From: hekunze@jeeves.waterloo.edu (Herb Kunze)
Subject: Re: Steroids in wrestling, big deal!!!
Organization: University of Waterloo
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1992 14:46:51 GMT

In article <12409@umd5.umd.edu>, ap72@linus.umd.edu (CMSC 330) writes:
> I don't know how you all feel, but I think that every professional athlete
> should be able to use steroids.  Whether it's wrestling or football or 
> baseball, I think that it should not matter if they use 'roids.  

  Before they became illegal to possess, I would have agreed.  In spirit,
  I guess I still do, although you should be willing to take the felony
  rap if you get caught.

> So the bigger guys you have, the bigger action you get, and
> the more you get entertained. So who cares if Hogan or Warrior used steroids.
> I'm not saying that they should all go out and
> get on steroids, but it shouldn't matter if they do.  They probably know the
> consequences and risks anyway.

  "it shouldn't matter if they do."  The problem is that it does matter.
  Vince's bigger is better booking strategy means that ability isn't
  enough; indeed, it doesn't matter.  Take a skilled wrestler, like
  Bobby Eaton, who doesn't have the muscular look of the steroid freaks.
  If he was just starting out in the major orgs and didn't have a
  reputation among the fans, he'd never get a push at all.  He'd 
  never get a nice contract and earn what he's worth.  Meanwhile,
  guys like UW, Sid, Patriots, etc., that have ~zero talent when
  compared to Eaton, would get pushed like there's no tomorrow.   
  To be a mid-level star or higher in the WWF or WCW at any time 
  in the 80s *required* that you take steroids.  There are a few
  exceptions.  There will always be some giants, like Andre or
  Gigante, Bundy or Earthquake, etc., that may just be big.  There
  may even be a few guys that get pushed because of skill.  But if
  you were breaking into the sport in the 80s and you wanted to
  earn a living at it, you would have had to take steroids to get
  the look, or slaved for several years in the poorhouse while 
  building your reputation.  

  So, it's not like these guys volunteered to take steroids, necessarily.
  It's that it's demanded of them by their employer.  Now, if you want
  to fuck up your body by smoking, doing drugs, or taking steroids, for
  example, and it's a free choice, that's okay.  But, there's something
  wrong with an industry that won't let highly skilled competitors be
  on top in their field because they don't have the look (the look that
  they could only get by taking steroids).  

  That's why Vince is still feeling flak about this thing.  Hulk Hogan
  could have taken steroids all his life, been WWF champ, and been
  accused of being on steroids, and it wouldn't have been the threat
  that it is to the WWF.  Hulk Hogan is just the most obvious choice
  to pick out for this.  The WWF, by and large, was booked based on
  the look for the whole 80s.  The fact that Hogan lies about it is
  what is making people interested even more.  Vince's steroid policy
  is a joke.  He has the balls to claim that nobody in the WWF is
  on steroids.  Meanwhile, his monster heel and monster face tag
  team are obvious counterexamples.  If instead he had changed his
  booking style to promote people based on ability (something that
  he is, apparently, attempting to do, although there is still a 
  healthy dose of the look on top), the problem would have solved
  itself.  The WWF would still have had it's share of muscleheads,
  but because they had no ability, they'd be booked to lose to guys
  with lesser physiques and more skill.  If the look doesn't guarantee
  you a WWF job, but skill did, then we'd see a decline in the number
  of steroid cases in the WWF, and those that used the drug would
  be doing it for personal reasons -- and then I'd agree with you.
  Keep in mind that even when we book based on skill, there'd still
  be some skilled steroid guys, like the Steiners, Rick Rude, Pillman,
  Curt Hennig, etc. (assuming they didn't quit using steroids once
  they were no longer a requirement), but they'd be the exception,
  not the rule.
                                                        Herb...