Here's my latest column, feedback appreciated.
Keelan's Call: Are The Media Letting WWE Get Away With Murder?
Written By: Keelan Balderson
It's a fact that something is going on in that WWE locker room and it would be an injustice if the media didn't follow up on the June Chris Benoit tragedy and premature death lists, but if the wrestling industry is the big pit of death and scandal that we are led to believe, is the media letting WWE get away with murder?
After the horrific double homicide suicide of the Benoit family the dormant pro wrestling media sprang in to action and the news of the tragedy became a headline mainstay for a number of weeks. There were several angles to take the story, (alcohol, marital problems, mental illness) but the ill informed mainstream media jumped on the steroid bandwagon. You'd be ignorant not to think that performance enhancing drugs have been in Benoit's system at numerous stages throughout his career but the media fumbled the facts with their lack of industry knowledge. There is a strong case that steroids may have been one of many factors that led to the break down of Chris Benoit, but instead of putting together some probing, well backed up and thought out questions, these news stations and chat shows pointed the finger at the unproven theory of "roid rage," a burst of violence caused by steroid use. This was purely because it was the most shocking and sensationalized aspect of the story and could sell papers and draw ratings. After all news is a TV show right?
Something that could have lead to better drugs testing, more understanding and major changes to the industry was laughed at and dismissed by the more educated wrestling industry because the media came across as stupid and tabloid. How are we supposed to believe what they say when we see a nice graphic on fox news with a smiling Benoit, a needle and the text "Benoit juicing his kid," just because Daniel Benoit had a few marks on his arm?
The next problem that discredits the media during this time of controversy are the "experts" they bring on to their shows. Guys like Marc Mero, Steve Blackman and Konnan who have riddled these US news stations may well have very valid points, but it gives the WWE a safety rope. All they have to say is "these stars aren't part of our product and haven't been for years, how do they know what's going on in our locker room?" Whenever something interesting is brought up (unions, time off, concussions...) or a good debate begins, the interviewees are either stopped and brought back on to the subject of steroids or the segment is cut in order to move on to the next big Paris Hilton headline.
The very fact that these journalists or hosts are "mainstream" suggest that they know a little about a lot of things. In the complicated and unique niche industry of wrestling that just isn't enough. Sometimes it was quite obvious that some intern just scanned the net for some lose talking points and facts before going live. Phrases like "World Champion wrestler Johnny Grunge, another WWE wrestler," (Grunge was in WWE for no more than two months in 1999) and "These up and comers who want to win." I'm sure you can pick the fault in that quote from Nancy Grace. You can't mount an offense against WWE if you clearly have no concept of what the business is. Yes Larry King, wrestling is predetermined, the fans know that.
Along with the Benoit murder, murder suicide came a list of dead wrestlers which is pretty damn scary. It is shocking to see the amount of legends and would be stars that died before the age of 65 from heart attacks, suicides and overdoses, but the only problem with the list is that it also shows wrestlers like Owen Hart that died in a freak accident, or Chris Candido that passed away from a blood clot after surgery on his leg. On top of these irrelevant deaths comes a number of wrestlers that never really had anything to do with WWE. So when a reporter asks a WWE representative about such a list, what do they say? "A lot of these wrestlers died from non drug related deaths and many more weren't under WWE contract." There goes the reporter's credibility.
When the Cable News Network, CNN a major organization out of the US recently aired "Death Grip" a Pro Wrestling documentary regarding WWE's Wellness Policy and the Benoit tragedy, you'd think they'd have time to piece together something truly "investigative" and pro-active. Although there were some commendable points, such as the loophole in the Wellness policy allowing wrestlers to dodge a suspension if they have a doctor's prescription for the drugs, and the shocking footage of the Dynamite Kid (Tom Billington) wheel chair ridden and living in a council house in Manchester, they dropped the ball by plainly lieing. There was a short segment where they interviewed the currently injured John Cena and asked him if he'd ever taken steroids. They showed his reply "I can't say that I never have, but you'll never prove that I have." That almost came across as Cena challenging the interviewer and was a stupid response to say the least. It turns out that the quote was taken way out of context and WWE released the full interview on WWE.com, rubbishing the whole documentary. You don't need to embellish and sensationalize the WWE Wellness Policy when many of the top stars were recently suspended, only because the media had discovered them on the signature pharmacy list and WWE wanted to save face. None of them were caught by the Wellness Policy itself.
Again this show was full with so called "experts." Chris Kanyon who barely touched the surface of a WWE ring following the closure of WCW claimed his bond with Chris Benoit came from a title change in a match they had together? And Del Wilkes "The Patriot" was only in the then WWF for under a year. Neither of these wrestlers are fair representatives of WWE. Maybe World Championship Wrestling but not the WWE. The Patriot was known for being huge way before ever entering Vince's company, so any references to steroid issues from him can easily be dismissed.
One thing that always appears in these dirt dishing documentaries are the infamous unidentifiable sources. Those people that sit in the dark, have their voice edited and do not wish to be known. Death Grip had such a person, a so called "former wrestler." Whether this was a real star or a CNN caretaker isn't the point. The point is that the credibility of the program was tarnished and therefore Vince and Linda can snub anything they claim because the source cannot be proven.
Something that was also brought up in the piece were the reports from The Sports Legacy Institution led by former WWE wrestler and Harvard graduate Chris Nowinski. The Institution is dedicated to furthering sports related brain injury research and awareness, and improving the safety of contact and collision sports. The institute has worked extensively in analyzing the brains of American Pro Footballers and problems with concussions in many other sports, recently revealing shocking studies of Chris Benoit's brain. Instead of laying down a list of factual information about his deteriorated brain the story was exaggerated and Benoit was described as having the capacity of an 85-year-old Alzheimer's patient. Like Vince said, what 85 year old seriously ill man can make regular trips to the airport and act perfectly normal around his peers? The findings have pretty much faded out of the spotlight all thanks to the Institutes initial embellished press conference.
I don't know about you but there seems to be an interesting pattern. Big story breaks, the wrestling industry is at fault, the media sensationalizes it and then the WWE throws it out. If the WWE really are responsible for all the recent controversies, the media are letting them get away with it with shoddy reporting. Lets just hope US congress aren't influenced by the media and a fair hearing takes place. I can't help but feel if real wrestling journalists had the exposure of the mainstream then wrestling industry higher-ups would have been cornered a long time ago.
Keelan's Call: Are The Media Letting WWE Get Away With Murder?
Written By: Keelan Balderson
It's a fact that something is going on in that WWE locker room and it would be an injustice if the media didn't follow up on the June Chris Benoit tragedy and premature death lists, but if the wrestling industry is the big pit of death and scandal that we are led to believe, is the media letting WWE get away with murder?
After the horrific double homicide suicide of the Benoit family the dormant pro wrestling media sprang in to action and the news of the tragedy became a headline mainstay for a number of weeks. There were several angles to take the story, (alcohol, marital problems, mental illness) but the ill informed mainstream media jumped on the steroid bandwagon. You'd be ignorant not to think that performance enhancing drugs have been in Benoit's system at numerous stages throughout his career but the media fumbled the facts with their lack of industry knowledge. There is a strong case that steroids may have been one of many factors that led to the break down of Chris Benoit, but instead of putting together some probing, well backed up and thought out questions, these news stations and chat shows pointed the finger at the unproven theory of "roid rage," a burst of violence caused by steroid use. This was purely because it was the most shocking and sensationalized aspect of the story and could sell papers and draw ratings. After all news is a TV show right?
Something that could have lead to better drugs testing, more understanding and major changes to the industry was laughed at and dismissed by the more educated wrestling industry because the media came across as stupid and tabloid. How are we supposed to believe what they say when we see a nice graphic on fox news with a smiling Benoit, a needle and the text "Benoit juicing his kid," just because Daniel Benoit had a few marks on his arm?
The next problem that discredits the media during this time of controversy are the "experts" they bring on to their shows. Guys like Marc Mero, Steve Blackman and Konnan who have riddled these US news stations may well have very valid points, but it gives the WWE a safety rope. All they have to say is "these stars aren't part of our product and haven't been for years, how do they know what's going on in our locker room?" Whenever something interesting is brought up (unions, time off, concussions...) or a good debate begins, the interviewees are either stopped and brought back on to the subject of steroids or the segment is cut in order to move on to the next big Paris Hilton headline.
The very fact that these journalists or hosts are "mainstream" suggest that they know a little about a lot of things. In the complicated and unique niche industry of wrestling that just isn't enough. Sometimes it was quite obvious that some intern just scanned the net for some lose talking points and facts before going live. Phrases like "World Champion wrestler Johnny Grunge, another WWE wrestler," (Grunge was in WWE for no more than two months in 1999) and "These up and comers who want to win." I'm sure you can pick the fault in that quote from Nancy Grace. You can't mount an offense against WWE if you clearly have no concept of what the business is. Yes Larry King, wrestling is predetermined, the fans know that.
Along with the Benoit murder, murder suicide came a list of dead wrestlers which is pretty damn scary. It is shocking to see the amount of legends and would be stars that died before the age of 65 from heart attacks, suicides and overdoses, but the only problem with the list is that it also shows wrestlers like Owen Hart that died in a freak accident, or Chris Candido that passed away from a blood clot after surgery on his leg. On top of these irrelevant deaths comes a number of wrestlers that never really had anything to do with WWE. So when a reporter asks a WWE representative about such a list, what do they say? "A lot of these wrestlers died from non drug related deaths and many more weren't under WWE contract." There goes the reporter's credibility.
When the Cable News Network, CNN a major organization out of the US recently aired "Death Grip" a Pro Wrestling documentary regarding WWE's Wellness Policy and the Benoit tragedy, you'd think they'd have time to piece together something truly "investigative" and pro-active. Although there were some commendable points, such as the loophole in the Wellness policy allowing wrestlers to dodge a suspension if they have a doctor's prescription for the drugs, and the shocking footage of the Dynamite Kid (Tom Billington) wheel chair ridden and living in a council house in Manchester, they dropped the ball by plainly lieing. There was a short segment where they interviewed the currently injured John Cena and asked him if he'd ever taken steroids. They showed his reply "I can't say that I never have, but you'll never prove that I have." That almost came across as Cena challenging the interviewer and was a stupid response to say the least. It turns out that the quote was taken way out of context and WWE released the full interview on WWE.com, rubbishing the whole documentary. You don't need to embellish and sensationalize the WWE Wellness Policy when many of the top stars were recently suspended, only because the media had discovered them on the signature pharmacy list and WWE wanted to save face. None of them were caught by the Wellness Policy itself.
Again this show was full with so called "experts." Chris Kanyon who barely touched the surface of a WWE ring following the closure of WCW claimed his bond with Chris Benoit came from a title change in a match they had together? And Del Wilkes "The Patriot" was only in the then WWF for under a year. Neither of these wrestlers are fair representatives of WWE. Maybe World Championship Wrestling but not the WWE. The Patriot was known for being huge way before ever entering Vince's company, so any references to steroid issues from him can easily be dismissed.
One thing that always appears in these dirt dishing documentaries are the infamous unidentifiable sources. Those people that sit in the dark, have their voice edited and do not wish to be known. Death Grip had such a person, a so called "former wrestler." Whether this was a real star or a CNN caretaker isn't the point. The point is that the credibility of the program was tarnished and therefore Vince and Linda can snub anything they claim because the source cannot be proven.
Something that was also brought up in the piece were the reports from The Sports Legacy Institution led by former WWE wrestler and Harvard graduate Chris Nowinski. The Institution is dedicated to furthering sports related brain injury research and awareness, and improving the safety of contact and collision sports. The institute has worked extensively in analyzing the brains of American Pro Footballers and problems with concussions in many other sports, recently revealing shocking studies of Chris Benoit's brain. Instead of laying down a list of factual information about his deteriorated brain the story was exaggerated and Benoit was described as having the capacity of an 85-year-old Alzheimer's patient. Like Vince said, what 85 year old seriously ill man can make regular trips to the airport and act perfectly normal around his peers? The findings have pretty much faded out of the spotlight all thanks to the Institutes initial embellished press conference.
I don't know about you but there seems to be an interesting pattern. Big story breaks, the wrestling industry is at fault, the media sensationalizes it and then the WWE throws it out. If the WWE really are responsible for all the recent controversies, the media are letting them get away with it with shoddy reporting. Lets just hope US congress aren't influenced by the media and a fair hearing takes place. I can't help but feel if real wrestling journalists had the exposure of the mainstream then wrestling industry higher-ups would have been cornered a long time ago.
