Wednesday, JANUARY 7 – 7:48 P.M. (CT)

-Several months ago, I wrote a blog entitled "What to tell people that say professional wrestling is fake." There were several motivating factors behind the blog, but perhaps the most prevalent was the frustration with those people who act like they have knowledge of something they really have zero idea about.

This past weekend, Jason Powell posted several stories regarding the release of information obtained by the United States Congress regarding the usage of steroids in professional wrestling and their inability to get a handle on the situation. Amongst this information were testing policies and results, and interviews done with people within WWE and TNA. Everyday, I will examine each interview at length.

Today, I am going to comment on the letter written to John Walters, the Director of the Office of the National Drug Control Policy, by Henry Waxman, a former member of the Oversight Committee and current Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee. Waxman wrote the letter on January 2nd, 2009 in hopes that Walters will continue Waxman's investigations of steroid testing in professional wrestling.

First of all, it is no secret that someone was going to eventually look into professional wrestling's testing practices given the large amount of deaths. Having read the letter several times, I came to the conclusion that Waxman seems to have legitimate concern, but at the same time, his lack of knowledge of the situation and of professional wrestling in general weakens his stance. Of course, this is professional wrestling we are talking about and the perception and thoughts of professional wrestling by most people mirror those of Waxman and not the professional wrestling fan.

Within the first two paragraphs of the letter, Waxman basically blames the murders of Nancy Benoit, Daniel Benoit, and the suicide of Chris Benoit on steroids. Nobody will ever know why Benoit did what he did and although there is not a lot of concrete proof, not many people will argue steroids having a long term health effect on those who use them. However, while steroids may have played a part in Benoit's obviously uncharacteristic actions, to solely place the blame on steroids is very short sighted.

Do not get me wrong, the more the wrestling companies crack down on steroids, the better. Drug testing (not just for steroids) is a good thing and will amount to the saving of many premature deaths. However, when the Benoit tragedy occurred, many journalist and news personalities all of a sudden became doctors somehow and blindly placed all of the blame on steroids. It was as if they had it wrapped in a simple little package: eliminating steroids will eliminate deaths and had Benoit never been on steroids, the tragedy would not have happened.

Of course, I am not a doctor either, but I do know that despite Benoit's high testosterone levels, his actions were not at all consistent with the actions of someone on steroids only. Sure, high levels of testosterone could lead to temper problems, but Benoit's actions suggested internal damage that steroids alone could never produce.

Professional wrestling, not unlike football or other sports, is very grueling, both physically and mentally. Benoit, and I will never defend him or his actions, had more going on inside of him than simply damage from steroid use (or abuse). For Waxman, or anyone else, to solely blame steroids for the many wrestling deaths, is irresponsible. Waxman was able to come up with some facts to help support his claims and while some of them are legit, some of his information is very vague. For example, regarding TNA's policy, he says, "There are significant weaknesses in the TNA testing program." However, he doesn't inform the reader of the perceived weaknesses.

Like I said earlier, Congress taking a stance and demanding some answers is a good thing. I also think there is direct correlation between steroid abuse and deaths, but steroids do not act alone. Regulation of professional wrestling has been difficult to implement and this is probably the first step of many in making the business safer for everyone involved.

Vince McMahon did not do himself any favors with the immature way in which he handled himself. McMahon's antics in public over the years would be a public relations nightmare for most, but it works for Vince for two reasons. One, the people who are familiar with Vince McMahon and WWE see these displays as an extension of his character. Two, Vince doesn't care what anyone else thinks.

Vince needs to change his tune a bit here and start caring about what Congress thinks. Congress is not going to be as understanding as the knowledgeable wrestling fan. If Vince continues to act flippantly, he will only invite more scrutiny and will be watched more closely. He gains nothing and could lose a lot if he continues to act the way he does.

Finally, we are still in the infant stages of the drug testing policies. Personally, I think the results are only going to improve and as a result, the general livelihoods of the talent will improve as well. Vince still loves jacked up wrestlers, but times have changed and kayfabe is dead, so the current and long term health of the talent are equal in terms of importance.

My hope is that the Committee will keep an open mind and will not jump to blanket conclusions. I also hope the talent will look at themselves in the mirror and place blame on themselves when necessary. Responsibility is a two way street and everyone needs to continue to step up.

This blog series will continue tomorrow as I begin to analyze the many interviews in correspondence with this issue.

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