Loss

http://www.pwtorch.com/artman/publish/article_21092.shtml This may or may not mean anything, but it certainly doesn't look that good.

I don't know what tops Kevin Nash becoming a millionaire by framing an elbow, dying his hair, getting wasted and standing around making funny faces.

There are times when it makes sense to do something knowing going in it may not make money if it will lead to something in the long run that does make money. It's like Vince said regarding the decision to use Mike Tyson at his full asking price at Wrestlemania XIV, he'd rather lose money off of 500,000 buys than make money off of 300,000. That said, this isn't one of those cases. But I wanted to put it out there.

"The thing that stuck out to me more than anyone was when JBL said that he brought his kids to TV in suits and he marched them around in suits and made them do this and made them do that. I immediately felt control, I felt Great Santini." -- Kevin Nash in his new Torch Talk

So, about those five best wrestlers in the US ...

So, Scott Keith is apparently writing a book about the death rate in wrestling and the Benoit case. I'm glad PWO is kinda under the radar, or else some of us might get plagiarized.

Matt Sydal may do better than someone like London. London has a lot of factors against him, but seems to complain a lot and has a smarmy personality.

Tim, re-read Kennedy's blog entry from a little while back, then re-read this.

No.

Batista or Lashley dying, sadly, wouldn't change a thing. HHH, Undertaker or Austin dropping dead are the only ones that I could actually see making a difference in the way they do things in the future.

Yes, JBL.

I do think they needed to speak. And I can understand why the name Chris Benoit is no longer mentioned on WWE TV. But why couldn't they have done a show in memory of Nancy and Daniel? Why have they shown absolutely ZERO sympathy in any of their press releases over Nancy and Daniel? Why do they keep talking about personal choice and responsibility when a wife and 7-year old boy died? It's disgusting.

I don't really know what else there is to discuss about this at this point, but I do think it still needs to be discussed. Wrestling being a seedy business isn't some type of new revelation, but what is frustrating here is that WWE had a chance to use this horrible tragedy to listen to suggestions on changes from here forward, to revamp their public image, to do the right thing. Instead, they chose to spin things constantly and do damage control. Other, smaller organizations also had a chance to take a stand and they seem to just be staying quiet and are grateful that they're not the ones under fire. TNA, I'm looking at you. Prior to the press release coming out from WWE where they yelled at the media for suggesting the idea that roid rage played a part in the deaths, I didn't really see anyone pointing a finger at WWE. WWE got so caught up in their own spin that they exposed their true colors, and they are now looking far worse than they even deserve to look in the aftermath of this tragedy. It's not WWE's fault that Chris Benoit killed himself and his family, and no one has even remotely suggested that. I'm more disappointed in how WWE has handled themselves since this happened than I am at how they handled themselves before this happened. I think most people could have forgiven any screw-ups they made in the past if they really thought there was a genuine effort to clean things up now. If anything, WWE would have been commended if they stated that they strongly believed they had an effective wellness policy prior to this, and they still stand by that, but that they are eager to hear suggestions from anyone on what they can do to possibly prevent something like this from happening again, even mentioning that it was a mistake on their part to allow prescriptions to turn a failure into a passing test. The media, without a doubt, has an agenda here, but because of the way WWE has handled themselves, they in many ways deserve whatever they get, whether it's fair or not. Since when has WWE ever been concerned about treating their targets fairly?

I haven't seen any Cody yet, so I can't really say for him one way or the other. I am also a fan of Matt Sydal and think he has a natural underdog charisma that doesn't come across forced at all. I don't like Necro all the time, but I do like him most of the time. I don't want to do anything to bring this thread down at all, but just thinking about this depresses me, because two years ago, I would have had a completely different top five, and of those guys, two are now dead, one is retired, one has been out for a while and is rumored to be having a tough time getting back in shape and the other has been booked so horribly that he's been exposed to maybe not be as good as originally thought.

What's even more interesting to me is how Bryan Alvarez has surpassed him as the #2 guy.

He reminds me of Milhouse.

Interesting tidbit from the latest F4W: The diary where Benoit wrote to Guerrero has not been found. Benoit went to great lengths to destroy boxes of documents and photos before he died.

We've all talked openly in this thread, and some of us have tried to predict what the WWE talking point would be after the press conference today. Creating a distinction between steroids and testosterone never crossed my mind. Mainly BECAUSE IT'S STUPID.

http://www.stormwrestling.com/071607.html I have to give all the credit in the world to Lance Storm for writing that. As Meltzer pointed out, it had to be tough, since Jericho is probably his best friend in wrestling.

Sadly, I think because of WWE's mindset, the title is more likely than ever to go back to Batista at this point. I also think Lashley going over Cena wouldn't surprise me. Vince has to make it clear to the media that they won't dictate how he does business.

That press release is just awful. I'm not surprised by it or anything, but what a heartless, stubborn press release to put out within two hours of a press conference.

WWE should really admit failure here. Denying a problem is just going to make it even worse than it already is. I know, I know ...

WWE is really having a horrible year.

What are the indies supposed to do about it? Drug testing is WAY too expensive for them to even think about. In states where the athletic commission is real strict and requires every promotion to do extra stuff like have a doctor onsite at all times, there generally aren't any indy shows. They could start by not booking Jake Roberts if he demands crack to appear on a show, or not allowing dangerous stunts to be done in front of crowds of 50 people, or not booking WWE guys that get fired due to wellness violations (or any other known guys with problems), or not using veterans that like to stiff young guys to introduce them to the business, or not allowing guys that aren't properly trained to go out and take bumps. Indies could also do a lot to get the word out about the best and worst wrestling schools, to eventually nip the idea of scam trainers in the bud. There are a lot of things indies could do that wouldn't even cost them a lot of money to help clean up wrestling. It's up to WWE to set the example, but it's up to everyone else to follow it.

I don't know why you'd care less now than then. Nancy and Daniel are every bit as dead as they were when the story broke.