Chris Benoit Dead - Toxicology results released

[Downhome 0]

And what in the world is up with Superstar Billy Grahm? Since all of this started he's been going on these shows totally taking of for Vince McMahon and WWE, but then last night on Nancy Grace he was singing a totally different tune. Not to accuse him or anything, but it was such a change that it felt like a check Vince sent him bounced or something.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyFg4IBNdOA

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGcOZMibdlk

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rk1Dt1rCb-s

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QoRTKISvdA

[Kurt Angle Mark 0]

Meltzer's take on Kennedy's little rant

 

 

After writing the past week about how sad it is to see people more concerned with protecting the business, which keeps a deadly status quo, than offering suggestions on how things can improve, we get www.ken-kennedy.com This business divisiveness of people "choosing sides" as opposed to working for improvements is outright pathetic. Not surprising, but sad. When you read this, you'll realize that unless it comes from the outside, nothing will ever change. Every wrestler on top at 30 has this attitude, and when they are on the scrap heap at 45, they have a very different view (unless they have a child wanting a job, in which case they toe the line, as witnessing the complete 180 of Ted DiBiase three years ago and Ted DiBiase today). But I thought the column was very important to read. Some of you will like it if you subscribe to the viewpoint that it's us against them and above all, we have to save our industry no matter what the cost. Some will have a very different idea reading it.

 

[Enigma 0]

JOHNNY GRUNGE'S WIDOW APOLOGIZES FOR STATEMENTS ON NANCY GRACE LAST NIGHT

 

Last night, as many of you know, I appeared in-studio, to talk about the life and death of my late husband Mike “Johnny Grunge” Durham. It was a very emotional experience and I was very nervous. Mike had a longtime addiction problem leading to his death last February.

 

It has come to my attention that, in my nervousness and emotional state, I indicated that all wrestlers are on drugs and steroids. I would like to state, for the record, that this is not the way I truly feel. While there are other wrestlers I know who have battled drug issues, there are also many that I know that have won those battles and have been clean for years (William Regal is an example) and others that do not take drugs at all. As a matter of fact, Mike’s longtime tag team partner and friend Ted “Rocco Rock” Petty did not do drugs and encouraged Mike to stop using constantly, as did I, to no avail.

 

I definitely did not mean to cast a shade on the wrestling business as a whole, only to discuss my situation with Mike.

 

 

I hope this clears up any misconceptions.

 

 

 

God Bless,

 

Penny Bordeau-Durham

[World's Worst Man 0]

Superstar Billy Graham, Marc Mero, and Johnny Grunge's widow on Nancy Grace from Wednesday night:

 

Part 1:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyFg4IBNdOA

 

Part 2:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGcOZMibdlk

 

Part 3:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rk1Dt1rCb-s

 

Part 4:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QoRTKISvdA

 

Thanks for posting these and all of the other interviews. I'm not really watching any TV, so I like catching them on youtube.

[Failed Bridge 0]

It also raises the question of how Nancy invented a time machine to go into the future and kill her son.

[Darthtiki 0]

WWE in Soma Coma?

Posted Jul 12th 2007 6:30PM by TMZ Staff

Filed under: Wacky and Weird

 

TMZ has uncovered the next possible drug scandal that could lay the smackdown on the wrestling world, known as "Soma Coma" -- the abuse of the powerful muscle relaxer.

 

In an exclusive interview, former WWE Diva Terri Runnels tells TMZ, "The boys eat Somas like candy." While the Chris Benoit tragedy has everyone (including the Feds) buzzing about steroids, Runnels says wrestlers have been getting high on Soma for years. "I've personally seen a WWE Superstar nearly die right in front of me after taking 13 Somas ... while still behind the wheel of his car!"

 

 

Runnels was previously married to bizarro WWE wrestler Golddust, and says that "if the wrestlers' addictions and mental health issues continue to be ignored, I'm afraid that I'll have more friends turning up dead -- all because no one cares."

 

UPDATE: In an exclusive statement to TMZ, the WWE vigorously defended their drug testing policies, claiming the organization does everything in its power to ensure that their wrestlers are clean:

WWE finds the abuse of drugs and steroids to be unacceptable, and such behavior is actively discouraged. For 20 years the WWE has been doing something to address the issue of steroid and drug use. We instituted our first drug testing program in 1987. In February 2006, we instituted our latest and most comprehensive drug testing program ever as part of our new Talent Wellness Program as a deterrent to steroid and drug abuse . We cannot account for the poor personal decisions a small minority may make outside the workplace to undermine these efforts.

[Mecca 0]

If appears to some that any current wrestler that comments is quickly hit with "he's just towing the company line" "those aren't his thoughts it's the WWE's" One of my friends said that about what Matt Hardy said too....

 

Either way I'd rather read Hardy or Kennedy than fuckin Marc Mero.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Why? Because they entertain you? Entertainment has more value to you than truth?

[BorneAgain 0]

It is rather odd how in the larger public sphere the two camps have boiled down to those heavily blasting the company (and in some cases, the workers) and those seemingly circling the wagons, (even those outside such as Nash and Hart) in an attempt to protect it.

 

Truth be told I doubt a lot of progress will be made by either side, as the defenders will be viewed as in bed with the company who regardless of motive , and those blasting Vince and ilk will be dismissed by enough as embittered ex-employees with a serious ax to grind.

[JustJoe2k5 0]

Why? Because they entertain you? Entertainment has more value to you than truth?

 

And you're the one that ultimately decides what's true?

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

No, but I'd be apt to believe someone who's not on the payroll than ones that are.

[Mecca 0]

No, but I'd be apt to believe someone who's not on the payroll than ones that are.

 

I'm not apt to believe people who have obvious axes to grind...........The truth is likely in the middle but for someone who hasn't set foot in a locker room or ring in a decade to try to shed light on what's happening right now to me is really stupid. Just like Terri Runnells all these people that haven't been relevant in 10 years think they have something to add now.

 

Meltzer is about to complete the transformation he wants.......he can run the MMA Observer because if he keeps talking shit on the current wrestlers he won't have any sources left.

[World's Worst Man 0]

Lets face it, some people are so into the WWE that they cannot bring themselves to see the situation realistically. Kennedy's hilariously uninformed comments are easy for them to cling to, because they truly believe that he really knows the companies policies just because he works there, even when he clearly does not know. It's quite perverse to see people sticking their head in the sand when wrestlers are dying, just because they like watching professional wrestling on TV.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

Lets face it, some people are so into the WWE that they cannot bring themselves to see the situation realistically. Kennedy's hilariously uninformed comments are easy for them to cling to, because they truly believe that he really knows the companies policies just because he works there, even when he clearly does not. It's quite perverse to see people sticking their head in the sand when wrestlers are dying, just because they like watching professional wrestling on TV.

Don't try to confuse the issue with facts.

[World's Worst Man 0]

Why? Ken Kennedy rules dude.......rules. I see him on TV, so he obviously knows what he's talking about. Not like that hack Meltzer who actually researches the subjects.

[justcoz 0]

Why? Because they entertain you? Entertainment has more value to you than truth?

 

Wouldn't those individuals currently in the locker room know more about the current situation than someone that hasn't been in WWE since the late 90's? Kennedy and Matt Hardy are supposedly two guys in a crop of younger talent that aren't the partying type, on roids or recreational drugs. No, I can't sit here and say that they are 100% clean but it's common knowledge that there is a huge difference in a WWE locker room in 2007 vs. a WWE locker room in 1985 or 1998.

 

It's a corporate structure where they have to arrive on time, dressed a certain way and behave a certain way. Yes, there are loopholes in the Wellness Program that need to be erased but there is still a program in place. Their drug usage is monitored - it just needs to be monitored better. The road schedule has been lightened up from the Hogan era. Can it be improved still? Possibly. They instead decided to tone down the in-ring style and bring things back to a traditional wrestling style rather than big bumps and highspots.

 

Now if they would just stop pushing guys due to size - I'd feel better with my argument!

 

The 'dead wrestler' list is full of talent from the 80's and 90's which were completely different scenes. It was an industry problem that went beyond McMahon. I see nothing wrong with current talent coming out against the media attack and against the perception that all wrestlers are out of control. Kennedy expressed his thoughts on the testing and lack of health benefits and his points were fine. Did anyone ever stop to think that maybe there is a difference between the new generation of guys and the older generation? That maybe they too realize that a lot of the guys they grew up watching and admiring as kids - that helped them in the locker room - are dead and they don't want to end up like them?

 

And I don't see how anyone would suspect a contracted WWE talent to come out by themselves, in a national forum, and push for a union, health benefits, reduced road schedule, etc. It's not something that someone is going to post on a blog. There has to be a collected movement among the talent and they are never going to have the balls to come together and make it happen.

[Mecca 0]

There's 2 sides anti WWE and Pro WWE.........to me like I said it's in the middle but at the same time if you are going to attack the Kennedy's and Hardy's for towing the line........don't get upset when someone attacks Mero or especially Debra for appearing on 82 shows and saying the exact same personal agenda spouting shit over and over.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

I'm not upset at all. I've a clear head about it. I don't think Marc Mero knows all what's up, but I'd be more inclined to listen to people that aren't in line for a big push and that has nothing to worry about as far as WWE backlash. Those are more likely to tell the truth in relation to what's going on. Marc Mero might not know what's going on in 2007, but Ken Kennedy is not going to tell you what is REALLY going on in 2007 either.

[Maztinho 0]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPnMP56JkHY

 

Wow, what a true moron Dan Abrams is.

 

He goes on and on about ratings dropping because fans are just really realizing that wrestling is fake, and Mark Mero with the great comeback - "I think what's really turning away fans, is possibly MURDER."

 

Thanks for shining the light on the obvious Dan "the Genius" Abrams. I'm sure you all have experienced this countless times as I have, but non wrestling fans seem to universally think we all don't know its scripted. They honestly think they are telling us something we don't know. Sometimes it amuses me but most of the time it just irritates the hell out of me. My usual response is thanks McFly...btw, you do know movies aren't real either right?

 

IT"S STILL REAL TO ME DAMMIT!

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

I'm not a fan of Keller, but his response to Kennedy's post deserves posting in full here:

 

Please GOD, I'm just BEGGING for someone who has actually wrestled in a WWE ring in the past decade besides Jericho, Bret Hart, John Cena, and Ted Dibiase to come forward on one of these shows and tell the world what's really going on. For these goofs, like Lanny Poffo? Ultimate Warrior? and Marc Mero???!! to repeatedly act as "experts" and "wrestler advocates" on the current situation is like having a frustrated ex-jock who rode the pine bench throughout his high school sports career give advice to Brett Favre on how to improve his game! It's ridiculous, insane, and it really makes me sick that these so called reporters like Bill O'Reilly, Nancy Grace, and Geraldo Rivera, call upon these silly bastards who are bitter and frustrated that their careers have ended to represent the WWE which of course makes all of us look like a bunch of babbling idiots who are all addicted to steroids, drugs, alcohol, etc.

 

WK: There's an easy way for WWE to put somebody on TV who is on the current roster. Say yes to the requests from the TV producers when they ask for someone representing the company to be there.

 

Calling Lanny and Warrior "goofs" may apply, because their appearances so far have been "goofy," but Mero has been anything but goofy. He had a goofy gimmick as Johnny B. Badd, but that's different than the real person. Kennedy, who has been on the main WWE roster just over two years, is complaining about wrestlers such as Poffo, Warrior, and Mero about "riding the bench"? Come on. Each has put in more national TV time than he has. His name-calling early in this, such as "silly bastards," undercuts his credibility early in this web post.

 

THINGS ARE MUCH DIFFERENT THAN THEY WERE FIVE OR TEN OR TWENTY YEARS AGO! Most of the "expert", frustrated ex-wrestlers that they've had on the show came from an era where everyone wrestled every day and then went out and partied like rock stars until dawn, drinking copious amounts of alcohol, smoking cigarettes and marijuana, snorting cocaine, taking fistfuls of pills, and injecting massive amounts of steroids. They would take pills to go to sleep, snort coke or take speed to get up and do this day after day after day! This would not be even remotely tolerated in today's environment.

 

WK: This is just incredulous in the face of what was found being prescribed to Chris Benoit and what happened not long ago to Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio being named in the indictment against Dr. Astin, Benoit's doctor. WWE is different today than five years ago. It was different five years ago compared to ten years ago. WWE should send wrestlers currently on the roster out there to speak on behalf of these massive changes that are going to prevent the next generation from having the same problems as the previous or current generation of aging wrestlers. But current wrestlers need to face up to a counter point of view and answer that counter perspective from people who have wrestled in his boots before. If things are so much better, why not come out and explain precisely how two weeks ago and debate those who say differently?

 

We have a strict drug policy in place. The WWE's wellness program was designed and instituted by the same doctor who implemented the NFL and the NBA's substance abuse programs. Contrary to what somebody recently said on one of these "tabloid" shows the WWE's allowed levels are exactly the same as the NFL. (Someone, I can't recall exactly who said it, said that the WWE allowed a 10:1 Testosterone to Epitestosterone level, which is false. We have a 4:1 level exactly like the NFL and the NBA.)

 

There are differences. A 4:1 is not considered a positive (failure) like it is in other sports. The policy explicitly states: "A Testosterone/Epitestosterone (T/E) ratio greater than four (4) but less than ten (10) shall require follow-up testing and/or medical evaluation to determine if the test shall be interpreted as positive for the active use of Testosterone or evidence of other steroids influencing the T/E ratio." The only ratio that "shall be conclusively regarded as a positive test result" is 10:1. There are other differences that are left up to interpretation based on a variety of non-transparent factors. Anyone who knows the basics of WWE's history with drug testing isn't going to blindly accept them taking "flexible" and "interpretive" aspects of their policy and applying them evenly. It's frankly naive and shows little knowledge of WWE's track record going back 15 years.

 

In fact, I knew of someone who took an over the counter supplement from GNC which he didn't know was on the banned list, which caused him to have an elevated testosterone level. This individual was suspended and fined because of it. We can't even take Ephedrine which is another legal supplement that can be bought at any gas station in the country. Since I've been with the company, I've seen the few people that did have problems with drugs either sent to rehab to try and help them overcome their addictions, (sent to one of the top rehab facilities in the country and paid for in full by the WWE) or be fired for repeat offenses.

 

WK: If anyone is saying WWE isn't suspending some or all offenders who don't have a prescription, they would also be naive to how the policy works. There are a lot of supplements that are banned, and I'm sure some have been suspended for testing positive with those in their systems. WWE has also sent wrestlers and paid for wrestlers to go to treatment. Nobody's denying there aren't aspects of WWE's conduct that are admirable. It's the totality of the policy and potential loopholes and the lack of any transparency for accountability that is a main issue. Lance Storm just talked about the "loopholes" on ESPN's "Outside the Lines."

 

Look at the list of wrestlers who have prematurely passed away over the years, and most of them made the decision to live their lives this way. That's right, I said "made the decision" because we have this cool thing in the United States of America called "freedom of choice". I have the choice to quit my job if I don't like it, or if I feel that I'm on the road too much. I have the right to choose whether or not I want to break the law and use drugs. I have the right to choose between eating healthy food and exercising regularly and eating fast-food three times a day, not going to the gym, and becoming obese like a good majority of the citizens in this country. When will individuals be held accountable for their own actions? Will it ever happen, or will we always try and point the finger at someone else? Unfortunately as much as I respect the man, Superstar Billy Graham is ultimately responsible for the health problems he suffers from right now because of the choices he made in his career. I find it both sad and humorous that the man who many say is largely responsible for starting the whole "steroid craze" in pro-wrestling is now pointing the finger at the industry rather than blaming himself.

 

WK: There is too much reliance placed "individual choice" and "personal responsibility" argument by some people. People who are paid higher salaries to work in an unsafe nuclear powerplant or the coal mines than they could elsewhere have historically been protected by the government, especially when the bossman running the operation was making exponentially more money without taking the same risks as his workers. There is a level of an "acceptable ratio" among wrestlers, especially the ones who feel they are the least likely to become victims of the system, to say the system is great for them, so it must be beyond reproach.

 

I, like everyone else in the company, have the luxury of being able to go home almost every week, play with my dog, hang out with my girlfriend, sleep in my own bed, and eat good home cooked food. This wasn't the case with these frustrated ex-wrestlers who are trying to grasp on to FIVE more minutes of fame and recognition.

 

WK: The schedule is absolutely better. Today I've spoken at length to two non-frustrated ex-WWE full time wrestlers who have several million dollars in the bank and no axe to grind and no desire to get back into wrestling. Each of them agreed with Kennedy that things are better than they used to be. Neither thought it was nearly good enough. Instead of three or four days a week on the road and three or four at home, it used to be 14-17 days on the road with three or four off, with that cycle repeating itself. There were even loops of three weeks or more without time off. Today is absolutely better. But Kennedy is not the best person, from an experience standpoint, to be speaking. He has worked many years on the indy scene before getting his first break, but he's also only a little over two years into his full-time run on WWE's schedule. He's had extended time off for injury recovery.

 

Kennedy fits the category of WWE wrestler least likely to see anything wrong with the schedule. He's the guy at the beginning of the triathalon who doesn't get why everyone who is on the end-run of the triathalon looks so tired and beat down and needs all this water just to keep going. Not only is he feeling fresh mentally and physically, but he's on the verge of his best earning years. The catch, and so many people who have been in his shoes before years ago can speak to this, is that he's going to reach a point of mental fatigue, even with the current WWE schedule, and he's going to have nagging injuries, perhaps even surgery he needs that he puts off because he's in the midst of a big run with a PPV match coming up. He has experienced that twice already. When it's the third, or fourth or fifth time, it's different. Ask Amy Dumas about getting injured in your first match back after a long injury layoff. Or Robert Smith of the Minnesota Vikings, who retired early and turned down a huge contract, because he had been through too many knee surgeries and rehabs and just had enough. The wrestlers early in the cycle, who are staring at a five year run of seven figures average salary, are the least likely to see the problems that might result and that history shows will strike at least some of the people in his position.

 

Unlike other sports stars or TV/movie stars, he is going to have look good in tights with no shirt year-round for the next 10-15 years, with his only breaks coming when he dares ask for one (as others who don't take breaks because they're younger or more durable or more willing to sacrifice begin to lap him) or when he's rehabbing an injury (hardly a stress-free, relaxing, planned vacation) and perform virtually every weekend year round. That adds up. He's at the starting point, when things look great. He's about to get independently wealthy. He's not being realistic about what it's like to walk in the shoes of some of the other wrestlers such as Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero who didn't get into this with a desire to party and do drugs and have sad premature ends to their lives. If WWE had said anything other than things are great and individuals keep making bad individual choices to individually kill themselves, maybe there'd be a sense they're interested in more than damage control for their stockholders.

 

I hear some of these guys talking about how the WWE doesn't have any type of benefits. I heard Johnny Grunge's widow on Nancy Grace saying that wrestling leaves you with nothing, and that two weeks after her husband was released from WCW that they lost their cars and their home. It apparently wasn't obvious to Nancy Grace, who is reportedly an extremely intelligent person, that they were obviously living outside of their means, and they weren't doing something that my parents taught me to do when I was a little kid……SAVE MONEY. This job pays well, but I know that it won't last forever. It's the same problem with pro athletes and actors in Hollywood who spend, spend, spend, like the money grows on trees and like it's always going to be there, and then falls flat on their faces when their careers are suddenly cut short. Who's fault? The team? The studio in Hollywood? I'm sorry, but I have no sympathy for people who don't save money and spend everything that they earn so they can impress everyone around them with all the NEAT THINGS that they own. As far as the having no health insurance thing goes, I've been seriously injured twice since I've been in the WWE. Every red cent has been paid for in full by the company, which is the case for any employee who is injured during a work or work-related event. Yes, I have my own supplemental insurance which is a bit expensive, but if WWE paid for it, I'm sure that, just like every other company in the country that offers health insurance to their employees, I would just be paid less, so it's a wash!

 

WK: He has no sympathy for people who get wrapped up in the wrestling grind and don't know any better? No sympathy? If I worked for a company that demands the type of physical sacrifice that WWE does, and I saw performers not saving money or buying health insurance with their ample pay, I'd get more involved. WWE wrestlers and management talk about how they're all a big family. Well, Ken, family members look out for one another. Some are better with money than others. Some are better listeners when there's a problem at home. Some are great at telling stories. Some are experts at nutrition. Others are great at charity events working with kids (as was the "goof" Marc Mero you insulted earlier). Everyone has strengths. But if some aren't good at saving their money or buying health insurance, is WWE doing enough as a responsible corporate citizen to help them in areas where they're weak, such as investing and planning for the future? I'm not saying WWE has to. I am saying it'd be great if they did more than they do. Many corporations do because they can and because it's the right thing to do.

 

Johnny Grunge was bad with his money. He should have been more responsible. I'm not sure lecturing a grieving widow a day after her five year old says he thinks daddy is lonely and has no one to eat Cocoa Puffs with in heaven is the time to lecture her on her late husband's irresponsibility. He was allowed/encourage/required, in exchange for pay, to take tremendous physical abuse during the hardcore era in ECW, WCW, and the WWF. Maybe he wouldn't have accepted help if offered. Maybe he would have been a druggie if he hadn't been abusing his body in the ring so badly. There is no doubt he made bad choices. But this approach of blaming him is no different than those blaming Vince.

 

This shouldn't be a game of two opposing sides digging their heels into the dirt. This should be about people coming together and trying to figure out what they can reasonably do to prevent the system from producing sad endings to the lives of way too many wrestlers. They each have their own story and a unique set of circumstances, but there is no other industry producing this type of tragic outcome. I find it crass and selfish and self-centered to be one of the fortunate ones who has worked hard and plans to be responsible, but who is also early in the grind about to enter peak earning years, pushing for the status quo. If changes can be made that don't threaten the big money years of the Kennedy-types, but can make lives better for everybody and puts the wrestlers' welfare ahead of the opinion of Wallstreet analysts who look down at wrestlers as circus freaks, that would be a nice improvement. Why can't we have that discussion? The argument cannot begin with "things are different than before and just fine" until we get a few years without someone dying on WWE's watch, or someone who was recently spit out of the coal mine and dies a few years later and is just written off as having made bad choices after leaving the company.

 

In the end, we are all responsible for our own actions. Saying that Vince McMahon is responsible for the deaths of the Benoit's is like saying that you and I are responsible for the deaths of Anna Nicole Smith and her son. The millions of people who tuned in every week to be entertained by "how funny" she was when she was all PILLED up and DRUNK, suddenly became the same people who acted SHOCKED and APALLED when she died of a drug overdose. Somebody, PLEASE, stop the insanity!!!! KK "

 

This is another example of the pro wrestling industry just discarding its lost souls. Here's my opinion: If WWE had a sincere, comprehensive, transparent drug testing policy for the last eight years (not just after someone died and they felt pressure for whatever reason to finally reinstitute a long forgotten attention to drug testing) and gave Chris Benoit six weeks off twice a year to go on a cruise with his wife and be a father for his kids for more than a 48-72 hour stretch when he's recovering from a road trip and preparing for the next one, then Chris, Nancy, and Daniel would still be alive. I might be wrong, but that's my opinion, and it's based on more than a hunch and not some ulterior motive.

 

Well, I guess my motive is this: I want to write about wrestling matches, angles, and promos. I don't want to write about wrestlers dying anymore. I'm sick of it. And I honestly don't see enough changes being made. I see denial and I see self-serving justification for a broken system because the people defending it naively think they're not going to be "one of them" because they're early in the marathon and about to enter their prime earning years whose attitude is: "Screw everyone else and their bad decisions. It's working for me, dammit." Maybe, maybe not. But this is about more than the 80-90 percent who make all the right decisions. It's about not tempting and rewarding bad decisions for the 10-20 percent who aren't as equipped to deal with the system and the culture. The current system temps and rewards with fame and money people who aren't as equipped as Kennedy believes he is (and very well may be - but nobody who isn't thinks they aren't at the point in his career he's currently at).

[Mecca 0]

I'm not upset at all. I've a clear head about it. I don't think Marc Mero knows all what's up, but I'd be more inclined to listen to people that aren't in line for a big push and that has nothing to worry about as far as WWE backlash. Those are more likely to tell the truth in relation to what's going on. Marc Mero might not know what's going on in 2007, but Ken Kennedy is not going to tell you what is REALLY going on in 2007 either.

 

Pretty much........You'd think as long as Meltzer has been around he'd realize wrestling is still at it's heart a carny ass business. This idea of "cleaning up" wrestling is a bit much.....

 

I understand these days Dave is more into covering MMA than he is wrestling, but I think he's basically forgotten what wrestling is anymore. He wants wrestling to promote like MMA does.......sometimes I think Dave has lost his mind to be honest.

[The Niggardly King 0]

Dave wants MMA to be more like wrestling while wrestling be more like MMA.

[Mecca 0]

Keller and Meltzer are entitled to their opinions but I'll say this.....if Dave's TV appearances and Keller's general writing is any indication they should be happy they don't have to debate that with Kennedy on TV because they'd both end up looking bad and he wouldn't........

[dubq 0]

No, but I'd be apt to believe someone who's not on the payroll than ones that are.

 

I'm not apt to believe people who have obvious axes to grind...........The truth is likely in the middle but for someone who hasn't set foot in a locker room or ring in a decade to try to shed light on what's happening right now to me is really stupid. Just like Terri Runnells all these people that haven't been relevant in 10 years think they have something to add now.

 

C'mon Mecca. Haven't been relevant? Relevant to who? Just because these wrestlers haven't been in the spotlight recently, doesn't mean they're not relevant. Guys like Mero, Blackman, et al have been in the business a lot longer than Matt Hardy and Ken Kennedy. (and don't give me some shit about how it's changed sooo much either)

 

And of course they have something to add now! Are you a total nitwit? When were they supposed to add it? When the industry was getting NO mainstream press at all? Yeah, then they're surely be offered interviews on primetime, right?

 

Holy fuck some people here really have no idea do they?

[World's Worst Man 0]

Keller and Meltzer are entitled to their opinions but I'll say this.....if Dave's TV appearances and Keller's general writing is any indication they should be happy they don't have to debate that with Kennedy on TV because they'd both end up looking bad and he wouldn't........

 

They'd end up looking good to anyone with a brain and a modest amount of knowledge regarding the subject. The idea that charisma is more important than credibility and facts is not only ridiculous, it's insane.

[Mecca 0]

Keller and Meltzer are entitled to their opinions but I'll say this.....if Dave's TV appearances and Keller's general writing is any indication they should be happy they don't have to debate that with Kennedy on TV because they'd both end up looking bad and he wouldn't........

 

They'd end up looking good to anyone with a brain and a modest amount of knowledge regarding the subject. The idea that charisma is more important than credibility and facts is not only ridiculous, but it's insane.

 

Well they both have obvious WWE dislikes if you read them and like I said they are entitled to that..........Keller isn't exactly smart either read him sometimes.....Meltzer has come off horrible every single time he's been on TV.

 

Look when your job is to write about wrestling like theirs is all Kennedy would have to do is come off somewhat intelligent. That's really all it would take......Of course knowing wrestlers he'd say something like "oh yea you aren't in the locker room how do you know?" then he'd say they aren't wrestlers they just write about it they're nothing more than jock sniffers.

[dubq 0]

So I was watching Hard Knocks tonight - the main feature. That was filmed in 2004? I have to say that Benoit sure aged a hell of a lot in those 2-3 years. If you had seen the new biopics that WWE.com had taken of him right after he was drafted to ECW you'd know what I mean. I can't find them now, obviously, but he looked fucking grizzled and haggard all to hell, whereas he looks pretty young and fresh in the 2004 DVD feature. Just something I'm throwing out there...

[World's Worst Man 0]

When discussing something, charisma is more important than actually being intelligent and well-informed. You heard it here first folks.

[Mecca 0]

No, but I'd be apt to believe someone who's not on the payroll than ones that are.

 

I'm not apt to believe people who have obvious axes to grind...........The truth is likely in the middle but for someone who hasn't set foot in a locker room or ring in a decade to try to shed light on what's happening right now to me is really stupid. Just like Terri Runnells all these people that haven't been relevant in 10 years think they have something to add now.

 

C'mon Mecca. Haven't been relevant? Relevant to who? Just because these wrestlers haven't been in the spotlight recently, doesn't mean they're not relevant. Guys like Mero, Blackman, et al have been in the business a lot longer than Matt Hardy and Ken Kennedy. (and don't give me some shit about how it's changed sooo much either)

 

And of course they have something to add now! Are you a total nitwit? When were they supposed to add it? When the industry was getting NO mainstream press at all? Yeah, then they're surely be offered interviews on primetime, right?

 

Holy fuck some people here really have no idea do they?

 

Good "prop myself up as smarter than you" type of post.........I give it about a 9.

 

In all reality no one really knows, you don't know, I don't know.....There's really no need to start flipping out on Kennedy or Hardy or myself for saying something opposite of you. You are acting like Mero and the like know exactly what they are talking about when in reality you don't know if that's true or not either.....

 

So like I said good sensational post there but not much to it.........you've been watching to much cable news.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

When discussing something, charisma is more important than actually being intelligent and well-informed.

It is if you want to get over with the easily impressionable.