Yes, I worked for them, yes, I was privy to the system, yes, I witnessed the inner-workings first hand, but, NO, for the life of me, I will never understand the logic of the WWE to this very day!
What I’m talking about is the latest news of Seth Rollins’ “Curb Stomp” being banned as his finishing move by the company. Certainly this comes off the heels of three more former employees suing the company claiming they were unprotected from risk of injury while working under the WWE roof.
Look, this column has nothing to do with the lawsuit, being that I’m not a judge, and I haven’t heard all sides, therefore I have no right to state an opinion, but rather the absolute HUMOR I find in the WWE trying to make a statement that they indeed care about the well-being of their athletes in the face of severe allegations thrown their way.
What I’m talking about is this: I was THERE SummerSlam 1997, the night that Owen Hart accidentally broke the neck of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin when a sit-down pile driver went horribly wrong. I was there when Austin laid motionless on the mat, not being able to move any part of his body for what seemed an eternity. I was there, the days, weeks, and months that followed to witness firsthand how that one incident had forever changed the psyche of Austin, every time he stepped into a wrestling ring after that. Steve was down-right scared when that happened; he told me that he had never experienced anything like that before. The incident was so traumatic to him, that he never spoke to Owen Hart again, and forever held a grudge against arguably the nicest man to ever lace up a pair of boots no matter how many times he apologized to him.
BUT, regardless of all that, wrestlers were delivering pile drivers the very next day and nothing was ever said about it – not even a discussion. That’s how much the WWE ACTUALLY cared about the welfare of their competitors in the ring. I’m sorry, but it’s just so damn hypocritical. The WWE reacts only when they HAVE TO react, when they are FORCED to react. If somebody gets hurt in their ring due to a finishing move that had the potential of being dangerous going in, and nobody says anything, or HIRES A LAWYER for arguments sake, then we’ll let that fly until the next time.
To me, it’s just being irresponsible. It’s just covering your tracks. If the WWE is going to make an effort to protect their athletes, then they should do it all the time, not just when they hear the ambulance chasers coming.
