US Senate Report On Drug Use In Wrestling

Fozzy

You might remember that about a year ago there was some reasonably big effort put into investigating drug use in wrestling by a committee of the US Senate

The chairman of that committee has sent a letter to the Office of National Drug Control Policy requesting that they "examine the widespread steroid abuse and systemic deficiencies in testing policies and practices"

Full details are here: http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=2298

You can read the letter yourself. There's other details in the link above such as transcripts of interviews with Vince, Linda, Stephanie, Dixie Carter and Dr Black (who oversees WWE's testing) and details of what wrestlers tested positive for in the last three years


Summary:

A lot of wrestlers are on drugs. Neither WWE nor TNA have taken proper action to prevent drug use. Dr Black has complained about how wrestlers who WWE suspend aren't really suspended

I wouldn't be surprised if the government do actually do something about it now, because these documents are very clear with their message

Vince135792003

Fozzy wrote: »

Full details are here: http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=2298

I'm about 5 pages into the 122 page transcript of Vince interview and I have Jerry McDevitt is already sniping at them!

This is some very interesting reading.

Vince135792003

Some quotes from all the reports:

Vince when asked about steroids:

During his interview, Mr, McMahon was asked whether he knew if there are health risks from steroid use, including long-term risks.

He responded: "I'm not a doctor. I don't know."

When asked what he would tell wrestlers who asked about potential health risks, he answered:

"I don't know if there are really any long-term effects of steroid usage."

When asked whether steroids could cause impairment and risks to wrestlers and others in the ring, Mr. McMahon indicated that he had never considered the question.

Jerry McDevitt being Jerry McDevitt:

Q Well, do you consider or does the company consider being
under the influence of steroids as a possible safety issue in the
ring?

Vince. I don't know.

Q You don't know whether the company considers that at
all?

Mr. McDevitt. He answered your question.

Mr. Leviss. I don't understand your answer.

Mr. McDevitt. You ‐‐ if don't understand his answer, that's
not his problem. You ask the questions; he gives the answers.

Mr. Leviss. This is not about problems, Jerry. This is
about making sure that I have a clear understanding of his answers
to my questions.

Mr. McDevitt. No, it is not about making sure you have a
clear understanding about anything. It's about answering the
question you ask him. He has answered the question you asked him.
If you don't understand, that's your problem.

Vince McMahon on Dave Meltzer:

Vince: I'm not familiar with anything Dave Meltzer writes.
He's a gossip columnist. I don't read what he has to write. Like
I say, he's a dirt monger. There are a number of those. We call
them dirt sheets and they have very little credibility.

Vince McMahon on Frank Deford:

Q What about ‐‐ some of his work received coverage in a
number of other more mainstream outlets, for example, Sports
Illustrated. I believe Frank Deford did a story on the Meltzer
numbers. Are you familiar with that?

Mr. McMahon. Look, I've borrowed one of Frank Deford's shoes one
night. He doesn't like me.

Q Are you familiar with his story?

Mr. McMahon. No. Other than Frank Deford wrote something derogatory.
But, you know, he has no sense of humor and he doesn't like me.
We were bowling one night and I borrowed one of his shoes and he
never found it. And so he had to walk home in a bowling shoe and
one of his others, and he was upset about that I understand.

Mr. Leviss. I'm going to have to note that would be upsetting too.

Mr. O'Neil. Now we know the rest of the story.

Mr. McDevitt. You're hearing something for the first time,
too. I never heard that one.

Mr. McMahon. Well, actually I also borrowed one of his
wife's shoes, too.

Mr. McDevitt. That's a whole different story.

Mr. McMahon. I left that part out.

Mr. Leviss. I take it she was not your size.

Dixie Carter on TNA fans:

Have you seen the 40 Year old Virgin with that man with all the Toys?" I mean that is kind of.. That's our audience

Handsome Bob

LOL, seven pages in and still at the formalites stage, but I can see McDevitt is a real pitbull already.

Fozzy

Vince135792003 wrote: »

Dixie Carter on TNA fans:

Nice putdown. I think... :pac:

amacachi

Keep the quotes coming lads, some gold in their already

Fozzy

amacachi wrote: »

Keep the quotes coming lads, some gold in their already

There's some stuff I'd post, but the formatting gets messed up when I paste it and it's impossible to read. McDevitt comes across as such a prick. It's obvious what the committee are asking but he'll go on and on and on until he gets the question phrased the way he likes it. He gives out to Stephanie at one point too for mentioning something that another WWE lawyer told her

flahavaj

As I read elsewhere, McDevitt would make a great internet troll.

amacachi

Fozzy wrote: »

There's some stuff I'd post, but the formatting gets messed up when I paste it and it's impossible to read. McDevitt comes across as such a prick. It's obvious what the committee are asking but he'll go on and on and on until he gets the question phrased the way he likes it. He gives out to Stephanie at one point too for mentioning something that another WWE lawyer told her

I think the fact that the quotes would be long enough for formatting to matter tells me all i need to know of what they're like :P Might give it a read myself so

Vince135792003

Dixie on the TNA product:

Dixie: You know, we are about
quality in the ring. Ours is not as much about, like, story
lines and -- I mean, we do have story lines and character
development, but it is not the -- the focus is not on that.
Ours is mostly on the in-ring action.

Some more McDevitt

Ms. Levesque. Yes, yes. Thank you. Within our vernacular, we have "babyfaces" and "heels," babyfaces being the good guys, heels being the bad guys.
Mr. McDevitt. Would you like to guess which side you guys are on?
Mr. Leviss. I will wait for the script.
Ms. Levesque. I am not writing this one.

Vince McMahon likes people who smile:

Levis: "Is anybody else apart from the wrestlers covered by the Wellness Policy?"
McMahon: "Specifically ‐‐ I mean, again, you said ‐‐ why are you frowning?"
Levis: "I'm not frowning. I'm trying to understand. I'll try to smile more. "
McMahon: "Good. There you go."

Some more Vince:

Q What led you to make, you the company, to make the
magnanimous gesture of offering counseling services to current or
former employees or contractors?
A Two words. Public relations. That's it. I do not feel
any sense of responsibility for anyone of whatever their age is
who has passed along and has bad habits and overdoses for drugs.
Sorry, I don't feel any responsibility for that. Nonetheless,
that's why we're doing it. It is a magnanimous gesture.