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-------------------- Mr. Tito, 12/24/11: This was a difficult column to put together and then have the guts enough to post. My point on Chris Benoit is that I do NOT condone what he did, but I worry that the wrestling industry us destroying human beings physically and mentally to morph them into something they are not. And I even put in a Bibliography for this piece... -------------------- Welcome back to the "Excellence in Column Writing", also known as the Wrath of Tito. Hope all is well with the LordsofPain.net audience, as I'm back for a certain reason. That reason is one of the most significant days in pro wrestling history: June 24th, 2007, which was 4 years ago. That single day caused forced and needed change to pro wrestling, serving as a major wake-up call. Unless you were under a rock during that time, it was the day that Chris Benoit was determined to have killed himself after murdering both his wife and child. Before I boldly write about this topic, please allow me to preface this: I'm VERY disgusted in what Chris Benoit did. In fact, I wish he had the courage to stand trial and accept punishment by a jury of his peers instead of taking the **** way out of it by killing himself. For what he did, he should have felt years upon years of shame to think about what he did to his family. As a new father myself, what he did has become more personal because I could not even, for a fraction of a second, think about doing what Benoit did to his family. To do what Benoit did to the person he said wedding vows to or the child he created is completely disgusting. I could never take another person's life, let alone those who are the closest to me. That said, let me ask the following questions: Would Chris Benoit, the Engineer, kill his family? Would Chris Benoit, the School Teacher, kill his family? Even the Chris Benoit, the Postal Worker, would he kill his family? Would his working conditions at each of these jobs force him to work beyond 8 hours a day, pressure him to work through injuries, or pressure him to take performance enhancement drugs just to look tougher? I don't think so... Now it can be said that Chris Benoit ultimately decided to become a wrestler. That's a very fair statement. Chris Benoit idolized Dynamite Kid and when Benoit, at age 15, met Dynamite in person, he pretty much made up his mind to become a pro wrestler. Instead of attending college, Benoit attended Stu Hart's Dungeon. What, are we to punish a young kid for following his dream? Granted, Benoit's biggest influence was Tom Billington, the Dynamite Kid. Billington has openly admitted his steroid use, but who is to say that Billington introduced Benoit to performance enhancing drugs? Regardless, pro wrestling is what Chris Benoit, at a young age, wanted to do for a living and he followed his dream and was incredibly successful at it. But for a price. Wrestling changed drastically during the 1980's. Territories went away, and with that, fewer employers (WCW, WWF/WWE) could become the few employers. Thus, if you wanted to make it big in pro wrestling and realize your dreams of maximizing revenues at the highest level, you had to do it through WCW and the WWE. Thus, the demands on wrestlers to work through injuries and have the new accepted "look" that was influenced from Mr. Universe competitions of the 1970's. If you didn't look like a bodybuilder, YOU LOST YOUR SPOT. If you didn't work through injuries, YOU LOST YOUR SPOT. Otherwise through the 1990's, if you didn't like what your big wrestling employer wanted you to do, i.e. keep the physique or work through injuries, you only had ONE choice. Take Chris Benoit, for an example. He worked for WCW from 1995 to 2000, and then when a creative spat occurred during January 2000, he worked for only the WWF/WWE until his death on 6/24/07. WCW went away during March 2001... Where could Chris Benoit go to maximize his income as a pro wrestler? Thus, whatever the WWF/WWE wanted him to do, he had to if he wanted to keep wresting at a high level. Wrestling is a dangerous profession and there's no doubt that Chris Benoit took many bumps/bruises in his 15 years before joining the WWF during 2000. However, he was the WWF/WWE's responsibility from 2000-2007 as an employee, even if the WWE would claim he was an independent contractor. Benoit had to abide to any policies/procedures and the enforcement of those policies/procedures of a publicly traded corporation known as the WWF/WWE. Whatever happened between 2000-2007, a publicly traded corporation endorsed. This would also including following the rule of law, which in the case of employees using illegal drugs, could become problematic (maybe not for independent contractors?), as well as following working conditions laws throughout the past 40 years. Granted, the information on the long-term effects of concussions are just being made public and increased in seriousness, as you're seeing with the NFL and NHL regulating headshots. Benoit lost his mind during June 2007. There were some signs indicating problems on the horizon. Chris Benoit and Nancy Benoit (formerly "Woman" from WCW) are on record as to having some domestic problems during 2003, including a restraining order and divorce papers filed by Nancy. Nancy dropped both, for whatever reason, but she did that Chris Benoit had a mean streak that would involve throwing and breaking furniture. Other than this domestic incident which Nancy Benoit opted to not pursue, the signs of a troubled man were not there. He had many friends backstage, was a highly respected professional, and by all means, appeared to love his family. He brought his son Daniel Benoit backstage and always appeared quite proud of him. Even if there were issues, the publicly traded corporation known as the WWF/WWE during 2000-2007 either lacked policies to escalate personnel problems or didn't enforce policies. Something went wrong during June 2007. He completely snapped and killed both his beloved wife and son on June 22nd and appeared to remain in his home until killing himself on June 24th. Thus, he did what he did and remained around the bodies for almost 2 days. Something went BADLY wrong. Benoit notified the WWE that he would be unable to show for the June 24th Vengeance: Night of the Champions Pay Per View due to "personal reasons". If Benoit was having trouble at home during his 2000-2007 WWE tenure, he may have hid them by being a very dependable wrestler who rarely missed due to injury (neck injury was the only thing that slowed him). Wrestling could have been his salvation to escape any personal problems he may have had. For him to call-off and then completely lose it is an indication of inconsistent behavior to me (booked to win the ECW Title, too). Heck, lacking a history of violence to commit murder of his wife/son and then suicide is very inconsistent. In other words, something changed Chris Benoit for the first 40 years of his life, but the damage done to Chris Benoit by professional wrestling changed him during his last month of his life. In other words, while Chris Benoit was the person who killed Daniel and Nancy Benoit during June 2007, I seriously question if this bad weekend would have occurred had it not been for the significant brain damage suffered as well as the steroid use endured by Chris Benoit just to keep living his dream at a high level. Please consider these significant facts that could have drastically changed Chris Benoit before and after 2000: - WWF/WWE eliminated drug testing from 1996 to 2006 due to "financial reasons" and that testing was "reinstituted" after Eddie Guerrero's death, according to Linda McMahon's interview with the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, 12/13/07 (Simmons 3) Chris Benoit worked for the WWF/WWE from early 2000 until his death through June 2007. - Between implementation of the Wellness Program during early 2006 until Chris Benoit's death on 6/24/07, Benoit tested positive THREE times under the Wellness Program but "received no suspension or other penalties as a result of these positive tests", according to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Letter to Office of National Drug Control Policy, 1/2/09. (Simmons 3) - Prescription anabolic steroids were found in Chris Benoit's house during the murder/suicide investigation, appearing to receive shipments from an online pharmacy based out of Florida. (Fish 1) - Autopsy of Chris Benoit at the time of his death revealed that he had 10 times the normal amount of testosterone in his system, according to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Letter to Office of National Drug Control Policy, 1/2/09. (Simmons 3) - Test results on Chris Benoit's brain revealed that his brain was so damaged that it resembled that of an 85 year old Alzheimer's patient, according to the head of neurosurgery at West Virginia University. (ABC NEWS 1) - Brain damage, upon examination of Benoit's brain after death, was found in all 4 lobes of the brain and deep into the brainstem. Brainscans found brown clumps or tangles, or brown spots, which are indications of dead brain cells caused by head trauma according to the head of neurosurgery at West Virginia University. This type of brain damage indicates an advanced form of Dementia (ABC News 1). - Benoit has openly told friends that he has had "more concussions than he could count". (ABC News 1) IN SUMMARY - Being completely untested from 2000-2005 for performance enhancing drugs, and from 2006 to 2007, he flunked 3 tests without penalty under the new "Wellness Program". Upon his death, steroids found at his house and high levels of testosterone in his body. Then, the personal admission to friends about being unable to count the number of concussions which coincides the incredible amount of brain damage found upon examination of Benoit's brain after death. Wowzer... It reads to me as if his employer at the time, the WWF/WWE, should have been proactive as a publicly traded corporation to not just protect its assets from harm, but to also avoid reputational risk from one of their wrestlers snapping from brain damaged mixed with steroid use. It begs the potential question... Can we forgive Chris Benoit? During June 22 to June 24 of 2007, we have NO IDEA what Chris Benoit was thinking during those days. Obviously, he lost it and having brain damage combined with heightened testosterone, chances are that the Chris Benoit that most wrestlers and fans respected wasn't the monster that destroyed his family on June 22. Maybe the real Chris Benoit returned to earth on June 24th and couldn't live with the shame of what happened on a "lost day". What Benoit did is something that deserves burning in hell for enternity, but chances are that Benoit couldn't control his rage due to brain damage and heightened levels of testosterone flowing through his body. Benoit wasn't tested from 2000-2005, and flunked 3 Wellness Program tests from 2006-2007 without penalty. Multiple concussions probably endured. Where was the WWE? With today ironically being June 25th, 2011, 4 years to the day of June 25th, 2007 of the Monday Night RAW tribute to Chris Benoit... It makes me wonder if fans have it in them to remember what a great wrestler Chris Benoit was as remembered on that 6/25/07 RAW before the real news came out. He was one of the best in-ring performers of all time and he brought out the very best in many of wrestling's bests, including Steve Austin, Rock, Triple H, Kurt Angle, Eddie Guerrero, Shawn Michaels, Randy Orton, Kane, Chris Jericho, and many others. Obviously, he did what he did and it sadly can't be reversed. I can't quite get over it myself, as another favorite wrestler bieng lost actually prompted me to stop watching wrestling after the 6/25/07 RAW until late 2009, my "blackout" period when you didn't see me writing these Wrath of Tito columns or even now with the Blog is Tito daily entries. However, I can't help but place liability on pro wrestling for its role in killing Chris Benoit. Sadly, it took the deaths of two great wrestlers, Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero, and 2 innocent family members, Nancy Benoit and Daniel Benoit, to "scare" pro wrestling "straight". The Wellness Program was ramped up and wrestlers were soon suspended for violations. Drug testing and better medical care of its wrestlers should have been there the entire time, however. --------------------------------------- BIBLIOGRAPHY Simmons, Rob. "10 Questions for Linda McMahon." Letter to Linda McMahon. 4 Mar. 2010. Hartford Courant Blog. Rob Simmons for U.S. Senate, 4 Mar. 2010. Web. 23 June 2011. < "Benoit's Brain Showed Severe Damage From Multiple Concussions, Doctor and Dad Say - ABC News." ABCNews.com: Breaking News, Politics, World News, Good Morning America, Exclusive Interviews - ABC News. ABC News, 5 Sept. 2007. Web. 23 June 2011. Fish, Mike. "Steroids Discovered in Probe of Slayings, Suicide - ESPN." ESPN: The Worldwide Leader In Sports. ESPN.com News Services, 27 June 2007. Web. 23 June 2011. ---------------------------------------- 10 Things I ThinkAs inspired by Sports Illustrated's Peter King. 1. Eric Bischoff is the Dan Gilbert of Pro Wrestling. I'm watching Eric Bischoff complain about wrestling fans via his Twitter and Facebook account, and I just laugh. He reminds me of Cleveland Cavs owner, Dan Gilbert. The Cavs were handed Lebron James in 2003 and eventually, Dan Gilbert when in full control, was able to enjoy James packing his arenas and boosting the value of the Cavs franchise. Much like Eric Bischoff with Ted Turner's money when finally getting Hulk Hogan after a disastrous 1993. Then, of course Dan Gilbert loses Lebron James and the Cavs were horrible for the 2010-2011 season. When Eric Bischoff's Time Warner money was beginning to tighten up, suddenly his creative ideas dried up and since 1998, he's been a failure creatively in pro wrestling. Like Bischoff, Gilbert is a troll on the internet and feeds the fans's burning rage towards their profession. Instead of acting like a professional, they feed the trolls. Acting like an idiot on Twitter or other internet resources is just an extension of how weak Bischoff and Gilbert are as executives and how Time Warner money and Lebron James masked their weaknesses. 2. What is up with the Macho Man Randy Savage DVD? I'm late to the game on this one, but I'm buying up DVD libraries of my favorite wrestlers. I bought Macho Man Randy Savage's for a nice $12.99 brand new price, but I probably found out why... Matt Stryker and Maria have to be the worst hosts of all time. They were both completely clueless on how to host a presentation, let alone commenting on Randy Savage's career properly. Maria is pure stupidity, while Stryker is just a poor lead host. I'm mean seriously, Michael Cole wasn't available for 2 hours to host this DVD professionally? 3. I'm still not over Macho Man's death. His death is a tough one for me to swallow. He was one of my favorites of all time and it's sad to me that he was never able to say goodbye to the business. He's an all-time great that fizzled towards the end of his WCW career and he didn't last long in TNA. Sadly, he could never work something out with the WWE to give us a fitting goodbye and he was beginning to possibly work with the WWE by agreeing to the toy deal. I'll admit this.. I watched Ultimate Warrior vs. Randy Savage @ Wrestlemania 7, and I'll admit this... Seeing Savage and Miss Elizabeth reunite got me... It really hit me that both are GONE from this world and what a shame. 4. Pregame show by the WWE for RAW? I've long argued that the WWE should attempt to match production of pro sports leagues. In this case, the WWE is reportedly discussing having a pre-game show for Monday Night RAW. If so, it would be cool to bring back some ex-wrestlers to be on the panel and it would be a great way to possibly keep recently retired wrestlers in the business instead of putting them in harm's way by wrestling beyond the age of 40. Shawn Michaels would be perfect as a panelist and it would keep him around the sport without needing him to wrestle. I'd recommend giving Paul Heyman a call to be on the pre-game show. Just go watch 2001 and enjoy Heyman on commentary. The guy is awesome and thought provoking on a live mic. Someone like Roddy Piper would also work well... 5. Best way to FIX Matt Hardy is to IGNORE him. I see that several columnists are falling into the trap I learned long ago... Matt Hardy loves to stir crap up using internet resources, with YouTube and Twitter beign his recent choices. The bait is being taken... I'd advise IGNORING HIM. He's a midcarder at heart in any federation that he joins and he appears to not appreciate the jobs he's had. Just ignore him and let him soon realize the fact that the pile of money that the WWE and TNA has paid him won't last forever. Both Matt & Jeff Hardy should be wrapping up their WWE careers by now and possibly be used backstage as road agents to teach the next generation of wrestlers how to entertain. Instead, they're both out of the WWE and screwing up. Based on their great matches during the early 2000's, it's quite shocking to see the Hardy Boys 10 years later. 6. WWE should book Hulk Hogan vs Ultimate Warrior for Wrestlemania 28. If I were Vince McMahon and wanted to add a comedy match to Wrestlemania 28, why not look at Hulk Hogan vs. Ultimate Warrior? Since both wrestlers talk up themselves, let's see how "great" both are by having them put on a great match in their older days. I do believe the match would be enjoyable from a crowd standpoint, as they'd crap all over the match much liked Brock Lesnar vs. Bill Goldberg at Wrestlemania 20. It could be billed as the "rubber match", provided Warrior's win at Wrestlemania 7 and Hogan's victory at Halloween Havoc 1998. It would be highly entertaining to see this trainwreck! 7. It would be sad to see CM Punk to leave the WWE. CM Punk's WWE deal is expiring soon and he's looking to leave the WWE, citing burnout I do believe. From all that I've seen, he's a good all around wrestler, but the look and personality change performed during late 2010 has only scratched the surface on his potential. Having him be booked strong heading into Cena suggests to me that he might have a new deal, but it could be just building up Punk to allow Cena to thrash him at "Money in the Bank". 8. "Meh" on the WWE Stock. WWE cutting its dividend, weak earnings, and the economy would have me worried as an investor. Closing today at $9.64 is cheap if you consider recent trends, and 4.90% isn't a bad dividend yield . I think with the WWE, it's too much of a short-term stock. I would worry about keeping the stock for over 5 years, for example. WWE is too dependent on its television deal and weak competitors. If they were to ever lose the USA Networks deal for RAW while having either TNA or Ring of Honor rise as a legitimate #2, the WWE could be in trouble down the road. I suppose it might be worth a buy when under $10 and holding through Wrestlemania 28, but you could find better conservative stock buys right now on the market. 9. Congrats to Zema Ion. On TNA Impact on Thursday, I saw a wrestler whom I followed on the local independent scene... Zema Ion, but known as "Shiima Xion", was quite an impressive wrestler when I saw him. You saw a glimpse of Zema Ion on Impact, and as you noticed, he has some moves and high flying maneuvers. When I saw him for a few years on the indy scene, he was performing moves that I've never seen before and executed mostly without flaws. Great to see one of the wrestlers you've rooted on in person from the indy scene making it to the bigtime. 10. Montreal Screwjob DVD? Jim Ross hinted on his Twitter (I know, all news flows through Twitter these days) that Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart are filming segments for a DVD to arrive in October 2011. Many are assuming it will be about the Survivor Series 1997 match where Vince McMahon ordered the referee to call the match in favor of Shawn Michaels provided that Bret Hart was getting out of his 20 year contract early and bolting to WCW. Ross suggested that they filmed 5 hours worth of interviews and it was "no holds barred". Isn't it amazing how the Montreal Screwjob is still being talked about and remains a draw for wrestling fans to warrant a DVD. That's all I have... Do me a favor and JOIN LOPForums.com, which is our message board system and you can sign up for FREE. Just Chill... Till the Next Episode... CONTACT MR. TITO - Email: [email protected] - Twitter: @titowrestling - Join LoPForums.com: Feedback Thread BLOG is TITO Archive on LoPForums.com © Mr. Tito 1998 - 2011
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