Pro Wrestling Chronicle

I read John’s piece on the steroid bust and I must say I agree with him on a lot of it. Vince McMahon has a problem with his employees and doesn’t seem overly concerned to do anything about it. However, I think the blame being laid at the feet of fans (not so much by John but by other wrestling writers) is misplaced. Frankly it’s unfair as well.

The Eddie Guerrero death was tragic- all death is tragic- but this one seemed to hit harder with wrestling fans. This was a guy who seemed to be pulling his life together. He had messed up 3 years earlier and was let go by the WWE before being welcomed back when his personal demons were defeated. The WWE did what they had done in the past and aired a tribute show to him and the cathartic nature of it all helped fans and wrestlers get through. A couple months later the WWE instituted their “Wellness Policy,” which called for a graduating series of suspensions for positive drug tests. Initially it looked like the plan was working, but as more news and suspensions came out people smelled something fishy. I’m shocked that people found this so surprising.

The WWE isn’t like a regular sports organization. When Shawne Merriman got hit with a positive drug test- his Chargers were still going to have to play their scheduled games. The NFL wasn’t going to put that on hold because their best defensive player was out. There would be too much money left on the table. The WWE is an entertainment company. They build storylines and if a guy gets hit with a positive drug test - but it would mess with a storyline - he won’t get suspended right away. Basically- they’d be leaving money on the table.

Now don’t think I’m trying to be callous. I’m not saying an organization like the WWE should turn a blind eye. The sad reality though is this policy, and any steroid policy in general, is more rooted in public perception than any general well-being for the athletes involved. Look at Major League Baseball. When they went on strike in 1994 it put a huge dent in their public image. Cal Ripken Jr.’s pursuit of the consecutive games streak helped mend the image some, but they needed more. In 1998 Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa began their assault on Roger Maris’ single season home-run record and people got into baseball again. Did baseball start questioning why these guys were getting so big and breaking records with ease? No, because it was making them a lot of money, so they were willing to look the other way. It’s not an uncommon phenomenon.

As I said last week, the WWE is going to point to their policy and say “Look we’re doing what we can.” For most people in the news media that will be good enough and they’ll move on. That’s the problem with the media in general. When there is no story to exploit anymore they move on. They like to hit people with their buzzwords and then move on. It works because most people aren’t smart enough to read up or do anything to learn beyond the story. In fact two of the steroids listed Randy Orton were busted for are legal steroids when prescribed by a doctor. It’s a lot easier and sells more papers though to just write steroids because it casts the cloud.

The next course of action is to blame fans. It’s kind of hard for me to do that though considering it’s blaming someone for accepting what they’ve been trained to accept. It’s like this- Say for the first 5 years of your kids life every time they throw a temper tantrum you give them a lollipop. Then after that you try and scold them. It takes time because the kid has been trained that the behavior is rewarded. The WWE for 22 years now has fed fans larger than life wrestlers. The fans responded by buying tickets and supporting the shows. It’s a trained behavior. Over the years guys have shrunk in size, but the WWE still conditions fans that bigger is better. That’s more the WWE’s fault then it is the fans. Yes people could stop just watching the product but that has never proved to mean anything business wise. The WWE- and wrestling in general- responds more to the natural cycle of business than it does to all-out boycotts.

What this also leaves out of the equation is these are grown men that can make their own choices. Nobody makes them take steroids. You can point to the nature of the business, but there are plenty of people making comfortable incomes without super-sized. I look at it this way- I’m a fan of country outlaws, guys like Willie Nelson, and Johnny Cash- all those guys had/have drug problems, have been in jail, done bad things- and yet I still support them. If they died I’d feel sad, but I wouldn’t feel any culpability. They made a choice. Fans can boycott a product, but wrestlers can also step away.

The larger issue here is the WWE needs to take this as a wake-up call. The policy they have is fine, and from what I’ve read could really work. They need to stop amending it though. I know Vince McMahon likes to look at his guys as “independent contractors” but at some point he needs to decide if guys lives are worth the end result. Change needs to be implemented but it needs to come from the organization, and the wrestlers themselves. The media can help by treating the story with a degree of seriousness and continually hounding the WWE into change. Despite what people want to think- fans aren’t the reason and they aren’t to blame. They’re just doing what they’ve been told to do.