Following the tragic events of last week, the public at large(well anyone who still cares about this story)has taken to blaming Vince McMahon for what happened. According to them,Vince forced Chris Benoit to do the unspeaklable acts he did. The parade continues. Now former wrestlers are getting into the act. On Friday, Joannie Lauer, formerly known as Chyna in the WWE, appeared on the Jim Rome radio show. She really outdid herself, and if anyone saw her drug-addled appearances on The Surreal Life and the Howard Stern show, that's really saying something. She went on to not only blame McMahon for the Benoit tragedy, but also insinuated that he set Owen Hart up to die as a way for McMahon to get back at Owen's brother Bret. Later in the interview, she said that a lot of the WWE wrestlers would love to get out, but they had no other way to make a living. You know, the same excuse prostitutes give when they're hauled up before a judge.

Look, no argument here, Vince McMahon is true scum of the earth. That much is a given. But when are we going to start assigning some of the blame on the wrestlers themselves? Last I checked, the WWE was a take-it-or-leave-it job. No one's making these people work there. No one's holding a gun to their heads, forcing them to shoot themselves up with Lord knows what. Take a regular job like the vast majority of us. Sure, a lot of us are struggling to get by, but at least we're not all sitting around wondering how many years the steroids we've taken are taking off our lives. Wrestlers will give the excuse,"But I'm in the biz not because of the money, but for the love of it." Fine. There are a lot more indy spot shows everywhere that doesn't require it's workers to shoot themselves up with crap.

I don't mean to be writing a novel here. But, let's face it-Wrestling,at it's best, is a scummy buisness littered with lowlifes. At it's worst-well, we saw a glaring example last week, didn't we? Maybe it IS time for the Feds to shut Vince down once and for all. Will that take wrestling back to the glory days of small regional territories such as the ones I grew up watching? Nope. Unfourtunately, if Vince went bye-bye, I could easily see someone AT LEAST as bad as McMahon rising up to write the next tragic chapters in professional wrestling.

so true.BUT how do we know that the goon mcmahon DID NOT hire some to take out benoit.we will NEVER know the truth.i knew benoit a little.he WAS the type of a guy who if killed a fly would shed a few tears.he was afraid of death.he stepped on a mouse that ran under his foot in school and killed it.know what he did? he burst out in tears!heck he even buried the "poor mouse". he could not have killed his wife nor his son.he loved them WAY too much to do that.hang hisself? nope.not benoit.

Its tragic, yes, but unfourtunately, it WAS Benoit. I really wish it wasn't so. Joe, you said you knew Benoit a little. Judging from what you wrote, I'm assuming you knew him in school. People change from their school years. A good example is the school bully that makes lives a living hell. Yet 20 years later, he's a priest! You get the idea. A raid on Benoit's doctor's(Phil Astin)office showed that every 3 weeks, Astin was presribing a 10 month supply of steroids. The deaths were not caused by "roid rage", but from the effects of heavy long-term steroid use(overly aggressiveness, severe depression, and raging paranoia). What happened was a horrible tragedy, Joe, and I truly feel for you and others that are affected by it. My point when I started this thread(and still is) is that the wrestlers need to step up and take personal responsibility for themselves. Sure, Vince McMahon is a sick, demented individual, but no one holds a gun to anyone's head and forces them to work there.

A lot of what'd being reported about this tragedy is pure crap(I'm talking to you, Nancy Grace and Geraldo Rivera). If anyone wants to see the most honest and accurate continuing coverage of this story and it's aftereffects, check out
www.wrestlingobserver.com

The prof. football players were just having hearings about how their ailments are ignored after retirement. Again, no common sense being used, no money put away fro the future & now please take care of me.

I abused my body working hard since 14, nobody to hear my crys, no panel to go before & wail, heelp me. I take care of myself & admit what I did. I pay for my medical insurance, to take care of me, pick'd my coverage.

Professional athletes get big bucks, Think they should ALL grt responsible for their choices.

Well put, Oldsage!

vince has ruined wrestling more then words can say ecw is a joke