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Bleacher Report - Chris Benoit Fallout: How Vince McMahon Ruined Wrestling Chris Benoit Fallout: How Vince McMahon Ruined Wrestling

Written by Marty Andrade

Monday, 02 July 2007

Remember professional wrestling before Vince McMahon?   Characters like Mad Dog Vachon, The Crusher, The Baron, Verne Gagne, Larry "The Axe" Hennig, and Haystacks Calhoun ruled the ring. It wasn't about steroids, beer, and boobs. The wrestlers weren't genetic freaks or pill-popping piles of flesh.   Now, unfortunately, McMahon has turned wrestling into an overhyped corporate production aimed at young people with short attention spans.    I know Baron Von Raschke goose-stepping around the ring was a little cornball—but darn it, wrestling was more innocent before McMahon. Sure, there were still the dwarves and the mud wrestling and villainy...but it was different, purer.    Put it this way: I'd much rather watch Mad Dog Vachon and Baron Von Raschke fight their way through a horde of angry Canadians than have to sit through another match between Triple H and Stone Cold Steve Austin.   Professional wrestling used to seem less trivial. The rivalry between Jerry “The King” Lawler and Andy Kaufmann was the stuff of legend—unlike any rivalry between whichever two steroid statues happen to be feuding this week in Vince McMahon’s WWE.   In McMahon’s cold corporate world, every show is exactly the same. I didn't watch wrestling between 1999 and 2005—but when I tuned in again it was like nothing had changed.   Everything about the WWE was still geared towards the lowest common denominator.   Wrestlers themselves have devolved since the days of the AWA. The pressure to look like bodybuilders and still perform acrobatic stunts pushes many competitors to use steroids and painkillers. The sport has come a long way since the days when Verne Gagne would work potential performers in his barn and then force them to do time as general laborers before allowing them into the ring.   I hate to look to the past with rose-colored glasses—but I do so only because I can't recall any one of Verne Gagne’s wrestlers ever murdering two people before killing himself in a home gym.   Under Vince McMahon, scandals have become the norm.   Stories of substance abuse and domestic violence are almost cliché in the modern era of the WWE. Chris Benoit seemed like a balanced guy in many behind-the-scenes documentaries—but it’s clear that there is no normalcy in McMahon’s dark world.   It saddens me that Chris Benoit became what he became. He was popular as a wrestler—and he deserved to be. But the fact of his being a good entertainer doesn't make up for the years he stole from his wife and son.   The efforts to excuse Benoit's action have disgusted me. Chris Benoit murdered his wife and seven-year-old son by strangling them with his bare hands. I don't care who you are—it takes a serious lack of humanity to wrap your hands around a seven-year-old boy and squeeze the life away.   Thousands of people abuse steroids and drugs everyday, but somehow they have enough control to refrain from murdering loved ones. The Chris Benoit we thought we knew didn’t exist. There was a violent monster beneath the façade.   I've been moving away from professional wrestling for a long time. Now I know I won't ever go back. Instead, whenever I get the urge—the itch which drives otherwise rational people to watch professional wrestling—I'll purchase myself a DVD starring the extraordinary wrestlers of the past.   Sometimes it’s not the rose-colored glasses.    Sometimes the past really is better than the present.   Link:  Bleacher Report - Chris Benoit Fallout: Defending Vince McMahon   This week, the Bleacher Report's Marty Andrade penned an article titled “How Vince McMahon Ruined Wrestling."   I have a problem with it.   I agree that what Chris Benoit did was monstrous and reprehensible—but it shouldn't be the basis for a critique of Vince McMahon.   McMahon didn't make Benoit do what he did. And Benoit's actions aren't in any way a reflection of the wrestling industry.   As a man, I'll never forgive Benoit for what he did to his family. But as a wrestling fan, I'll continue to watch the the WWE and ECW.   I'll take McMahon's advice and move on with my life. And here's why Marty should too:     Strike One: “Culture of Corruption”   Marty, we live in a culture of corruption that didn’t start with Vince McMahon. More to the point, the McMahon family made pro wrestling what it is today.   It was the McMahons who brought you Mad Dog Vachon and Baron Von Raschke, and the McMahons who turned Wrestlemania into the biggest spectacle in Sports Entertainment. In making the WWE profitable, Vince has only been carrying on his family's legacy.   And given who's running this country, I think it's fair to say that there are other "cultures of corruption" that are more worthy of your column space than anything created by Vince McMahon.   Strike one, Marty Boy. Strike one.     Strike Two: Violence and Drugs in Sports? No! Really?!   Marty, you seem to have a problem with Vince McMahon's employing violent drug abusers. My question: Have you been paying attention to the sports world recently?   What about the countless NFL players who have failed drug tests or been arrested on criminal charges in the past few years? What about Jason Giambi, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, and Barry Bonds?   Here's a word of advice: Be careful who you single out. Not even Vince can be God—and no one can prevent athletes from abusing drugs or acting violently. Love it or hate it, that's real life.   And it's also strike two.     Strike Three: Sabina of Edmonton Is a Hypocrite   Strike three actually belongs to Sabina Romaniuk of Edmonton, Alberta—who in her support of Marty's article proved herself to be off her Canadian rocker.    Sabina bashes Americans for our violence, drugs, and corruption. Well, I've been to Canada—where I was literally assaulted for drinking American beer in a local bar.   Face it, Sabina: You guys are just as sick, twisted, and sadistic as we are.   Yes, Americans have the WWE—but Stu Hart’s Canadian wrestling camp wasn’t called “The Dungeon” just because it needed a catchy nickname. Athletes take pain medication all the time, even in Edmonton. Why don’t you bash them?   If you're going to criticize others, you've got to be perfect yourself. Marty and Sabina, I'm sorry you two had to learn that lesson the hard way. As it is, though:   Strike three. You're both out. Rest in peace, Nancy and Daniel Benoit...and now can we please start focusing on sports again?

NOTES FROM GEORGIE:

 

WWE said that Chris Benoit tested NEGATIVE on April 10th of this year on the Wellness Program Testing.  OK, if you say so!

 

My question is how can you tell me that top headliners in the company are NOT on steroids.  You just have to look at them, and see for yourself.  So how are they all passing their drug testing??

The testing is a joke.  In order to have a top spot in the WWE, you need to be on the juice, because WWE believes BIGGER is BETTER.

 

Can you remember a while back WWE gave a current superstar time off to get off the juice, he came back lighter and thinner, well guess what, you can't tell me he isn't back on the juice (steroids) again.  Why clean up to only go back again??

 

Let's all have a MAJOR WAKE UP CALL, stop all the DRUGS!!!  How many more wrestlers have to die??

Listen to Superstar Billy Graham who has MAJOR health problems because of his excessive steroid abuse.

 

IMO, WWE should give the guys more vacations from time to time to heal their injuries and have quality time with their families and that should be part of the Wellness Program.  Then possibly so many pain killers mixed with other drugs won't be a major problem. 

 

Listen carefully to the wrestlers who once worked for the WWE, they were there, they know. 

Some fans are saying they are bitter because they are no longer with the company, that is bull.  So many of them have their own businesses and are doing very well.  Except for many aches and pains due to all the ring injuries.

 

I love the Hardy Boys and all they do for us in the ring, but I worry for their health in years to come.  What shape will they be in when there in their 40's?

 

We can't fix the past, but hopefully can correct the future.

 

One more thing, I wish these Cable News reporters would do more research on what they are talking about, some of them have no clue about wrestling and therefore their reporting makes no sense.  Some of them should live a wrestlers' life for ONE DAY, then I'd like to hear what they say.

 

When I had Ken Patera's Fan Club back in the days, my friend Eleanore and I went on the road with Ken for two days, and we came back exhausted and all we did was travel with him.  He worked out, had to wrestle and he did all the driving. It's not an easy life, that is for sure.

 

Well, I will get off my soap box. 

 

I want to wish everyone a Happy 4th of July (Independence Day)  Enjoy your time with your loved ones and PLEASE tell them how much you love them.  Nobody knows what tomorrow will bring.

 

My thoughts and prayers go out to the families of Sherri Martel, Chris Benoit and Nancy Benoit.  This can't be easy for any of them.

 

And once again, I want to thank all our readers for your loving letters and support in these trying times.

 

Georgie  [email protected]