Welcome Back To My World!
Chris Benoit: Judgment Day
Hello there, My Millions! It is now time for the third episode of the least watched series in LOP history, My World! But, I feel I must warn you, I am not alone! I bring with me my brother from a Canadian mother, the loft apartment over my really great party, the steaming pile in your front lawn... Steamy Rayyyyyy Vaughn!!
SRV: Hello, Law. Thanks for inviting me to your world. It is me, the tween wave superstar, gearing up for a nice long Steamy Solo. Of course you all know me as the author of Tales from the Vault, a historical column where I look back at past wrestling PPVs with fresh eyes. Today however, will be a bit different.
TheLAW: Not a problem, my man, I'm glad to have you with me. Well, Steamy, as you know, today we are going to dive head first into one of the most controversial topics in wrestling's history. This person has been called the best ever by the likes of William Regal, Stone Cold, and CM Punk-out. He has also been referred to as a monster by his former boss, Vinny Mac. It seems that everyone, everywhere in our small universe has an opinion about this man. Today we are going to discuss... Chris Benoit. We will answer three questions: Should Chris Benoit be in the Hall of Fame? Is there a double-standard in letting others into the HOF but not Chris Benoit? And should we forget about the murders and simply honor Chris Benoit the wrestler and not Chris Benoit the person?
You and I know the back story here, but for those that might not be playing with a full deck; I'll give the shortest version I possibly can.
The facts:
Chris Benoit was a 21+ year veteran of the squared circle. He was a two time World Champion (WCW Title and World Heavyweight Title). In his entire career, Benoit held 32 championships for various companies, and was voted PWI's No. 1 wrestler of the year in 2004. In June of 2007, over the span of three days, Chris Benoit murdered his wife and his son, before hanging himself from his weight bench. Their bodies were discovered on the 25th of June and police concluded that it was Benoit, acting alone, who committed these crimes. Since then, people have been trying to under what exactly caused Benoit to snap and commit these horrible crimes. It I something we, as wrestling fans, still struggle to understand today.
Opening statements:
TheLAW: I'm glad to have Steamy by my side with this one, as it is sure to bring some very opinionated people out of the woodwork. To attempt to tackle this topic solo, is to leave yourself alone to face the wolves. I'm going to be honest here. What Chris Benoit did in his last weekend of life is truly horrific. It is the kind of thing you only read about in stories of the most famous of killers, ranging from Manson to The Unabomber. It still doesn't feel real that Benoit is added to that list. He was one of my childhood heroes. He was equally as big a part of my fandom as The Undertaker is. In essence, Chris Benoit is a very big reason why I am here today, still infatuated with the beautiful world of professional wrestling. In spite of his last weekend, I know that I am not alone in this. All of the memories Chris left the wrestling world cannot be erased no matter how hard a certain company tries to. I was there at WrestleMania XX, you cannot tell me that I didn't feel what we all felt on that night. The original underdog toppled two of wrestling's giants in an amazing match, a match that redefined how good a triple threat can be. As phoenominal as Daniel Bryan is in the ring, he can't touch Benoit in his prime.
I realize I'm rambling on a bit here. What I am trying to say is that if Steve Austin, Jimmy Snuka, Jake Roberts, and Scott Hall are respected as Hall of Famers, than Benoit deserves to have his personal disgretions shoved aside. Even if it's only for one night, Chris Benoit earned his place. You all know that he belongs in the Hall and so does Vince McMahon. While it is important to hold people accountable for their actions, especially those as horrific as his were, we must also remember everything that Chris gave for each one of us.
SRV: I must first admit that I am not only speaking as a wrestling fan, but as a Canadian. I've thought long and hard about what exactly to say about Chris Benoit, how to best sum up everything I feel when I see his name, or see a video, or a picture, or someone praising him. Therefore; after much deliberation, I feel that the best answer is also the simplest: Fuck Chris Benoit.
Question #1: Should Chris Benoit be in the Hall of Fame?
TheLAW: Well, that is certainly putting it bluntly. I'm sure there are many out there who would agree with that sentiment. His crimes were truly terrible, and the effects of his actions are still being felt in the wrestling world, and most assuredly Canada, today. But I have to ask you the hard question. With former wrestlers, and Hall of Famers being who they are, specifically Jake Roberts, Jimmy Snuka, and Scott Hall, why are they allowed a pass while Benoit is dragged through the mud? It seems to me that, in Snuka and Hall's cases especially, that if these men can be judged solely on their career and not on their personal indiscretions, then the same criteria should also apply to Benoit. If we are to look only at what he accomplished in his career, and not the last 3 days of his life, Chris Benoit is widely considered the greatest professional wrestler of all time and for the reason, he should be in the Hall of Fame.
SRV: There is a difference. First of all, Jimmy Snuka has never been convicted of murder. We've heard rumors and suggestions, but rumors and suggestions are not facts. We don't know exactly what Snuka did or didn't do. Second of all, Jake Roberts and Scott Hall have had some personal issues, and have caused some emotional pain to their families, but to they have never murdered anyone. Benoit is dragged through the mud because he is a coward and a murderer, who took the life of his family and then hung himself. This is a man who choked his wife to death. He didn't just shoot her once in the head; he choked the life out of her and then suffocated his son with a pillow. To add insult to injury, he did this while under contract with WWE, and his actions have cast a dark cloud over the wrestling business from which it has never, and probably will never recover. If someone wants to smoke crack, drink alcohol and hurt themselves, that's their problem, but when you take two innocent lives, especially a child, YOUR CHILD, a little boy who probably loved and admired his father, that to me signifies that the Chris Benoit we knew was nothing more than an illusion. We cannot just whitewash over the history we don't like, Benoit did this, and inducting Benoit would be the equivalent of pissing on the graves of his 2 victims. Woman can never go in the Hall of fame because of Benoit, why should he have that honor?
Question #2: Is there a double-standard in letting others into the HOF but not Chris Benoit?
TheLAW: Scott Hall was convicted of 2nd degree murder in 1983 for shooting an assailant in the head during a drunken bar brawl. The charges were dropped at a later date due to lack of evidence from the prosecution. However, has Hall admitted to this during his Sixty Minutes special in 2011. I will concede that it was not his child that he killed, but in my mind a murder is a murder is a murder. In regards to Roberts, while not a murderer that we know of, he is guilty of putting his family through unimaginable pain. While this is certainly not on the same level as a Chris Benoit, there are several very real parallels that can be drawn here. Finally, when it comes to Snuka, I can easily draw the strongest comparison. His loosely tied story of how his girlfriend hit her head on the side of the road, along with the accounts of the emergency room employees who treated her, painted two very different pictures and all we are left with is pure speculation. Jimmy Snuka is basically OJ Simpson in wrestling trunks. I believe that had Chris not killed himself, we may be looking at a similar tale of the tape. There are literally hundreds of people out there that still don't believe he did it. While I am not one of them, I believe they would have a much more powerfull voice if Benoit were still alive. Not to mention that Chris would have the backing of WWE most assuredly, just like Jimmy Snuka did. Also, even without the murders, Woman would not have been considered for the HOF.
SRV: First of all we need to have a little legal class, as "Murder" is not "Murder", there are different types and severity of homicides. There is 1st degree murder, 2nd degree murder and manslaughter. First degree means a planned murder, the intent to kill; your basic serial killer who stalks his victims and tortures them to death is guilty of 1st degree murder. 2nd degree murder, is when there is no premeditation, heat of the moment stuff, but still an intent to take someone's life is formed on that moment. Then there is manslaughter, where there is a death but no intent to kill. Now that I have taken this time to explain the different types of murder, let me start with the case against Scott Hall. According to Hall, he got into a fight with a man outside a bar, the other man pulled a gun on him, Hall wrestled it away from him and shot him. This is self-defense, not murder, as there was a legitimate threat to Hall's life, and he was within his rights to defend himself. Emotional pain is not murder, just because you're an asshole doesn't mean you are a monster. Jake Roberts has had a troubled childhood, his mother was the daughter of his father's girlfriend, and Grizzly Smith (Jake's dad) raped her when she was a child, leading to Jake's birth. Add that to the murder of his sister, clearly Jake has had plenty of reasons to go off the handle, and yet what has he done besides being a dick and a drug addict? He hurt himself, not others. As for Snuka, the rumors are just that rumors, you know the old saying "innocent until proven guilty". There is no statute of limitations on murder, so if there is ever proof that Snuka did what they said he did, then he is a murderer and should be erased from history. For now though we can't prove what he did beyond a reasonable doubt. As for people believing Benoit didn't do it, please! Conspirary theories are the hot thing and everyone has one. Chris Benoit killed his family and then hung himself. This is a proven fact, Benoit tied up his wife and then strangled her while pushing into her back with his knee on Friday June 22nd. The next day, he talked to Chavo Guerrero on the phone, claimed he missed his flight and that his wife and son were sick with "food poisoning". He took the time to talk with another person, after he had brutally murdered his wife. He even said he took his son to the hospital because he was "vomiting". Then, on Sunday, he gave his son Xanax and then suffocated him with a pillow. He put Bibles next to the corpses of his family and then hanged himself in his weight room. These are facts LAW, not allegations, not theories, not rumors. He even texted people from his wife's phone and his own phone "My physical address is 130 Green Meadow Lane, Fayetteville Georgia. 30215" and "The dogs are in the enclosed pool area. Garage side door is open". This was a clear message to his colleagues to come find the bodies.
Question #3: Should we forget about the murders and simply honor Chris Benoit the wrestler and not Chris Benoit the the man?
TheLAW: I will state the portions of that I agree with first. I do agree with Scott hall. Self-defense is a justifiable homicide; however, now that we've come to the point of splitting hairs, what's to say that Hall's account was true? I will cite Snuka again in saying that the accused can often tell a version of the truth, but that does not make it fact. The reality of this situation is that there is NO physical record of what went on in those three days. There are text messages from a clearly unstable human being, who was later discovered to have the brain of an 85 yr old Alzheimer's patient. There were prescription drugs and alcohol in the house, none of which were above normal, prescribed levels accept for Nancy's BAC. Based on their history with the court, Benoit is painted as a violent monster who was abusive to his wife. Well, so was Stone Cold Steve Austin! Yet he was inducted in the Hall of fame, despite his past transgressions. Jimmy Snuka was was abusive to his girlfriend on several occasions, he's in the Hall. Scott Hall, regardless of the charges being dropped still killed a man while probably under the influence of alcohol and other drugs (based on his history), he's also the Hall. All of these men are still in the Hall of Fame based solely on their in ring achievements. These are not moral individuals no matter how you slice it. But because of the selective memory of certain executives (VINCE), they still get the honor, while Benoit is left out in the cold. I believe that once Triple H takes over the throne, we will see Benoit get what he deserves as the GREATEST technical wrestler of all time, and(all due respect) a Canadian Icon, and a Hall of Famer. Let's honor Benoit's career, and give him the same recognition and forgiveness that has been given to Steve Austin, Jimmy Snuka, Jake Roberts and Scott Hall.
SRV: Ok now I am pissed off about the Canadian icon, but I'll get back to it later. I want to tell you a story, a story about a man named Dennis Rader, a father, a husband, a church going man who worked hard to provide for his family and was just a normal neighbor, a regular guy you'd see on the street without even noticing. Except it turns out that between 1974 and 1991, Rader went on a killing spree as the BTK killer and took the life of 11 people in brutal fashion. BTK of course stood for Bind them, torture them and kill them; he killed women and entire families in their homes. When he was identified in 2005 and arrested, people couldn't believe such a normal looking man could have done such horrible things, he was able to fool the world. How about John Wayne Gacy? a businessman, a man who was married twice and ran a construction business. He dressed as a clown to entertain children, hosted parties and was an active member of his community. Later it was discovered that he raped and killed about 25 young men and then buried them in the crawlspace under his house. These men were monsters walking amongst us, they weren't regular people like you and me, they are the worst of humanity, they were able to fool those closest to them, to put on a mask and hide their true selves. I put Benoit in the same category. Don't feed me that bullshit about the alcohol, the steroids or the brain of an 85 year old Alzheimer patient. There are plenty of alcoholics, brain damaged veterans and people who suffer serious mental troubles like schizophrenia and depression, yet they don't go out and kill their families.
If Benoit was truly insane, if he wasn't aware of his actions (which if we rely on the evidence doesn't seem to be the case), then he should have been seeing a doctor, he should have talked to someone, or he should have simply took his own life, without killing his wife and child. I am not condoning, defending or excusing domestic violence, but human beings make mistake. Austin has had his problems and he has admitted them, no one is perfect, Austin was arrested and the situation was dealt with. Debra is still alive, she still walks this earth, and Stone Cold and Debra divorced, he didn't kill her. The fact is that Benoit went to the point of no return, he didn't just screw up; he took two lives in cold blood. You've been in the Marines LAW, how long does it take to shoot a gun? Few seconds? How long does it take to strangle someone to death? To get more leverage to get her to die faster? Chris Benoit belongs where he is right now, in Hell getting sodomized by Satan and Saddam Hussein. The fact of the matter is, what you saw, the man in that ring, the man we were presented was a lie, a fraud, there was always darkness in Benoit's heart; this isn't something that you just get up and do. You can't just make a to do list, 7:30 wake-up, 8:00 work-out, 9:00 have breakfast, 10:00 kill wife, 11:00 watch a movie on Netflix. The fact of the matter is, he disgraced wrestling, he disgraced his family and he disgraced Canada. Not only should Chris Benoit never be in the hall of fame, every title he's ever held, every match he's ever had, every piece of merchandise that's left should be burned and buried deep. The "Crippler" never truly existed; he just pulled the wool over all of our eyes.
Okay! We are both getting a little to heated here(That Marine Corps shot was way below the belt. We will discuss that, but not here.), so I think we should close this conversation between ourselves, and open it up to the rest of the forum.
Final Thoughts:
SRV: In conclusion, I guess I can sum up my opinion this way: Sidney Crosby, Wayne Gretzky, Bret "The Hitman" Hart, these are Canadian heroes, men who carry the Maple Leaf with pride and honor their countrymen with their accomplishments. In my mind, Chris Benoit's last 3 days on earth supersede anything he might have accomplished in pro wrestling. By celebrating the life of Chris Benoit, by honoring his work, we are forgetting that two innocent people died at the hands of this monster. There is evil walking amongst us, call it demons, psychos or murderers, but they are the worst of us. Chris Benoit forfeited his entire legacy that week-end. I will end on this quote "The Greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world that he didn't exist".
TheLAW: I like that you ended with a quote. Allow me to begin with one... "Chris Benoit was undoubtedly the hardest working man in professional wrestling. He was the absolute best." -William Regal. That, right there is my final thought. Before all of the evil was known, before these horrible crimes were unearthed, this is what people thought of Chris Benoit. It is for these reasons that I truly believe that Benoit should, and eventually will, be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
Now we leave it to you, My Millions! Let the floodgates open, and the discussion begin! Chris Benoit... Hall of Fame. Yes? Or No?
We would like to take a minute to dedicate the preceding column to the memory of Nancy and Daniel Benoit. No matter what your opinion on the matter discussed in this column is, we should never forget them.
R.I.P. Nancy and Daniel Benoit