Mentioning Dr. Death Steve Williams- not others- WWE Again Disrespects The Deceased

[matt_hud]

I know I have seen a post recently saying something very similar, however after seeing something on Raw tonight I must say my blood is boiling...

Dr. Death Steve Williams got words said about him by Cole & Lawler & then a picture tribute... No disrespect to Dr. Death but that was bullshit...

I do understand what Steve Williams accomplished in wrestling, I do feel he deserves to be recognized, & I am truly saddened by his passing...

However what makes mentioning his passing on air more important then that of Umaga, Test, Mike Awesome, Crush, Bam Bam Bigelow, & John Tenta just to name a few...

It seems like the WWE doesn't want to pay respects anymore since the Benoit situation and all the press of wrestlers dying to young...

But again it pisses me off that because he was good buddies with good ol JR, that Dr. Death gets air time, however less then a month ago Umaga was not even mentioned... To make this even more pathetic Umaga was WWE home grown talent and Dr. Death made his career in Japan and the NWA only briefly appearing in McMahon land...

Vince & Company needs to be consistent, if your going to mention 1 passing, then mention them all, not just the 1's that wont draw any negative press about how they might or might not have died...

Again no respect to Dr. Death, he deserves to get on air condolences, but so did Umaga, Crush, Test, Bam Bam, Mike Awsome, John Tenta & others...

 

[The Champ]

Umaga's passing was of drug related causes. With everything that followed the passings of Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit, they can no longer afford to acknowledge active drug users and treat them as heroes. I understand the whole respect thing, but they are a business, and they do not want to draw any more negative attention to themselves after everything that has happened. I believe that they take their drug policy rather seriously now, although I'm not denying that there are probably guys who are exceptions to the rule. But when you have a guy that quit the company rather than refusing to go to rehab, and then he dies of a heart attack that was almost definitely caused by drugs, it just doesn't make you look good to start honoring or praising him. The same principles could be applied to Test when he passed away last year.

 

[LongHessa]

WWE did the right thing tonight. And you're out of line. Umaga death was drug related, and as a business man I also wouldn't acknowledge his death. On a side note, Bret and Shawn was magic earlier.

 

[matt_hud]

With all do respect and to avoid further argument... You so contridicted yourself and you posted something that is not know facts...

Yes Umaga was released for refusing rehab... Strike against him...

However the at the start of your response you say Umaga died of drug related causes... That has yet to be made public if his heart attack was drug related or not...

Then at the end you said almost definatly caused by drugs...

Again you assumed... We all know what happens when you assume...

Anyway point isnt how they die or dont, it is simply show respect...

Would you not say something nice of a family member or friend who died under questionable circumstances? Yes you would, you might not agree with what caused the death, but you would still show them proper rememberance

 

[Kenny Powers]

It's still pretty distasteful that they didn't even recognize Umaga. I guess I could understand why they wouldn't recognize Awesome since he committed suicide and only worked a few shows for the company. However, Umaga was a big part of the company until his release last spring. So if Jeff Hardy dies of an overdose, it's fine for WWE not to acknowledge one of their top stars in the company? even if he isn't with them anymore.

WWE gave a 10 bell salute to Brian Pillman and dedicated their entire show to Eddie Guerrero. They all died by drugs too, but I guess it was before the whole drug testing era. I understand from a business standpoint, but Umaga was a big part of the WWE. He was a part of their family if you could call it that. Plus, no reports have come back that Umaga actually died of an overdose yet.

It's just tasteless for WWE not to mention anything on Raw. At least he got a small article written about him on WWE.com. Clearly stating that Umaga was released from the company months ago. Doesn't seem write to me when TNA mentions Umaga more than WWE. I think we would of seen Umaga debut in TNA tonight, if his untimely death didn't happen.

 

[Paradox100]

umm, I believe Mike Awesome did get a picture tribute. As well as Crush, and John Tenta, also bigelow. so i don't understand why they are in that list. Just pointing that out. I know at least Awesome did, cause i saw it, and went to check if it was for real.

 

[Serious Mozzarella]

With all do respect and to avoid further argument... You so contridicted yourself and you posted something that is not know facts...

Yes Umaga was released for refusing rehab... Strike against him...

However the at the start of your response you say Umaga died of drug related causes... That has yet to be made public if his heart attack was drug related or not...

Then at the end you said almost definatly caused by drugs...

Again you assumed... We all know what happens when you assume...

Anyway point isnt how they die or dont, it is simply show respect...

Would you not say something nice of a family member or friend who died under questionable circumstances? Yes you would, you might not agree with what caused the death, but you would still show them proper rememberance

It's actually quite safe to assume because people within the industry would probably know more about his death than you do. The WWE isn't kept in the dark, and if they were as clueless as we were about his death, then it would have been acknowledged, especially because the only public report on his death was a heart attack with no known cause. But the information the WWE has access to isn't public information, and as a businessman, he can't afford to mention the death of Umaga for fear that the information pertaining to his death is released or leaked.

WWE gave a 10 bell salute to Brian Pillman and dedicated their entire show to Eddie Guerrero. They all died by drugs too, but I guess it was before the whole drug testing era. I understand from a business standpoint, but Umaga was a big part of the WWE. He was a part of their family if you could call it that. Plus, no reports have come back that Umaga actually died of an overdose yet.

Eddie Guerrero died of a problem due to drugs he took years and years before his death that was well beyond his or anyone else's control. Plus, he was a much bigger part of the company than Umaga was. Brian Pillman's death was about as covered as Steve Williams' was. This practice of forgetting dead wrestlers ever existed came after the WWE found out about Chris Benoit's murder-suicide AFTER they reported it and dedicated a show to him, which the WWE caught a lot of flack for.

 

[matt_hud]

Again, it is wrong to assume what you do not know to be a fact... I am not denying Umaga had drug issues in the past and even possibly at the time of his death...

But in all fairness, how would you like it if you passed away and people were saying what killed you when the info was never made public other then the basic cause...

Also truthfully we have access to the same records of death and autopsy reports that Vince & Company does... It is just a matter of reserch... Like I said no toxo reports have been released yet...

 

[Splinter48708]

I, for one, an very upset at WWE to the point I may stop watching the product. I am upset that they disrespected Umaga totally. We do not know if Umaga died of natural causes like is speculated or if there was a drug OD.

They honored Steve Williams, but, to Umaga's fans and family, the WWE said "Fudge him!" Sure, they've had some wrestlers that died from drug overdoses and they were honored on-air. But, Umaga got the big "FU".

This isn't like a Forbes 500 company where we may not know who the low level employees are so, we aren't overly concerned if the person dies. But, the WWE, TNA, UFC are high visibility companies where their main contractees are seen on TV weekly and develop a fan following regardless of if they generate pops or heat. And, when one of these high visibility contractees dies suddenly (or, in some cases, if death is expected within a few months if the person is retired) the respective organization should honor the person's life, regardless of the cause of death.

WWE gave Bret's brother a mega sendoff a decade ago. Watching the video still brings a tear to my eye. When Eddie died, the same thing happened and he was given a lot of tributes from Lilian, to HHH, to the McMahons. Even when Benoit died, he was honored in death, despite the horrible circumstances surrounding his death. Benoit's death was not drug related, right? The autopsy showed that Benoit's brain was mushed from all the hard bumps he took.

So, what was the reason WWE disrespected Umaga's memory, his family, his friends, and his fans? I do not feel it was because he died from a drug overdose...it was an intentional snub on Vincent Kennedy McMahon's part and we need to hold him accountable for snubbing a popular wrestler.

I suspect that when it's Hulk Hogan's time, he might get snubbed in a similar fashion because the Hulkster dissed McMahon in signing with TNA and taking all the Hulkamanics to Impact! Did Umaga tick off the McMahon family to the point that they didn't think it was proper to say "Good-Bye?"

Didn't we all say a prayer when WZ and other wrestling sites reported that Umaga was taken to the hospital?

 

[tomdinardi]

But again it pisses me off that because he was good buddies with good ol JR, that Dr. Death gets air time, however less then a month ago Umaga was not even mentioned... To make this even more pethetic Umaga was WWE home grown talent and Dr. Death made his career in Japan and the NWA only briefly appearing in McMahon land...

No offense, but your reasoning for even making this arguement doesn't make any sense.

While Umaga was a home grown talent, he also had issues that WWE tried to help him with. He refused. Home grown talent or not, he knew what the policies were, and he was left on the outs of the company when he refused the help, and it ultimately lead to his death. Even though Dr. Death wasn't "home grown", I know I've read plenty reports of him appearing at house shows during the last few years for one-off appearences to show everyone that he was still living and fighting, and I'm almost positive I've read multiple times about him helping out in the developmental territories when he was in good health in the last few years.

So in closing, are you honestly going to stick to your opinion that they should acknowledge the death of a drug user who lost his job for that very reasoning, but not the death of a veteran wrestler to cancer?? If you still say "yes", then god help you.

 

[BOSS Productions]

Wait, hold on here the WWE did acknowledge Umaga
's death it was posted on there main site. This argument is about a picture shown on the titantron ? As far as I am concerned the WWE did acknowledge Umaga , in fact the wrestlers who wore those black bands on RAW acknowledged him aswell. Umaga was never that big in the company and you should not be kissing his ass just because he is dead. If Umaga was alive today you would not give a shit about him (unless you liked him from the start ) , so stop lying to yourselves , yes I am sad that he died but he wasn't that big of a wrestler, he only held the IC title twice and last time I checked he was bashed when he first debuted because he was no different then every other monster looking wrestler that destroyed everyone in there way eg. Snisky. Yes as talented as Umaga was in the ring , he really was not thing special in my opinion and the WWE did acknowledge him and sure I wished he got a bigger acknowledgment however, he did at least get something which is better than nothing. RIP Umaga.

 

[Serious Mozzarella]

Again, it is wrong to assume what you do not know to be a fact... I am not denying Umaga had drug issues in the past and even possibly at the time of his death...

But in all fairness, how would you like it if you passed away and people were saying what killed you when the info was never made public other then the basic cause...

Also truthfully we have access to the same records of death and autopsy reports that Vince & Company does... It is just a matter of reserch... Like I said no toxo reports have been released yet...

Except you're forgetting that the WWE never reported on Umaga's death, so they never assumed anything. I'm trying to say that they most likely have information that you don't. I mean, I know Vince is a ruthless son of a bitch, but he's not cold hearted. If he thought it was in the business' best interest to not tribute Umaga's death because it was most likely caused by drugs, then that's his choice to make. The WWE is already getting shit from all sides about how it condones steroid abuse.

I'm sure if they found out that Umaga's death WASN'T caused by drugs, you'd see a tribute soon. But it's come down to two other possibilities:

A) The WWE KNOWS of Umaga's recent drug use and subsequent refusal to go into rehab which caused his death, where they've decided not to acknowledge it on TV

B) The WWE thinks that its likely that drugs has caused his death, and to be on the safe side, didn't acknowledge his death on TV for fear that they were right and his death was caused by drugs.

Both of these are valid concerns.

 

[samboisdead]

Well I will admit i was to lazy to read all the post. It is pretty simple this guy knows nothing about any old school wrestlers. Dr. Death was a legendary figure in this sport once considered the baddest man on the planet. Now I feel bad about Umaga dying but let us face it he was a 2 time drug offender, never a household name, and the death was drug related. Dr. Death on the other hand died after a courageous fight against cancer and once again was a true legend of the sport. Use your head man.

 

[aac405]

yeah uhh its probably because most of the guys you mentioned were druggies/steroid abusers...DR. Death actually died of natural causes, not because he was stupid enough to take drugs....

 

[Slimyo]

The WWE is a corporation not a mom and pop company. The share holders need ratings and the current audience is mostly males and from the age of 10 to 30. This means that a very large portion of the viewers don't even know who Steve Williams is. When a corporation has a death of an employee they should not keep anyone from displaying there sadness but it is not for the company to express emotions. It is a sad day for wrestling that Doctor Death is gone.

 

[brochester8]

In a way I don't like the way they have not showed other but the others were drug related. I am 99% sure they showed John Tenta. Steve Williams deserved to be shown after losing his battle with cancer. Umaga, Test, and Bigelow were drug related and they are trying to keep the media away from that aspect. Mike Awesome committed suicide so I can't disagree with WWE on that. I would have like to seen it to but you have to understand there purpose.

 

[RawIsRamsey]

It's all damage control...if they don't acknowledge it, the media won't look too much into it other than the "a wrestler was found dead" story that hits the day of a death. The less you sensationalize something, the less attention it gets, and the last thing the WWE needs is more attention due to former employees dying from drug use.

Plus, to his credit, Dr. Death is 10x the wrestler Umaga and Test were combined and contributed WAY more to the business so, in the grander scope, Dr. Death actually deserves the tribute...

 

[maar130]

It's still pretty distasteful that they didn't even recognize Umaga. I guess I could understand why they wouldn't recognize Awesome since he committed suicide and only worked a few shows for the company. However, Umaga was a big part of the company until his release last spring. So if Jeff Hardy dies of an overdose, it's fine for WWE not to acknowledge one of their top stars in the company? even if he isn't with them anymore.

WWE gave a 10 bell salute to Brian Pillman and dedicated their entire show to Eddie Guerrero. They all died by drugs too, but I guess it was before the whole drug testing era. I understand from a business standpoint, but Umaga was a big part of the WWE. He was a part of their family if you could call it that. Plus, no reports have come back that Umaga actually died of an overdose yet.

It's just tasteless for WWE not to mention anything on Raw. At least he got a small article written about him on WWE.com. Clearly stating that Umaga was released from the company months ago. Doesn't seem write to me when TNA mentions Umaga more than WWE. I think we would of seen Umaga debut in TNA tonight, if his untimely death didn't happen.

Well with Pillman there was no reason not to give him a 10 bell salute because at the time there was no drugs control whatsoever and it was always acknowleged as a tragedy.

With Eddie was differnt since he actually did not die in a direct drug related event. His passing was from past wear and tear of drugs but the guy was sober for years and all of the sudden his heart stopped.

Then after that they started to put controls into place and way worse, after Benoit's case they started to pull themselves away from drug related deaths all together, it is harsh alright, but in the case of Umaga and the way he was found, I thing they assumed his Death was really unatural, even if it was not.

You have to take on account that this is a time were the WWE is being watched and criticized for their Drug controls. Also Linda McMahon cannot aford attacks of this nature since she is running for senate. So if there is anything that appears drug related to them,the won't acknowledge it at all and that is it.

 

[tomdinardi]

When a corporation has a death of an employee they should not keep anyone from displaying there sadness but it is not for the company to express emotions.

Once again, "Dr. Death" was still on good terms and still had ties to the company. He appeared at the occasional house show to show he was still fighting, and when he was healthy he did provide help in the developmental territories in the last few years of his life. It makes complete sense to acknowledge the death of a continuing contributor to a long term illness, more so than it does to further sensationalize some of these mysterious deaths of younger wrestlers who were no longer employed for one reason or another, that many continue to argue and further blame WWE for (Mike Awesome, Test, etc).

 

[MizMark]

I know I have seen a post recently saying something very similar, however after seeing something on Raw tonight I must say my blood is boiling...

Dr. Death Steve Williams got words said about him by Cole & Lawler & then a picture tribute... No disrespect to Dr. Death but that was bullshit...

I do understand what Steve Williams accomplished in wrestling, I do feel he deserves to be recognized, & I am truly saddened by his passing...

However what makes mentioning his passing on air more important then that of Umaga, Test, Mike Awesome, Crush, Bam Bam Bigelow, & John Tenta just to name a few...

It seems like the WWE doesn't want to pay respects anymore since the Benoit situation and all the press of wrestlers dying to young...

But again it pisses me off that because he was good buddies with good ol JR, that Dr. Death gets air time, however less then a month ago Umaga was not even mentioned... To make this even more pathetic Umaga was WWE home grown talent and Dr. Death made his career in Japan and the NWA only briefly appearing in McMahon land...

Vince & Company needs to be consistent, if your going to mention 1 passing, then mention them all, not just the 1's that wont draw any negative press about how they might or might not have died...

Again no respect to Dr. Death, he deserves to get on air condolences, but so did Umaga, Crush, Test, Bam Bam, Mike Awsome, John Tenta & others...

I don't know about the rest but I know for a fact that Test and Mike Awesome were mentioned on TV and had the picture up. Also, all of them will have been mentioned on the WWE website on the front page. Some will get more exposure than others depending on circumstances, get over it.

 

[Undar8d]

I remember seeing WWE mentioning Umaga's death on their website and giving condolences because when I found out, I went on their website first thing and it was there confirming the rumours of his passing away.

They wore black bands in honour of Umaga too I believe. As people have stated before, people have already shitted on WWE for steroid abuse and WWE is now trying to stay away from all the troubles and Umaga's death isn't clear. Dr. Death died of throat cancer.. totally different story. Nothing to be disappointed over.

 

[Kanye South]

The most likely reason the WWE didn't mention those other guys is because guys like Test and Umaga were rumoured to have deaths dealing with drugs. And of course to WWE, drugs = bad. They made a huge mistake with the Benoit situation paying tribute to a murderer, and I can't blame them not wanting to risk that again. Damn skippy WWE paid tribute to Dr. Death because of JR. Not only for Jim Ross, but because it has been well-documented that Dr. Death died because of throat cancer. Umaga was a superb wrestler and undoubtedly on his way to becoming one of the greatest big men of all time; shit, I still can't believe he's gone, but crack was rumoured to have something to do with his death, and that's enough for WWE to not want anything to do with it. You can't blame a company for wanting to cover its ass. It's a big difference between a wrestler dying from cancer, and a wrestler dying from drug use.

 

[The Champ]

With all do respect and to avoid further argument... You so contridicted yourself and you posted something that is not know facts...

Yes Umaga was released for refusing rehab... Strike against him...

However the at the start of your response you say Umaga died of drug related causes... That has yet to be made public if his heart attack was drug related or not...

Then at the end you said almost definatly caused by drugs...

Again you assumed... We all know what happens when you assume...

Anyway point isnt how they die or dont, it is simply show respect...

Would you not say something nice of a family member or friend who died under questionable circumstances? Yes you would, you might not agree with what caused the death, but you would still show them proper rememberance

I think it's pretty obvious that it was drugs. No, it's not a 100% fact yet, but websites were reporting that it was probably the case as soon as we found out that he had passed. I mean really, the guy left WWE because he didn't want to go into rehab for his problems, and then he dies of a heart attack a few months later. It adds up. And knowing that, there was no reason for WWE to risk public scrutiny by paying tribute to a guy who's death was most likely caused by his drug addictions.

By the way, the last time they paid tribute to a guy without knowing all of the straight facts, it ended up biting them hard in the ass. And as others have said, it's not like they didn't acknowledge the guy at all. They expressed their condolences on their website, and in a situation like this, that should be enough. Really, they're not obligated to do anything, so I don't see how we can fault them for making what they felt was the correct PR move given the circumstances.

 

[matt_hud]

I see alot of people saying it was a PR move to not say anything on the air, and that they got mentioned on the web sight... In my opinion, screw PR and give all established wrestlers the same send off....

I do understand trying to watch damage control, however look at it this way... If your a parent and your child dies of OD or suicide, are you going to shy away from giving them the proper goodbye??? No your not, you will remember the good things about your child and that is what WWE should be doing with all stars... Because in a way WWE & Vince is like a parent to alot of their past & present stars...

 

[Serious Mozzarella]

I see alot of people saying it was a PR move to not say anything on the air, and that they got mentioned on the web sight... In my opinion, screw PR and give all established wrestlers the same send off....

I do understand trying to watch damage control, however look at it this way... If your a parent and your child dies of OD or suicide, are you going to shy away from giving them the proper goodbye??? No your not, you will remember the good things about your child and that is what WWE should be doing with all stars... Because in a way WWE & Vince is like a parent to alot of their past & present stars...

No, he really isn't their father. He is their boss. And the WWE is a business, not a day care, not a school, not a family. Sure, it sucks that people die, but when people die of drug-related problems (and I won't explain this to you again why it makes sense they didn't mention this), the WWE has a reputation to protect. They're not going to risk losing endorsements and business because they felt the need to dedicate an entire show to a mid-card jobber.