Things are DIFFERENT now!

Scott Keith has a good post disagreeing with Ken Kennedy.

I think it’s wonderful that Mr. Kennedy advocates owning up to your own demons and taking responsibility for your own actions, and he’s definitely right about one thing — it’s much different now than it was 20 years ago, when guys were partying like rock stars. 20 years ago, the previous generation wasn’t dropping dead on a weekly basis. 20 years ago, I didn’t check magazines with a sense of dread waiting to see who the next early casualty would be. And sure, just because someone dies of an overdose doesn’t mean it’s 100% the fault of the drug dealer, but don’t they deserve some share of the blame? Has Vince McMahon EVER stepped forward and taken ANY responsbility for the fact that wrestlers previously under his employ have been dropping like flies for the past decade? Even when he put forth the half-hearted “wellness policy”, which has crazy notions like “drug testing” that other employers have used for the past 30-40 years of so, he still wasn’t willing to come forward and say “You know, maybe when we train fans that the only main eventers are roided freaks, we’re doing a disservice to the business”. Or maybe rehiring a multiple-time admitted user like Jeff Hardy is asking for trouble. Or maybe waiting until Rob Van Dam is actually caught by the authorities smoking pot before firing him is asking for trouble.

I’d like to agree with Ken that we’re all just being a bunch of worry-warts here who don’t know the business, but when I’m watching Wrestlemania V and literally counting, into the double-digits mind you, people who have dropped dead before 50 years of age since that show aired, maybe that says there MIGHT be a problem here.

Scott’s Blog of Doom » Things are DIFFERENT now!…different now…