Rob: Wrestling Journalism Fails Again

Rob takes a look at the wrestling journalism side of the passing of Brodie Lee, and how it was handled by some.

[Editor’s note: after this article was submitted, the column in question has been removed from the PW Torch website.]

I’ve said it here before, I’ve said it on Twitter, I’ve said it on podcasts I’ve been on, so I’ll say it again here: wrestling journalism stinks.  Are there some real good reporters out there?  Yes.  But for every one of them there seems to be several that are garbage.  And we got a prime example of that this weekend with the news of the tragic death of John Huber aka Luke Harper aka Brodie Lee.  Brodie’s wife Amanda said in a statement that he died from a non COVID lung problem that he’d been getting treatment for at the Mayo Clinic.  But that wasn’t enough for our friend Bruce Mitchell at the Pro Wrestling Torch.  Bruce, in his infinite wisdom, wrote a piece that can best described as bait for truthers on the internet.  In it he said that it was highly unusual for a man Brodie’s size and with his athletic ability to just get sick and die of lung problems in a matter of months, but not before going on a long rant about how the WWE misused Lee (seriously? can we get away from the misused/buried talk just once?) and how both the WWE and AEW have been playing with fire in regards to dealing with COVID.  So COVID attacks your lungs (true), Brodie died of a lung problem (true), and both his current and previous employer have been operating in a haphazard fashion during this pandemic (true).  You don’t need a tinfoil hat and an Infowars subscription to turn this into something.  And Bruce did just that by doing one of the worst forms of ‘journalism’ out there, the ‘we just have questions’ way.

Let’s not play around here.  Bruce Mitchell is suggesting that it is possible that Tony Khan and/or Amanda are lying to us, and that Brodie died as a result of complications of COVID.   That kind of speculation opens a Pandora’s box of what ifs, none of them good.  Such as:

• What if Brodie had COVID?
• What if he was on the premises at AEW, with COVID, around his coworkers?
• What if he infected any of them?
• What if those he infected spread it to their significant others (some of whom work in WWE, thus potentially bringing it to another locker room to spread around) or their other family, who then spread it further?
• What if AEW management knew Brodie was infected, let him come to work, and didn’t say anything to anyone?

Now you might be thinking that I’m reaching here, but Mitchell is leaving the door open to all of that with what he said in his piece.  And if you don’t think that can become a story on the internet then allow me to introduce you to Roman Reigns cancer truthers, also fueled by ‘we just have questions’ and ‘that doesn’t all add up’ takes that were pushed by wrestling ‘journalists’ out there.  In 2020 all you need is a few bits of anecdotal evidence and a few ‘questions’ and you can have a full blown conspiracy about the government, big business and lizard people in days.  To push that kind of speculation, barely 24 hours after we got word the man died and while his friends all over the business are sharing their heartwarming tributes, is irresponsible and just plain cruel.  If you think Amanda is lying then say so.  If you think Tony Khan is lying then say so.  But if all you’re doing is fill in the blank speculation then please stfu.

‘We deserve to know?’  Excuse me, we?  I don’t need to know anything beyond what’s been said.  If you think someone is lying then go investigate it.  But real reporters do just that, not write speculative clickbait pieces to capitalize off a man’s death.  And another middle finger goes out to Jonathan Snowden who was the main co-signer of this.  Yes, Jonathan when a professional athlete passes under unforseen circumstances we eventually do find out what the deal was.  The difference is that we don’t have reporters openly speculating that we are being lied to.  If an NFL player dies in a similar fashion Adam Schefter will not be on TV vaguely suggesting that the league, his team, and his wife are hiding information.  Either you get the goods and report it or you be quiet.  People lie and hide information in the NFL as much as they do in wrestling (see draft season) and yet they somehow manage to wait until the lie has been found out before they discuss it on air or in print.  If NFL draft reporters, who know they are being worked, can keep to what they know and what they’ve been told then so can you.

But this is what we get with wrestling journalism.  Speculation without proof.  Spoiling the results of taped shows, except when they’re buddy buddy enough with the guys to keep it under wraps.  Endless fixation on TV ratings without any proper context.  Feigned ignorance of base level stuff so they can fire off takes.  Trolling for traffic.  Fanning the flames between the hardcore fans of the top two companies no matter the consequences.  An entire business model designed around making you mad at the biggest company while hoping that enough people don’t get mad enough to actually walk away because then their websites/podcasts/etc would go under also.  And this, openly wondering if we are being lied to without having the guts to say that you think we’re being lied to.

Plenty of people become wrestling journalists because they love wrestling and they want to talk about and find out more about it.  The barriers to entry are not there like they are for other sports, and that’s both a good and bad thing. On the one hand it’s easier for a lot of women and people of color to just jump in and go without having to bend the knee to old white men or learn 100 different secret handshakes to get their foot in the door.  But on the other hand it’s allowed old men like Dave Meltzer the space to set up a fiefdom simply by being the one who’s been doing it longest and it’s allowed way too many mediocre guys who worship at his altar to simply link to his ‘reports’, add a few takes, and call it a day.  It also offers no punishment to people who violate all types of basic human decency to get a piece out for clickbait, like Bruce Mitchell did.  I know it’s a big ask but constantly boosting these guys numbers is something we need to leave in 2020.

And for the wrestling journalists out there I have one question: what do you want to be?  Do you want to be serious investigative reporters who play no favorites and get the facts no matter who they expose?  Do you want to be shock jock-esque tabloid writers trading in gossip and rumors from ‘sources’ and the airing of grievances?  Do you want to be Entertainment Weekly style friendly media for the business, only being critical after the fact if something goes wrong?  Do you want to be full blown pundits offering mostly opinions and labeling them as such?  Or do you want to be objective and call things fairly, but as you see them?  Right now the biggest among you are trying to do all of these and not succeeding in much more than making your audience more irritated and hostile towards what they’re supposed to be enjoying, the people that do it for a living, and each other.  And that’s just unacceptable.