I found this press release while browsing around the WWE website looking for more information on my upcoming paper. The topic of concussions has reached an all-time high as much of society is concerned with the long-term effects of brain damage caused by multiple injuries to this part of the body. As an athlete, I can attest to the confusion that often surrounds having you "bell rung," but such injuries were given very little attention when I used to play football. Now it seems that any contact with the head immediately draws concern from coaches and the medical staff because the severity of head trauma has been correlated with early Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.
As we saw and learned in class, the use of a chair to hit someone is absolutely real. Although the person on the receiving end can somewhat protect his head using his hands, the force of a swinging chair can easily overpower this defense and still cause head trauma. It was a surprise to see that Triple H and the Undertaker, two of the most veteran wrestlers in the company, clearly broke the new Concussion policy when Triple H hit Undertaker in the head with a chair. I would be interested in seeing the fines that the WWE imposes as well as the story behind why the two wrestlers opted to include this in their fight. The video clip clearly shows that Undertaker w ' as not able to guard against the chair to the head, yet he is still being fined for basically being the victim.
How do ya'll feel about the WWE cracking down on concussions by imposing fines on both wrestlers? Does this increase the legitimacy/realness of the spectacle, or would you rather see less regulation of the fights?
While seeing someone getting knocked flat by a chair hit is pretty awesome to watch, the WWE, and the NFl for that matter, have an obligation to protect its employees from the well documented risks of head injuries. Chis Benoit's brain was autopsied after his murder suicide and it was said to resemble an 85 year-old Alzhiemers patient.
ReplyDeletehttp://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3560015&page=1
You also might have recently heard of the ex-NFl player who took is own life and donated his brain in hopes of raising awareness of the NFL concussion issue.
I definitely think the WWE policy on concussions is a good idea. I like your suggestion that it does in a way increase the legitimacy/realness of the spectacle, even though it might result in less entertainment value because we can't see wrestlers be hit in the head with a chair anymore. With people knowing about this, it probably gives the sport more respect and adds to the violent aura of the spectacle, where real injuries can and really do happen.
ReplyDelete