Professional wrestling thread

Steroids are part of the problem but a lot of these guys are dying from way too many painkillers and recreational drugs and too much booze.

How can wrestling regulate those last two? They can't.

I've felt for a while that wrestling attracts a certain self-destructive kind of personality. If they were working minimum wage jobs, they'd still be getting blitzed and stoned... just on cheaper stuff.

 

About the same time he was released from TNA.

 

[blue]I'm sure that's just a coincidence.[/blue]

 

Sure. And pigs fly.

 

So, what did Ken Kennedy say?

 

www.ken-kennedy.com

[quote author=MISTERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR KENNEDY ... ... ... ... ... ... ... KENNEDY]
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.

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. 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.) 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. 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.

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.

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!

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 [/quote]

 

That was a great rant. I've always liked Kennedy as a performer, but now, I respect him more as a person.

Anyway, I thought Raw last night was OK. The best part of last night I thought was probably the opening segment with King Booker coming out to Trips music, teasing the return. Then, him and Lawler scrapping. The build-up to a potential Trips-King Bookah feud could be $$$ down the road. Maybe Summerslam?

 

I agree that would be nice. But I still like HHH better as a heel, and if he comes back against Booker, he'll clearly be the face.

 

While HHH is better as a heel, they don't have enough faces right now, even with Lashley moving. Eventually HBK will come back, but for now it's Cena, Lashley and (shortly) HHH on one side and Orton, Booker, Kennedy, Umaga on the other. Now what happens when HBK comes back is anyone's guess, but another HHH-HBK feud seems like a possibility. I'm pretty sure DX is dead again.

 

Good. I'm tired of DX. I like the two of them much more separate than I ever did together.

 

HHH-Booker card has been played before -- they were on the Wrestlemania show that was done at Seattle's Safeco Field.

As for the Benoit toxicology tests, I agree that the fit could hit the shan today.

 

True, but HHH the returning hero vs. King Booker is a more interesting dynamic than "HHH thinks black people can't be champions" angle they ran the last time they feuded. Didn't help that HHH won the feud easily. Which he probably will here too. Or it could be a misdirect; the things I've heard said HHH would return against Orton.