Doctor Doctor
July 4th, 2007Benoit’s doctor has been linked to other wrestlers and even athletes, but there are no names at this time.
Is this news big enough to spark a frenzy into doctors who abuse their prescription privileges and destroy lives? It is for me, but I doubt the media cares and would bet that it turns into a firestorm for the WWE if any other wrestlers from the company have seen that doctor. Personally, I believe that WWE should have somewhere from three to five doctors that it’ll allow the wrestlers to see. I know that it’s a strict rule and some will complain about their privacy but it would allow the WWE to prevent steroid use in the organization and would bring credibility to their Wellness Program if they are mandating that the doctors be respectable, known doctors to avoid steroid and pill abuse.
That is, if the WWE is truly interested in curbing steroid and pill abuse in the company. Are they? I don’t know. We’ll see by their actions in the coming weeks. Like I’ve said before, I’m not defending WWE from charges that their Wellness Program should be stricter or that they should do more to oversee their wrestlers’ mental and physical health. I’m defending them from charges that wrestling itself “creates monsters” and drives people to murder like I would defend matrimony from charges that marriage creates monsters and drives people to murder; I’m arguing that steroids and wrestling didn’t cause this, but drugs, doctors, and a rapidly unhinged man with marital problems tag-teamed to cause this.
To more media-centered news: the Ultimate Warrior appeared on Fox, and while I know that some will ridicule him, I must say I’m impressed by the fact that he kept a level-head, didn’t attempt to destroy the WWE and raised some solid points. First he argued that steroid use is good and “abuse” is bad; Hannity countered that any use is abuse if it isn’t medical; Warrior said, “Roid rage for me is a pie in the sky theory that’s thought of by people who have no business discussing the frame of mind of an elite physical athlete.” Fair enough, I figure, and I appreciate that he isn’t backing away from his prior use and defense of steroids. I also think his next point about how prescription drugs are more to blame than “roid rage” is fairer still.
Most important in his speech was his declaration that “[t]he [WWE] drug test is a ruse. It’s an artiface specifically designed for the sensationalized, high-profile tragedies when people come forward and they make reasonable allegations that the talent is using drugs. It’s this simple for me. For me to believe that the drug tests on the live bodies are legit, I have to believe all the autopsies on the dead bodies are lies.” He also declared that “Wrestlers take steroids so they can look healthy on the outside, but they do everything else that makes them rotten on the inside. The autopsies that reveal they have enlarged hearts and enlarged organs other organs that have been affected by the steroids, that’s the reason why - because they don’t live healthy lives overall.”
I’m not sure about what he says about steroids — but Bryan Gumbel agrees with him. All I know is he made the points about prescription drugs that should be made and he didn’t make a complete fool of himself, the wrestling industry or attempt to set fire to wrestling. For that he deserves some praise, as he cut to the chase and didn’t sensationalize. Now if only he’d change his name back to Jim Hedwig, he’d be all right.
This MSNBC interview of Marc Mero and Steve Blackman is much better than anything that’s been on Fox or CNN. I criticized Johnny B. Badd Marc Mero recently — or, more accurately, I criticized his inclusion on talk shows, but after watching this video, he was very fair and, I think, accurate than many other wrestlers and definitely than the reporters themselves. He and Steve Blackman (who was also nice to see) provided great insight into the seedy world of reckless doctors (that doctor they had on replied to the question “This is not such a good thing for the medical community is it?” “Uh, certainly not. The question is were thes e prescriptions given with good reason and, uh, to what patients.” If I were interviewing him, I’d have said, “What kind of sleazy dodge is that? It’s clear that Benoit’s doctor was corrupt and a mark on the profession, and you won’t criticize him?”) including doctors that come to the shows and give out steroids to all the boys.
I didn’t like it when the wrestling writer said that Benoit didn’t “get over” as a wrestler because of his size, and he might’ve been “transferring” a “size” complex, but the reason he didn’t “get over” in the industry was because of bad promoting by WWE and his generally poor mic skills. Benoit’s murder-suicide had nothing to do with wrestling, and I wish someone had pointed that out a bit more forcefully, but I enjoyed the interview all the same. Blackman and Mero brought a great amount of information, and Dan Adams was a fair interview.