Benoit autopsy results are in

No one is saying either option is better, spnited. The fact remains there was a tragedy. Does heightened levels of testosterone cause similar incidents of 'roid rage? I don't know. I'm not an expert on the subject.

But like I said, eliminating the 'roid aspect only furthers the question of why. It does not in any way diminish the tragedy.

 

A 59:1 ratio just might make him a little, teeny, tiny bit aggressive!

The WWE is an organization full of lowlife drug addicts run by the biggest lowlife scumbag of all. Vince Mc Mahon belongs in jail for life and his bullshit organization should be shut down forever.
Anyone who can watch that crap -- especially after this horrendous tragedy -- and consider it entertainmaent is a cretin.

 

You're not wrong.

http://www.drmarinajohnson.com/Therapy/Testosterone/tabid/79/Default.aspx

It is very important to emphasize that more is not necessarily better. For example, if a man’s “normal” level is closer to 500 and he increases it to 1000 with excessive testosterone replacement, he may temporarily feel good short-term. However, such long-term excessive doses are often associated with irritability and uncontrolled angry outbursts. Furthermore, excessive testosterone replacement results in increased conversion to the female hormone, estrogen, which is very harmful to a man. Increased estrogen levels in men have been implicated in some cases of prostate cancer. In addition, increased estrogen can result in breast formation called gynecomastia which is most bothersome to men. Excessive levels of testosterone can also cause lowering of cholesterol, increased red cell count leading to hypertension and increased heart disease. Excessive testosterone can also cause an increased reddening of the skin, which resembles mild sunburn.

And I certainly agree with you as to the entertainment level of WWE. I stopped watching a long time ago. Somewhere around the time the storylines started leaning heavily towards the more macabre and death ... I just don't find death very funny.

 

The only issue anyone should have with the WWE is the stance they've taken since the Benoit situation turned into a murder-suicide: Defensive actions and not offering better solutions.

They've tried every which way to distance themselves from Benoit and his vicious act of violence and to do PR damage control where they say such stupid stuff as "we've only had five guys under contract die" Owen Hart (accident), Brian Pillman (drug OD), Eddie Guerrero (enlarged heart), Russ Haas (developmental guy in WWE who had a pre-existing heart condition) and Benoit are the five that WWE wrestlers Kennedy and Finlay all refer to, IIRC.

I guess Benoit's actions -- killing his wife and young son -- don't count since they weren't under contract. Please. WWE, by the way, has gone out of its way since the murders to erase all WWE matches featuring Benoit in various ways like DVDs, TV, online and merchandise.

What people, especially wrestling fans, want to hear the WWE say and, most importantly act on, is to come out with a real plan to help wrestlers cope with the rigors of the travel schedule (an offseason), close loopholes in the WWE "Wellness Policy" that allow wrestlers to work around the problems and, from what I understand, offer some type of health plan (Ring of Honor, a popular indy wrestling organization on the East Coast and does occasional shows in Ohio and Illinois, I hear has something in place for its workers).

Above all, what many people seem to think needs to happen is that WWE, the global leader in pro wrestling, needs to continue to make the work environment of the guys and gals who make their company AND SHAREHOLDERS a profit a better one.

Another thing to ponder is that TNA (Total Nonstop Action) Wrestling has a lighter TV schedule (although they are starting to run more house shows), is on Spike TV (and that may change if talks about a bigger TV contract are true) hasn't had a voice in this whole mess with Benoit. I'm not sure if they have any kind of drug testing policy or not.

While it's true that Benoit never worked for TNA, there's been talk that Kurt Angle, a guy who won gold medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics and was possibly let go by WWE possibly because it ultimately considered him a risk with neck injuries and likely some issues with painkillers, etc., did speak with Benoit about possibly coming to TNA because of the lighter schedule (thus more family time at home) before Benoit re-upped with WWE.

Don't get me wrong in spite of all I said above. Benoit is a killer. He murdered two people and took his own life. It's just that he wasn't strong enough or smart enough to prevent it. Drugs likely played a role. Pain pills taken to recover from such things as his trademark flying headbutt (which forced him to have major neck surgery a few years ago), possible concussions from chair shots and just his aggressive wrestling style likely added to the mix. Having close friends in the biz die made him even more depressed and his marital situation was shaky at best if we're to believe everything.

All in all, the toxicology report could signal the nearing end of at least the major mainstream media pressure in some ways and that's both a good and bad thing (good that they are spotlighting it a bit more even if most of the stuff has been poor reporting from clueless TV ratings grabbers, but bad because they'll move on to another story soon and WWE and the biz will be able to go on, business as usual).

The ball's in WWE, TNA and all other organizations' court. There needs to be a significant change in the industry -- if nothing else to regain the fans' fragile trust -- and if nothing is done, the only memory of pro wrestling, for at least the last 25 years, will be the obituaries that will be written on a regular basis for people ages 45 and under.

 

So the WWE and scumbag McMahn are not responsible for the hundreds and hundreds of wrestlers who have died before the age of 40 from a variety of ailments and illnesses that can be linked to steroid abuse. You can't really be serious, Claws.
The WWE is practically a criminal organization. McMahn is a drug dealer, plain and simple. The WWE -- and all related "aggressive entertainment" that encourages steroid usage -- should be abolished and McMahon and probably a few dozen others should be in prison.


BTW: Testosterone in a natural anabolic steroid. So to be injecting synthetic testosterone is to be taking steroids.

 

Spnited, your reading-between-the-lines is a bit flawed today. I don't think Claws said anywhere that the WWE is not -- and should not be - held responsible.

Matter of fact, I think he's saying the WWE cannot be absolved in its role relating to the deaths of several wrestlers, not just in the current tragedy.

 

Vince McMahon is slime IMO, yes. He calls his wrestlers "independent contractors" to avoid the health insurance stuff. He's done countless other things to ruin pro wrestling and the people who have worked for him. To say he's responsible for hundreds of guys' deaths? He certainly contributed to it with the heavy demands on travel, the appearance that the bigger guys get the bigger push (as is happening even now with Bobby Lashley and others) and a drug testing policy that has some serious loopholes that hopefully get closed.

That's why I say in my previous post that steps to HELP the business need to happen in WWE, not for them to continue to hide and get defensive about the situation as WWE has done with little success.

spnited, the NFL is a criminal organization, too, in your logic. Think pro football should be abolished too?

 

You know what?
You don't have to be in a 'roid rage to do what Benoit did.

Happened in my own family, my cousin, and her three boys, and her father.
All murdered by her husband of 25 years.

Looked to be a big man in the suburban community. President of the hockey association, all that stuff. Guy for whom appearances were very important; always wanted to make sure he had the nice house, they drove nice cars, all of that.

Well, one day, he just snapped.

 

Ballscribe, how sad, yet, how true.

 

While I agree with your passion because this was such a horrible tragedy, I feel two things should be pointed out.
1) The ME stated during the press conference that, SCIENTIFICALLY, there is no proof that elevated levels of testosterone would produce 'roid rage. Some studies indicate it does happen, while many other studies indicate that it is not a cause. No one likely will ever no exactly what caused it. No one on here is defending Benoit's actions. Personally, I think it was a combination of several things that came to a head on June 22nd and ended with Benoit hanging himself less than 48 hours later. For me, personally, saying that steroids caused this shifts the blame off the shoulders of the person it should be on: Chris Benoit. Something was obviously wrong with this man's psyche because there are hundreds of thousands of people out there who've injected themselves with high doses of steroids who have not murdered their family (or anyone else). In my opinion, Chris Benoit was a sociopath who happened to be a professional wrestler who had also taken steroids in his past. But, I'm not a doctor, so I'm just speculating, just like you and everyone else on this board.

2) Why should pro wrestling be "shut down forever" because Chris Benoit murdered his family? Pro wrestling didn't cause this and I'll argue until I'm blue in the face with anyone who says it did. I WILL agree that pro wrestling, as a business, is very flawed and this tragedy (in the wake of Eddy Guerrero's death) has really caught the mainstream media and public's eye. This is an opportunity that should be seized to clean up the business and saving the lives of many of these pro wrestlers who don't feel they have any other choice but to take steroids and painkillers to get to the top of the business. It was bound to happen, that a professional wrestler was going to commit murder. The statistics bear it out. Every business, every sports league, every segment of entertainment is basically a microcosm of society. You have your "do-gooders" ... you have your "assholes" ... and every once in a while, a "sociopath" gets employed. Is it his profession's fault he's a whack job? I don't think so.

Pro wrestling needs fixed, but it needed fixed BEFORE the Benoit murders. This tragedy put a big spotlight on all those flaws and now the opportunity should be taken to clean up the business. Vince McMahon should be held accountable for how he pushes bodybuilders before smaller, entertaining wrestlers ... but I don't think he should shoulder the blame for Chris Benoit's crimes.

 

WWE's response to the autopsy and toxocology reports:

Let me see if I can read between the lines:

Don't blame us! He passed our test!

 

WWE and Vince McMahon condone and in fact encourage steroid use. Illegal activity. Shut it down for good.
It is a filthy, drug-infested, mysoginistic exhibition. If you actually watch this shit you are no better than the slime who run and compete it in.

And Claws, when the NFL openly condones steroid use, then it, like WWE, will become a criminal organization. Right now, it is just a group of greedy, money-hungry owners with a bogus drug policy.