Guest Report post Posted May 13, 2002 The Rock to Testify in Florida Case Mon May 13, 1:41 PM ET FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) - Pro wrestling's The Rock will be called to testify in the trial of a teen-ager accused in the drowning of an autistic 5-year-old boy, the defendant's attorney said Monday. Attorney Ellis Rubin said the victim and two other children had watched a wrestling program featuring The Rock two days before the death. "Little boys imitate what they see on TV. If they hadn't been watching wrestling, none of this might have happened," Rubin said. Gorman Roberts is accused of pushing Jordan Payne into a canal on Feb. 10, then walking away laughing as the boy struggled. No trial date has been set. Roberts could get up to 30 years in prison if convicted on the manslaughter charges. The two other boys told police they were roughhousing with the victim on the canal bank, and Rubin said they repeatedly referred to wrestling moves while being questioned. The 10-year-old was charged with negligence, and the 9-year-old was granted immunity for his testimony. The Rock's manager in Beverly Hills, Calif., did not immediately return a call for comment Monday. Pro wrestling came up last year in another Florida trial. An attorney for Lionel Tate argued that the 14-year-old boy killed his 6-year-old playmate accidentally while practicing wrestling moves he had seen on television and video. Tate was sent to prison for life. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest buffybeast Report post Posted May 13, 2002 I highly doubt the WWF will allow Rock to testify. I suspect they will fight the subpoena. The case is bullshit. Children should not be left alone unattended. If the parents wish to blame someone, pick up a fucking mirror and blame yourselves. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Ripper Report post Posted May 13, 2002 Yes, cause god knows that wrestling is just infested with drowning angles. If a 15 14, hell, 6 or 7 year old doesn't know not to punch and kick and stomp a toddler, they need to be punished. If they are that impressionable, they need to be put away. What if they watch Americas most wanted and see a serial killer. Their young impressionable minds might go and start killing people because that is the only natural reaction. Bullshit. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Report post Posted May 13, 2002 FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) - Pro wrestling's The Rock will be called to testify in the trial of a teen-ager accused in the drowning of an autistic 5-year-old boy, the defendant's attorney said Monday. Attorney Ellis Rubin said the victim and two other children had watched a wrestling program featuring The Rock two days before the death. Since when do wrestler's drown each other, well except in the Anglesault thread. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Ripper Report post Posted May 13, 2002 I highly doubt the WWF will allow Rock to testify. I suspect they will fight the subpoena. The case is bullshit. Children should not be left alone unattended. If the parents wish to blame someone, pick up a fucking mirror and blame yourselves. You know what, that isn't even the case. My mom worked 3 jobs when I was coming up. She had to leave me and my sister home by ourselves and plenty other friends were just like it. We knew better than to start killing each other. And we were fed a steady diet of violence on TV. The gun toting fun of Gi Joe, Miami Vice Wrestling, the A-team, every prime time show basically every movie was rated R... the good ol days. Bottom line is that they have a psychotic, undisaplined child, they probably knew it, and he needs to be locked up for the rest of his life. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Report post Posted May 13, 2002 I agree. I was watching movies like "Night of the Living Dead" (80's version baby! ) when I was in elementary school and you don't see me walking around trying to eat peoples brains. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest buffybeast Report post Posted May 13, 2002 I highly doubt the WWF will allow Rock to testify. I suspect they will fight the subpoena. The case is bullshit. Children should not be left alone unattended. If the parents wish to blame someone, pick up a fucking mirror and blame yourselves. You know what, that isn't even the case. My mom worked 3 jobs when I was coming up. She had to leave me and my sister home by ourselves and plenty other friends were just like it. We knew better than to start killing each other. And we were fed a steady diet of violence on TV. The gun toting fun of Gi Joe, Miami Vice Wrestling, the A-team, every prime time show basically every movie was rated R... the good ol days. Bottom line is that they have a psychotic, undisaplined child, they probably knew it, and he needs to be locked up for the rest of his life. Rip, I wholeheartedly agree with you. I was a latch key child at seven. I and my stepbrother would be home alone a lot while our respective parents worked. We never killed each other, set the house on fire, or anything malicious. We knew better. We had *gasp* home training and good old-fashion common sense. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest AlwaysPissedOff Report post Posted May 13, 2002 It both saddens and amazes me when idiots who probably shouldn't have been allowed to breed blame a worked sport for something as outrageous as a drowning. As much as the WWE sucks righht now, they(and more specifically the Rock) should NOT have to deal with stupid lawsuits from parents who obviously didn't give a shit about their children in the first place. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest RavishingRickRudo Report post Posted May 13, 2002 These kids obviously didn't know right from wrong.... Or were just psycho... In either way they should be to blame. Had wrestling not been around they would have been influenced from something else. That was natural violent behaviour exhibited there. Millions of children watch wrestling and somehow, someway, they never manage to kill others. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest cobainwasmurdered Report post Posted May 13, 2002 you guys wrestling is responsibile for this kids death! after all who ever heard of kids fighting before wrestling became popular?...oh wait nevermind Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Hogan Made Wrestling Report post Posted May 13, 2002 Frankly, I'm surprised no parent or their lawyer has ever blamed Tyson for a kid's death (to my knowledge anyway). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Report post Posted May 13, 2002 Yeah, 'cause watching Hogan rub his bald head, or Kurt and Edge musing about how the other would look shaved would surely influence a kid to drown someone else. Why don't parents teach their kids some fucking morals... gee maybe that would help. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest bps "The Truth" 21 Report post Posted May 13, 2002 I can see the connection between wrestling and death by drowning. When Raw comes on...and every week they announce Austin and Bradshaw vs. the nWo...I want to drown myself...maybe that's just me. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest The Mighty Damaramu Report post Posted May 13, 2002 When Raw comes on...and every week they announce Austin and Bradshaw vs. the nWo...I want to drown myself...maybe that's just me. You are not alone my brother......far from alone. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest pinnacleofallthingsmanly Report post Posted May 13, 2002 I'm wondering how long this whole Bradshaw main event push will last. I'm wondering if the kids watched wrestling or watched the Scorpion King. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest ArkhamGlobe Report post Posted May 13, 2002 It takes a lot to really piss me off, and their line of reasoning comes pretty close. They are speaking of young people as if they are these perfect sweet little angels that can never do any wrong until the evil, evil wrestling show comes along and warps their little minds and turns them into horrible monsters. Then again, pointing the blame on one single thing is easy to do, and doesn't require much thought (unless you actually want to solve the problem, that is). This whole attitude pisses me off. Instead of actually trying to get to the bottom of the situation they just decide that that is too difficult and just decide to point their finger on wrestling, or violent movies, or what have you. Do they really think it is that simple? Sane people don't commit violent acts just because they see them on tv. There is always a leaning towards violent behaviour there from the beginning. Each person's personality is to a big part a product of the environment in which they've grown up, the people they've met and so forth. People who go out and kill people because they saw it on tv don't need less violence on tv, they need a psychiatrist. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Youth N Asia Report post Posted May 13, 2002 Wrestling's such an easy scape goat cause the media has such a poor opinion of it. I wish people would realize that these kids to this stuff because a) they're assholes...and b) their parents...are, well, assholes. I hate that we live in a society where everyone is to blame for something except the person behind...maybe they weren't hugged enough...maybe they were beaten with sticks...maybe it was the 8 oz Cherry Coke they had last week. There is an excuse for everything and it makes me sick that we don't have the balls to come out and blame the responsible party. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Ravenbomb Report post Posted May 13, 2002 There is no 80's version of Night of the Living Dead. There's the 1968 version and the 1990 version Maybe they were watching old tapes and saw Rock throw Austin over that bridge Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest J*ingus Report post Posted May 13, 2002 "Maybe they were watching old tapes and saw Rock throw Austin over that bridge" That's actually the first thing I thought of, too. Because if whatever video they were watching had THAT particular clip in it, then I'd say that they might actually have a point there. (Although the kids are still psychotic dipshits, and it's their own fault.) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest RetroRob215 Report post Posted May 13, 2002 Didn't Kurt Angle threaten to dump Steve Austin over a bridge once, but just knocked him into a kiddie pool instead? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest El Psycho Diablo Report post Posted May 13, 2002 It's sad that parents can't, or won't, teach their kids what is real or not. The way the media is today, if something like wrestling (or video games, music, etc) is even remotely related to a tragic event, they exploit it for all it's worth. Why? I don't know exactly. But it happens. But it is BS that 'well, wrestling killed him'. Get off it. -Shiro Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Report post Posted May 13, 2002 There is no 80's version of Night of the Living Dead. There's the 1968 version and the 1990 version Maybe they were watching old tapes and saw Rock throw Austin over that bridge You are right. My bad. I couldn't remember if it was 89 or 90. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Smeghead Report post Posted May 13, 2002 <rantmode> I'm sure most of you are familiar with the Mortal Kombat video game series. Very violent. Very gory. Definitely not G-rated. The first Mortal Kombat game came out when I was about 12. So I was first exposed to ultra-violent video games (as well as movies and TV shows) at an early age, and I have been fed a steady diet of that stuff up to the present day. Nearly ten years later, I have yet to kill anyone. Hell, I'm hesitant to even start a fight with someone, much less decapitate, electrocute, or set fire to them. Why is that? Because I'm intelligent enough to know right from wrong, and my parents were intelligent enough to make sure I knew right from wrong. If the kid is stupid enough to drown someone because he saw it on TV, the TV is not what caused the problem. If there is an existing problem, violent TV shows (like WWE Raw) can enhance the problem. But they don't create any problems. If that was the case, I would've been a 12-year-old serial killer. But I wasn't. The kid must've had some serious psychological problems if he was stupid enough to imitate something that he saw on TV. And if the parents were responsible, they should've realized their kid was messed up. When a youth commits a serious, violent crime, and the local news people are interviewing the neighbors, 99 times out of 100 they do not say: "Oh, he was such a quiet boy. So polite. He even mowed my lawn. I never saw this coming." More likely, they'll say something like this: "I knew this would happen sooner or later. That kid was always a menace. Always getting in trouble. He was an accident waiting to happen. They should've locked him up when they had the chance." If the parents wish to blame someone, pick up a fucking mirror and blame yourselves. Well said, buffybeast. And for the parents of Gorman Roberts: The Rock is not responsible for raising your children. That's your job. </rantmode> Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Report post Posted May 13, 2002 That's pure shit. Plain and simple. I'd do a long-ass rant on it but I'm a bit drained right now. I spare you. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Report post Posted May 14, 2002 Pro wrestling came up last year in another Florida trial. An attorney for Lionel Tate argued that the 14-year-old boy killed his 6-year-old playmate accidentally while practicing wrestling moves he had seen on television and video. Tate was sent to prison for life. A mentally retarded 14 year old is sent to prison for life because he accidently killed a friend while play fighting. Another fine example of how fucked up the American justice system is. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest buffybeast Report post Posted May 14, 2002 Pro wrestling came up last year in another Florida trial. An attorney for Lionel Tate argued that the 14-year-old boy killed his 6-year-old playmate accidentally while practicing wrestling moves he had seen on television and video. Tate was sent to prison for life. A mentally retarded 14 year old is sent to prison for life because he accidently killed a friend while play fighting. Another fine example of how fucked up the American justice system is. Who said Lionel Tate was retarded? I thought he was a mentally healthy/regular kid. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Report post Posted May 14, 2002 Why is wrestling blamed? Same reason Ozzy and Judas Priest got blamed in the 80's. A) They are high-visibility, on an upswing in mainstream popularity and making a lot of MONEY [key words in all caps]. B) Because of their "image" they are controversial and make 80 year-old bible-thumping reactionary farts uncomfortable and angry because they do not fit the world view said reactionary constructed in their youth 55 years ago. Therefore, C) They make a credible* and more importantly PROFITABLE scapegoat. The parents probably know they're full of shit, and are out to cash in. Bottom line. Besides, its easier to accept a quick fix simplistic "somebody else did it" answer because that way one does not need to admit personal responsibility, which could provoke guilt and eventually drive somebody to that oh-so-difficult task (smell the sarcasm!) of modifying their own behavior/attitude on life, and improving their set of personal habits. Listen, the only time I ever emulated violence on tv was when I was four years old. I tried punching my mom because Popeye punched Bluto when he had a problem with him. Guess what happened? My mom DISCIPLINED me. And I learned that what I did was wrong, and I corrected my behavior. Funny how that works. Parent takes active approach, parent takes active role in child's life, parent teaches child, child learns a bit of world truth, child's behavior becomes corrected, child goes on to become more or less a well-adjusted, reasonably productive member of society. I've been listening to music with violent lyrics for years (mostly heavy metal, but some gangsta rap sprinkled in now and then) and I've seen violent movies. I've played violent video games. Want to guess the influence they had on my behavior? Don't bother, let's look at the statistics: Number of People I've Murdered: 0 Number of People I've Raped: 0 Number of People I've Robbed: 0 Number of People I've Assaulted: 0 Now, I don't know about you, but I am beginning to pick up a bit of a pattern. And, it seems, a correlation between my mom caring enough to teach me right from wrong, and my behaving rightly no matter what I see on television. How odd. The mind boggles. * (credible, that is, except to people who actually think critically about the situation.) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Report post Posted May 14, 2002 Right on, BW. My take on this was that the lawyer was "going into business for himself," so to speak, subpoenaing the Rock to get his name in the papers... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Report post Posted May 14, 2002 This case is such a total non-sequitur... 17 year-old boy drowns a child and then the next paragraph they start talking about wrestling... what the hell? It makes about as much sense as the current raw angles. Then the jackass lawyer says that "very young boys" can be affected by what they see on TV. Since when is a 17 year-old a very young boy? If he's one year older I'm sure he's facing a lot tougher charges. My last question is in regards to calling the rock to testify. They said they watched wrestling program featuring the rock three days before the drowning. Why don't they call every other wrestler that was on that show to testify? Why is the rock all of the sudden the only wrestling source for this issue? Oh, he is the most recognizable star in wrestling and just made a huge blockbuster movie? That's why he is on the stand... now I get it. <end sarcasm> Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest TheMikeSC Report post Posted May 14, 2002 Pro wrestling came up last year in another Florida trial. An attorney for Lionel Tate argued that the 14-year-old boy killed his 6-year-old playmate accidentally while practicing wrestling moves he had seen on television and video. Tate was sent to prison for life. A mentally retarded 14 year old is sent to prison for life because he accidently killed a friend while play fighting. Another fine example of how fucked up the American justice system is. >>> 1) The Death was REALLY brutal. The girl was beaten to death. 2) The young girl is DEAD. Why in the heck should Tate be allowed to live his life when that girl in unable to do the same because of him. For once, the legal system got it right. -=Mike Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
