Web Conn Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 He gave his Hall of Fame ring to Abyss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCM Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Did the discovery of how damaged Benoit's brain was impact anyone's opinion of him? I always figured his brain was a mess. It didn't change my opinion of him as far as murdering his family, but I had read a ton on brain injuries and feel like this might have been an avoidable event if this trauma was diagnosed at anytime and he was given help. Knowing what we know about brain injuries, I am really glad the WWE at least does something to protect it's workers. Tell that to Bryan. The recent reports are that his injury was in fact a concussion, and they were quite about it because they sent him overseas and had him working several matches after the concussion occurred in the match against Sheamus. The whole thing reeked of a cover from the outset. Punk was right unfortunately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spritenaut 32 Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Jesus. He looks like ET with a bad perm. Eh, I think that's actually a good look for Gollum. ..... ..... That is Gollum from Lord of the Rings, isn't it? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 The most difficult thing with the correlation between Benoit's brain damage and what he did was that much of why we appreciated him in the first place either helped to cause the damage in the first place or maybe even stemmed from it. I know personally, it was something that helped lead me to look at wrestling in a different way and value different things. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vincey Greene Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Did the discovery of how damaged Benoit's brain was impact anyone's opinion of him? Not really. From accounts like the "what a gay bitch!" story and just hearing about how he came up, the guy more than likely had some pretty bad issues before you factor in the concussions. I'm no Sidney M. Basil but he always struck me as a short, angry nutcase. Did the concussions and brain damage push him over the edge? Sure, but he was already partway there IMO. Apropos of nothing but I met him at a BBQ spot in 2004 or 2005 in Columbia SC (and Tyson Tomko, who I didnt recognize on the spot) and he was easily the friendliest celebrity I've ever met in the wild. Him and Eddy took me out of wrestling for like a decade, and even now it's not the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zakk_Sabbath Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 What is the "what a gay bitch" story?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sydneybrown Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 That said, it is hard for me to go back and watch those matches because it is sad knowing what would happen months or years later. I've been going through all the Nitros in order on the Network, and while I can watch Benoit matches, the times where he stares menacingly into the camera is some really unnerving shit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hagan Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Not sure if this has been talked about, but thoughts on Ziggler potentially hitting the indy scene? He's probably one of those guys that's a bigger star than he's actually portrayed as on TV. Him in New Japan is...interesting. He's a great bumper but that's a rough style. I mean...him as the heel leader of Bullet Club probably works, because a lot of those matches have been booked in the more Western style. It's pretty clear he's hit his ceiling in WWE. It's so interesting how, due to mismanagement of talent, so many of the guys that started, say, five years ago and before, just got washed away in the 50/50 booking and the reliance of part-time talent or entrenched main event talent. We can gripe about how Ambrose, Rollins and Reigns are booked week-to-week but those guys, and Owens and even Wyatt and Rusev before he fell off a cliff, are treated as "main event" level acts and are asked to carry TV and PPV main events. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technico Support Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Ziggler taking over as leader of the Bullet Club sounds amazing. Probably because I can't stand Stylish Allen Jones. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vincey Greene Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Dolph with AJ and Big E was great, and then he got hurt. No matter what they tell you about taking care of people, that completely matters in the WWE. "Goddamnit, Cena doesn't miss dates, so why are you out Nick?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madsplash Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 I just want Dolph doing twin magic spots with Kenny Omega. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramsey Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 I interviewed Benoit in 2002. He was a very soft spoken, articulate guy. Knowing what he became makes it one of the eeriest points of my broadcast career. Between Benoit and Eddie and then Misawa a few years later, I cringe now when I see spots I used to think of as "cool wrestling stuff." Plus, being a 42 year old man makes me appreciate how the body changes over time and how recovery times, punishment thresholds, etc. vary. With that said, if Bryan is done, for Crom's sake let him recognize it and call it a day. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattdangerously Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Did the discovery of how damaged Benoit's brain was impact anyone's opinion of him? Not really. The brain damage might have caused him to commit those murders, but it's possible he was just an unhinged maniac who happened to have mush for a brain. Not everyone who murders has brain damage, and not everyone who has brain damage turns into a murderer. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RRR Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Did the discovery of how damaged Benoit's brain was impact anyone's opinion of him? Not really. From accounts like the "what a gay bitch!" story and just hearing about how he came up, the guy more than likely had some pretty bad issues before you factor in the concussions. I'm no Sidney M. Basil but he always struck me as a short, angry nutcase. Did the concussions and brain damage push him over the edge? Sure, but he was already partway there IMO. Mostly this though I never heard that "story". All the steroid nonsense at the time and the fact that Benoit was at one time the biggest wrestling internet darling ever had a lot of people looking for an out for their hero and concussions became that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Dave Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 I'm sure I've talked a little about this before, but I knew Chris Benoit a bit. I'm from Fayette County, GA, which is where Benoit settled with Nancy. I had a few dozen interactions with him, and knew Daniel and Nancy fairly well. Chris was always friendly, if a bit standoffish. I knew to steer clear if it was just Daniel and he, as he cherished that time. There is an Italian restaurant in PTC that is to Olive Garden what the fast food restaurant in COMING TO AMERICA is to McDonalds, and my family and I would always see Chris w Nancy and/or Daniel there on sundays. We'd nod. I'd see him at the gym a lot. I never knew what a maniac the guy really was until one time when he was working on the bench press and he grabbed me and my workout partner by the collars and stuck each of us on one side of the bar. Never said a word. Just grunted. When he'd repped whatever insane amount was on that bar 6-8 times, he racked it, got up and shook each of our hands. Never said a word. I remember in the weeks leading up to the 2004 Royal Rumble, having an inkling he might win because the guy was doing 80 minutes at a clip on the treadmill at a pace between jogging and sprinting. Chris Benoit was always a terrifyingly intense human being. It doesn't take much for me to imagine that the repeated concussions turned a human being that was already maybe a little menacing into what he became. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technico Support Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 The "gay bitch" story, which was apparently in Jericho's book until Jericho removed it: I'm just going from memory here but apparently Benoit saw a referee crying backstage. I think someone died or something, and Benoit pointed at him, laughing, and said "what a gay bitch." This, combined with the stories of brutal hazing, etc really paint Benoit as an angry little dude with issues. You see a guy with a tiny frame and he hits the juice to put on 100lbs of muscle, the dude probably has something going on upstairs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zakk_Sabbath Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 That's absolutely terrible. Thanks for clarifying though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobholly138 Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 I was just reminded that the Chris Benoit murder-suicide took place eight years ago, today. I didn't have a Twitter or Facebook, at the time, so I kept up with what was happening on the DVDVR. What a surreal night. I was at the House show in Beaumont and then the PPV in Houston Benoit no showed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nice Guy Eddie Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 The "gay bitch" story, which was apparently in Jericho's book until Jericho removed it: I'm just going from memory here but apparently Benoit saw a referee crying backstage. I think someone died or something, and Benoit pointed at him, laughing, and said "what a gay bitch." This, combined with the stories of brutal hazing, etc really paint Benoit as an angry little dude with issues. You see a guy with a tiny frame and he hits the juice to put on 100lbs of muscle, the dude probably has something going on upstairs. It's almost scary how similar Dynamite and Benoit were. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(BP) Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Obviously there were numerous contributing factors. However, the thing that always stuck out to me about the steroid use was either Dave or Alvarez saying that he never cycled off even when he was hurt. He was apparently afraid of people he'd run into seeing him looking smaller. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Lord Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 I think Benoit was also on a seriously absurd amount of Testosterone replacement because apparently he had very low T in his body from all the steroids. Testosterone replacement therapy has been known to make people become balls of rage (I mean you're pumping someone with 1000's of times the normal amount in their body). I remember skimming the autopsy report and I'm pretty sure it said he had testicular atrophy. Not saying that caused him to murder everyone, but it could be one hell of a midigating factor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hooks Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 I have a picture of me and Chris Benoit and Nancy together. I'm standing between them. She is smiling, I'm sort of smiling, he looks like Chris Benoit. It really weirds me out to this day to look at it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nate Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 How much of a monster is Verne Gagne for hiptossing that one guy to his death, years ago? That makes him a murderer. Is he removed from WWE material? Just a counterpoint for discussion. One that didn't exist when the shit went down with Benoit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirSmUgly Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Holy false equivalence, Batman. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joseph2112 Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Did the discovery of how damaged Benoit's brain was impact anyone's opinion of him? I don't think it did because I never really thought he just woke up that day and consciously decided he was going to murder his wife and kids. Something turned him into a monster. I am sure his end goal of doing massive roids was to earn a living for his family. When I think about this for any amount if time I realize how fucked up life is and I am not at all comfortable anymore with wrestlers taking stupid bumps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts