Mark Madden's Hot Take: No harm done, but Cam Skattebo's wrestling appearance was bad optics

Cam Skattebo got physical at ringside on WWE TV, and it caused a stir.

His New York Giants stink, at 2-9. The rookie running back is out with a broken leg, ankle dislocation and ligament damage. When Skattebo got hurt, part of his leg was facing the wrong way.

But there he was on Netflix getting shoved, hard, by wrestler JD McDonagh. (#YNWA)

Sure, it’s scripted. But there’s risk.

Skattebo could have tripped. He was surrounded by teammates, who also got physical. One could have fallen on his injured leg.

In the end, no harm was done. But it was definitely bad optics. (Skattebo later whined that he was just “having fun.”)

ESPN’s yell-and-grimace shows mostly exonerated Skattebo.

Of course they did. ESPN is in bed with WWE. ESPN is in bed with everybody. The Worldwide Leader…in zero credibility.

Sports talk legend Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo was less forgiving: “The guy’s got a broken leg. Not even sure if he’s going to be ready to play next season. How about if you’re the Giants’ owner or a Giants coach watching that.”

But here’s what hasn’t been said: WWE wasn’t at all concerned about Skattebo’s well-being.

If Skattebo aggravates his injury, WWE quietly celebrates. It’s another headline. A bigger headline.

I know. I worked for a wrestling company.

When I was with World Championship Wrestling from 1993-2000, we put Kevin Greene of the Steelers at ringside on national TV for a Hulk Hogan match four days before he played in Super Bowl XXX in 1996. (My idea, by the way.) Greene didn’t get physical, but he flew from Tempe, Ariz., to Las Vegas to do the bit.

More famously, we got Dennis Rodman of the Chicago Bulls to miss practice in the middle of the 1998 NBA Finals to hit Diamond Dallas Page with a chair on “WCW Monday Nitro.”

Even more famously, we got Rodman and Karl Malone of the Utah Jazz to scuffle on-court during Game 6 of that 1998 championship series. No punches. Mostly tumbling and tripping. They were promoting their “Bash at the Beach” pay-per-view tag-team match that occurred a month later: Rodman and Hogan vs. Malone and Page.

At one point during their Game 6 shenanigans, Malone threw up Page’s “diamond cutter” hand signal. The announcers plugged the pay-per-view, albeit in a tone of disgust. Bob Costas: Rodman and Malone are “regrettably scheduled to wrestle in one of those bogus events next month.”

Pro wrestling compromised the 1998 NBA Finals.

Skattebo is small potatoes.

That Rodman-Malone scuffle was 100% preordained by its participants and WCW. Lots of “legit” athletes are such marks for wrestling.

Malone sure was. Rodman was more of a mark for money, and the spotlight.

I like Rodman. Good guy. He’s nWo 4 Life. I ran into him years later. Me: “Hey, Dennis.” Rodman: “Announcer guy.” Me: “Basketball guy.”

Rodman got fined $10,000 for missing practice. He got $1.5 million for his pay-per-view appearance. (Do the math.) Malone got $900,000.

“Bash at the Beach” was a big hit: It drew 580,000 buys, second-most in WCW history.

I’ve frequently told that story about the 1998 NBA Finals. So has WCW’s boss from that period, Eric Bischoff. It’s surprising that it never became a bigger deal.

It’s only fake wrestling, I guess.