Soup Du Jour: SPECIAL War Time Edition

"When you hurt my friends, you hurt my pride! I've got to be a man, I can't let it hide...I am a REAL AMERICAN, fight for the rights of EVERY man"

How true that statement is. First and foremost let me get this out of the way. I do not in any way condone what was done at the Benoit house hold several weeks ago. I also have a firm believe against steroid use and abuse. So however this may sound do not get it misconstrued I am defending the industry and not and individuals freedom of choice.

I've been a a wrestling fan for many years. For the most part of those years I've been subjugated to the jeers from my peers about how wrestling is fake. I would always reply it maybe fake or it may follow a story line but I for one know that you cannot go into a wrestling ring and do a shooting star press, and for that matter body slam a 500 lb man. No normal human being should be able to do that! Pure and simple that's genetics at its best. If you perform either or both of those moves you might be subjected to a drug test.

The thing that pissed me off was when Nancy Grace was speaking on her show recently about wrestlers that have died before their time...(#1 who depicts what is whose time, depending on the way you look at things I believe its either God's decision or the Grim reapers and #2how did this list get compiled)...100 wrestlers she says. Wow I knew there was a lot of O.D.'s but a 100 it couldn't be that's drastic I mean really drastic especially if steroids were probable cause for death. So Nancy rolls this list on the screen while talking to Sable's husband Marc Mero. The list goes and I pull out a pen and paper to write these down and do my own research.

Here are the Names I wrote down:

Louie Spiccoli- who Overdosed on Soma and Wine... Chokes on Vomit in sleep. (no steroids here)

Next...

Owen Hart!?!?! - On May 23, 1999 he fell to his death in Kansas City, Missouri, during the Over the Edge 1999 pay-per-view event. Died from internal bleeding and blunt chest trauma. I remember watching this PPV and since Owen had been a member of almost every stable in the WWE over the past decade I thought it was a gimmick to join the Ministry of Darkness. Wish he did because I really enjoyed watching Owen become better than his brother Brett(my opinion).

Then..

Buzz Sawyer - heart attack

Crash Holly - OD pain killers

Kerry Von Erich - suicide

Chris Candido - blood clot from surgery

Yokozuna - heart attack he was 700 lbs!

Big Dick Dudley - kidney failure

Brian Pillman - - arteriosclerotic heart disease (Heart failure from plaque build up in arteries)

Latino Heat - died as a result of acute heart failure, caused by undiagnosed arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease

Benoit - suicide (roid induced)

British Bulldog - heart attack

Johnny grunge - sleep apnea (swallowed his tongue)

Vivian Vachon - Road accident

Rick Rude - OD GHB and Roids

Miss Elizabeth - OD on medications and vodka

Big Boss Man - heart attack

Mike Awesome - Suicide

and my personal favorite...

Adrian Adonis, who was killed in a car crash. When the driver, Mike Kelly, swerved in order to avoid hitting a moose and then blinded by the setting sun, inadvertently drove into a lake. Kelly survived.

So aside from Benoit, and Rick Rude (direct link to roids in death) everyone else's name was used in speculation as people that died under the age of 50. Benoit and Rude the only two directly linked to steroid use. These were just a list of names I recognized and wrote down. That's 2 out of 19. Come on Nancy do a tab bit more research on this. 1 word Wikipedia. It will tell you how they all died.

Also for the love of GOD please get the people who were screwed by the WWE out of the credible source of info for interviews. Mero didn't have as big of tits as his wife, gone. Debra, well shes a loud mouth, no wonder Stunning Steve Austin drank so much beer. Finally Superstar Billy Graham, the one who should be the responsible one and say hey my fault for mainstreaming this fad to be big and cut. You could stop all arguments by saying hey its my fault for grooming this generation into thinking "I need this to get ahead" instead of faulting the company for not having health benefits for you.

My Daddy always told me that if you have something to say you better stand by it! So Here is your special war time edition of The Soup Du Jour, served only to the bitches and snitches with a heaping load of my spit. ENJOY!



I find it Very interesting that during Mero's interview a fantastic screen sized business card is flashed, just in case you feel that you'd like to do some self improvement to yourself at the Marc Mero's Body Slam Training Institute in the "New Generation of Training".

I personally Like when they go to the Lawyers for their opinion. Especially When the woman says "the teenagers that emulate Benoit and emulate the Grunge". I'll tell you this if anyone ever emulated the Grunge I'll rip my skull open and stick my brain in a meet grinder. More on This Story...

Mainstream Media Misses the Mark

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.

More on This Story...