John Stossel & David Schultz incident

[Trill Co$by]

In December of 1984, Fox News reporter John Stossel did a 20/20 piece trying to expose wrestling for being fake. Of course, we all know now that it is in fact pre-determined, but at that time this was a less known fact and was being debated whether or not it were so.

Some repercussions of the incident were a lawsuit by Stossel which resulted in $425,000 in fine payments, as well as the eventual release of Schultz from the World Wrestling Federation. After, of course, Schultz laid claim that Vince actually told Schultz to hit the reporter.

My question to you all is... Did Schultz go to far? Or do you agree that Schultz had right to hit the reporter?

For me, I say that he did the right thing. Yes, I know. The reporter never hit Schultz, and he was simply asking a question. But at what point do you take responsibility and not ask certain questions? Men don't ask women their age, out of respect. We as people don't go around bad mouthing the military and call them "murderers" for defending our country(s)... Soulja Boy not withstanding... So why should we allow the acceptance of a question that was being asked in front of millions world wide that could have not only exposed wrestling but threatened the livelihood of many people back then.

Keep in mind that in the 80s, as much as people fail to realize it, wrestling was a popular sport. People were believing it to be real. Stossel, by asking "is it fake?" with a camera in front of Schultz was opening the ways to take food from Schultz's family. In retaliation and in desperation to save the business, he hit Stossel. To me, that was just fine. Sure, he didn't need the second one, but the question asked was completely out of line.

Yes, we know now that it IS fake, and that's all well and fine... but why does it matter? Do we go to a magician and tell them that their mastering of allusion techniques are fake? We may have opinions, but when does it become personal responsibility to just leave something alone and not poke at it?

 

[Waylon Mercy]

I've never seen the clip, so I can't say for a fact that Schultz was out of line. All I can say, though, is that he was a pretty decent mid-carder at the time. He didn't seem to have a lot to say (don't think I ever heard him do a promo), however he carried his heel persona well. Very methodical, sinister type of heel. Eventually from what I remember he became a jobber more or less, and I doubt he would have gone too far had he stayed on in the WWF. He probably could have had a decent run in the NWA perhaps.

 

[Huey]

It's funny you brought this up. Stossel did an episode recently about frivolous patent lawsuits and discussed this incident briefly as a segue to discussing jurosomatic illness.

 

[donfryeismyhero]

In December of 1984, Fox News reporter John Stossel did a 20/20 piece trying to expose wrestling for being fake. Of course, we all know now that it is in fact pre-determined, but at that time this was a less known fact and was being debated whether or not it were so.

Some repercussions of the incident were a lawsuit by Stossel which resulted in $425,000 in fine payments, as well as the eventual release of Schultz from the World Wrestling Federation. After, of course, Schultz laid claim that Vince actually told Schultz to hit the reporter.

My question to you all is... Did Schultz go to far? Or do you agree that Schultz had right to hit the reporter?

For me, I say that he did the right thing. Yes, I know. The reporter never hit Schultz, and he was simply asking a question. But at what point do you take responsibility and not ask certain questions? Men don't ask women their age, out of respect. We as people don't go around bad mouthing the military and call them "murderers" for defending our country(s)... Soulja Boy not withstanding... So why should we allow the acceptance of a question that was being asked in front of millions world wide that could have not only exposed wrestling but threatened the livelihood of many people back then.

Keep in mind that in the 80s, as much as people fail to realize it, wrestling was a popular sport. People were believing it to be real. Stossel, by asking "is it fake?" with a camera in front of Schultz was opening the ways to take food from Schultz's family. In retaliation and in desperation to save the business, he hit Stossel. To me, that was just fine. Sure, he didn't need the second one, but the question asked was completely out of line.

Yes, we know now that it IS fake, and that's all well and fine... but why does it matter? Do we go to a magician and tell them that their mastering of allusion techniques are fake? We may have opinions, but when does it become personal responsibility to just leave something alone and not poke at it?

I actually have that clip on vhs still & I must say, you are totally off base. It was a question. He asked Vince I believe the same question & we all know how volatile he can be yet, he didn't hit Stossel. Fact of the matter is back in I believe '84 when that happened, wrestling was starting to really blow up in its popularity. Stossel was doing his job by asking a legitimate question. He in no way provoked a physical response from Dr. D. Schultz acted in that old school territory mantality by slapping Stossel. There was no justification for it, plain & simple. If Schultz wanted to make an example on just how "real" wrestling is/was, he should of gotten physical with someone his own size imo. And btw, there is such thing as a stupid question. The only dumb question is a question not asked. He asked from what I remember in a respectful way & Schultz could of easily replied in kind. He could of shown him medical documents of wrestling injuries he had gone threw up to that point that could of swayed the audiance of its legitimacy but didn't.

 

[jerry20xx]

Stossel deserved it. Schultz could have punched him. I feel he asked a dumb question and got an honest answer. THAT'S AN OPEN HAND SLAP! DID THAT FEEL FAKE?!

 

[Wrestlefan73]

Wow, I actually remember watching that happen on 20/20 when it aired. (Yes, I am THAT old). I still remember the "Was that fake?"

I think the time/era when it happened pretty much blacklisted "Dr. D" David Shultz from professional wrestling as he went from a high mid carder to never being heard from again. If this was to happen in today's era, he would bring worldwide media attention back to a stale wrestling product........and in Vince's WWE, that means he would get a movie deal and a WWE title run.

 

[Kong]

Miss the days of arguing whether wrestling was real or fake.

It was a better product when it was supposed to be real.

Now when you go to a match live they barely hit each other.

The worst is the finishers. Big Shows WMD is so bogus. And then you have Cena giving an old man in John Laurinitas his AA 3 times. There is no way todays product could ever remotely be real.

And the incessant slapping of your leg before a kick to make it appear to have contact is ridiculous.

 

[legendkiller1979]

I'm not so sure that this is what got Schultz fired. I read that it was altercation with Mr. T that get him fired. He wanted desperately to be in the main event of Wrestlemania I and he thought that fighting Mr T. would get him what he wanted.

I even heard in a shoot interview that the idea for Wrestlemania was ,in fact, Shultz's
I'm sure he was none too happy about being left out of something that he came up with.
This may not be true, but I can't imagine that Vince wouldn't have wanted to turn the incident into some kind of storyline.

 

[Owen 3:16 says I just stole your Slammy!!]

Dr. D was a great heel. He did what Vince McMahon told him to do, and he did a great job at it. I would of liked to see what kind of a legend he would of become if he didnt get fired. I think it would of been better if David Schultz was in WM 1 then Orndorff. I would like to imagine a Roddy Pipper, David Schultz, Bob Orton faction/team could of been.

 

[Dr. Awesome]

I see both sides of the argument. He shouldn't have hit him. The guy was half his size and he could have hurt him quite badly. but then IF Vince had told him too then he had no choice and it's like Hashtag Killer said

So why should we allow the acceptance of a question that was being asked in front of millions world wide that could have not only exposed wrestling but threatened the livelihood of many people back then.

That is a very Fair point all he did was defend his job we would do the same.

 

[asiatic7]

Dr. D would be ashamed of wrestling now. Back then, what he did was called "protecting the buisness". Stossel knew wrestling was fake, pre determined, scripted, whatever. He was just trying to put Dr. D on the spot. I'm not saying Dr. D was justified in bitch slapping a non athletic reporter, but it was a different time in the buisness. Back then, you knew it was fake but, nobody messed with wrestlers, unless you wanted the stossel treatment. Nowadays, these wrestlers do interviews and give away all the secrets of the buisness. I remember when I was a kid in the 80's, I couldn't fathom bumping into a wrestler! They were larger than life. It's almost like they just exsisted on TV. Now you are more than likely to see these guys anywhere and chop it up about wrestling. The buisness isn't protected anymore...

 

[jacdnwarrior]

I can understand wanting to follow tradition and protect the business. I can understand the idea of a code of silence about what really goes on behind the curtain when it comes to professional wrestling. But no, sorry, Schultz had no right to smack Stossel. Yes, Vince told him to, yes Stossel pissed him off but he shouldn't have done it. All he had to do was say 'no comment' and move on. You can't put your hands on people just because they piss you off. Especially when you're a two hundred + pound guy and the guy you're pounding on is some 100+ pound news reporter on live television and think that's okay. It was the wrong move.

 

[MrMojoRisin]

I don't think some of todays fans can appreciate how protected the business used to be. People all the time would call wrestling fake and phoney, and as the wrestler, you were expected to put these people in their place. If you didn't, you could pretty much expect that you'd be looking for a new promotion pretty soon. Kayfabe was serious, and Schultz was a very traditional guy.

I think he could have gone about it another way. In situations like that, a lot of guys would simply ask the questioner if they wanted to see how fake it was, and that would be the end of it.

Apparently that day though, Stossel was being pretty obnoxious about getting the 'real' scoop on wrestling, and had been upsetting a lot of people in the back. McMahon asked Schultz to 'blast him', and Schultz took that to mean do exactly what he did.

It didn't work out for Schultz at all, because he was essentially blackballed after that incident, and that's a shame, because he was a damn good heel.

Ironically despite how things worked out for him, a few years later Schultz was on the Morton Downey Jr. show, and again was in a situation where he was protecting the business. This time he wasn't hitting anyone, but he was being pretty threatening.

That's just how it was with those guys though. Even though the business had shut Schultz out, he still wouldn't consider doing anything but protecting it when he needed to. That was simply the mentality of these guys. I wouldn't be surpised even today, if someone told him that wrestling was fake, if he wouldn't protect it again.

 

[Defekt]

That he was awarded $425,000 for getting slapped in the face is pretty sickening. What a country.

John Stossel did only ask a question, but he phrased it fairly accusatory, and was basically calling out David Schultz.

Schultz probably should have handled it another way, but the reporter also shares the blame.

 

[Wald]

No he shouldn't have.

He's a reporter and is entitled to ask questions. If you don't have an answer you don't hit the guy. Jesus what's wrong with people

 

[Dbolic]

That he was awarded $425,000 for getting slapped in the face is pretty sickening. What a country.

John Stossel did only ask a question, but he phrased it fairly accusatory, and was basically calling out David Schultz.

Schultz probably should have handled it another way, but the reporter also shares the blame.

He was slapped on the ears and his ear drums were damaged and lost some hearing is why he was awarded that amount and his career, if he wanted to make a point he should've asked him if he wants to see how fake it is in the ring and worked him over in there but he did what he did and paid the consequences.

 

[Dbolic]

In December of 1984, Fox News reporter John Stossel did a 20/20 piece trying to expose wrestling for being fake. Of course, we all know now that it is in fact pre-determined, but at that time this was a less known fact and was being debated whether or not it were so.

Some repercussions of the incident were a lawsuit by Stossel which resulted in $425,000 in fine payments, as well as the eventual release of Schultz from the World Wrestling Federation. After, of course, Schultz laid claim that Vince actually told Schultz to hit the reporter.

My question to you all is... Did Schultz go to far? Or do you agree that Schultz had right to hit the reporter?

For me, I say that he did the right thing. Yes, I know. The reporter never hit Schultz, and he was simply asking a question. But at what point do you take responsibility and not ask certain questions? Men don't ask women their age, out of respect. We as people don't go around bad mouthing the military and call them "murderers" for defending our country(s)... Soulja Boy not withstanding... So why should we allow the acceptance of a question that was being asked in front of millions world wide that could have not only exposed wrestling but threatened the livelihood of many people back then.

Keep in mind that in the 80s, as much as people fail to realize it, wrestling was a popular sport. People were believing it to be real. Stossel, by asking "is it fake?" with a camera in front of Schultz was opening the ways to take food from Schultz's family. In retaliation and in desperation to save the business, he hit Stossel. To me, that was just fine. Sure, he didn't need the second one, but the question asked was completely out of line.

Yes, we know now that it IS fake, and that's all well and fine... but why does it matter? Do we go to a magician and tell them that their mastering of allusion techniques are fake? We may have opinions, but when does it become personal responsibility to just leave something alone and not poke at it?

He damaged Stossels ear drums, he should not have smacked him but should've asked Stossel if he wants to step in the ring and see if it's fake and work him over in there to prove his point, as you know you can hurt somebody especially when they're out of shape and half your size with just a single powerful body slam.