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Mark Coale

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FROM THE DARK SIDE
Fool Me Once, Shame on You -- Fool Me Twice, Shame on Me

I can't help but think I've written this column before, but, I couldn't find it in the Wrestleline Archives. SO, either I'm imagining it or I wrote it before Wrestlemaniacs ended up here. Either way, here's a fresh look at a subject that demands discussing.

Most folks seemed to think last week's WCW PPV was a thumbs up, or at least, better than most of its usual fare. And what were most people talking about from the show? The cruiserweights? The Goldberg angle? No, the Sid Vicious injury.

Not since Owen Hart has there been this much discussion about the ethics of the wrestling business and what to show or not show. Should WCW have shown something compared this week to the infamous injuries of Joe Theismann or Moises Alou?

It's arguable that it was news and the injury would have to be addressed anyway. It's also arguable that showing a gruesome injury on television goes a long way to show all the backyard wrestlers out there that this is a dangerous business and shouldn't be taken lightly. I probably wouldn't have shown it, but the debate is not a silly one.

This brings up to tonight's Royal Rumble. (This column is being written a few hours after the hours in the wee hours of Sunday night/Monday morning.)

There are few things that I dislike more in the wrestling business than the "catastrophic injury angle" (Vince Russo, Shane Douglas and the Dudleys being some of them, but I digress). Why? I refer you to the few preceding paragraphs.

With the increase of hardcore matches and daredevil highspots, there are more injuries (or appear to be anyway) in this industry than even 10 years ago, when flying body presses and Alabama jams were high-risk maneuvers. And as the stakes get pushed higher and higher, the attitudes of the fans get ironically lower. We've seen the Swanton Bomb so many times it's not "that" exciting, even though Jeff Hardy is one slip away from breaking his neck. If a guy only goes through "one" table, it's barely enough to get a rise of the crowd (and God forbid you're in Philadelphia).

So, not only have we had months of Chyna's "spinal injury" suffered at the hands of the RTC's spike piledriver. Tonight, we get the "Shawn Michaels" angle, where a wrestler collapses "perhaps against the script" and has to be taken out in a neck brace.

I may just be overly sensitive now that I work for a couple promotions and know that workers really are people behind the curtain and not puppets for our entertainment, but I hate injury angles. Call it "the Boy who Cried Wolf" Syndrome. How are ever supposed to believe Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler are "shooting with us" when an injury happens when they used the same tone and expressions to discuss "Chyna's injury" as they did the night Owen died. How many people went to the restrooms during Nitro when Mark Bagwell or Villano IV had their necks broken, because they'd seen it all so many times before. Did anyone believe Shane McMahon's injuries from his "50 foot fall?" Of course not. Did anyone feel good about Ric Flair's "heart attack?"

There are more than enough real injuries to use as angles than there's no need to generate fake ones. Does a fake Steve Austin injury angle mean as much as the real-life drama surrounding his return?

But it's not like I expect anything to chance. I'm sure the Rock will be injured by Austin or HHH or Vince McMahon to explain his movie-related absence after Wrestlemania. Which is a shame, since odds are someone working that night will probably be injured, to some degree or another, and no one will even bat an eyelash.

Mark Coale
Odessa Steps Magazine

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