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Donahue on WWF Drug & Sex Scandal in 1992

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C-Rock

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Above is the link to a show aired in 92 which features Vince McMaMahon, Bruno Sammartino, SuperStar Billy Graham among others disscussing Drug and Sex Scandals in the WWF (WWE) and wrestling in general.

 

First time I've seen this footage and I found it an interesting watch but also highly fustrating, the host Phil Donahue keeps interupting and I wish they had given Vince more of a chance to speak and defend himself. I think Billy Graham came over as a self righteous personally I'm very suprised that he made it into the WWE Hall of Fame but then again it must go to show WWE and or Vince McMahon doesn't hold personal grudges (except for in the case of Sammartino perhaps)

 

My thoughts are that I believe Vince knew roughly that these things were happening in the WWE at the time but with that said I'm pretty sure Vince wouldn't allow for under age kids to be sexual abused within his company. Vince is smart business man and I don't think he would have been willing to run the risk of loosing everything he had accomplished to that point. Vince I suspect wasn't on the road with wrestlers on a constant basis, travelling from town to town so I'm sure things of that nature were happening behind his back, while the cats away the mouse will play for lack of a better term. Vince hired guys like Barry O to turn up at the venue and work their match nothing more, nothing less, what happened between towns amoung his employee's whilst travelling, whether its right or wrong I can't imagine played to much on Vince's mind or that he cared basically, as long as they were doing their jobs (litterally) each night. What strikes me as odd and a little uneasy is that Pat Patterson was given his job back later in the 90's not only that was used on screen as one of Vince's stoodges. I think that was in bad taste espessially if they allegations were true, even if they weren't because of the scandal and the negative spotlight it drew on the WWE. I'm very suprised WWE risked backlash by hiring Pat again but I suppose by then it was all forgotten about. I don't think Vince can be held personally responsible for what happened in his massive business that isn't all under one roof were his employee's can be kept an eye on constantly, Vince hired the wrong people but I'm sure in hind-sight if he had known what these people were like and what was going to happen he wouldn't have hired them. It comes down to personal choice if that kind of thing was happening on the road wether Vince knew about it or not, it was upto guys like Bruno and SuperStar to speak up and say something its like it was said in the footage towards they end (and Bruno shook his end) is your job more important than sexual harrasment. I think Bruno and Superstar and whom ever else withnessed such things were just as much to blame for turning a blind eye like Vince was accused of doing.

 

As for steroids my view is that nobody forces you to take drugs, wrestles are adults they have to take responsibilities for their own actions. Again wether Vince knew about the actual amount of drug use in the WWE I don't know but I don't think Vince cared as long as the guys were stepping up to their side of their contracts and going out to preform every night they were required to do. What they did away from the ring and behind closed doors is their personal choice and I don't think Vince is to blame, I can't imagine he ever stood over a top guy or any guy and forced steriods down their throught. Its easy for Superstar and who ever else to blame somebody else instead of admitting it was a choice they made. If Vince did try to sway his guys into taking steroids which may of happened it was again their personal choice to take them, they may not have liked the choice and they may have faced repocusstions like loosing there jobs or not being booked as much but it was still their choice. Vince wasn't there to babysit every guy on the roster, he was there to run a business and all he cared about wrong or right is that the guys he was paying big money to went out everynight and entertained the fans. Not every guy on the roster took drugs but still took as many bumps and still got injured as much as the guys on drugs who were taking a cocktail of pills every night. I'm sure Vince could have been a lot more compassionate and he could have done more to stop the rampant drug use in the WWE at the time but the 80's was an important time for Vince and the WWE, it was the prooving time for the company to take that big step and go from regional to national and if steriods were helping the guys look better on TV and more like Superstars then I'm sure Vince wasn't to put off the idea his guys taking steroids which like he said in the footage weren't seen in such a bad light as they are now.

 

I'm sure this is going to raise an interesting debate, whats your views?

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KingOfMetal Mentor

KingOfMetal

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I was going to start a thread about Steroids in Sport myself today, weird how this cropped up on the same day. Maybe we could rename the thread 'Steroids In Sport Debate'?

 

I wanted to start a thread to find out people perceptions about the use of steroids and other PED's in sport as a whole. After reading about Dwain Chambers possibly being allowed to compete at this summers Olympics (if British Olympics Association lose their legal battle against the World Anti-Doping Agency).

Even Sir Chris Hoy waded in on teh debate last week, saying

 

"It will be sad if we have to fall in line with the rest of the world. I don't see anything wrong with having more stringent rules. I think it should be the rest of the world that's falling in line with our rules. If you are caught for taking drugs, then you will not be allowed to compete in the Olympic Games. That to me is a good incentive not to take drugs. If you take that away, are you taking a step back in the fight against drugs?"

 

Personally, I dont think Dwain Chambers should be allowed to compete in active athletics again. To me its clear cut, if you are caught cheating, you are out. This was also my thinking when Rugby League player Martin Gleeson was banned for two years for taking methylhexanamine.

But I then got to thinking about the case of the UKFF's favourite MMA spokesman Chael Sonnen. As we all know, Chael got busted for PED's after losing to Anderson Silva by the California State Atheltic Commission (CSAC) and was suspended. My question is, should the UFC have allowed Sonnen to return after he got caught cheating? And seemingly walking straight back in at the top, winning his first fight back and being as #1 contender to the Middleweight Title, before having to fight again anyway as Anderson Silva recovered from surgery. I think the UFC, and even MMA in general, is a bit too slack with dealing with people who have been caught taking steoirds/PED's.

Just some of the names for MMA fighters to have been busted for PED's include: Vitor Belfort, Thiago Alves, Josh Barnett, Phil Baroni, Stephan Bonner, Kit Cope, Nick Diaz, Hermes Franca, Royce Gracie, Melvin Guillard, Dennis Hallman, James Irvin, Chris Leben, Bill Mahood, Nate Marquart, Sean McCully, Johnnie Morton, Karo Parisyan, Kevin Randleman, Antonio Silva, Ken Shamrock, Sean Sherk, Tim Sylvia

 

yet the majority of these fighters are still active. Should the UFC, as the worldwide leader in the MMA be setting an example and eliminating drug-cheats from the promotion when they are caught abusing? I ask this after Dana White said a couple of weeks ago the UFC having the best drug testing in the world, yet fighters are still abusing. The question should be asked even more after Alistair Overeem has now been removed from the main event of UFC 146 after failing a drugs test (which he is appealing, so lets not judge until its all settled).

Add to this the time you hear about people being pescribed steroids by a doctor to recover from injury. If this is the case, should a fighter have to take a battery of tests to show that they are 100% clean of said steroids after the couse of treatment from an injury before being allowed to compete again?

 

So, where do you stand on people who use steroids/PED's to get ahead? If caught should they be sandbagged no matter what, or does everyone deserve a secon chance

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Jason Mayhem Contributor

Jason Mayhem

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All the wrestlers accusing Vince on this are total hypocrites.

 

They all tried to string Vince up for turning a blind eye to it, when he may not have even know about it happening, but fact that all the wrestlers say they knew about it, but turned a blind eye to it makes them just as bad or even worse.

 

They say they feared their jobs, but back then there were still several options for employment, if Vince did know about it, obviously he would not have wanted to make a big deal of it through fear of losing his company

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