In the wake of the Benoit double murder suicide, the 24 hour cable news networks have been eager to kick the professional wrestling circuit while it’s down.  As documented Monday, the so called “list” of wrestlers to die young is misleading and not 100% accurate. 

As for Chris Benoit specifically, MSNBC and Fox News have been quick to question the role steroids and “steroid rage” played in the incident.  Rather than looking at all the facts, it’s been your typical knee-jerk reaction we’ve come to know and mock from our friends in the sports media - only this time it's coming from the news media. 

Since very few mainstream outlets want to discuss all the facts, let’s look at what we know for certain:

-- Chris Benoit tested negative for drugs as part of his WWE Wellness Policy test on April 10th 2007.

-- Law enforcement officials found anabolic steroids in Chris Benoit’s house. 

-- Benoit was one of very few mainstream wrestlers to take chair shots to the back of the head.   

-- One of Benoit’s finishing moves was a diving head butt, which could mean he landed on his head roughly 300 times per year for nearly two decades.

-- Chris was best friends with Eddie Guerrero, who passed away November 13th 2005.

All this considered, it’s quite possible that Benoit suffered from severe depression, which could have been aggravated by steroid use, anti-depressants, concussions and even the death of a lifelong best friend.  Unfortunately, the infotainment programs don’t want to discuss things logically and prefer to beat “steroids” and “steroid rage” in to the ground.  With the media, it’s a black and white issue.  There can be one and only reason this happened. 

It’s laughable at best.

Roid Rage Killed the Benoits?
One of the most frustrating aspects to the coverage of the Benoit double murder suicide is the media’s insistence that steroids, and more specifically, “’roid rage”, caused Chris Benoit to snap.  To counter that, the WWE – fairly or unfairly – announced their admission that steroids/roid rage was not responsible for what happened. 

After the fact, MSNBC’s Dan Abrams openly criticized the WWE for their stance saying that it’s quite fair to question that steroids were involved.  While that’s true to a certain extent, steroids have been the main focus of the infotainment programs.  Aside from uninformed opinions from the TV hosts, ex-wife of Stone Cold Steve Austin, Debra Marshall, discussed her experiences of domestic abuse, something she directly linked to steroids and steroid rage.  Here’s a sampling of Debra and the TV talking heads’ opinions…

“They call it Roid Rage.  I contend that your whole personality changes you can get irrational, you can get really nutty, crazy fast." – Bill O’Reilly

If you contend it, Bill, then clearly that means it caused Benoit to murder his wife and son.
____

"Did people misread (Chris Benoit)?  Or could it have been steroids or some other kind of drugs?" - Dan Abrams

Note the brilliant wording of the question: “steroids” or “other drugs” rather than “steroids” or “alcohol, painkillers, anti-depressants, severe depression, concussions, or illegal narcotics”. 
____

"Since 1997, there have been 1,000 pro wrestlers 45 and younger.  65 wrestlers died.  25 killed by heart attacks.  Five of 25 deaths from steroid use; twelve deaths from other drugs." – MSNBC

As discussed Monday, you’ve got to love how MSNBC twists the steroid death tally to “5 of 25” rather than “5 of 65”.  Great reporting, fellas.
____

"The last time Steve attacked me, alcohol was involved... he's on my back... I thought I was going to die." - Debra Marshall

So even a victim of domestic abuse who contends her assaults were spurned by 'steroid rage' admits other factors are involved. 
____

"Steve was “Steve” on the camera, off the camera.  The same Steve you would see, he would do that in my face." - Debra Marshall

That has less to do with “steroids” and “steroid rage” and more to do with the one person’s mental state.  Obviously, one’s mental state can be affected by steroids as well as countless other factors – but Steve’s alleged delusion is not a result of the one and only “steroid rage”. 
____

All the above quotes were said in the context of pinning the cause of the Benoit deaths on steroids.  Even though the news shows had guests who consistently proved the point countering their original theories, they moved on with the steroids hysteria. 

Gee; it’s almost as if they only want to focus on what makes a better story, ya know?

Crap that actually came from somebody’s mouth
"So you're telling me that all of these (WWE) guys are tested for cocaine or opiates on a regular basis?  Because I've never heard of that before...  but not steroids or human growth or any of that?  ... I don't think so." – Bill O’Reilly

Well Bill, you’ve never heard of that before because you’ve never done your research on the subject.  The WWE does in fact test for the abuse of all those things.  I’ll give you a link to the WWE Wellness testing policy so you don’t make the same mistake twice, mmmkay?
____

"Could that (text messages) have been connected?  Could that be somehow connected to what was said (on Wikipedia)?" – Dan Abrams asking if the WWE recipient of Chris Benoit’s text messages could have edited the Wikipedia entry

Just think about this logic for a second: WWE official or wrestler receives an odd text message from friend and co-worker Chris Benoit.  Around midnight Monday, just hours after a pay-per-view, said friend/co-worker is sure Nancy Benoit died.  What’s the first thing he does? 

“Welp; time to go update Chris’ Wikipedia biography.”
____

"YOU KNOW WHAT?  WHY DON'T YOU HAVE A 500 POUND GUY BEATING THE ___ OUT OF YOU IN YOUR BACK!  WHY DON'T YOU TRY THAT!  I'M A FEMALE, 120 POUNDS.  GET REAL!" - Debra Marshall, describing ex-husband Stone Cold Steve Austin abusing her

Domestic assault is no laughing mater, but like most things wrestling-related, Debra has exaggerated the weight of her attacker.  Five hundred pounds?  Stone Cold?  Really?
____

"It's disingenuous to say you don't believe there is suspected steroid use in the wrestling community." – Meredith Viera, NBC Today Show

"Did you hear me say that?  I didn't say that.” – Vince McMahon

This interview was a great illustration of a media member attempting to spin a story into something it’s not.  Meredith went so far in her quest that she made up what her interviewee was saying while he was still on set.  Impressive to say the least.
____

"In any way, does pro wrestling contribute to the creation of monsters?"  - Meredith Viera to Vince McMahon

McMahon responds: “Yes, Meredith; consider me Victor Franksenstein.  And all my wrestlers are cold-blooded Boris Karloffs.  We are unfit for society.”

Steve Adubato Not Critiquing His Own Performance
Steve Adubato is a media critic for MSNBC and hosts 30 minute interview show on the Comcast Network.  He’s a four-time Emmy award winner and has a PHD, so clearly, that makes him an expert on all things wrestling and WWE.

You might have been wondering what Adubato thought about WWE airing the 3 hour Benoit tribute show…

"They’re so pressed in these events to put a show on, to have a quote "angle", a storyline, that they didn't even wait to figure it out because they were afraid that if they waited they might have missed an opportunity, in my view, on some level take advantage of a storyline that was so horrific and salacious that they weren't responsible and apologizing is too late because they should have known!" 

In Adubato’s mind, the WWE was using the death of Chris Benoit and his wife and son to garner publicity and ratings.  Never mind the fact that the news wasn’t made public until less than an hour before going on the air, or that the Benoit Tribute had ratings down .4 points from the week prior at the "peak" of the Mr. McMahon murder angle.  I will say, though, that WWE could have halted the West Coast version from airing [EDIT: reader Chris H points out that RAW runs live in his hometown of Modesto, California.]
____

"There's a history, there's a pattern, there's a culture, it's not just the deaths, I mean a ridiculous number of deaths, an absurd, UNBELIEVABLE, STATISTICALLY IMPOSSIBLE NUMBER OF DEATHS!!!

STEVE ADUBATO IS FIRED UP!  HE’S GOT HIS GAME FACE ON FOR THIS SCARBOROUGH COUNTRY CAMEO!!!  HE KNOWS WITH 100% CERTAINTY THAT THERE HAVE BEEN A STATISTICALLY IMPOSSIBLE NUMBER OF DEATHS IN WRESTLING OVER THE PAST 10 YEARS, even though we learned Monday there have been many deaths via circumstances beyond the “wrestling lifestyle”.
____

"The fact that when Eddie Guerrero dies and Vince all the sudden says "now we're going to crack down on steroids"... 10 years ago there was a case that involved McMahon and Hulk Hogan and steroids and Vince got off there.  Instead of saying 10 years ago, "we're going to crack down, we're going to do all these things," they waited another eight years for Eddie Guererro to die.  It's absurd!"

No one is discounting the fact that WWE could have cracked down earlier than February 2006 (when the Wellness Policy was implemented), but Adubato might want to go back and research his history since, you know, the McMahon steroids trial occurred in 1994, not 1997.  It might also be prudent to mention that Eddie Guererro wasn’t a member of WWF until the year 2000.  He was fired in late 2001 for repeated drug use and alcohol use, and he re-debuted in April 2002 when he was pronounced clean of drugs and alcohol until the day he died - with the alleged exception of painkillers -  November 13th, 2005.   

The facts don’t lie.  But Steve Adubato sure does.

Words From People Who Actually Know
"Yes, we live in pain out there, but no one is forcing pain killers down your throat." - Steve Blackman, former WWF wrestler

"Could steroids have been one of those reasons?  Absolutely.  Is it the only reason?  I doubt it." - Chris Jericho, former WWE wrestler

"Are steroids and all these drugs a must have?  Absolutely not.  It's not that type of a business.  It's a very loving family within the WWE." - Chris Jericho

"We've had 5 individuals who have passed away under contract to us.  I can't speak to the rest of the individuals you're making reference to (on the list of dead wrestlers) and don't even know if that's true... nor do you." – Vince McMahon to Meredith Viera

"Steroids are one of (the causes)... you know, steroids, painkillers multiple concussions perhaps, but even so, every one of these things does not explain someone killing their wife and killing their son.  There are millions of people in this world on steroids that don't kill their wife and son - and I'm not trying to defend steroids." - Dave Meltzer

"This goes beyond a simple ‘roid rage." – Superstar Billy Graham, former WWF wrestler

"I don't want to see this pinned on steroids.  I think there's a deeper ... it goes beyond that at this point." - Bret Hart

Gerald Rivera Not Sure What Day it Is
The pinnacle of media absurdity and stupidity for me through all my "Tivo-ing" of the 24 hr cable news shows occurred June 28th.  On Thursday's edition of the O'Reilly Factor, Bill welcomed Geraldo Rivera in to the studio for the "Factor Follow-up" segment to discuss the latest developments in the Benoit double-murder suicide.  What transpired over the following minutes was one of the worst pieces of journalism I have ever witnessed. 

First, Geraldo had to take a hard potshot at the WWE, something the media has excelled at lately:

"The WWE did everything it could in the immediate wake of this tragedy to downplay the possibility that it was roid rage... what a bunch of bunk that was!"

Really?  It was “bunk” to say steroid rage wasn’t what caused a double murder suicide in which the Benoit house was in pristine condition, nothing was out of place, and Bibles were placed next to the bodies of Daniel and Nancy? 

District Attorney Scott Ballard described the house as follows…

"The house itself was well kept.  There was no furniture moved around.  No pictures fallen off the wall."

Debra Marshall inadvertently proved a similar point, when she said that had Nancy Benoit knew Chris was going to kill her, “she would have torn that room to pieces.”  Debra based her assumption on the fact that when Steve Austin broke into fits of “rage”, he would break furniture and even rip out the telephone cords. 

Furthermore, forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden was interviewed on the infotainment shows and said steroid rage doesn’t lead to death in most cases:

"Rarely have there been deaths directly due to steroid rage."

Seems the WWE’s rush to judgment to counter the media’s rush to judgment is much more applicable to this situation.  But Geraldo Rivera knows.  Yep; he knows.  He’s clearly researched the history of steroids and the WWE in general. 

Like, you can so totally see how much Geraldo studies up on current events…

"The authorities say, 'Here is Chris Benoit: he kills his wife Nancy on Friday June 15th or Saturday June 16th.  Did you know that on Friday June 15th, a woman named Sherri Martel also died of unnatural causes related to drug use?  Who is Sherri Martel?  She is ANOTHER woman connected to this group of professional wrestlers.  Indeed, the guy who was the original husband of Chris' wife Nancy (Kevin Sullivan), he was Sherri Martel's booker and friend.  And she died the same day, Bill: Friday June 15th...  same industry.  They all knew each other.  They were all connected."

There is no apt description to describe my reaction to this horribly inaccurate observation.  First off, Sherri Martel was pronounced dead on June 15th.  However, the Benoit tragedy occurred ONE WEEK LATER.  But that doesn’t matter because Geraldo is pretty sure all the deaths are connected, in fact, this may be a HUGE story…

"We don't know if it's a double murder suicide, maybe it's a triple murder, maybe it's a quadruple murder!"

The embarrassing segment was capped off by Bill O’Reilly saying, "If they can prove that steroid use was ordered by the top guys in the wrestling federation, they'll arrest them."  True Bill; and by the same token, if you knew what you were talking about, you would have ripped your colleague Geraldo for being a lazy, conventional wisdom-bearing idiot silly pants. 

After watching coverage of this horrible tragedy over the past 10 days, I’m quite confident in saying I could go on any of the 24 news shows posing as a “terror expert” and completely make up everything I say.

If Geraldo and Steve Adubato can get away with it, why can't I?

Related
Phil Mushnick is Full of Crap
In Defense of Pro Wrestling
The Pinnacle of Knee Jerk Reaction
This is Awful

The Media has no Clue what they're Talking About was written by Pat Imig.  He'll be appearing on the Scarborough Country to talk about the London car bombings any day now.  Email him at patrick@joesportsfan.com