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DON'T QUOTE ME ON THAT

It's a really scary feeling.

You [a friend or relative, perhaps] watching TV, kicking back and relaxing, and enjoying your wrestling/football/baseball show of choice, and suddenly, without any warning, IT happens. Your husband dives for first base, and comes up short and unconscious. Your big brother the linebacker is going after the quarterback, and accidentally spears a fellow player, and falls to the turf, motionless. Your best friend's fiancee, a star wrestler, takes a dive through a table and fails to get back up. Your favorite hockey player gets "put on the boards" [knocked into the walls] and is carried off, bleeding copiously.

"For a long time, the trauma that this match had caused my wife had me on the brink of retiring, and Hell in a Cell is still a sensitive subject at home. I watched the match today in preparation for writing about it, and it still, a year after the fact, made Colette cry." -Mick Foley, "Have A Nice Day", on his Hell in the Cell match with the Undertaker.

Hell, even if you aren't close to the injured player/wrestler, you feel the chill - the utter helplessness as you realize someone may never walk again. As you realize that someone may never wrestle/perform again. As you wonder if the motionless body laying on the mat will get up. It's only magnified X20000 for those of us that are family and friends of the injured.

Injuries are an inevitable part of life. The competitive nature of any sport [even one as unique as wrestling] guarantees that won't change any time soon, as even in an era when wrestling is more "show" than "sport", we've come *that* close to witnessing a death live on pay-per-view television. We saw Droz, a former Denver Bronco star player, paralyzed right in the center of the ring in an unfornuate accident. Don't forget, the infamous "Undertaker chokeslams Foley through the cage" spot at King of the Ring '98 was an accident as well.

"New Jack/Baldies/etc. - Allow me to give a big, hearty "FUCK YOU" to whoever asked Jack and Grimes to get up on that scaffolding without anything to stand on. They'll be damn lucky if neither one was hurt too badly from that botched dive. " -Me, ECW Living Dangerously Recap

"The spot looked snakebitten from the get-go, with a lengthy and contrived set-up. The end result -- with New Jack needing to be stretchered out with indeterminate, but thought to be pretty mundane, injuries -- seemed a blessing. Somebody could have been crippled. " - Rick Scaia, Online Onslaught Mon 3/13

So why the hell would ANYBODY take a huge risk like the one at Living Dangerously involving New Jack and Vic Grimes, knowing that it is just an accident waiting to happen? This spot has been troubling me ever since I watched it for the first time, and I was watching New Jack's face. Both wrestlers were balancing, and both were clearly terrified, as their faces showed. The scaffold was not secured to the wall, and was swaying as they moved to get set for their dive off the platform. Finally, there was no walkway or platform, or even a board to stand on - both wrestlers were going to dive off a scaffold from 20 ft in the air standing on a support that was even not big enough to place one of their feet on!

"I'm not suggesting elimination of all crazy bumps... I'm just saying that somebody at some level has to be responsible for OK'ing these things. Anybody who looked at that scaffold on Sunday night would have known intuitively it was not the sort of prop you want to use in a wrestling spot." Rick Scaia, Online Onslaught 3/15

That begs the question - who okayed this dive? There is a pervasive problem with ECW as a promotion if Paul Heyman will tell/ask two of his employees to execute such a dangerous manuever without taking even elementary safety precautions, such as, oh, SECURING THE SCAFFOLD TO THE WALL! Or climbing up on that scaffold and installing a board or wide beam for them to have secure footing on. Did you enjoy the terrified look on Jack's face as he stepped off the scaffold, from five feet away, Paul E.? Oh, I forget, you were "very concerned for their safety." Then why were there no indication of any safeguards in place?

"Who in good conscience could allow two people to risk their lives with absolutely no safety precautions on an unprepared scaffolding, without even a piece of plywood for them to get their footing? They were literally SIX INCHES away from both of them being dead on that landing. People might have wrote to me and complained how "anti-climactic" Mick Foley's fall at No Way Out was, but at least they gimmicked the ring to prevent permanent injury on his part. And then Joey drags my opinion of HIM down a notch as well by comparing Lori Fullington's worked hospitalization with New Jack's near-death experience. It's shit like this that causes me to lose respect for ECW's management and it's fans, especially as human beings. If New Jack had snapped his neck and died right there like Owen Hart did, how long would the crowd have chanted "ECW" before they realized exactly what happened, and would they even feel bad about it afterward? I don't know, and that's what scares me. " -Scott Keith, Living Dangerously 2000 Rant

Hell, I realize that injuries are commonplace, and won't stop with the bitter rantings of this smart. Why, oh, why, do we still have New Jack diving off balconies? Wasn't Owen Hart's death enough to wake some people up to their own mortality? Accidents happen - but if you are "very concerned about the welfare" of your wrestlers, these risks should not be taken - and if they must be taken, do everything you can to ensure the safety of your employees. Take a clue from two of your former employees, Buh Buh Ray and D'Von Dudley, and how they have safely bumped a women twice their age without leaving a scratch on her, Paul E. Mick Foley may have made "hardcore" popular, but the industry as a whole is no longer about shedding blood and crazy chair shots - no one will rise to the top of the industry in this day and age by taking insane risks.

Am I preaching to the choir? Probably.

Are things gonna change? Not bloody likely.

I hope no one I know ever goes to work for ECW, the promotion where they're "so concerned for your welfare" that their top face is an admitted marijuana user, Tommy Dreamer is *still* wrestling with a career-ending back injury, New Jack and Grimes are nearly killing themselves diving off scaffolds, and the owner stands mere feet away - and watches.

Concern that heartfelt just takes your breath away, doesn't it?

Mr. T
King of Vague References, Ham Radio Operator, Cool College Kid, and Celebrated Real Columnist
[slash] wrestling

Email the author

Main BLAH	DON'T QUOTE ME ON THAT It's a really scary feeling. You [a friend or relative, perhaps] watching TV, kicking back and relaxing, and enjoying your wrestling/football/baseball show of choice, and suddenly, without any warning, IT happens. Your husband dives for first base, and comes up short and unconscious. Your big brother the linebacker is going after the quarterback, and accidentally spears a fellow player, and falls to the turf, motionless. Your best friend's fiancee, a star wrestler, takes a dive through a table and fails to get back up. Your favorite hockey player gets "put on the boards" [knocked into the walls] and is carried off, bleeding copiously. "For a long time, the trauma that this match had caused my wife had me on the brink of retiring, and Hell in a Cell is still a sensitive subject at home. I watched the match today in preparation for writing about it, and it still, a year after the fact, made Colette cry." -Mick Foley, "Have A Nice Day", on his Hell in the Cell match with the Undertaker. Hell, even if you aren't close to the injured player/wrestler, you feel the chill - the utter helplessness as you realize someone may never walk again. As you realize that someone may never wrestle/perform again. As you wonder if the motionless body laying on the mat will get up. It's only magnified X20000 for those of us that are family and friends of the injured. Injuries are an inevitable part of life. The competitive nature of any sport [even one as unique as wrestling] guarantees that won't change any time soon, as even in an era when wrestling is more "show" than "sport", we've come that close to witnessing a death live on pay-per-view television. We saw Droz, a former Denver Bronco star player, paralyzed right in the center of the ring in an unfornuate accident. Don't forget, the infamous "Undertaker chokeslams Foley through the cage" spot at King of the Ring '98 was an accident as well. "New Jack/Baldies/etc. - Allow me to give a big, hearty "FUCK YOU" to whoever asked Jack and Grimes to get up on that scaffolding without anything to stand on. They'll be damn lucky if neither one was hurt too badly from that botched dive. " -Me, ECW Living Dangerously Recap "The spot looked snakebitten from the get-go, with a lengthy and contrived set-up. The end result -- with New Jack needing to be stretchered out with indeterminate, but thought to be pretty mundane, injuries -- seemed a blessing. Somebody could have been crippled. " - Rick Scaia, Online Onslaught Mon 3/13 So why the hell would ANYBODY take a huge risk like the one at Living Dangerously involving New Jack and Vic Grimes, knowing that it is just an accident waiting to happen? This spot has been troubling me ever since I watched it for the first time, and I was watching New Jack's face. Both wrestlers were balancing, and both were clearly terrified, as their faces showed. The scaffold was not secured to the wall, and was swaying as they moved to get set for their dive off the platform. Finally, there was no walkway or platform, or even a board to stand on - both wrestlers were going to dive off a scaffold from 20 ft in the air standing on a support that was even not big enough to place one of their feet on! "I'm not suggesting elimination of all crazy bumps... I'm just saying that somebody at some level has to be responsible for OK'ing these things. Anybody who looked at that scaffold on Sunday night would have known intuitively it was not the sort of prop you want to use in a wrestling spot." Rick Scaia, Online Onslaught 3/15 That begs the question - who okayed this dive? There is a pervasive problem with ECW as a promotion if Paul Heyman will tell/ask two of his employees to execute such a dangerous manuever without taking even elementary safety precautions, such as, oh, SECURING THE SCAFFOLD TO THE WALL! Or climbing up on that scaffold and installing a board or wide beam for them to have secure footing on. Did you enjoy the terrified look on Jack's face as he stepped off the scaffold, from five feet away, Paul E.? Oh, I forget, you were "very concerned for their safety." Then why were there no indication of any safeguards in place? "Who in good conscience could allow two people to risk their lives with absolutely no safety precautions on an unprepared scaffolding, without even a piece of plywood for them to get their footing? They were literally SIX INCHES away from both of them being dead on that landing. People might have wrote to me and complained how "anti-climactic" Mick Foley's fall at No Way Out was, but at least they gimmicked the ring to prevent permanent injury on his part. And then Joey drags my opinion of HIM down a notch as well by comparing Lori Fullington's worked hospitalization with New Jack's near-death experience. It's shit like this that causes me to lose respect for ECW's management and it's fans, especially as human beings. If New Jack had snapped his neck and died right there like Owen Hart did, how long would the crowd have chanted "ECW" before they realized exactly what happened, and would they even feel bad about it afterward? I don't know, and that's what scares me. " -Scott Keith, Living Dangerously 2000 Rant Hell, I realize that injuries are commonplace, and won't stop with the bitter rantings of this smart. Why, oh, why, do we still have New Jack diving off balconies? Wasn't Owen Hart's death enough to wake some people up to their own mortality? Accidents happen - but if you are "very concerned about the welfare" of your wrestlers, these risks should not be taken - and if they must be taken, do everything you can to ensure the safety of your employees. Take a clue from two of your former employees, Buh Buh Ray and D'Von Dudley, and how they have safely bumped a women twice their age without leaving a scratch on her, Paul E. Mick Foley may have made "hardcore" popular, but the industry as a whole is no longer about shedding blood and crazy chair shots - no one will rise to the top of the industry in this day and age by taking insane risks. Am I preaching to the choir? Probably. Are things gonna change? Not bloody likely. I hope no one I know ever goes to work for ECW, the promotion where they're "so concerned for your welfare" that their top face is an admitted marijuana user, Tommy Dreamer is still wrestling with a career-ending back injury, New Jack and Grimes are nearly killing themselves diving off scaffolds, and the owner stands mere feet away - and watches. Concern that heartfelt just takes your breath away, doesn't it? Mr. T King of Vague References, Ham Radio Operator, Cool College Kid, and Celebrated Real Columnist [slash] wrestling Email the author	BLAH
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