Keith Watanabe * NET 2.0

huge news every where. yet it's not just the news that's a buzz, but the speculation behind the news that's lit a ton of message boards and such on fire. Kurt Angle, one of the WWE's premier stars and finest athletes, now is away from his main home, most likely due to the Wellness Program that the WWE recently implemented after Eddie Guerrero's demise. word on the street says that Kurt Angle was one person on a death watch. Seems as if people didn't want to be responsible any further on such matters. what's interesting about this is the debate going on regarding how the WWE is handling this Wellness Program. on the one hand, it's quite Draconian in the sense that people either give up all their addictions or get dropped. Of course, there's probably some portion where the WWE, to a degree, is willing to help people in bad situations. On the other hand, people in severe situations are the ones getting nailed. This scenario brings to light some of the darker aspects of pro-wrestling. Two things one may infer are how wrestlers become addicted to painkillers and the steroids that they use to move towards the top. or least the latter aspect in McMahonland. there's a ton of stories from wrestlers themselves who admit doing the steroids to be noticed since McMahon's vision of a wrestler is pretty much what he saw in the failed WBF. However, it's obvious he didn't learn his lesson completely the first time around as he moved back towards the "larger-than-life" metaphor he wanted his top people to embody. compare wrestlers now (in the US at least) to the ones from the early 80's and you'll see a massive difference. wrestlers back then used to look like some guy you'd see at a bar just after he finished his midnight munchdown at the local grease joint (which probably was the case for the most part). just having the raw ability was more of the necessity than these newer prerequisites. now things are changing and fast. there was a picture of Chris Masters posted recently and it was painfully obvious he had shrunk big time. it's going to be impossible for wrestlers to attain that level anymore, unless medical science can prove otherwise. more than that though, what this means is a radical change in the WWE empire. the WWE can no longer get the Herculean image. also, i believe they won't be able to promote the fat, large guys anymore like the Earthquakes, Tugboats, etc. since spots are in demand. smaller wrestlers that have ability and charisma will have to move to the forefront as a product they need to market in order to survive. nonetheless, i find the WWE attempting to defer the issue (as always). they don't want to have anymore responsibility for these incidents so firing is better than a monstrous investigation that would probably shut the company down for good (if not that, then the arrest of the McMahon clan would be certain). it's interesting when you hear these so-called bitter wrestlers shooting on McMahon as well as other fans supporting McMahon. the patterns in what the wrestlers say demonstrate McMahon is clearly a problem. The Hitman himself was smart enough to distance himself after the Hall of Fame induction. However, he mentioned that the WWE basically, "chews people up and spits them out." Kurt Angle's release is evident of this. More than ever at a time when someone needs help as obvious as Kurt, the WWE should take the responsibility to step forward and force him into a rehab if that, indeed, is what he requires. Maybe they did but there's something that's missing here which does not seem right and is just too "corporate" to ignore. on the other end of the spectrum, people are talking about him going to TNA/ROH, etc. for dream matches, exploitation, etc. and there are people slamming those even mentioning that as being cruel and selfish. all i can say about those people is that they mean nothing in the scheme of things here, as usual. a guy like Kurt Angle chose his own fate. he's a grown man and is probably more aware of his situation than anyone is willing to believe. he might be a bit delusional in allowing his ego to overcome his biological judgment. however, some people don't make compromises in this world. they live for their own goals and visions of what makes them happy. the thing with any wrestler is that they run a risk anytime they go out and perform. but that's part of what they love. most of us can't see that, which is why wrestlers don't respect people outside of their industry. they don't live lives like the rest of us. the average person fears pain, risk, hardships, etc. that why they're average. the wrestler hungers for these and thrives off of this. the pain is just incidental and a natural part of their lives. as much as they loves fans, they can't afford to allow the individual opinions of the minority to determine their destiny. right now people are bequeathing various names on Kurt Angle like being the Dynamite Kid of our generation. He's not the Dynamite Kid. He's another James Dean. it's like the Judas Priest song "Heroes End." Kurt Angle sees himself internally as a hero of sorts and he's there to perform for the world. If he dies tragically in a freak wrestling accident or by a heart attack, I'm almost confident to say that he's accepted that fate. But you got to remember that someone who believes themselves to be a hero wants to create a legend for themselves so that people will talk about them forever. This is his legend and he has every right to create it in his own idiom. So for him to move on outside of the WWE is not something that would be evil conjured through a group like TNA, ROH, Japan, etc. it's just business and an opportunity for him to do more as he sees fit. The only thing we should do is support Kurt Angle in his goals and hope that he's able to continue doing what he does without permanently hurting himself. And to whoever picks Kurt up, please for God's sakes take care of the guy.