By Alex MarvezEmail: alex@wrestlingobserver.com
Well, at least Vince McMahon didn’t try to slap a list of questions out of Meredith Viera’s hands.That was one of the few positive developments for World Wrestling Entertainment after owner Vince McMahon appeared this morning on the Today show.Before McMahon appeared, a news piece raising the possibility of a link between steroids and the Benoit murder/suicide as well as the deaths of some other wrestlers. That set the tone for the appearance.Among the more pertinent exchanges between Viera and an even-keeled McMahon [Note: Viera never said NBC has a business relationship with WWE before conducting the interview]
Viera called WWE on the carpet for issuing a press release Tuesday claiming that steroids couldn’t have been part of the reason for Benoit’s actions when the results of toxicology tests won’t be known for several weeks. McMahon tried to explain the press release was a reaction to “hysteria of the media” trying to link “roid rage” to Benoit’s actions.“Obviously, this was not an act of rage,” McMahon said. “It was an act of deliberation … There were a number of prescription medications found in the house. Whether they contributed to this, who knows? Whether there was some other aspect for something to do with this behavior, hopefully we’ll find out in some way.“What we’re about [in WWE] is putting smiles on people’s faces. We’re entertainers. We entertain all over the world. That’s the job description. It’s not something to be tainted and smear with this. It’s no different than a postal worker [shooting] up a post office. There was no indication whatsoever that this person turned into a monster and do what he did. Steroids may or may not have something to do with this. There were other pressures in terms of his son and wife. I don’t know, We may never know. But hopefully, we can put this to bed as best we possibly can and determine what happened once we have the real evidence.”
On WWE’s drug-testing policy: “Last February, we instituted a wellness policy to police for steroids or abuse of prescription drugs. We do urine and blood tests to determine as well as test the cardio aspect of things to test for heart disease and heart failure. It’s a comprehensive test. The last test he took of a random nature was in April and it was totally negative. That doesn’t mean he was not taking prescription medication or steroids when this happened. We don’t know.”
On 60 wrestlers under the age of 45 dying and what responsibility Vince McMahon feels toward their families: “We’ve had five individuals since we’ve been in business under contract to that died … I can only speak to those five.”[Note: McMahon’s answer doesn’t take into account the long-term impact that steroid use could have had on performers before WWE instituted its wellness program. But in McMahon’s defense, some of those young deaths also feature performers that never worked for WWE or died of drug-related issues].
On what type of impact it would make if steroids were found in Benoit’s system: “I can only speak of our wellness program and how effective that is … All we can do is the best we can with anyone else and establish the wellness program the best we can … This is a horrific tragedy. There is a rush to judgment here as to what caused this. There’s almost a hysteria around us. I don’t know whether it’s justified or not. We won’t know until we get the toxicology reports back. Once we get those back, we’re dealing in real facts. There was no way to tell this man was a monster. He was a mild-mannered individual.“Everyone in our organization are well-adjusted, family people. They go to work like anybody else except the definition of their job is to put a smile on everybody’s face. It’s important our organization continue to do that for our fans and move on as best as we possibly can not withstanding this devastating situation.”
Final comments: NBC did a better job than Nancy Grace and other CNN/FOX tabloid news shows have done in addressing this topic. But with a lack of knowledge about the wrestling business, Viera didn’t try to push McMahon on some of his answers like whether it was acceptable for wrestlers to take steroids if given a prescription or try to get much insight about what kind of person Benoit was. But I do give McMahon credit for appearing in this kind of forum to address the issue and handling himself professionally.
Understandably, wrestling fans are outraged at the ridiculous coverage given the Benoit murder/suicide Wednesday night on CNN’s Nancy Grace Show. I’m actually glad a technological glitch kept me from appearing last night as scheduled. Here is the link: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/295264/wrestling_fans_going_to_war_with_nancy.htmlX:
A copy of my syndicated column on the Benoit situation with an interesting quote from a family friend can be found here: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/sfl-627marvez-benoit,0,2628771.story
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