Wrestling Media
Baseball's drug problem pales compared to that of wrestling (25th July 2002)
Ken Caminiti and Jose Canseco triggered a media frenzy when claiming there was anabolic steroid abuse in Major League Baseball.
Davey Boy Smith - who was as big a name in his craft as Caminiti and Canseco were in theirs - died two months ago of a steroid-related heart attack at the age of 39. And the mainstream press didn't care.
Such is the sad state of professional wrestling, which has a drug problem that makes the one in baseball alleged by Caminiti and Canseco seem tame.
Although rasslin' isn't a legitimate athletic competition and normally wouldn't warrant coverage in this section, there is a sizeable crossover audience - especially among adolescents - that watches sports and what World Wrestling Entertainment owner Vince McMahon likes to call "sports entertainment." Baseball and pro wrestling also have this in common: Neither is actively cracking down on those suspected of being gassed to the gills.
WWE programming features more testosterone than a boys' high school locker room. Dave Meltzer, publisher of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, believes roughly 70 percent of WWE's in-ring performers - including the silicone-laden women's division - are taking anabolic steroids, human growth hormone and/or other illegal physique-enhancing products.
Mick Foley, a major WWE star from 1996 until leaving the promotion seven months ago to begin a writing career, believes the number of steroid users is lower than Meltzer's estimate. But the man who once wrestled as Mankind, Dude Love and Cactus Jack admits some of his fellow performers "would joke around about it in a way that would make you believe they do it."
Hear the one about the wrestler suspended by the WWE for not having steroids in his system? Or how the industry would be called "wretling" if steroids were eliminated? Steroid abuse was rampant long before McMahon was forced to change the name of his company from the World Wrestling Federation after losing a lawsuit to the World Wildlife Fund.
On the heels of a major scandal in the early 1990s that resulted in McMahon standing trial on federal steroid charges, WWE actually implemented a somewhat legitimate testing policy. That led to top WWE talent leaving for other promotions without such standards.
One of those performers was Smith, who was known worldwide as The British Bulldog. Smith's steroid use began in the early 1980s and continued until his death.
Smith Hart, Smith's former brother-in-law and a member of the legendary Hart wrestling family, told a Toronto newspaper that he believed The Bulldog was "overdoing" steroids at the time of his death because he was trying to make a WWE comeback. Smith weighed as much as 270 pounds during his wrestling career, which was almost 100 more than when he made his North American debut in 1981.
"I think Davey Boy felt he had to be that big because he personally did not want to look any other way," said Foley, who didn't use steroids during his grappling days. "A lot of guys have a very poor self-image when they're not as big as they possibly can be. Guys feel uncomfortable when a lot of other bodies are better than theirs. That makes them professionally and personally insecure."
WWE essentially stopped enforcing its steroid policy in early 1996. Not so coincidentally, rival World Championship Wrestling's popularity was on the rise after signing many of the jacked-up performers who once worked for McMahon.
Now, a new generation of WWE performers look like the living embodiment of comic book superheroes. The big difference is the "powers" of those wrestlers came through syringes and pills, not a bite from a radioactive spider.
Smith's demise barely caused a ripple in an industry all too accustomed to early deaths. Meltzer estimates 40 performers under the age of 40 have died within the past five years, including 10 in 2002. Many of them, like Smith, abused steroids and prescription painkillers.
Even a fraction of that mortality rate would rock the foundation of any pro sports league. But with legitimate news coverage of pro wrestling so limited, fans are usually unaware of the health problems grapplers often face after fading from the spotlight.
Once a steroid policy is implemented, Major League Baseball won't have the luxury of relaxing the rules like WWE did. Batting statistics probably will decline, which could lead to grumbling among some fans.
But remember this, seamheads: A drop in home runs is better than having players drop dead.