WWE: 10 Ways Wrestling Will Hurt Linda McMahon's Chances at the U.S. Senate

Linda McMahon is running for the United States Senate. Again.

After an unsuccessful attempt at winning a seat on Capitol Hill in 2010, McMahon has decided to shell out an absurd amount of money for the second time in hopes of entering the cutthroat world of politics.

With all due respect to Mrs. McMahon, I'm not so sure she isn't about to waste another $50 million.

Even though politicians aren't known for being the most noble people out there and McMahon certainly has a shot at being elected to the Senate, there's something about politics and professional wrestling that don't mix.

Will voters be able to overlook Linda's wrestling past, or will they continue to associate her with chair shots or Bra and Panties matches?

I'm leaning toward the latter.

Here are 10 ways that professional wrestling will hurt McMahon's chances of being elected to the US Senate.

10. Health Care

For those that don't know, WWE talents are not considered employees. They are known as "independent contractors."

That means that the wrestlers you see on Raw and SmackDown every week don't have the same benefits that you or I might have. They don't get health insurance, they don't even get dental insurance and their contracts can be terminated at anytime for just about any reason.

This has been a huge topic of debate in recent years, and many feel that the WWE is not taking proper care of its wrestlers, who work 250 or 300 days per year and put their bodies—and even their lives—on the line in the process.

There's no doubt that Linda McMahon's opponents will question why the WWE chooses to neglect the healthcare needs of its talents, pointing to the vast number of injuries and other health-related problems that both current and former WWE stars deal with.

The problem for Linda is that—although she'll argue that the talent enter into their contracts of their own free will—she doesn't have a great explanation as to why the WWE doesn't provide health insurance.

9. The Live Sex Show

Does the date Jan. 9, 2006 ring a bell for you guys?

That was one day after Edge cashed in his Money in The Bank briefcase on John Cena to win his first WWE Championship.

It was also the day that Edge and Lita celebrated the victory with a live sex show on Raw in front of millions of viewers: parents, teens, kids, everybody.

Look, (almost) everyone does it. It's a natural thing and the reason I'm able to sit here typing this today.

But Linda's not winning over any of the conservative voters with stuff like this.

8. Profanity Despite the PG Rating

The political world is no stranger to a little hypocrisy—I mean, hypocrisy and politics go together like David Otunga and botched moves.

We see it all the time when politicians preach about morals and virtues, only to be caught with their pants down in the 7/11 bathroom alongside a transvestite prostitute.

And guess what? The WWE has been quite hypocritical as of late, claiming to be a PG show that caters to the younger audience and subsequently completely ignoring that PG rating.

There's nothing PG about The Rock cursing up a storm or Triple H telling CM Punk he's going to kick his "skinny fat ass."

I don't have a problem with it because I grew up with that stuff, but Linda McMahon's opponents might not approve of a show that bills itself as kid-oriented and then transitions to adult-themed halfway through an episode of Monday Night Raw.

7. The Attitude Era

For many wrestling fans, the Attitude Era was the greatest period in the history of wrestling—some us even call for that era to return when we don't like what's going on with the current product.

But to others outside of the wrestling business, it was a filth-filled period that produced TV programming that was both morally and ethically irresponsible. They probably didn't watch it, but they read about it and know that the WWE pushed the envelope more than once in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

While I think it's rather ironic that politicians are passing personal judgment on anyone, they're still going to do it, nonetheless. And they're definitely going to criticize Linda McMahon for being heavily involved in the most controversial era in pro wrestling history.

In the Attitude Era, we saw pretty much everything imaginable: Miss Kitty's ta-tas, Triple H marrying a passed out Stephanie McMahon, the crucifixion of Stone Cold, Bra and Panties matches, etc.

You name it, we saw it. 

When McMahon is questioned about her role in some of the ridiculous Attitude Era storylines, she better come up with some really good answers.

6. The Steroid Stigma

I don't see President Obama or Joe Biden injecting themselves with Winstrol or Deca in the Oval Office.

But the WWE—and wrestling in general—has a long history of problems with steroids. Even Vince McMahon himself admitted to using steroids, and other huge stars—such as Randy Orton and Rey Mysterio—have been linked to performance-enhancing drugs in the past.

The company's Wellness Program was added back in 2006 to curtail this problem (as well as the abuse of pain pills and marijuana), but I don't know anyone who really believes that the WWE is or ever will be steroid free.

There are so many guys that looked absolutely jacked out of their minds, and they make me have a hard time believing that steroids have been entirely eliminated from the WWE. 

There will always be a steroid stigma in wrestling, and Linda McMahon will be bombarded with accusations that the WWE has not done enough to stop widespread steroid abuse and is in fact allowing it to exist.

5. The Hypocrisy of the

The WWE recently started an anti-bullying campaign called "Be a Star," the goal of which is to bring awareness to the problems of bullying in school and try to help prevent it from happening in the future.

The problem with this campaign, however, is that it completely insults the intelligence of the viewer.

When watching Raw, you'll see a "Be a Star" commercial one second, and the next you'll see wrestlers appearing in that very same commercial bullying another wrestler. 

Maybe it's the Bella Twins talking about how big of a problem bullying is, then subsequently beating the crap out of Kelly Kelly. Or maybe it's Jerry Lawler taking a stance against bullying and then ruthlessly making fun of Vickie Guerrero's weight.

It doesn't really matter.

The point is that the WWE's "Be a Star" campaign is so ironic that it may be doing more to hurt the company than to help it.

4. Eugene

During her campaign trail in 2010, Linda McMahon was asked about the company's decision to use the Eugene character on WWE programming.

For those that don't remember, Eugene was a "special needs" character who would do things like wear a cape or carry stuff animals on his way to the ring, and it was obviously implied that he was mentally handicapped.

Anyway, Linda's response was that Eugene's character should be viewed as inspirational because he persevered in the WWE despite his physical and mental limitations.

Well, that's a load of complete and utter B.S. if I've ever heard one.

Clearly she was trying to do a little bit of damage control, but Eugene was not an inspirational figure. He could have been if he was—you know—actually mentally handicapped.

But he was nothing more than a comedy character, used to get a laugh because of the mental disabilities he was obviously supposed to have.

3. The Objectification of Women

"Women are not people, they are devices built by our Lord Jesus Christ for our entertainment." — Peter Griffin, Family Guy

It's like everyone in the WWE decided to take Peter Griffin's words to heart and live by that motto.

I mean, the objectification of women in the company has been around for years. We've seen WWE Divas making out backstage, wrestling each other in the mud or in Bra and Panties matches, participating in games of strip poker, appearing in Playboy, etc.

It's as much a part of the wrestling business as suplexes and submission holds, but that doesn't exactly justify it—at least for Linda McMahon's purposes.

How can she possibly explain some of the things the WWE has made its female "independent contractors" do?

I'm sure Linda will pull the "We don't do that now that we're PG" card, but she doesn't have a magical eraser that can get rid of all the ridiculous Diva footage from YouTube.

2. Katie Vick

Picture this confrontation between Linda and her Senate race opponent (or any another politician for that matter).

"Mrs. McMahon, did one of your WWE superstars, who just so happens to be your son-in-law, simulate having sex with a corpse laying in a casket?"

Linda's response: "Ugh, um, ugh...um..."

Seriously, there's pretty much no response from her that justifies the Katie Vick angle, which is probably the worst storyline in the history of the company.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, then grab a trash can, watch that video and be prepared to spew your lunch all over the place.

I really, really hope someone asks Linda about this storyline during her campaign, and I can't wait to see her response. 

1. The Chris Benoit Tragedy and the Early Wrestling Death Epidemic

Chris Benoit is the most famous example of a tragic wrestling death, but he's just one of the many wrestlers who died far too young.

Here is a list of well-known professional wrestlers who passed away before the age of 50, and as you'll see, there is a heavy WWE influence here.

Linda McMahon has worked with a number of wrestlers on this list, and she'll undoubtedly have to explain why such a big chunk of the company's talent passed away at such an early age.

This ties back into some other topics on this list, most notably the steroid stigma and the "independent contractor" philosophy of the WWE.

If WWE talent was given health insurance and the company took a harsher stance on steroid use prior to 2006, would that list be so lengthy?

Probably not.

Linda's got some 'splaining to do.