I know everybody’s enthralled with Vickie Guerrero’s nude pictures right now, but there are more important issues at hand. And when I said important, I mean IMPORTANT.

Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Henry Waxman (D, California) released the results of the committee’s investigation of steroids in pro wrestling yesterday. Unfortunately, the findings aren’t pretty. Since these are your government’s tax dollars hard at work, I’m going to quote the heck out of Waxman’s letter to the Office of National Drug Control Policy that came with the report.

Here’s a summary of the investigation’s findings:

The documents produced to the Committee, and the information provided during interviews, indicate that steroid use is pervasive in professional wrestling and that the organizations involved have not taken adequate steps to address this problem. The information reviewed by the Committee shows:

• In the first year of the WWE’s testing program, which began in March 2006,40% of wrestlers tested positive for steroids and other drugs even after being warned in advance that they were going to be tested.
• Six months after the WWE announced its 2006 steroid testing policy, it relaxed the policy to allow wrestlers suspended for steroid abuse to participate in “selected televised events” and “pay-per-views.”
• The WWE hired four of five wrestlers who tested positive for steroids in “pre-contract” testing conducted in 2007 and 2008.
• The WWE regularly approved “therapeutic use exemptions,” explicitly allowing the use of steroids as part of a “testosterone replacement acceptance program” for wrestlers who abused steroids in the past.
• Test results from the WWE’s top competitor, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, reveal that a large proportion of TNA wrestlers have also tested positive and that there are significant weaknesses in the TNA testing program.

More on the WWE from the report: (more…)

MMA and pro wrestling legend Dan “The Best” Severn joined Lex and Ian on the latest edition of the PWB Podcast Hotline. In a captivating interview, Severn discussed several topics, including:

• His MMA and Law Enforcement training
• Winning the “Ultimate Ultimate 95″ tournament
• The evolution of MMA and various fighting styles
• The toll that MMA fights and wrestling matches take on the body
• His time in the WWF
• The “Brawl for All” tournament
• MMA fans’ perception of pro wrestlers
• His “retirement tour” and who he’d like to fight in 2009

For more on Dan “The Beast” Severn, please visit his official web site, the-beast.com.

Photo courtesy Fightbook.

I guess we should have seen this coming, two weeks ago director Daren Aronofsky held a special screening of The Wrestler in Connecticut for several WWE executives including Vince McMahon himself. His hope was to strike up some kind of advertising deal as Fox Searchlight, the company that owns the US distribution rights to the film, has the same parent company as MyNetworkTV were Smackdown currently airs. But it appears things didn’t go to well as word is Vince was not a fan of the movie and under there current deal with MyNetworkTV the WWE has the power to veto any wrestling related advertising during Smackdown. So as it stands right now don’t expect to see any commercials for The Wrestler running during Smackdown, Raw or ECW.

There are several reasons Vince could have disliked the film, first off  it displays logos of competing indie organizations like CZW and RoH but never makes any mention of WWE at all. Second, it completely destroys kayfabe there are a few scenes were talent is shown backstage planing out spots. And third it paints the picture of the drug addict wrestler when the main character is shown buying/using steroids and other recreational drugs which is an image the WWE has been trying to shake for the past 2 years.

But the main reason Vince is against this film maybe becasue of some comments director Daren Aronofsky has been making during the press tour for the film. In a few different interviews Aronofsky as advocated for pro-wrestlers to be recognized by SAG(Screen Actors Guild) the actors union. Here are some of those comments he made to Newsday a few weeks ago:

There’s really no reason why these guys are not in SAG, they’re in front of a camera performing and doing stunts, and they should have that protection. They should have health insurance and they should be protected.

And in another interview with The Reelz Channel he had this to say:

When I won the Golden Lion, I dedicated the film to all the wrestlers, I kind of shared their stories. They’re a unique lot. They’re not organized, they have no pension, no health care, so many of them are tragically dying at a young age. I was talking to Mickey, ‘Why aren’t wrestlers in SAG?’ If you really think about it, the Screen Actors Guild should organize them…They’re performing in front of a camera, and stuntmen are SAG.

Of course Aronofsky makes a great point any wrestler that appears on WWE or TNA telivsion should be recognized by SAG because they acting on TV there really no different then any of the other talent on television. But Aronofsky also really shows his ignorance of the pro-wrestling world if he thought he could make comments like that and then strike a deal with Vince McMahon although it will be interesting to see if this SAG thing picks up any steam.

-sideshowRaheem

In the inagural “Sunday Debate,” we had a great discussion on the greatest wrestler of all-time.

Since there’s no wrestling pay-per-view today, it’s time for another “Sunday Debate.” As we move toward 2009, I figured that there’s no better time to discuss the year that was 2008. So that brings me to today’s debate question: which wrestler had the best 2008?

Much like the last debate on the greatest wrestler of all-time, I think you have to factor in a variety of things, including match quality and level of entertainment. Read on to see my pick, and to discuss your own. (more…)

Backyard wrestling at its Worst

The Mike Levy Incident: Mike Levy was a backyard wrestler who aksed to be a part of IWA:MS’s Deathmatch Tournament. He had no prior training in wrestling, so Ian Rotten entered him into the women’s division of the tournament. Levy was matched up against Mickie “Moose” Knuckes (from TNA) and before long Levy was intentionally stiffing Knuckles who became enraged and literally beat the crap out of him. After the match ended Ian Rotten and a few other wrestlers came out in front of the crowd and legit beat him up more, cutting him with light tubes and beating him with sticks. The police threatened to press charges against the company for assault but it was later dropped.

WARNING: This gets messy

I’d like to thank Andrew Laker for bringing his film to my attention: it’s called “Bring the Weapons,” and it documents a hardcore feud that occurred last year in Hooiser Pro Wrestling, a small indy fed that operates out of Columbus, Indiana.

As you can see, I’ve posted the film above. It’s about 40 minutes, and it’s all online. It’s well worth watching. In fact, I think it delves into some of the same issues that we were dicussing last week when talking about the Mike Levy incident. Ironically, Columbus, Indiana is just 60 miles north of Sellersburg, Indiana, the place where the Levy incident took place, so it seems there’s quite the market for indy wrestling and hardcore wrestling in Indiana.

As the film illustrates, the majority of wrestling matches in Hooiser Pro Wrestling are not hardcore, so don’t think this is some kind of IWA-Mid South clone. In fact, after watching this film, I came to the determination that this was the kind of hardcore wrestling that I like. Even though the feud escalated into no-ropes barbed wire match, there seemed to be a storyline and psychology behind it.

That being said, I think this film also illustrates the inherent problems behind hardcore wrestling matches, especially on the indy scene. While watching this, I kept asking myself, how much are these guys getting paid to do this? Sure, the wrestlers seem to have fun doing these kind of matches, but is it really worth it in the end based on the risk they are taking? One very interesting part of the film is when one of the wrestlers talks about needing to buy his wife and kids some things–he says, essentially, that he has to bleed to be able to afford some of the things he needs.

Additionally, one can’t help but be disturbed by images of children watching these kind of wrestling matches. I was particularly disturbed by the small child staring at the mouse trap with blood all over it, and the small girl who was scared by the flaming chair. Also, near the end of the film, you’ll see a “fans bring the straps” match where several small children are whipping a wrestler with straps. It’s almost like TNA’s “Fan’s Revenge,” but with little kids.

All-in-all, this was a very balanced look at indy wrestling, and I definately think it’s worth 40 minutes of your time. For more information on the film, please visit its official web site.