I was recently reading about several 'taboo' fights that broke out in the WCW locker-room during its final days; one of the most prominent I could find being that of a fight between Scott Steiner and DDP, caused by a Steiner led shoot interview on DDP. In case you were wondering, Steiner came out on top. But on a more serious note, this got me wondering, in ring personas aside, who really are the 'good guys' the world of professional wrestling" Take JBL. He seemed nice enough crying when Eddie died, as well as other promotional works of good outside the ring. However, there have been many reports of him being racist towards fans, as well as being described by colleagues as 'a backstage bully'. He was also involved in an infamous attack on the Blue Meanie at the ECW One Night Stand, an attack that was virtually unprovoked, and left the much smaller Meanie - no pun intended - needing several stitches.

Another could be Flair. Throughout the 90's, I think that many people were left feeling sorry for the man with his harsh treatment in WCW at the hands of Bischoff, Nash and co., leading to his eventual out of ring law suit. However, what people fail to realize is that this man has also been convicted for violently abusing his various wives, as well as having his infamous recent road rage attack; as well as several other un-publicized events, such as air hostesses bringing charges against him and his 'friend's' for their sexual antics towards them whilst on a WWE led international tour.

The fact that Flair mixes with known bad eggs such as Hall brings me onto another point; should we judge the athletes by the company they keep in the form of colleagues" Take Sting for example. Sting is an apparently very religious man, who has always done charity work and maintained a close relationship with his fans. However, he has stated numerous times that his closest friends in the industry have been Lex Luger and Ultimate Warrior, both of whom have been found to have used recreational drugs as well as performance enhancers, as well as also having been convicted of abusing 'their' women.

The list goes on and on, but I doubt there is enough room in ten columns to discuss all of these rather more than questionable characters, let alone one.

But a final one I would like to do would be the old 'clique', or Nash, Sean Waltman 'X-Pac', HHH, HBK, and Scott Hall.

It was said that all of these men had an extremely harmful influence upon the WWF whilst they all worked in it at the same time, culminating in their infamous last night shenanigans. However, more than that, each individual member has had personal flaws against their characters brought up. Nash was maybe the more harmful influence at WCW, booking dreadful matches in an attempt to keep himself and his friends at the fore front of an ailing company. X-Pac has had a similar reputation, but add into that drug use, no shows, and his famous One Night In Chyna 'video'. Scott Hall has done it all. He's assaulted fans, taken class A drugs, assaulted fellow wrestlers, held colleagues down, no showed events; you named it he's done it. But these men are all unremarkable, really, and I would assume that nearly all fans would know of at least some of their awful reps.

What is unremarkable, however, is the lack of negative coverage such WWF mega stars as HHH and HBK have received during their tenures in the business.

Although a 'nice family man', HBK has been described by wrestlers such as The Rock to be un-abide-able and arrogant beyond belief. It is because of this, many would say, that The Rock will not be performing for us at the coming Mania. Of course, this all fits in with the rep of the company he has kept, in Nash and Hall especially.

Now for me HHH is an enigma. In a wrestling world where I'd say the average IQ is, perhaps, dismally low, HHH has been one of the only men I have heard of to seek a career outside of wrestling for when he hangs up his boots; through taking classes in how to deal with the wrestling industry on the corporate side. The fact that he has got in with the McMahon family must also mean he has at least some 'pedigree' and class. However, he too has also been described arrogant at the very least, with MANY, MANY wrestlers who have left the company such as Billy Gunn and Road Dogg, basically calling him an obnoxious jerk.

So I guess what I am trying to get at is, why do we continue to cheer our 'heroes' despite their actions as human beings, not actors"

Maybe if we take time to learn about the REAL man behind the facade, our opinions on them in their costume might change, and we might see the men who are passionate and dedicated to the business, men such as Benoit and Angle, who have during their years in the industry contributed consistently and immensely both in the ring and out, take more of the limelight they deserve.

by Alex Kirkbride..