This post comes to you from @HulkingLungfish on Twitter. He's a great follower of mine and someone I consider to be one the good ones. Lungfish has a great mind for wrestling and is like many of us is frustrated with the 140 limit.
I'm honoured to have been asked by HulkingLungfish if he could post something on KBW and without further a do, here is his thoughts on Chris Benoit and his inclusion on the soon to be WWE Network.
To Benoit or not to Benoit
I'm going to discuss possibly the most controversial issue in the history of professional wrestling.
On WWE TV a couple of weeks back, a very brief shot of someone being pinned was shown on an advert for a WWE DVD. That man was identified as Chris Benoit.
Chris Benoit murdered his wife and child and then killed himself in 2007. That is a fact that can not be bent or changed in any way. That is the truth and there is no getting away from it.
He was also an exceptional professional wrestler, World Champion and participant in some of what rightly should be called the greatest matches of all time.
Since the truth about what happened was revealed shortly after the deaths, WWE have had a blanket policy whereby his name has not been mentioned, nor have any images of him been shown on WWE TV. They have even gone to some extreme editing lengths to remove him from DVD footage. This has been a point of contention and a source of memes and assorted jokes from wrestling fans everywhere.
With the announced launch of the WWE Network this week, it was confirmed in the press conference that old matches would not feature any edits. This presumably means Benoit will exist on our screens once more. One solid rumour going about is that any Benoit matches will begin with a warning message urging viewer discretion.
Some people I read talk about the subject say they cannot watch Benoit's matches any more, knowing what he has done. Some, (myself included) are more able to separate the athlete from the man and have no issues with watching his matches. Both viewpoints are perfectly valid.
A neurologist performing tests on Benoit's brain state that is was "so severely damaged it resembled the brain of an 85-year-old Alzheimer's patient," reportedly having an advanced form of dementia stemming from years of concussive head trauma related to his wrestling career. Many people believe that this is what ultimately caused him to commit the murders.
Many people being newly introduced to the thousands of hours of old wrestling footage which will be made available on the WWE Network may wonder why wrestlers no longer perform the same stunts as they previously did, or take brutal chairshots to the head. Part of the reason for this is Chris Benoit.
Mental health is still a considerable mystery, even to people who have dedicated their lives to the subject. Is it right to vilify a man who did terrible things whilst potentially suffering from severe mental problems? If Benoit had not killed himself after committing the murders, would he have been deemed fit to stand trial? These are questions which are interesting in terms of speculation, but will never be answered comprehensively.
I feel WWE could benefit from tackling this issue. Without making excuses for a murderer, WWE must acknowledge the existence of Benoit. Alongside showing his matches, WWE would be the best people to assist in the production of (or even produce themselves) a sensitive, level headed documentary about Benoit, what they are doing to help make sure their employees are no longer taking the same risks as Benoit did and how they are looking after the physical and mental health of their wrestlers. They could even be really smart about it and donate the proceeds to the many worthwhile charities that help care for the sufferers of brain injuries.
Ultimately, they may decide that this is too controversial a topic for them to touch, they would have to contend with the family of the victims and hundreds of current and former employees who may be upset with the idea, alongside predictable media coverage. There is also a film being made about Benoit called Crossface which sadly seems like sensationalism, based on Matthew Randazzo’s book Ring of Hell: The Story of Chris Benoit and the Fall of the Pro Wrestling Industry. Make what you will of that title.
WWE taking an approach of, "this is a man who worked for us, he was very good at what he did, he also did a terrible thing, there may have been reasons for that, here are the facts of those, this is what we are doing to try and prevent it happening again" might provide a much welcome alternative viewpoint. That could do them a lot of good and the WWE Network would be a fine place for it.
Thanks to @HulkingLungfish for this post, let us know what you think.
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