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Submitted by Degenerate on Monday, June 23, 2008 at 11:09 PM EST 
 Yo, yo, yo, what's poppin'? It's that fella who's hanging out too much in The Bronx, Degenerate, returning to you live and in person after a somewhat lengthy absence. It's not easy being me at this moment. Try juggling not one, not two, but three programming projects all at the same time. Not only that, one of them is due to launch to millions... and millions of Internet users (or so we expect) in two weeks. In the past two weeks, I've worked approximately 130 hours. Yeah, call me pathetic or that I'm wasting my life, but if you see the amount of cash in my bank account, you would know why I'm doing it. So suck it, haters. So to all of you missed me (Hi Mom!), that's my excuse for the week. I'll try to make it up to you all. No, I won't be calling random people and giving them cash. I'm not a billionaire yet. I do have a gift, though... The gift of writing. Or at least I've been told it's a gift. Right, Mom? She says I'm special. Anyway, my mama's boy syndrome won't be doing me any favors with the writing. So while you all enjoy the Draft (which I have to wait until tomorrow to see), let's get into this. Let's see if I remember... * For some reason, all I see is hate all over the place for Vince McMahon's Million Dollar Mania. Why? Because it's a blatant publicity stunt? I don't think it's a secret that the only reason this is being done is for an attempt to garner ratings and new viewers. Or is it because you weren't called or something? I wasn't called either. After reading so many news bytes about how it hasn't garnered much ratings, or how hokey the segments come off, I just think people want to be negative for no apparent reason. The guy wanted to give money to get more viewers, it's not working as planned, so oh well, move along. We'll look back at this after a couple of years and probably laugh at it all. Oh, and before I forget, kudos to that dude who 'Rick Rolled' Vince on live TV. That was funny watching him look clueless, and that proved to me how out of touch he probably is with current stuff like that. For proof, look at the video of that moment here. * Well, it sure seems from all reports that Florida Championship Wrestling is considered a mess, especially since a couple of their younger talent has been arrested. Now it's probably just me, but when you take young, good-looking guys (no homo) and put them in an environment like Tampa where they can party 365 days a year, it'll eventually happen. This is pretty much expected for guys in their 20's. I should know, since I'm in my 20's as well. Plus, considering that there are barely any shows being produced, thanks to shoddy facilities with no bathrooms (Seriously? I would expect some place like Iowa to have places without indoor bathrooms, but Tampa?), these kids don't really have much incentive to behave. The WWE made a major mistake in not choosing another place ready for these tasks, like Booker T's PWA or like I mentioned a while back, in Puerto Rico. These places already produce shows frequently and have established talent. Hopefully they will learn the mistake of their ways soon. * So Carlito is still majorly unhappy with his current role on WWE television. Can you blame him? As you might remember, he was unhappy and apparently very close to quitting a few months ago. But the WWE, most likely not wanting him to jump ship to TNA, convinced him to stay. I'm guessing they gave him a few speeches on how things were going to get better for him, he would be getting more television time, how they were going to write him into better storylines, probably even told him they were going to award him with a lengthy championship reign or something. Now, I've been on the receiving end of these speeches, and it's really bad when they turn out to be empty promises. Thus far, it seems whatever they told Carlito for him to stay are just that: empty promises. If by a miracle Carlito reads this: dude, if you're not happy, just go. They'll be the ones missing you, and usually the grass is much greener on the other side. * Since when John Cena and Mickie James have had a relationship that spilled onto television? I thought Mickie James was engaged to Kenny Dykstra (poor fellow) and Cena was in somewhat of a long-term relationship? Or is the term 'relationship' mean just a simple friendship? I'm lost. It does seem to bring some interesting television (Except that part when Cena returned Mickie's thong - Stupid move, John, you should've sold that on eBay!). I also think that real-life friendships or closer relationships should be brought to the camera, since usually this translated to good chemistry on-screen. Road agents should keep tabs on this. Of course, there's always the risk of that relationship ending on a sour note. But that should be scripted into TV as well. This reminds me of a clip I saw recently from when Matt Hardy was rehired after being fired for the whole Lita - Edge - Hardy love triangle. Matt Hardy was backstage and Lita came up to him with a jacket on, then said something like "How does it feel to know you'll never have any of this", while zipping down her jacket to reveal her lovely fake lady lumps. That was just evil. And I liked it, but maybe the fake stuff brought made me think that way. I don't remember. * Finally, a word for TNA: THANK YOU for finally giving A.J. Styles a decent push! His feud with Kurt Angle is now garnering much more attention that the Samoa Joe - Booker T feud for the TNA World Championship. Still, I don't blame you for taking your sweet time to make this happen. It seems that A.J. now has somewhat developed his mic skills and can now make his feuds seem more meaningful instead of just putting him in a match and let him wrestle a kick-ass match. So I thank TNA for that, and it's really the only reason why I've watched TNA recently. Oh, and probably because I learned to ignore Karen Angle's screeching voice and learned to appreciate her other... assets. Thank you, TNA, for producing the pictures on your site to make me change my mind! Note: As you might have noticed, a year has passed since last year's horrific tragedy by the hands of one Chris Benoit. This column is going to be about that incident, its aftermath, and some other personal stuff. Judging by the things I've written before about this subject and how ill-received it was, I'm giving you the chance to inch your mouse cursor towards your preferred browser's Back button and click it if this subject is still an extremely touchy one for yourself. If not, hey, I warned you. Exactly one year ago to this day, on June 24, 2008, a scheduled title match between then ECW Champion John Morrison and Chris Benoit was scheduled to take place. Being moved from Smackdown, a lot of fans, myself included, were looking forward to seeing Benoit help the fledgling brand and hopefully make new stars as he most recently did with MVP. However, he no-showed the event, and word all over the place was that he had some personal business to attend to. Of course, we all know what came out of it the next day: he killed his wife, his son and himself. It's a story that still sends shockwaves in the professional wrestling world and beyond. Now that a year has passed, we can look back a bit and reflect on what's happened afterwards. The most obvious one was all the negative attacks the WWE had to fend off (and possibly still have to fend off to this day) from the media, pro wrestling detractors and even former pro wrestlers themselves. It's almost as if everyone had disappeared from the face of this planet, only to resurface and aim their bitterness towards the company that once gave most of them the breaks of their careers. I understand that they have points to make, and since they were actually a part of that environment, it seems like that they have first-hand knowledge and some inside info on what caused this tragedy to happen. Sadly, this didn't seem like the case. It was kind of like they were just looking for a way to weasel their way in front of a television camera just to get some of that TV time they no longer have. So with this onslaught of bad press, the WWE tried to do its best of shying away from everything associated with the company that had the name 'Benoit' on it. So the mass censoring began, from newer DVDs like Ric Flair and the Four Horsemen (where upon showing on WWE's 24/7 channel, they took absolutely everything where Benoit was a part of - which considering his role with the Horsemen, was a lot) to old WCW libraries (also on WWE's 24/7 channel, they went as far as to remove segments where run-ins occurred including him) to WWE's own website (take a minute and look at their list of past Royal Rumble winners - notice anything missing?). Now I already spoke about my sentiments about this issue in this column last year, and they honestly haven't changed a single bit. I feel it's stupid for the WWE to manipulate history because one single - albeit horrible to the nth degree - acts of a man's life, choosing to ignoring all the good moments Benoit provided over the years. I understand that being a public company means the need to tread a bit softly, but still it's a bad move that they're purposely ignoring the brilliant work of one of their main stars for years. Had DaVinci went bat-shit crazy and did something similar, or even worse like killing 100 children or some whacked-out stuff like that, would people destroy his inventions and choose to ignore them? Of course not. But I feel that although these things have happened over the past year, it's not all bad. As most of the time, it takes a bad situation to make some good situations happen. One instance is that there are reports that the WWE employs counselors on the road, to help anyone who had problems. I'm not sure if this is true, how long they've had this, or if people even use it, considering the 'macho' environment that seems to be predominant in the locker room. But this is one step that could mean the difference between someone getting the help they need, regaining their bearings and going off the deep-end. Regardless of when or how it came to be, I'm glad that there was a positive step taken to ensure things like these never happen again. Another thing I've noticed is that apparently there has been stronger drug testing than before. Although there's no concrete evidence Benoit did what he did because of drugs (even though he apparently had a high level of testosterone), I'm sure drugs can cause people to do unimaginable things. When Guerrero passed away, the WWE implemented their Wellness Policy, and despite people bitching about the fact that it possibly came a bit too late, I was glad this step was taken as well. After the Benoit incident, we're now hearing much more about suspensions, not only from lower-level talent but from the top tier as well. There's always the possibility that the WWE implemented this simply to keep their stockholders at ease, but I truly believe they did it out of concert of the talent. Former WWE wrestler Christopher Nowinski, having been out of professional wrestling due to a concussion, had spent most of his years after wrestling researching the symptoms of concussions on professional athletes. Upon the news of this occurrence, Nowinski founded the Sports Legacy Institute, hoping to further bring awareness to these types of injuries. He and Chris Benoit's father even started a fund to study the effects of brain injury further. Instead of being like all the other former pro wrestlers, Nowinski decided to use his powers not to harm the company that gave him an opportunity to be known, but to help. I wish most of these old wrestlers who are broken down mostly by no fault of their own did even half of what Nowinski did, even with a concussed brain. So a year has gone by, and we never got any further closer to what really happened that fateful weekend. There's no evidence this was caused by 'roid rage. There's also no evidence by the negative effects of head injuries. Everyone who knew him personally for years, like Bret Hart ("And like if you were at lineups, anybody in the room, he would be one of the last guys in the world you'd ever see something like this coming out of Chris Benoit.") and Chris Jericho ("If I had to leave my kids with somebody, I would leave them with Chris Benoit") probably still can't believe what happened to this very day. I don't know about you all, but I still have just about the same questions in my head as I did lat year when I wrote this column. And unfortunately, it'll most likely remain the same. This tragedy obviously isn't something I have on my mind constantly. I knew the dubious anniversary was coming up, but didn't pay no mind to it. I wasn't even planning on writing this column at all. But I did something I hadn't done in more than a year - watch an entire Chris Benoit match on DVD. Although I have defended the fact that we shouldn't just forget about his illustrious wrestling career because of this incident, I just found it sort of wrong to watch the DVD. Part of me didn't want to do it because I was afraid that my opinion about his wrestling legacy wouldn't be the same as I say it should be. Another part of me didn't want to do it because I feared that I might actually enjoy it too much, making me feel bad in the process. So this weekend, I decided to go for it, popped in the 2nd DVD of the Wrestlemania XX set, and selected the last match. I braced myself. Guess what? I enjoyed it as much as I did the last time I saw it. I liked watching the video package before the match, showing Paul Heyman screaming at Benoit when he put him at the #1 slot in the 2004 Royal Rumble. I fully loved the match all competitors - Benoit, Shawn Michaels and Triple H - put in the Main Event of the biggest show of them all in Madison Square Garden. And I felt joy when I saw the end. Not because Benoit finally won 'The Big One'. But because I saw a human being (yes, he was a human being back then, not the monster we know now) finally getting his due after working hard for years, sacrificing absolutely everything for that one moment. Even if it were Barry Horowitz, if it had the same backstory, I would still feel the same way. That moment touched me more than 99% of any other moment ever in my life, and I think I will still feel that way for years to come. I know a lot of you readers right now will probably feel disgusted by comments like those. I don't blame you. I always try to put myself in other people's shoes, and I fully understand that some of you simply can't view Benoit as a wrestler anymore. In fact, I'm pretty sure a lot of you view him exactly like this now:  But just like I can put myself in other people's shoes, I'm sure you can probably do so too. After viewing that match in its entirety, I'm fully confident I'm able to separate the wrestler we saw on TV with the man who killed innocent people in real life. If you can't do it, then that's your deal. As I've said countless times, I certainly don't condone his actions, as any sane human being this side of Charlie Manson would do. But I can still view his matches, forget for those few minutes about reality, and enjoy the work he put on for us. After all, isn't that what most of us watch wrestling for, escaping reality for a few moments?I wouldn't expect everything to do the same as I did, but try it. Who knows if you'll be able to separate myth from reality. I've heard it all: "You'll never be able to win The Big One", "You'll never be able to do this"... A lot of critics had said "Never"... I proved them wrong." For some reason, I don't enjoy writing about Benoit at all, yet I've done it three times already, despite getting flamed from all sides. I feel like I have a somewhat valid point, and always invite discussion about anything I write, especially this. Sadly, all I seem to get with this are people unwilling to see outside the box and thus I get blasted fully for it. I really don't mind these senseless attacks by people who don't take the time to put in a coherent thought. So if you fired up your E-Mail account and got ready send me one of these senseless attacks, please spare yourself and I the trouble. Well, I'm glad I got a couple of hours to be able to get this off my chest. It's been really, really difficult to take some time to do everything I used to do before. I'm getting ready to launch a major website in the next week and a half, plus I have another project which is going full speed ahead (the 'first to market' deal is an awesome advantage, but damn difficult to pull off), plus the whole process of fiding an apartment, which I finally did, and moving next weekend has gotten me seriously strapped for time. So, I have to drop a couple of my previous activities that aren't particularly benefiting my career or bank account. So with a heavy heart, I have to announce my retirement from column writing here on LordsOfPain.net effective next July 15th. I chose that date because it marks the third anniversary of when I wrote Struggle For Power #1 down in the great Columns Forum of this site. I'll definitely have a column written on that date, and hopefully I can squeeze a few hours on the weekend to write one, possibly two more columns before then. So it sucks that I have to leave something I truly enjoy doing, even if I'm accused of taking it very seriously. I take most of the things I like a lot really seriously, so know that this isn't an easy decision which I pestered many of my column writing peers over a few days, asking for advice on what to do. In any case, just like there were great column writers before me here on this site, there will continue to be great columns afterwards. Right now we're sort of full of relative newcomers who I truly hope can flourish under these bright lights and produce great columns for everyone. So I'll be keeping an eye out for their work and surely bitch about it like an old grandfather or something like that. So keep an eye out for the Struggle For Power Finale in a few weeks. In the meantime, why don't you go and read some of the awesome stuff the probable Main Pagers of tomorrow have written? Who knows, I'll probably poke my head in from time to time and drop a column on these unsuspecting peeps over in the Columns Forum. Savana's Chamber of Pain #28- Wrestling has planted a seed in your mind By: Dairy Ever notice doing something for wrestling that made you question your sanity? Like for example, when I called off a date once with a girl I was trying so hard to go out with me to go watch some WWE Pay-Per-View? Well, one of Houston's Dairy Queen's best Andy Savana has noticed that too, and wrote his signs for you all. Shuffle Up and Deal, V. 13: Are you Tough Enough? By: A drunken poker-playin' fool Remember Maven? Neither do I. But I do remember Tough Enough, the series where nobodies became lower-card somebodies. The poker playin' dude called Jetsetpoker wrote a nice article about the people featured in the early seasons of the series, and their fate afterwards. The picture he posted of Maven alone is worth clicking the link to his column above. Read This Column and A Winner Is You, Part I (Or: It's A Secret to Everybody) By: Someone is undoubtedly tired of being accused of being an alias for someone very much hated in the Columns Forum (Update: And proved the accusations were true) I love video games a whole lot. Ever since I played Pole Position when I was like 4 or 5 years old, I've been hooked on them. I'm guessing the majority of wrestling fans are video game fans too. Not only the WWE, but many other companies have done countless games ever since the 8-bit NES days. The one known as Donkey Kong has started a series talking about these games and how much they sucked. Really, most of these early games weren't good even by that era's standards, with the exception of one or two. Oh, and he stole my 'A Winner Is You' picture. As always, I hope you enjoy my columns, and take a few minutes to read those I mentioned above. They're so worthy of your reading. Not as much as for my column, but worthy nonetheless. After that, swing by my feedback thread and leave some kind (or most likely due to the subject of this column, harsh) words for me. If you don't want to create an account there (why wouldn't you?), then you can go ahead with good ol' fashioned E-Mail: dennmart@gmail.com. I'll be waiting for you. Definitely no homo there. Hope to see you all soon, Degenerate
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