The Quick Talkdown 6.30.07: Benoit Cripples Legacy...
Posted by Phill Feltham on 06.30.2007
But let's not pass judgment. Hate the man, but honor the legend.
The thought of a "Vince McMahon Memorial" for a three-hour RAW would have brought uncontrollable vomiting. I might have changed the channel, but a still of a deceased Chris Benoit ‘1967-2007' haunted my screen instead. I had to watch.
Because of this, wrestling insiders and media monsters have spent tons of time speculating why Chris Benoit—if he did—killed his family and took his own life. Even this wrestling columnist has his theories. But speculation is not the job of a journalist, only the cold hard facts. But in today's media world, speculation drives up the ratings. If only Benoit had left a note.
Who felt a little bit of anger over this whole thing? The Vince McMahon death angle had me doubting his sincerity--not to mention the likes of Triple H and Stephanie McMahon--during the RAW Tribute show. Wasn't it Stephanie, who only a week ago, was crying over an alleged dead father? Now Chris Benoit is dead. She gave a similar speech, but were the tears real?
I don't want to doubt if she feels no remorse or not—that makes me look like an ass. Heraldo and Bill O'Rielly both get 'media ass of the year' awards. What I'm saying is death angles have no place in wrestling. We know wrestling is entertainment, but there is a sense of reality that is unspoken outside the squared circle. Now every wrestling angle and behind-the-scenes dirt is being turned up by the main-stream media. Every show is now Monday Night RAW. Good job Chris! Who's on board for the Chris Benoit murder-suicide movie? It might do better than Oliver Stone's World Trade Center flick.
So many deaths have occurred in wrestling that to hear another one makes it believable. Sure, I was on board for the whole McMahon death angle, but when Benoit and his family were found dead, I gained a new perspective. Kudos to McMahon for pulling the plug on the angle—it showed class. Too bad he accused Benoit of 'deliberately' murdering his kin. McMahon wants to save his bacon against any new steroid scandals. Too bad, Vince, dark days ahead.
Now for the giant game of Clue—Colonal Mustard did it in the library with the candle stick. The Associated Press, WWE.com, and countless numbers of media outlets have covered Chris Benoit's death. I'm not going to soak in the grim details that have already been posted on here a thousand times.
The sad part is that Benoit not only killed his family, but his legacy. Everything he ever worked for and achieved--gone. WWE is trying to erase him completely from their websites, television shows and product lines. But that can't happen. Like the Montreal Screwjob for Bret Hart, the grim details of the Benoit family suicide-murders will always eclipse Benoit's contribution to the industry.
We as wrestling fans can't get caught up and think of Chris Benoit as the plague. We have to remember Chris Benoit as a wrestler—and not as a kid killer. If the allegations are true, then yes, Benoit was disturbed in the head, but he did marvels for the wrestling fans in that ring. We can't pass judgement because that makes us no better than Benoit.
If you try to protend that Benoit's career doesn't exist, you know what will happen? You will do just what the WWE has been doing. You'll try to remove all the merchandise from your house and memory; you'll skip the matches on old PPVs just so you can avoid Benoit's matches. Is that what you really want? Bottom line is Chris Benoit has over 15 years invested into the wrestling business—his name will pop up now and again.
It remains to be seen if the WWE will honor Benoit the way they did this past Monday or give his death the coverage that Eddie Guerrero's did these past two years after the media circus coverage dies down. We might see that Benoit murder movie, but I doubt we'll ever see him in the WWE Hall Of Fame.
OTHER COMMENTS ON THE BENOIT TRAGEDY
ROB VAN DAM
"How many murderers…baby murderers at that… are praised so highly by EVERYONE who knew them? This is all so bizarre and new information seems to come out every few hours but I can't imagine we'll ever understand what happened here. It appears that Chris took the answers with him. To tell you the honest truth, the easiest thing for me to believe at this moment is that if no frame work was involved, he was taken over by demonic energies with no compassion. I have to believe this is often the case with such inhumane acts."
MATT HARDY
"I haven't always agreed with every decision Vince McMahon has made, but I do agree with everything he's done dealing with this situation thus far. Out of respect for the sudden death of Benoit's family and his contributions to the business, I think Vince did the right thing by canceling the scheduled Raw. When the decision was made to make Raw a Chris Benoit tribute show, the WWE was only doing what seemed respectful and right at that time. When more information was discovered, the WWE took a different and appropriate stance towards their programming. The ECW and Smackdown shows this week were dedicated to our great fans. Wrestling fans who were grieving and confused over this tragedy needed us, including me, to entertain them. I feel it is my responsibility, as well as my pleasure, to put smiles on people's faces and give them an escape from reality. I know Vince feels that way as well."
JIM ROSS
"I know that Benoit's behavior was totally uncharacteristic of him, as I knew him over so many years as he was one of the most professional and polite men with which I have ever been associated. I don't know why this sickening chain of events happened, but murder, especially taking one's own child's life, is unpardonable. I am anxious to read the results of the toxicology reports as the next curious individual but the bottom line is that 3 people are dead including a mother and her son. It is not too late for all of us to change how we deal with our own families and our friends and to honor every day we have the privilege of being on this earth. Remember, we are all only passing through, so take every day as a gift and continue to count all one's blessings. Today can truly be the first day in the rest of our lives. God Bless all of you that are suffering. Lean on God…He can handle it."
