Chris Benoit Dead - Toxicology results released

[The Metal Maniac 0]

Wait; can you actually stop the media from covering/being at the funeral? Like, do you think if Nancy's family went out and asked the media to please go away, because they don't want them here, they'd actually do it?

[World's Worst Man 0]

Wait I don't understand; did Jim Ross have anything to do with the GLF situation?

 

Nah, it just reminded me of the GLF story.

 

And yea, anyone who can't see how perverse it is to be at the funeral and then give the WWE bullshit spin to the media is pretty daft. Actually, this whole thread has done a good job of exposing the chaff.

[justcoz 0]

Just because Ross was asked questions about steroids and such, he didn't have to answer them and put the WWE spin in effect. He could have easily just said that this was a time to think about Nancy and Daniel and talking about anything else was inappropriate.

 

Which he pretty much did by saying it wasn't a steroid issue and that horse had to be put to the pasture. Marc Mero was also quoted by a paper from the service about wrestlers dying. I guess he was supposed to say that this wasn't the time to discuss wrestlers dying young and regulating pro wrestling but to just think about Nancy and Daniel.

 

Listen, I'm with you guys on a lot of things in how messed up the WWE's handling of this situation has been. I just have an open mind. What you guys see as 'towing the company line', I see as the only thing to do from a business perspective, Nancy's attorney has made it abundantly clear that they are filing a wrongful death suit and it would be erroenous for WWE to say anything that would add fuel to that lawsuit. They can't come out and say that their testing needs improvement, etc. But nitpicking about someone attending an f'n funeral is just ridiculous.

[Atticus Chaos 0]

Dave,

 

Did you see Chavo's interview on Greta last night? When she asked him directly about the plethora of pro-wrestling deaths -- including Eddy's -- he replied that deaths in wrestling were an anomaly! He alleged that most of the deaths you here about are pro-wrestlers from the 70s and 80s, and claimed that today's wrestlers don't drink and party like those guys once did! He said nobody even drinks in the WWE locker-room because they're all so health conscious. I wanted to throw up!

 

How can a guy that has legitimately lost two of his loved ones in recent years espouse this sort of party line -- a line which will assure that the deaths of those closest to him were absolutely in vain (e.g., led to no lasting changes within the industry)?

 

-Paul Armentano

 

 

wrestlingobserver.com

 

Interestingly, Dave gave it it's own headline, rather than just putting it in with the rest of the mailbag.

[haVoc 0]

Chavo's an idiot. Sandman drinks on camera and JBL made mention himself on the Benoit tribute how he would drink with Chavo and Benoit.

[justcoz 0]

Dave,

 

Did you see Chavo's interview on Greta last night? When she asked him directly about the plethora of pro-wrestling deaths -- including Eddy's -- he replied that deaths in wrestling were an anomaly! He alleged that most of the deaths you here about are pro-wrestlers from the 70s and 80s, and claimed that today's wrestlers don't drink and party like those guys once did! He said nobody even drinks in the WWE locker-room because they're all so health conscious. I wanted to throw up!

 

How can a guy that has legitimately lost two of his loved ones in recent years espouse this sort of party line -- a line which will assure that the deaths of those closest to him were absolutely in vain (e.g., led to no lasting changes within the industry)?

 

-Paul Armentano

 

 

wrestlingobserver.com

 

Interestingly, Dave gave it it's own headline, rather than just putting it in with the rest of the mailbag.

 

And this is why it's best for WWE to just keep their talent off of television right now and let the attorneys and doctors address questions. These guys look EXTREMELY bad not speaking up about the problems and dancing around the question. It's important for their job (see Mark Henry not getting the title on SD) and protecting their company from potential lawsuits to tow some sort of a company line. WWE will make the changes they need to make internally to the drug testing, wellnesss program, etc. They can't come out publicly and announce this though because they would be acknowledging that there is a problem that they haven't addressed that could have brought on these deaths.

 

The attorney for Nancy's family is waiting for them to screw up and say something to indicate that there was an issue with Chris that they didn't address so there would be a case that WWE's negligence resulted in Nancy and Daniel's death. That can't happen. They could go public and say that they fired Kurt Angle because he failed the testing whenever they are questioned but they don't. It's a publicly traded corporation!!!!! Why people on here and Meltzer can't recognize that is beyond me.

 

I shake my head to when I hear things - it pained me to hear Chavo say those things last night - but there is no other way about it. William Regal did something interesting in saying how out of control things were in WCW and that's why they are out of business. That would be one thing WWE could get away with maybe and there would be fuel to it since Meltzer listed 34 deaths of people that had wrestled in WCW vs. 32 for people that had wrestled in WWF/E and that's including six years of WCW being out of business.

 

And if WWE didn't send anyone to the funeral to represent the company - there would be a hysteria that the WWE was cold and didn't even show up.

[justcoz 0]

Chavo's an idiot. Sandman drinks on camera and JBL made mention himself on the Benoit tribute how he would drink with Chavo and Benoit.

 

And Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair have both stated in media interviews, way before the deaths of Eddie and Chris, how shocked they were that so little of the younger guys in the locker room go out and drink that much after shows and instead go back to their rooms or play video games.

 

Some people drink. Some people don't. What Chavo was trying to say, but saying it badly, was that it's not a 70's, 80's and 90's rock n roll locker room any more.

[haVoc 0]

Chavo said nobody drinks. That makes him full of shit.

[justcoz 0]

Chavo said nobody drinks. That makes him full of shit.

 

Nobody was probably not meant to be taken literally. Of course people drink. It just meant that it wasn't a frat house mentality and few guys actually go out every night and get hammered like they did in the old days.

 

[dubq 0]

Chavo said nobody drinks. That makes him full of shit.

 

He meant in excess. Which he should've said. Whether or not it's true is another story.

[pochorenella 0]

It reminds me of the time GLF crashed the Chris Candido wake. Jim Ross is a shitty human being, both for that stunt, and for the egregious, shameless commentaries on the situation.

Oh, dear Lord...

 

I can't even comment on this...

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

Well, JR was an uninvited guest. He went because WWE asked him to go to represent the company. He wasn't asked to attend by Nancy's family, or Daniel's.

[Scroby 0]

Chavo's an idiot. Sandman drinks on camera and JBL made mention himself on the Benoit tribute how he would drink with Chavo and Benoit.

JBL: "B Double E Double R U N"

 

[Dangerous A 0]

Here is Chavo on Greta Van Susteren...

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT8qlbXYyJQ

[Kurt Angle Mark 0]

Former WWE writer comments on the drug issue

 

Matter of Opinion

 

 

 

What a month it has been for everyone who loves the pro wrestling industry. It’s been kind of embarrassing to say the least.

 

When Jim Morrison died of an overdose, did people point the finger at his record label?

 

With Michael Vick allegedly involved in dog fights and the authorities finding dog carcasses all over his property, are the Atlanta Falcons to blame?

 

 

 

Yes, the abundant deaths in pro wrestling are a little different, but you can hardly blame one organization, really. What these wrestlers do in their spare time is completely up to them and unfortunately, many of these wrestlers decide to do stupid things. There is only a certain amount pro wrestling companies can do. The overhead of a pro wrestling company is tremendous, especially on the level of WWE. To incur the cost of the high tech devices and labs, would break a company, even of WWE’s size. Yes, I get it, the lives of wrestlers (or anyone) are more important, I’m just laying out the facts.

 

 

 

WWE has never been faced with these kinds of tragedies before. Yes, wrestlers have died and when they started dying while on WWE pay roll, WWE tried to change it’s policies. Now once again, WWE has been met with an even bigger tragedy and they will have to step up their drug testing another notch. Nobody saw this tragedy coming, not you, not I, and certainly not WWE.

 

 

 

Here’s some stories from my WWE days.

 

I was doing a pre-tape backstage with the all three Dudley’s (don’t even ask what city we were in). This was around the time of the Spike/Molly angle, 2001. It was a basic pre-tape and with the Dudley’s, I knew we’d have it wrapped up pretty quick.

 

Off to the side about thirty yards, was a shutter where trucks can come in to load and unload. This was half open.

 

So we did a quick run through of the pre-tape and were just talking as the lighting guys tried to fix a few things, when a cab rolls in to the arena. The car stopped about 10 yards from where we were. No big deal. The door opens and Eddie Guerrero stumbles out and falls to the floor. He had gotten to his knees by the time I got to him and he looked up at me, his eyes in the back of his head. I was in shock and told a runner to go help. Most agents came running and they took Eddie to a room.

 

They tried to help Eddie and got him medical attention. In addition to sending him home, they immediately got him into rehab. As it turned out, he ended up sharing a room with Dr. Tom Pritchard, who the WWE also hand sent to rehab.

 

That incident shook me up and never did I believe that soon Eddie would be gone, but it made me think about what some of these guys were doing, as I had heard before, but never witnessed anything.

 

Another incident was when we were in Texas. Shawn Michaels was still out of action. He showed up backstage at a Smackdown taping and that was my first meeting of Shawn while working for WWE. He was cordial and seemed like a nice guy. Later in the evening, it was myself, Triple H, Kurt Angle, Undertaker, Kane and Big Show sitting around watching part of the show. Shawn entered the room and you could tell he was messed up bad. He was loopy and was talking nonsense. Most of the guys got up and left in disgust. I believe it was Trips that made the call to get him out of there and get some help, notifying Vince of what was going on.

 

 

 

Then we all know about the well documented issues with Sean Waltman. Sean is great friends with not just Triple H, but also Stephanie and Shane. Yet, with his drug habits, they put him in rehab numerous times and released him to give him the time he needs to heal.

 

 

 

It bothers me that people blame the WWE on these early deaths. WWE does what it can. Could it do more? Sure, and I believe they are learning as time goes on. However, to put Benoit’s actions or drug related deaths in the industry squarely on the shoulders of WWE is very unfair.

 

 

 

In saying that, many of the WWE wrestlers are in denial of the situation. The situation is that a lot of the guys are falling into a dark corner. Whether it’s in the locker room when nobody is watching or whether it’s in their hotel room at night when their bodies hurt and they can’t sleep, a lot of wrestlers get hooked on these drugs. But they are in denial and for two reasons.

 

1) To save their jobs, they need to go the political route and

 

2) because possibly, these guys are doing the same drugs, but right now, they feel fine.

 

Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure there are some guys in the locker room of both WWE and TNA that do not touch drugs, although that may be minimal.

 

 

 

I cannot believe Chavo Guerrero said that the drug issues are related to the 70’s and 80’s. That’s absurd. The types of drugs that these guys are getting addicted to were not even around in the early 90’s. And now today, we have another death in the form of Johnny Kronus. Now, I know, no official cause of death has been given, but my guess is….well you know.

 

 

 

The media has made this all about the WWE, when it’s not. It’s about responsibility. It’s the responsibility of these men to know when and when not to quit. What’s more important, the limelight or your family?

 

 

 

It’s WWE’s responsibility to make sure that while these guys are in their care, there is no drugs in the arena. In addition to drug testing, bring in a K-9 dog at every event. The local police department would gladly do this. Use various methods to make sure that no drugs are in the vicinity of a WWE event.

 

 

 

It’s the medias responsibility to report the facts and be a factor in helping the issue instead of pointing fingers. The media was and is waiting for more deaths, just so they can say, “See, those damn wrestlers”. These issues are across the board in all sports. I even read the other day that steroids are already being used in Golf. GOLF! Please.

 

 

 

Finally, it’s the fans responsibility, your responsibility to get on the WWE website and send them as many e-mails as possible. Let them know that you want more wrestling and less juiced up freaks. As a wrestling promotion, that is also their responsibility.

 

 

 

Pete Doyle

 

[email protected]

[zappafrank 0]

(see Mark Henry not getting the title on SD)

 

 

Spoiler...?

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

Found this interesting, from today's WO.com update:

 

--On the Nancy Grace show on Tuesday night, just for clarification, when Jerry McDevitt and Dr. David Black refused to appear with any other guests, they specifically mentioned four people, which were an independent toxicologist (who would correct McDevitt's misleading statement about what Dr. Kris Sperry actually said), myself, Marc Mero and Bryan Alvarez.

[Nate 0]

Pete Doyle raises a good point, the WWE is not to blame its the individual who partakes in drugs, alcohol, steroids who is to blame

[Celtic Jobber 0]

Here's Lance Storm on Nancy Grace last night:

 

Part 1:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiY3RWkKhac

 

Part 2:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKttv0PocCA

[Bix 0]

WWE puts pressure on wrestlers to use steroids and has a horrible policy to curtail abuse, though.

[justcoz 0]

(see Mark Henry not getting the title on SD)

 

 

Spoiler...?

 

Oh, please. It's on the front page of wwe.com and I never said who won the title. If I told you that Chavo Guerrerro didn't wint the title would that be a spoiler?

 

[justcoz 0]

Well, JR was an uninvited guest. He went because WWE asked him to go to represent the company. He wasn't asked to attend by Nancy's family, or Daniel's.

 

Okay, I'm going to say this one more time. Since when are people invited by the family to attend a funeral? I must have crashed every funeral that I ever attended then. I attended the funeral of my old boss from ten years ago in June. I guess I was out of line. Anyone can pay respect to the deceased, especially if they knew them like JR knew Nancy and Daniel. He admitted that he was asked to attend to represent WWE but that he had a deep love for both of them and wanted to pay his respects. He wasn't sent there to do dirty work and perhaps he shouldn't have responded to the direct question he was asked by the media but it wasn't as if he held a press conference on the steps with Jerry McDivitt and Dr. Black. The reports about him wearing his cowboy hat, sitting in the back of the church and being the first one to leave and being there specifically to spread WWE propaganda are absurd.

 

[Nate 0]

WWE puts pressure on wrestlers to use steroids and has a horrible policy to curtail abuse, though.

 

Bix you huffin paint chips or something, i seriously doubt they go up to someone like Batista and say HERE YOU NEED TO SHOOT THIS UP TO GET BIGGER, call me crazy but i bet the guys we all think are on steroids really are not

[justcoz 0]

WWE puts pressure on wrestlers to use steroids and has a horrible policy to curtail abuse, though.

 

Wrestlers put pressures on themselves by thinking that the only way they can make money in the business by being on the juice. WWE pushes big guys and they are at fault for that but the company themselves don't put pressure on anyone to roid up. Eddie and Chris were on the juice in ECW and WCW, long before they came to WWE. They got called up for their ability as performers and it was there decision to continue to bulk up thinking they'd be more noticeable to Vince or maybe because they had a little guy complex in a locker room of big guys. Enough of this - these guys don't have any choice because they are pressured by WWE crap. They have every choice there is and it's not WWE's fault if they make the wrong choices, even if Vince does like big guys.

[Mike wanna be 0]

WWE puts pressure on wrestlers to use steroids and has a horrible policy to curtail abuse, though.

 

Bix you huffin paint chips or something, i seriously doubt they go up to someone like Batista and say HERE YOU NEED TO SHOOT THIS UP TO GET BIGGER, call me crazy but i bet the guys we all think are on steroids really are not

I'll go one better and call you a moron.

 

Just take a look at the rise and fall of Chris Masters (complete with "How to lose 50 pounds in 4 weeks" nationally televised joke!).

[Mecca 0]

WWE puts pressure on wrestlers to use steroids and has a horrible policy to curtail abuse, though.

 

Bix you huffin paint chips or something, i seriously doubt they go up to someone like Batista and say HERE YOU NEED TO SHOOT THIS UP TO GET BIGGER, call me crazy but i bet the guys we all think are on steroids really are not

 

Um Bix thinks pretty much every wrestling problem right now is the fault of the WWE......trying to convince him otherwise is going to be a tireless and pointless exercise.

[Enigma 0]

Since when did you have to be invited to a funeral if you were a friend of the deceased?

[Mecca 0]

Since when did you have to be invited to a funeral if you were a friend of the deceased?

 

Let's not discuss that......this is about attacking Jim Ross and anything WWE, don't let any minor details get in the way.

[World's Worst Man 0]

Wrestlers aren't that stupid. They can see the guys who get pushed, the guys who get fast-tracked from the minor leagues. They are guys with physiques that are not attainable for 99.99% of the population, unless they use steroids. The WWE knows this, and that's why they don't have to explicitly tell their wrestlers to hit the juice. Until they stop this policy of pushing wrestlers based on their physiques, they deserve a lot of the blame for the steroid problem.

[Mecca 0]

You know fans play right into this perception........

 

We make fun of guys for being fat or being small.......the "big muscle fetish" runs very deep in pro wrestling at all ends.