Comments on: Chris Benoit dead at age 40

By: Luciano

Luciano — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 21:57:11 +0000

Sabu lived.
It needed not be cleared up – “Tradition Rules” should know his wrestling history, with a name like that…

By: Chuck

Chuck — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 05:16:29 +0000

To Tradition Rules, the man Tony A. mentioned who Benoit broke the neck of in ECW was Sabu. Check out the footage of the incident, very disgusting. Then again, something like that to Sabu is like spraining your arm.

By: Luciano

Luciano — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 02:06:28 +0000

Tonys never kid around with things like this – I know it for a fact.
“Dr C. Anderson”… I can almost hear Paul E call for “Dr. Arn Anderson” on a broadcast of WCW POWER HOUR way back in 1990 or 1991 I think… lol
Must be synchronicity?
To be serious now though, for this is quite the moment to be serious too, such a tragedy cannot be explained. MANY factors contributed to this horror taking place in the Benoit household; the child’s rare genetic defect was a factor as well. Steroids induced depression – for sure. After so many years of taxing himself at the employ of VKM, Benoit had to be tired of it all as well…
Nothing excuses those two murders, of course – but he did place a Bible next to each victim.
And if Benoit’s going to hell, so is Vince McMahon.

By: Tradition Rules

Tradition Rules — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 00:54:38 +0000

“And a chilling thought came to me. It was in the early 90s when Benoit was at ECW. They called him The Crippler. He broke the neck of an opponent and he took sheer delight in it…no remorse.”

YOU’RE KIDDING, RIGHT?

T.R!

By: Tony A.

Tony A. — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 08:50:07 +0000

I have been a wrestling fan off and on since 1984. I used to enjoy the Monday Night Main Event. And I loved watching Sting take on The NwO on Monday Nitro. And I got a kick out of DX and their shenanigans on Monday Night Raw. And I stood up and cheered when The Rock beat Hollywood Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania. So when I learned about Chris Benoit and his alleged murder/suicide pact I was shocked, saddened, and revolted. I thought “how could he do this???” but then I looked at the other posts. His head traumas from past injuries, his behavior in the ring, his use of steroids, his rocky marriage with Woman. And a chilling thought came to me. It was in the early 90s when Benoit was at ECW. They called him The Crippler. He broke the neck of an opponent and he took sheer delight in it…no remorse.

By: Dr. C. Anderson

Dr. C. Anderson — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 06:01:13 +0000

I do have some expertise (keyword is some) as I am a psychologist who has been a fan of Chris Benoit as a pro wrestler. I admit that a ’shrink’ may be an odd person to be a pro wrestling/”sports entertainment” fan, but I am who I am.

I do not claim to personally know Mr. Benoit, but from a superficial angle, I do wonder if he wasn’t engulfed in a state of depression… stemming from his standing in his business. It always appeared that Benoit, like many other performers of his stature, was one of the hardest working and dedicated individuals to work in the WWE. With all of his skill, he lacked that innate charisma to transform into a premier star, like lesser-talents had (e.g. Hulk Hogan, Rock, Steve Austin). Nothing against those talents, but they lacked the technicality of Benoit, the dedication, and the work ethic.

That being said, I wonder if he recognized these factors and felt angered. These feelings were targeted at those closest to him… a mix of anger, rage, and confusion that builds and builds until and individual makes the sense out of the unreasonable. Patterns of fear and loathing develop which transfer into all aspects of life — even directed at the ones most loved. Jealousy, vengefulness, fear of betrayal, and hate become the “colors” that cloud one’s vision.

This is simply a theory by an outsider. I do not claim to have any sort of personal knowledge of the man… just trying to make sense out of my own shock and dismay. I am horrified that someone I respected as an althlete/performer was not only capable of such, but acted on it. I condemn the actions, not the man.

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 05:17:14 +0000

Good Lord…nearly 60 comments on this thing. I do not know if we are all a bunch of closet pro wrestling fans, or if we are shocked to hear that someone whom most of us have “known” would commit such a heinous act. There is no excuse for what happened.

By: Tim Short

Tim Short — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 17:34:54 +0000

Tomer Chen Says:

June 26th, 2007 at 7:46 am
No athlete linked to concusssion/head trauma injuries, to my knowledge, has been accused of such an act like Benoit’s.

Billy Papke supposedly was extremely erratic the last few years of his life after his Boxing career ended and he ended up killing his wife and then himself.

That adds to my point. It is something that occurred over time not one single psychaotic break leading to murder of everyone around you.

By: Tomer Chen

Tomer Chen — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 16:42:52 +0000

However, I jumped into this thread because I’m a bit disconcerted that Benoit fans seem to me, from the outside, more concerned with paying respect to his professional legacy than his alleged murders.

It’s not any different than any other case when a controversial person died. I don’t remember ever reading a Carlos Monzon obit that said he was a piece of garbage and ignored his Middleweight legacy (they focused on the legacy and casually mentioned that he went to jail for second degree murder). The same for ‘Sugar’ Ray Robinson and others that weren’t exactly saints.

Cognitive dissonance is a funny thing. People prefer to accentuate the positive rather than the negative 99% of the time. It’s just human nature.

By: Grape Knee High

Grape Knee High — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 16:25:18 +0000

“The same is true for Ali, Monzon, Robinson, LaMotta, etc. They may have been bad human beings, but it’s not factored into the achievement equation.”

Tomer, you misunderstand me.

I am *not* taking anything away from Benoit’s or OJ’s professional achievements. Benoit, I don’t know myself, but OJ was clearly an NFL great.

However, I jumped into this thread because I’m a bit disconcerted that Benoit fans seem to me, from the outside, more concerned with paying respect to his professional legacy than his alleged murders.

In the end, I’m a huge NFL fan but I’m going to remember OJ more as a murderer rather than a great RB (as I suspect most NFL fans will be). I don’t think there will be many people paying respect to OJ or his career when he dies.