a little boy as the wrestlers began walking down to the ring.
Jadon, who was sitting up on the couch next to Celia at the time began to watch very intensely. He was standing up on our couch with his eyes wide open watching with such curiosity. At one point somebody was slammed down to the mat very hard, Jadon began to scream and move around proving he knew what was going on. I told Celia to watch him as the match continued and she could not stop laughing at him saying, "He is such a little boy!" I seized the opportunity picking him up and moving him down to the ground with me. I put my arm around his shoulder and every time something happened he would look up at me as if to say, "Dad! Did you see that?" We were both overcome with shock of how well he was sitting down and enjoying something other than Playhouse Disney. Eventually Jadon got bored and decided his attention needed to be focused elsewhere, so he removed himself from the floor and was off.
Shortly after Jadon left me a match had just concluded with the announcers saying, "
You gotta respect a man like that. He's a future Hall of Famer." Hall of Fame, those are bold words. I then began thinking about the Hall of Fame they would be inducted into, the World Wrestling Entertainment Hall of Fame. The next step I took was thinking about how well physically developed all of these men are. There is no denying it at all, they are huge. How many of them do you think have ever experimented with steroids? Half, two-thirds, three-fourths? All of the evidence is there to support the use of steroids all the way up the ladder to the CEO himself, Vince McMahon. Just watch a Pay Per View event from the early 90's where Vince McMahon was a commentator, Google his name today and you will see him on the cover of Muscle & Fitness (see picture to the right). Not bad for a man getting close to 60 years of age. That, however, is not the main argument; the main argument lies in the past. I have provided a list off the top of my head of a few of the wrestlers who have died recently due to heart conditions due to prolonged steroid use and among other drugs.
- Ravishing Rick Rude died at the age of 40 after his heart failed.
- British Bulldog died at the age of 39 from a heart attack
- Mr. Perfect died from a cocaine overdose with a long history of steroid use
- Hawk from the Legion of Doom died at the age of 45 of a heart attack
- Crash Holly died at the age of 32 of a drug overdose
- Hercules died at the age of 46 due to a heart attack
- The Big Boss Man, 41 years old, heart attack
- Eddie Guerrero died at 38 years old because of heart failure
- Brian Pillman died at the age of 35 of a drug overdose
- Yokozuna died at the age of 34 because of a heart attack
- Bam Bam Bigelow died at 45 years old because of a drug overdose
- Chris Benoit killed his wife and his son then killed himself at the age of 40. He had very high traces of testosterone in his system
- Crush from Demolition died at the age of 44 because of a drug overdose
- Queen Sherri died of a drug overdose at the age of 49
- Big John Stud died at the age of 46 but I am not exactly sure of the cause
- Ultimate Warrior died about 7 times
The list could go on and on, those are just a few of the names. Now I want you to ask yourself what the fallout would look like if MLB or the NFL produced a list of casualties like that. I grew up watching almost every single one of these guys thinking that they had it all. They had a job that I absolutely adored and appeared to have fun doing it. They were idolized by many kids across the nation and sadly to say were considered hero's by some, I myself am included. Now Congress and the media are extremely worried about the message that many professional baseball players are sending to our youth by being associated with steroids. Many baseball stars are not in the Hall of Fame yet for reasons directly tied to said allegations. If Congress is so concerned about the future of the country isn't only fair to hold a Congressional hearing calling forth many WWE superstars? Shouldn't there be the same red tape associated to the WWE Hall of Fame as there is to the MLB Hall of Fame?
Every week arenas are filled with parents who take their children to cheer on their favorite wrestler and even more people tune in every week to watch WWE's weekly broadcast. Even though the results are known beforehand and everything associated to professional wrestling is "fake" it still has a large following. The WWE itself is a multi-million, if not multi-billion dollar corporation with influence in not only this country, but in many other countries around the world. By Congress not investigating, or at the very least monitoring, the numerous deaths among former WWE wrestlers are they simply saying that those lives are not as significant as the life of an athlete where the outcome is unknown? It would appear that way. Whether we want to acknowledge it or not the WWE has a very large sphere of influence with revenue that could compete with many professional sports.
If the real issue at hand is steroids and steroids killing many people way to young in life then I see no reason why our government has not acted in a more firm manner. Sure, Vince McMahon has said that they test all employees but looking at the list above, and the many not listed, how strict would you say the testing is? The way I see it, there should be no discrimination of the activity in which Congress wants to involve itself in. As it stands right now all that is being said is that it is ok for steroids to run rampant through wrestling but there is zero tolerance in baseball. I am curious as to why. As I said earlier, many wrestlers I grew up watching are dead and if the trend continues then many more will follow. The thing that frightens me the most was how receptive Jadon was to watching the Pay Per View show. Is he to grow up thinking that many of the same individuals are hero's and live a fabulous life attempting to mold himself after them; all the while his hero's are dying from heart attacks and drug overdoses?
Again, all of this started when I heard an announcer say that a certain wrestler was a future Hall of Famer and I began wondering if that wrestler could be held to the same standard as other professional athletes. I had intended for this to be quite humorous with certain wrestlers standing before the Senate as Roger Clemens did declaring their innocence, but as I thought more about it that angle just didn't feel right. As much as I have enjoyed watching professional wrestling throughout my life, and I am aware that it is pathetic for a 27 year old to still enjoy fake wrestling, I think it is terrible for these people to be dying in masses, with no intervention in clear site, and millions of dollars continuing to be raked in.
Anyway, that's what Andrew thinks.
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