I have talked a bit about Nancy Grace and Shepard Smith in lieu of the Chris Benoit Tragedy. I have alluded to how WWE superstars are communicating through blogs and websites, while people like Brian Christopher and Lex Luger are brought on national TV in front of the mainstream audience for their opinions. However, the latest mainstream coverage I read astounds me.Perhaps no one is better at sensationalizing the news than Bill O'Reilly. In the United States, there is certainly a liberal bias in the news. What do conservatives have as their answer to that? Bill O'Reilly and Ann Coulter, the two most batshit crazy pundits I have ever seen.
Last night on "The O'Reilly Factor", we saw an additional example of the media's irresponsibility, as news networks scramble to somehow link professional wrestling to the murders of Nancy and Daniel Benoit and the suicide of Chris Benoit. Here is a peice of the transcript.
BILL O'REILLY, HOST:* "Impact" segment tonight, Georgia authorities say professional wrestler *Chris Benoit *killed his wife, seven-year-old son,and then hung himself. The 40-year-old Benoit had a history of domestic violence, and cancelled a televised wrestling appearance just last Sunday because of personal reasons. Some suspect drug or steroid use may be involved in this case because *anabolic steroids* were found in his home. Joining us now from Chicago, former pro wrestler, *Jon Stewart*.
Now for as much as I know about professional wrestling, this one had me scratching my head. Jon Stewart? The Daily Show guy? Who the hell is Jon Stewart? I immediately went over to Wikipedia to further expand my wrestling mind, but shockingly even the mighty Wikipedia had no knowledge of him. On the show, Stewart immediately attempts to build credibility by making the following statements: "I've met him a couple times" followed by "I've known of him for 15 years."
Whoopdee crap Mr. Stewart, anyone who watched that international tag team tournament in WCW has more knowledge of him than you. You don't even need to go back to his time in Japan or Canada to outdo this so-called expert. Stewart insists that this is completely out of Benoit's character. You will likely hear that from most wrestlers and most wrestling fans, as legend tells us of how respectable and caring Benoit had been for the duration of his career.
O'Reilly immediately begins blasting him with loaded questions. "OK, but you did know that he was on steroids. And you know, once you get into that world of narcotics, illegal drugs, whatever you want to call them, your personality changes. Correct?"
Stewart's response? Yes.
The question is, was he responding to the first or second question. Well, if you are a 40 year old non-wrestling fan watching the O'Reilly Factor as you do every night, you probably think this is evidence of the evil drug abuser Benoit was. If you are a wrestling fan, you know that this guy has no business even being asked questions. Stewart later clarifies that he has never seen Benoit take steroids. That is likely because he only met Benoit at an autograph signing.
One of the rules of being interviewed is to never take the bait, and O'Reilly has Stewart as his personal wrestling representative puppet for the better part of the interview. O'Reilly speaks in long paragraphs and Stewart responds in one word confirmations. Stewart then cries out that the industry has to do something.
So who the hell is Jon Stewart? Well, we quickly learn of his agenda
of getting airtime in the face of the Benoit tragedy. This guy is the promoter of the new AWA. "at the AWA, if we have any suspected drug issues with any of our talent, they are immediately terminated that day. I don't even bother with a drug test. I don't want to see you around my company."
For those who don't know, the American Wrestling Association was at one point as big as what was then known as the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) which later turned into WWE. They broke in a lot of the best the business has ever seen, but when Vince Jr. took control of the then World Wrestling Federation (WWF) now World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), and expanded nationally with a better TV product, the AWA could not compete and eventually folded in 1991.In 1996, former AWA workers Dale Gagne (actually Gagner, and not part of the Gagne legacy that actually founded the AWA) and this douchebag, Jonnie Stewart relicensed the AWA name in the state of Minnesota and the AWA opened up as an independent promotion called AWA Superstars of Wrestling. They have taken it upon themselves to rewrite actual AWA history, giving Hulk Hogan not one but two former AWA title victories in order to establish more credibility.
In April 26, 2007 it was revealed that WWE has seeked legal action against Dale Gagne for the use of the AWA name, citing trademark infringement, as WWE owns the AWA tape library, so it's very likely both Stewart and Gagne have as many nice things to say about WWE as Lex Luger.
O'Reilly continues by stating that 60 professional wrestlers aged 45 or younger have died within the last ten years, and Stewart confirms this. This is a completely bullshit statistic. If they are are counting 60 guys since 97, they are certainly not just including active mainstream American wrestlers, and under those circumstances the numbers could be much higher.
There is certainly no data on every independent, Mexican, Japanese, and European wrestler to die in the past ten years. I listed the really significant younger deaths of professional wrestling in the article on my thoughts on the Benoit tragedy. Unfortunately, it was a high number, but it certainly was not 60, and they didn't all come from the past ten years.
Stewart then returns to shilling his product. "My AWA - my woman's champion, 47 years old, Sherri Martel, died last week of an apparent overdose. Bill, it's madness." I wonder if Sherri Martel even knew she was the champ. I seriously doubt Hogan knows he's a former two time AWA champion. Freaking Evan Karagais through down their belt and walked out on the new AWA, and I don't believe that he's the only one.
So there you have it, two nutbags trying to determine how much they can blame WWE for Chris Benoit's actions. That, my friends, is mainstream journalism at its finest. If there is any industry in America that truly needs reformed, look no further than your major news outlets.
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