RPW wants to maintain a league that parents and children can watch, enjoy, and share with friends. We are going to have a zero tolerance policy for objectionable behavior and drug usage.
On paper this looks easy but in real life things get rather complex quickly. While we are very pleased with Season One, the wrestlers, and the wrestling, there were a few things that RPW had to deal with.
The first one is violence, how much do we tolerate, and what should be our response. RPW’s official position is that for a sport with its roots in combat, we will allow as much as we can safely without injuring an opponent. While we don’t want dirty wrestling, we also realize pain is a legitimate part of wrestling. This is a fine line.
Nasty crossfaces and even almost punches are common in the wrestling room. If a wrestler crosses the line, the referee will caution him and if the offense is severe, he will even eject him from the match. It is extremely rare for a wrestler to be ejected. When it happens it is usually a very serious violation or after three cautions.
As one wrestler put it, “wrestling is not a very politically correct sport.” We have winners and losers and the winners get to beat up the losers, sometimes making them look pretty bad. Wrestling is so personal – too personal for many people. But the losers are tough enough physically and emotionally to handle it and that is just one reason why our sport is so good for people. It takes a tough man to beat another tough man. But it takes an even tougher man to handle a loss.
When it comes to emotion and violence, RPW is very pleased with how things went during Season One and hopes every following season is the same.
There is one big difference for the wrestlers though, and they will have to adjust. Having seven cameras with different angles capturing their every move means thousands of fans will see every cheap shot and it will be captured on video for generations. There isn’t a good wrestler around who hasn’t dealt out his fair share of paybacks and painful lessons. They also have been on the receiving end many times.
Also audio is now captured and every word can be heard by thousands. This is an adjustment for the wrestlers and they realize how important even little things look and sound. It is also an adjustment for RPW. We can zoom in and make even little things full screen. We can also replay things and make something quick last for a long time.
This brings us to the Cormier and Rowlands incident. While it was not a violence infraction, it did violate our no humiliation policy. RPW realizes we must treat violations different and we are putting policies into place to minimize showing infractions. But we also are not going to turn a blind eye towards them. We cannot promise and deliver a perfect family-friendly program every time, especially as we go live on television. But we will deal with infractions promptly and appropriately.
The athletes too are doing their best to not just do what is right, but to admit their mistake when they are wrong. Cormier is setting the example for all RPW wrestlers with his statement about his infraction.
“I am sorry for my action. It was uncharacteristic of me and I did not intend it to come across like it did. I have great respect for Tommy, who is the number two man right now, and he is getting better all the time. We are working together to push each other and become the best wrestlers we can be. I do not want people to think of this incident when they think of me. I want to represent RPW and our country with class.”
While Cormier’s action was not that grievous, it did cross the line and we decided to fine him appropriately. However, due to his statement and owning up to the violation, we are waving the fine and giving him mercy. All wrestlers can learn from this first situation.
Before the event we told the wrestlers we would give out a $1,000 sportsman award for the wrestler who best handled an unfair situation. Even though he was not happy with what Cormier did on the mat, because he did not retaliate, Tommy Rowlands will be awarded this award. We think turning something negative into something positive is the best way to handle this situation.
Moving on, the other issue with zero tolerance is the steroid issue. We did not have this problem our first season and don’t expect it to be a problem in the future. Since all wrestlers are continuously drug tested in the NCAA and by USA Wrestling, and steroids add weight, the very thing most wrestlers try and avoid, steroids have never been a problem in the world of wrestling.
We are working with USA Wrestling on this issue and when we think we have to supplement their testing, we will do so as needed. We have high confidence that RPW and all the United States wrestlers will be the premiere role model of physical fitness without the use of steroids.
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