Professional wrestling thread

My question is how does WWE handle this? How do you know celebrate a man's life that apparently was troubled and it apparently led to a murder-suicide. One of the first thoughts that crossed my mind just after the tribute show began was Benoit will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame next year. I don't know about that now if this is all true.

I know that is least important aspect of this whole thing now, but it is something to consider. When Eddie dies last year, the wrestler's wore those armsbands and WWE made up a t-shirt, package deal, etc. How Eddie died was tragic, but the norm in the business. This is something totally different. Benoit was thought to be this stand up guy by everyone. Obviously, there were some demons there and people even said it themselves, he was a private man. Apparently very and too private.

 

I hear ya, Will ... I don't even know how to feel right now. I'm not even past the fact that Chris Benoit, one of my favorite wrestlers of all time, is dead.
To even try to comprehend the fact that someone who has been as universally praised and respected by his peers the way Benoit was, could murder his wife and his 7-year-old son? I'm seriously in a daze at work.

 

Very good question that nobody can really answer right not, not even Vince. I think everybody's just trying to make sense of this and gather as much information as possible. I really can't see a class act like Benoit doing such a horrific thing like killing his wife and young son.

 

Same here, BG. Have been since the news first broke.

 

Not to take anything away from Chris Benoit and family (RIP, but quick change of subject here:

Any recommendations on WCW vs. WWF promotion war book(s)? You know, late 90s/early 2000s.

 

Last week after watching Raw, I promised myself and I even put it on this thread that I'd not be watching Raw this week. I didn't hear about Benoit until I just happened to come on here around 4 p.m. or so and see that people were talking about Benoit's death and I immediately went to wrestlingobserver.com and sure enough there it was. He was dead and so was Woman (Nancy Benoit) and a precious little child. I left work a little before 5 p.m. here in California. Thankfully I live close to work so I was able to get home in time to, yes, watch Raw about five minutes into it. Austin was on and talking about Benoit. I didn't move from the couch. I wasn't crying, mind you, but I just couldn't take my eyes off the TV and the memorial. While it was about Benoit, I found myself thinking about karma biting the WWE right in the ass with its McMahon storyline and all and thinking, gee, wouldn't they have done the same damn thing for McMahon last week as it is doing for the Benoit tribute -- i.e. cancel Raw, have the empty arena, have the three announcer teams just sitting there dumbfounded and at a loss for words. Hell, Sherri Martel DID die and she didn't get more than a passing glance on the shows. While she's not Moolah as far as the biggest name in women's wrestling among those who have been fans for years like BigGame and myself and Mystery Meat, but Martel's credentials were worth MUCH more than a quick note. Yes, they put a few things up for her on wwe.com, but it was sick to see Vince's "death" overshadow a real death at that time. Now Benoit. Yes, I watched the matches they had, also thinking that if Benoit had died early in his WWF/E stint that they'd have precious little to show (WCW would still be alive in 2000) of him and they would have had to pay through the nose for tribute stuff of his Japan days and WCW wouldn't have given the competition footage to show and at that time, the WWE NEVER talked about any of its competition (DX's run to Nitro an exception).

But then I was able to return to earth with fantastic, haunting and poignant words from CM Punk, Edge, Dean Malenko (please don't make it three for three, PLEASE), Chavo Guerrero (who said he was with Chris a day before he died? Must have not been thinking right at all and that's understandable) and even Triple H (yes, I believe he was solid and HONEST in his words -- did Meltzer or pwinsider.com ever report the "young guy" who Benoit made do the 1,000 squats and then another 500?). Stephanie, no matter what she said, no matter how she said it, couldn't make me care enough to believe her. I hate saying that, but it's true.

What I'd like to say about the way the show ended, with Benoit as a champion and making HHH tap was a great ending and the hug with Eddie was top notch. It was probably one of the last true days that WWE got it. That it understood that this was a moment not to be missed, to be cherished forever. To know that no matter what, you shouldn't quit. You shouldn't bitch about stuff. You should just keep working. Respect the biz. Respect each other. Respect yourself. Work hard, never give up and you just might be rewarded. There is another side, of course, to this ending tonight. It showed Benoit on top, as a champion. No matter what, though, all good things must come to an end. Obviously, more is going to come out as the days progress in terms of what really happened. We also might not ever know the truth. If Benoit was called home to check on his wife and kid and found them dead, then one might easily speculate that he died (they found him in his weight room) either by suicide or mysteriously too. Losing a son and wife would be too much for a lot of people to take. We might not ever know. If Benoit is found to be the one who purposely killed them and then himself, that is the saddest thing and the farthest thing from my mind in terms of what was said about him on Raw tonight and totally contradicts every great thing said about him. Then again, Benoit, to me and to millions of others, was just a TV personality that was there, week in, week out giving you his all. He made you believe in him, in pro wrestling, hell, he might have been one of the few people you could point to one of those "wrestling is fake" people and make a believer out of them just by watching one of his MANY great matches. Sadly, the WWE is all about "entertainment", fake deaths, "I did it" shirts and Katie Vick episodes. Sure, McMahon would occasionally throw us the proverbial bone and give us at least one or two real wrestling matches, but it was usually put in the middle or opening match. In other words, it would be forgotten because the main event featured whoever the WWE thought (not who the fans for the most part thought) was supposed to be on top. Guys like Punk, Edge, a lot of the cruiserweight guys are the WWE's only shining examples remaining. In TNA, Angle, Daniels, Styles, Samoa Joe and a few of the other lightweight guys have to carry on the tradition. I'm glad Omar and Big Game bring up ROH as a chance to give pro wrestling fans what we all really want -- wrestling. I saw PWG a few weeks ago and liked what it gave me, a feeling that it, too, still gave a damn.

In closing, Benoit will be missed just like Owen Hart and Eddie Guerrero are missed. Countless others, for all kinds of reasons, will too. The reason I have the Claws for Concern name is because Baron Von Raschke was an AWA wrestler and one of the first pro wrestlers I saw on TV and followed when I was age 10. He was so wildly funny, scary and entertaining that it was easy to like him. He's up there in age now and I hope that he lives a long, healthy life before he departs this world. I think Jim Raschke is in his late 60s. Benoit was 40. It's sad when anyone dies, of course, but today's events just make me realize that maybe it's time to forget pro wrestling. It might be fake, but my love for this "sport" has always been real enough to pay some of my hard-earned dollars to support it. No more.

Thanks for having a thread about pro wrestling on here because it's a great place to go to escape whatever else is going on in my life. The events of today, however, make it impossible for me to continue on as a pro wrestling fan.

And Dat is all da people need to know!

 

"The Death of WCW" is a good read.

 

During the tribute, I kept wondering if Benoit was a victim or not. I kept hoping he wasn't, because that'll wreck some people even more than just his death did.

 

This belongs in a newspaper, somewhere.

 

I have not watched WWE in a long time, but reading the above post (really good stuff, by the way) made me analyze what might happen to pro wrestling as we all know it now.

I grew up (37 now) on pro wrestling. I loved the campyness of it all. I remember the original RAW talk show. I remamber knowing who was good and who was bad.

Maybe Benoit's situation will spark a swing back to the campyness and the fun. Wrestling has just become so dark and grey anymore. I mean, is Edge a good guy or a bad guy? Is HHH good or bad?

I miss the boots of the Iron Sheik. I miss the forearm brace of Iron Mike Sharpe. I miss Putski's temper. I miss Bob Blacklund doing a step test for 60 minutes, then getting pummeled in the last minute. I miss The Grand Wizard, Freddie Blassie and Captain Lou. When I talk wrestling from when I was growing up, no matter how bad they were, I still laugh at the characters they had.

Can anyone actually laugh when the reminisce about the wrestlers of today?

WWE, please go back to the camp. Make me laugh. I am tired of being shocked.

 

Sounds like despite 11 Ks in 6 2/3 innings, Buchholz won't be what you remember about last night.

 

"WWE.com is quickly moving to purge mentions of Chris Benoit from the website and has taken down Benoit merchandise from their merchandise area. Several links to video and photos that had been on the WWE.com main page have now been removed and replaced with traditional updates about other WWE wrestlers.

Two metions reamin of the tragedy. One is a link to comments from Carl DeMarco and the other is a story posted under a photo that updates the situation and confirms that authorities are proceeding with the assumption that the deaths were the result of a murder-suicide.

Mike Johnson at PWInsider.com reports that WWE has gone so far as to change the description of the dvd for Wrestlemania XX to show the main event as being Triple H vs Shawn Michaels."
from bob ryder

Looks like the WWE is seriously backing away, even changing match descriptions. also, benoit vs. mvp is taken off of the WM 23 card when you look at the DVD on shopzone. i assume all mention of benoit is gone from shopzone as when you search his name "discontinued" comes up.