Straight Shooting
by : Fritz Capp
September 18, 1999
Once again a double shot weekend. Let's get right into this.
I have received a couple of letters whining about my comments on the Chris Benoit rumor that Mike Samuda started and even Chris Benoit came out and squashed. My good friend Steve Appenrodt of The Wrestling Booking Sheet even had a small comment to say. Let's start with that.
Steve wrote this after printing Chris Benoit's latest commentary in WBS #316 :
"The reporter Benoit is referring to is Wrestleline's Mike Samuda (Micasa). Actually, Samuda is one of the more credible reporters in the business. Fritz Capp has already shared his theory on how Samuda was tricked by a WCW wrestler into believing this story. I passed on the report simply because it didn't ring true to me; that said, the same thing could have happened to any of us. Samuda is a reporter who I respect, and he has a well-earned reputation for both integrity and humility)."
What I wrote was not a theory. The person who worked Samuda is a close friend to one of my writers, in fact they have worked together on many occasions. Mike Samuda for all everyone thinks he's worth obviously does not know anything about the people that he reports on because if he did he would have known right away that Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko are above what he said that they did. That is not in their personality or their wrestling makeup. They are consummate workers and believe in the old ways. That means that if they are told to do the job they will do it because that is the way it is supposed to be. Add to that the fact that they have been close friends for years now and the whole story smelled from its very inception. And yes, before I get a plethora of e-mails, while not close friends to either Chris Benoit or Dean Malenko I have met them when they did their run in ECW and believe me all it takes is talking to them for 10 minutes to see the class that these two gentlemen have.
People can sit on a computer and have journalistic ability all day long but if they do not know who or what they are talking about as far as the person themselves then they leave themselves open for this kind of thing happening. I have been told many stories but a huge amount of wrestlers. Never once did I run right home and post or print any of it without further verification. Why? Because I know better. When these guys sit at the bar afterwords they are there to unwind. Unless you "know" them on a personal basis they really do not want to be bothered. It is like you coming home from work and all of a sudden a bunch of the neighborhood kids catch you in your driveway asking you a million questions when all you really want to do is sit down get something to eat and relax. After this happens day after day you will grow weary of it and start to play with them in ways that are funny only to you. This is what happened to Samuda. Right place, right time, wrong person to try and impress with "net" credentials.
This should be a lesson for all the "Net Marks" out there who think that just because they feel they have some credibility on the Internet that is an open invitation to bother the guys when they are trying to relax. Unless you are introduced to them through people they know you are fair game to what you are going to be told. As sad as it is to say it, the majority of the guys look at the fans as nothing but "marks" no matter what your name is. Unless you have strapped up the boots or run a show and paid them in all reality that is exactly what you are. Anyone who feels that they are in the business just because they have a website or posting url is only fooling themselves. You are many bumps away from being respected by the workers.
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Just because I have some free time on my hands at the moment lets go onto another subject. Why is that almost everyone who writes a flame letter has to do it under a "fake" name. I mean c'mon Jean Luc Picard, Simon Templer, Carole Hickenbottom, Rob Van Dam??? Let's get some guts here people, if you want to write a flame letter at least have the guts to sign your own name.
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Why is it when I write disparaging things about WCW I get all these letters saying how I suck and I am biased but yet when I write that they have the possiblity to do something right I receive no letters at all? Why is it if I say something not in a postive light about the WWF I get cordial letters explaining to me where I may be wrong? The difference is astounding to say the least. I believe that the WCW fans are so shell shocked about how their promotion has been run over the past year and a hlasf that they attack just to relieve some of the pressure. Don't worry no one rules forever and the WWF will fall off of its pedistal soon enough. That isn't me wishing that, it is just a fact of life.
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Well free time is over...I'm outta here. Remember wrestling is nothing more than it appears to be.
Fritz Capp is the editor of Pro Wrestling's Between The Sheets - for comments or opposing viewpoints please e-mail to Fritz Capp