Who do do you blame for wrestlers' deaths?

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

I was thinking earlier today about Owen's death out of the blue, and how Vince reacted regarding the whole situation. It seemed that whenever someone tried to point out some of the things surrounding the incident he'd dodge the question by accusing them of trying to exploit a tragedy. It seemed pretty sneaky on his part, especially since it was later found out how horrible the whole thing went. Some would say Owen's at fault partly for doing it, but I disagree. Sure he may have chosen to do it, but it was the responsibility of the company to make sure everything went well and he didn't get hurt. It's been done in the past, it's been done since I'm pretty sure as well. Even though he felt awkward about it, he still went ahead and did it because he trusted the company. Big mistake, obviously.

 

Now I think that's pretty clear cut, but what about the wrestlers who died due to self-inflicted habits? The guys who did tons of rec. drugs as well as steroids and the like? Even then, I think the company shares a good deal of the blame due to the amount of pressure put on the wrestlers, and their schedule. You couldn't miss a date and risk losing your job, and if you did, work elsewhere was scarce after the territorial days were all but over. Reading some of the horror stories in Dynamite Kid's book about the things he did are enough to convince me things were over the line. Crazy thing is, he's one of the ones that is alive. Just like with his reaction to the reporters surrounding Owen, Vince does weird things when confronted with this kind of stuff. Slapping Armen Keteyan's clip board as well as threatening to beat him up is a pretty big sign, since that's the kind of intimidating attitude he'd probably have towards his employees in regards to them and their work schedule. Then you have the fact that he supplied them with all sorts of drugs as well, and it paints an even worse picture for him.

 

Of course, some of you feel that maybe Vince is not to blame at all (I'd like to hear your reasoning) while others think he shouldn't take as much.

 

Those with more knowledge than I in this situation should talk more about the kinds of things that happened, as well as some stories and such that would make a case for whatever side they hold.

[Guest The Beta Male]

in owens case they should`ve used proper stunt harnesses, not ones made for sailing (i was working at the place that made the equipment that was used in owens entrance at the time :S )... maybe they should extend their "wellness" program to cover health and safety of equipment as well.

 

i think a fair amount of the blame has to be shouldered by promotors who give their workers insane schedules with no accounting for minor injury, i can definitely see why painkillers are rife.

 

there are many different factors of each case though and wrestling can be a hazardous and unpredictable business (lita suicide dives onto her face and is fine, RVD fudges his leg doing a baseball slide... go figure)

[Prime Time Andrew Doyle 0]

lita suicide dives onto her face and is fine

 

Well with a face like hers you probably couldn't do much more damage to it.

[Frosty 0]

I don't think Vince is to blame at all or not as much . Sure he is the employer and in Owen's case the equipment should have been up to par, but as far as the drugs and painkillers and stuff, blaming vince for that shit is complete bullshit. That would be like blaming a model's manager for the model being a cokehead, or blaming a rockstar for drinking too much.

 

If the person can't handle the pain, pressure, life on the road then that is their own fault.... they are always more then welcome to step out of the business and go get a real job. It's not like they aren't given that choice, nobody is holding a gun to their head saying that they have to be a wrestler. People need to stop looking for scapegoats and start accepting the blame from some of their own fuck ups and their own lives (With Owen it's a different story) but most of them could have avoided the problems if they had to know when to get out or when their limit is.

[EricMM 0]

There is and has to be a *reasonable* level of work load.

 

But Vince is practically the only show in town, so he can demand whatever he likes.

 

Its capitalism at it's finest.