411 Fact or Fiction 6.28.07: The Fallout of the Benoit Family Murder-Suicide, Did Vengeance Live up to the hype, is Joe as the X-Champ a Good Move and More!
Posted by Larry Csonka on 06.28.2007
Week ONE HUNDRED and THIRTY-THREE features Michael Melchor, Brandon Crow and discussion of Chris Benoit as wrestling’s “OJ Simpson.”
Welcome back to another week of 411 Fact or Fiction: Wrestling Edition! This week, two 411 standouts go head to head as the legendary "DOUBLE M" Michael Melchor takes on Brandon Crow and battle it out over the following six questions!
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Let's get to it!
1. The "Benoit Family Tragedy" will have a negative effect on the entire business.
BRANDON CROW:FICTION. Chris Benoit's death, though sudden and definitely shocking, will unfortunately be no different than the numerous other "sudden and shocking" deaths in professional wrestling. Let me run a few quick names by everyone:
Kerry Von Erich (well, actually, the entire Von Erich clan, I believe...), Louie Spicolli, Brian Pillman, Ravishing Rick Rude, Mr. Perfect, Yokozuna, Andre the Giant, Crash Holly, The British Bulldog, Road Warrior Hawk, Big Bossman, Eddie Guerrero, and even Owen Hart. And these are just the names and tragedies that pop straight to mind. I'm sure there are countless more.
The sad truth is, though we as wrestling fans are hit hard by these unrelenting deaths, most of the general public could care less. Most don't even know what's going on. I told a friend who asked me what's wrong at lunch today about Chris Benoit and he blew it off with "oh yeah, I think I saw some little thing on that." And this is probably the one tragic wrestling story that has gotten the most mainstream attention due to bizarre nature of it.
And since we're laying truth on the table, let's face it: if Owen's death and Bret's screw job didn't kill off wrestling...
DOUBLE M:FICTION. While the death of Benoit is far from those of others due to the circumstances, nothing lasting will come of this. For that, the general public and the media would actually have to care. As it is right now, this is good copy for a few days to a week because they can sensationalize this for maximum profit. (Remember, the media is a business liker any other.) They'll run the "steroids HAD to be the culprit because rasslin' is stupid and here's why" angle for as long as they can until Paris Hilton does something else stupid or Angelina Jolie adopts another third-world child or something else they care about more. Once that happens, wrestling will be left alone again until something else happens that the media can use wrestling as a punching bag for again. Until then...to plan and to ponder, until the cycle begins anew.
Score:1 for 1
2. Chris Benoit will be remembered as wrestling's OJ Simpson. (Meaning that people will forget what career he had and only remember him for double murder-suicide of this past weekend.)
BRANDON CROW:FICTION. In conjunction to my point above, I think most people don't know who Chris Benoit is. They won't make any real, lastng connections to OJ. The ones who may equate Benoit to OJ would be the fans. But wrestling fans won't do that, at least not the majority of them.
Personally, I was a huge Benoit fan. After Bret Hart left the business, Benoit slowly won me over as "my favorite wrestler." Does this act taint his legacy for me? Yes. Does it put in my mind some oddity that won't be reconciled? Yes. Will it compel me to think of Benoit as OJ? No.
As a fan, I choose to give Benoit that pass. I choose to remember his career, his matches, his one-on-one with Bret, his World Title win. May not sit very popularly with some folks, but that's my choice. And I believe it will be the choice of many fans as well.
DOUBLE M:FACT. …Because it's already starting to happen. Most people I talk to that were a fan of Benoit before aren't anymore because they can't get past the fact that Benoit killed his own son. That in and of itself is enough to do in his wrestling legacy, but then most of those same have had the same thing to say..."It's just like OJ Simpson – one of the greatest running backs in the NFL but who's not remembered for that anymore. He's known as the guy that killed his wife." I've heard this a lot over the past few days and I can safely bet I'll hear it again...and again...and again.
Score:1 for 2
3. The WWE was in a "damned if they do, damned if they don't" situation in regards to running the Chris Benoit tribute show.
BRANDON CROW:FACT. There was no easy or graceful way out for the WWE. They bit the bullet, shut down a show, and decided to not run the McMahon angle. That's the best thing they could have done for themselves.
DOUBLE M:FACT. WWE had probably an hour and a half to scrap a planned, scripted 3-hour show to do what they did. They were definitely between a rock and a hard place – do they go with the planned show and look like the most tasteless, callous company in the world, or do they do a tribute to a man that may have brought about his own demise (as police were in the Benoit home while the show was happening)? With three hours of live airtime to eat up, they had to do something and, given the circumstances, they did the best they could.
Score:2 for 3
---SWITCH~!---
4. Samoa Joe winning the X-Title last week was a good move.
DOUBLE M:FICTION. Not from a business standpoint, because you now have Samoa Joe & Kurt Angle (who can't stand each other) vs. Team 3D for all the marbles. In other words, a match more marketable than Angle and Jay Lethal. That, however, is why I say "Fiction" because, given the time and chance, Lethal could have been TNA's next big star. Many I talk to love the "Black Machismo" gimmick and this is from people who already loved Jay Lethal's work in the ring. TNA spends all this time building him up, gimmick and all, to the point of handing him the X-Division title...only to have him drop on the very next television show they do in the name of promoting a PPV. THAT, my friends, is shortsightedness at its best. It's also a prime example of showing your fans why they shouldn't care about one of your stars by not caring that much about him yourselves.
BRANDON CROW:FICTION. This was a screw up of epic proportions in two different ways for TNA. First, Samoa Joe has both outgrown the X Title as well as doesn't need it to be over. This isn't anywhere near Raven's next night loss of the US Title to Goldberg. Goldberg was on his way up...way, way up! This would be more like making the Undertaker the US Champ two days after MVP took it off Benoit. Fans are left asking simply, "what the hell was the point and the build up?"
Second, they have completely wasted the entire Black Machismo angle. Poor Jay Lethal.
Score:3 for 4
5. Sunday's Vengeance: Night of Champions show did not live up to the hype.
DOUBLE M:FACT. In fact, I'd go do far as to say that the "Night Of Champions" was damn-near an abortion of a pay-per-view. The first two matches were decent, but as soon as Johnny Nitro was announced in the ECW Title match – and then won – the show took a downward turn. The rest smacked of mediocrity to the point that it felt like Raw more than a pay-per-view. Part of the problem was, after being touted as such a HISTORIC night...nothing historic really happened. Far from it; only two of the titles changed hands. One had to because it was vacant and the other was the Women's title which few give a damn about, anyway.
BRANDON CROW:FACT. I am in absolute agreement with Mike here. He hit it on point; there's nothing for me to add.
Score:4 for 5
6. Ron Killings and Konnan leaving TNA are not big losses.
DOUBLE M:FACT. Both Killings and Konnan were de-emphasized to the point that neither one mattered in the programming or storylines, anyway. Konnan was a mouthpiece for LAX, a team that was hotter than hell before their direction and momentum were derailed to the point of near-ridicule. As for Killings...aside from making an ass out of himself bashing John Cena for a company that couldn't be bothered to back him up, what has he done or been known for in the company lately? Think about it for a minute. Exactly. Both were at that point – stars that had lost their luster.
BRANDON CROW:FACT. Who? Exactly.
Score:5 for 6
These two finish 5 for 6! Join us next week for more Fact or Fiction!
