"Suicide is painless...
It brings on many changes...
And I can take or leave it if it please"

MASH

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Suicide is only painless in movies, TV series, and apparently now on wrestling TV.

On November 16th, the WWF staged an angle during a match where Mike Hegstrand (aka Road Warrior Hawk), according to the storyline, despondent over being turned on by Darren Drozdov and Animal, climbed to the top of the TitanTron projection screen and threatened to commit suicide.

It continued, with Hawk's friends coming to the bottom of the TitanTron and trying to "talk him out of it". Finally, Darren Drozdov climbs up to the top of the TitanTron and accidentally(?) pushes Hawk off of the TitanTron structure, supposedly to the floor below. Hawk is "taken away in an ambulance"....

If the fact that this "suicide attempt" may have topped them all for McMahon's real-life and worked tasteless incidents over the last two years..if that wasn't enough...then the November 21st LiveWire did it. Michael Cole stated that Hawk was had been critically injured and was rushed to the Medical Center where he was placed in the intensive care unit.

Aside from the fact that someone actually jumping or falling off of a structure the height of the TitanTron would have likely been dead at the scene...let's deal with one simple fact, Mister McMahon.

Suicide IS painful, Vince. It isn't just a matter for storylines. I've had at least one friend attempt suicide, fortunately unsuccessfully. Additionally, as a counselor I once had to talk someone down who REALLY threatened to jump off of a suspension bridge in Toledo, Ohio 16 years ago. It's frightening to see happening before your eyes...and even more so to know that you have someone's life in your hands.

I'm hardly the one to suggest that wrestling ought to be politically correct. But there are at least SOME boundaries that need to be observed. Particularly given the fact that while Titan's programming is aimed at adults....there are still children watching the program, usually without supervision. For me, those boundaries would be: No drug angles. No crucifixions (Oops...someone did that already). No racial/ethnic angles. No angles relating to abortion.

It seems to me that it ought to be easy enough to get heat from pushing the envelope...but not taking the envelope, shredding it, and trashing it altogether. I mean, do networks like USA Network have NO broadcast standards?

There's something to be said for the fact that the Titan Sports offices received a large number of phone calls in protest of this angle, far more than anything else they've done. It's deserved.

Until next time...

If you have comments or questions, I can be reached by e-mail at bobmagee1@hotmail.com