Vince McMahon flips off Congress on steroids hearings

Yesterday the leaders of American sports leagues faced congressional steroids hearings (baseball hearings story here).  One 'leader' declined the invite: the WWF's Vince McMahon. Some congressmen were not pleased.  (Newsday)

The absence of one invited witness at Wednesday's Capitol Hill hearings on steroids in sports did not go unnoticed by several members of Congress, who blasted World Wrestling Entertainment Chairman Vince McMahon for his no-show.

Newsday first reported last week that McMahon was the only witness to decline the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection's invitation to testify. WWE officials told Newsday last week that they notified the subcommittee in January that McMahon would not be able to attend because his attorney is involved in a lengthy criminal trial in Pittsburgh. They never heard from Congress again, they said.

The explanation was not good enough for subcommittee chairman Bobby Rush, who said he was "exceptionally and extremely disappointed" in McMahon's absence.

Congress knows about the homi-suicide of the Benoit family, an event likely fueled by steroid and narcotic abuse:

Two congressional committees began investigating the pro wrestling industry last year following the news that WWE wrestler Chris Benoit killed his wife and son, before committing suicide, and was later found to have had abnormally high levels of testosterone in his system.

"Steroid abuse in pro wrestling is probably worse than in any professional sport or amateur sport. And while I recognize that professional wrestling is not actually a sport, it certainly requires a great deal of athletic talent," Rush said before the hearing. "I want to insure Mr. McMahon that this subcommittee fully intends to deal with the illegal steroid abuse in professional wrestling."

McMahon's lawyer said Vince was busy.  Right....Congress might just get a burr in their Potomac saddle about this.  Lots of email going over to Justice from Congress these days.

Nevertheless, Rep. Lee Terry(R-Neb.), accused McMahon during the hearing of "flip his finger" at Congress by failing to appear before the subcommittee. In a statement, McMahon called the characterization "inaccurate and unfair" and said he remains willing to cooperate in Congress' inquiry.

Comments

[sal m]

nobody should refer to professional wrestling as a sport. but that being said, it will be great to see the authorities shut down this disgrace. even though UFC/MMA is fueled by the same drugs as pro wrestling, those people are at least really hitting/fighting/grappling etc.

as we go forward the UFC/MMA will probably come under the same scrutiny as is its fake cousin, thanks in large part to vince mcmahon. as a matter of fact, steroid testing in vegas will undoubtedly have an effect on UFC/MMA.

i think one more person - actually 2 more people - should have been called in front of congress; the governor of california and joe weider. bodybuilding is the other activity, along with pro wrestling, that owes its existance to steroids, hgh, igf-1, inappropriate use of insulin and other substances. weider is the de facto head of this enterprise.

bodybuilding almost single-handedly introduced american team sport athletes to steroids. arnold and weider are the guys who can shed the most light on this subject.

[fred]

Why for? Because it's not REAL fighting?
pro wrestling is a sport, it's a demonstration sport, like figure skating or gymnastic. Only because it's a scripted show doesn't mean there's no sport value to it. Just because a stuntman is doing a snowboard stunt in a fake movie, doesn't mean it's all fake. He did all the stunts for real only in a controlled manner. He had a couple of shots to capture it on tape, in pro wrestling, it's live.

you need a good cardio, it's really physical, you can and will get hurt, you learn how to take a bump. Try one week of serious pro wrestling training and you'll see it's a sport. Just not a real fighting sport. But a sport.

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Bit of a random question. The point being that a few years ago a lot of people were really upset that the WWE was 'banning' certain moves from their programming. The piledriver for example was one of the things that the WWE banned, but obviously, with the return of the Undetaker's old gimmick, they brought a different version of it back (Tombstone).

John Cena before he came to be, was in WWE developmental as The Prototype and had an amazing move set, only for it to be watered into what it has become today. Vince McMahon takes precautions with his performers, and that is completely understandable.

But looking at TNA, their style is completely untouched. The moves of some of the X-Division's finest is the kind of exciting pro wrestling that people want to see. But that also comes with a hefty caution, as we saw with Daniels and Suicide at Bound For Glory.

My question is, are you a fan of the watered down style of the WWE, or do you prefer the more riskier move set of TNA?

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They never heard from Congress again, they said

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