Memo to Phil Mushnick: Your column sucks
Continuing with the theme, "The news media is full of crap, especially when they discuss things they have no knowledge of whatsoever", renowned WWE and Vince McMahon hater Phil Mushnick of the New York Post decided the Benoit double murder suicide was the perfect time to kick McMahon and wrestling right square in the junk.

From last week's "Benoit Tragedy Wakes up Media" column: 
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June 29, 2007 -- LOOK what it has taken for the news media to finally begin to report that Vince McMahon has been operating a death mill the past 25 years.

One paragraph in, we see that Mushnick might have a little bit of a personal vendetta against the WWE chairman.
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Look what it took for the news media to finally learn and report that McMahon produces a TV show that regularly features physically fit and soon-to-be dead young men.  It didn't take one death, or even 20, for the media to finally wake up. Hell, pro wrestlers have been steadily dying young since the early 1980s, when McMahon began to rule the industry.

True, Phil; like 30+ of them have died from car accidents and pre-existing diseases.
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And it didn't take Monday's suicide of a McMahon-made star, Chris Benoit. It took three deaths in one weekend in one home; it took Benoit's murder of his son and wife for modern pro wrestling to finally be stamped with a skull-and-crossbones caution label.

Just an FYI, Benoit was not a "McMahon-made star.  He was "made" in Japan, then went to ECW and then on to WCW where he gained more North American notariety.  He joined McMahon in January of 2000, after he was firmly established and had already won a WCW World Title.
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Hell, Brian Pillman died at 35; Louie Spiccoli was 27; Chris Candido was 33. For all the drugs Eddie Guerrero relied on to become one of McMahon's champs, it was miraculous he made it to 38.

As discussed Monday, 33 year old Candido died after complications from surgery to repair a broken ankle.  Eddie Guerrero didn't enter WWE until 2000, where he was removed 22 months later for drug and alcohol abuse.  Upon his return in April 2002, Guerrero was declared drug free until his death in November 2005, with the exception of pain killers to help recover from injuries.
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"Ravishing" Rick Rude was 41; "The British Bulldog," Davey Boy Smith, was 39. Curt Henning, "Mr. Perfect," died at 44. "Road Warrior Hawk" made it to 45, which can be like 85 in pro-wrestling years. Given cartoon names, they were real people. They are among the most renowned pro wrestlers who died young - just since 1995. There are dozens more from where they came from, and wound up. None of their deaths made for big, nationwide news.  Uppers in the morning, painkillers at night, juice in between to sustain those massive physiques, the kind the industry has demanded and rewarded since McMahon took over. That's the regimen. You wanna be a TV star, don't you?

To be a "star" in WWE, one has to be able to do several of various things well, with the two most important items being able to a) wrestle and b) talk.  All one needs to do is look at wrestlers such as Rey Mysterio, Chris Jericho, CM Punk, JBL, Kennedy and Edge as proof one doesn't need to have a "massive physique" to be a star.  Also, McMahon wasn't the only one to "take over" during that time period Phil points to.  There was a guy named Ted Turner/Eric Bischoff who had a pretty solid business themselves.  Oh, and Paul Heyman had ECW as well.
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But the media only went for the fun stuff, helping McMahon promote "Wrestlemania" or Donald Trump's made-for-pay-per-view feud with McMahon. Until Monday, and since McMahon became king, pro-wrestling deaths would occur only one at a time. No big deal. If you've ignored one, you can ignore them all. Even during the drug trial that led to the conviction and imprisonment of the WWE's McMahon-appointed doctor, McMahon, himself a former steroid user, escaped media inspection.

Until this week, the only sudden, premature death of a pro wrestler that caused a national stir came in 1999, when Owen Hart died what in pro wrestling relativity constituted a natural death. He didn't drop dead; he was dropped dead, from the rafters in a pay-per-view skit-too-far. Hart's death made big news. For two days. Sure, it did. He died a spectacular, public death. Wrestlers dying in a hotel room, prescription bottles on the night table, don't make noise or news, even if the deceased did perform on TV the night before.  but there was no ducking this one. Benoit, 40, wasn't just a current, excessively muscled WWE star; he didn't die solo. He also killed his wife and kid. Three deaths at once; that's tough to ignore. And steroids were found. Naturally.

Clearly that means the steroids killed Nancy, Daniel, and Chris Benoit.  Yep; they jumped out of the bottle and killed a family.  The pontential for sleeping pills, GHB, painkillers, antidepressants, severe depression, traveling 300 days a year and multiple concussions have nothing to do with it.
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So this one made news. And, for the first time, the news media began to note a pattern: Pro wrestlers do drugs, go crazy and die young. Well, whattya know. Monday night, in the midst of a plot in which he was supposed to have been murdered, McMahon knew exactly what to do. He replaced that night's USA Network show with a Benoit memorial. McMahon's best ratings have been generated by tribute shows following the sudden, real deaths of his performers. He cashes in on these guys coming and going.

I love the fact that Phil fails to cite ANY FACTS or sources for that statement.  In actuality, the Benoit Tribute did a 3.8 rating, down .4 points from 1 week prior.  Considering the public wasn't made aware of the Benoit deaths until one hour before going on air, it's completely unfair and careless to assume McMahon and WWE were going for a ratings prize.  If McMahon really wanted to get high ratings, he would have completely ignored Benoit and gone on with the "Mr. McMahon murder angle", since it was that angle that was largely responsible for the 4.2 rating the week prior.  And as a point of reference, the highest rated segment in the history of Monday Night Raw was a skit called "This is Your Life" involving Mankind (Mick Foley) and The Rock, which drew an 8.4 rating. 

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And aside from a news media that are just now waking up to McMahon - in addition to the deaths, his WWE TV shows rely on fringe pornography that's in large part aimed at kids and teens - McMahon has long been enabled by friends in very high places.

If you had been comatose the past 25 years and just woke up, you'd assume Vince McMahon was Satan and every wrestler who ever died did so while working for WWE and as a result of WWE.

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Lowell Weicker, a former governor and senator from Connecticut, where the WWE is headquartered, is a major WWE stockholder and sits on its board of directors. Weicker also serves as president of the board of Trust for America's Health, a health policy research group. Hmmm. Then there's Dick Ebersol, head of NBC and USA Network sports, who has long been in McMahon's corner, both as a business partner and buddy. It was Ebersol who turned NBC over to McMahon in the form of the XFL, an obscene blend of pro football and WWE that also died young, but from embarrassment.  Joe Lieberman, the senator from Connecticut who has famously targeted the entertainment industry for its reliance on garbage - especially when thrown at kids - helped fund his last campaign with donations from the McMahon family. Then there are big shots such as Trump, happy to throw in with McMahon for all the attention they can generate together.

So McMahon has friends in high places; what does this prove? 
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When Congress subpoenas MLB about steroids, that's huge news, as it should be. But imagine if every season four or five big-league players died drug-related, performance-related and institution-related deaths. Well, it happens in pro wrestling.

Notice how Phil conveniently compares one organization, Major League Baseball, to one vast field "pro wrestling".  That spans everyone from WWE in Canada and the U.S., to AAA in Mexico, to All Japan and New Japan and everyone beyond and in between.  You get the idea. 
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Imagine if there were a long-running, scripted TV series in which recurring characters kept dropping dead, for real, in their 20s, 30s and 40s. That would be the most scandalous story in TV history. But it has been happening in pro wrestling.

Considering just 5 pro wrestlers have died while under contract to WWE, it would be prudent for Mr. Mushnick to compare the death statistics to multiple "long running scripted TV series (s)" as opposed to one.  It would also be fair to include "characters" who went into retirement or went onto to act in other TV shows who later passed away.  This is a classic example of what the media has excelled at with their coverage of the Benoit story: conveniently confusing "professional wrestling" with "WWE".  But why be ojbective when you can be a douchebag, ya know?
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Pro wrestling manufactures death. And the guy who owns and operates the biggest factory, the boss who sets the standards, is Vince McMahon. And, though it took 25 years and the deaths this week of Chris Benoit, his wife and son, the media are finally beginning to notice.

No one is going to disagree with or discount the fact that too many wrestlers die young.  And I'm not going to argue against saying WWE and the wrestling world could do more to ensure the wellness of their employees.  But to say pro wrestling "manufactures death" is extreme and absurd.
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phil.mushnick@nypost.com

Dear Phil,

your columns suck.

-- patrick imig
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