The Most hated man in PW History

Bounty Hunter

So as not to derail the Edge thread

Okay there have been many candidates for this moniker down the years from Vince Russo to Vince McMahon and right back to his son in law HHH who even had his own hate filled superthread on here but the new frontrunner has to be the former most loved man in PW Hulk Hogan.

After his recent Sunami comment was added to a whole list of idiotic gaffs its safe to Say Hulkamania wasnt exactly running wild but this latest Tweet of his may have killed it stone dead.

if any of the guys like me,Flair,Hardy,Andre,AA,Blanchard,orndoff,Henning would have listened to doctors we would have quit15yrsago

but I don't know Edges working environment because they are a media company not a wrestling company. HH wrestlers work hurt!

Gerard.C

Hardy would have quit 15 years ago would he Hulk? Good man yeah. Clown. Nice knees you have there Hulky.

GTR63

Lads don't pay any attention to whatever garbage comes out of Hogan's mouth the guy talks so much bollocks its impossible to take anything he says seriously.

Wolfe Tone

I still like Hulk

Bounty Hunter

Wolfe Tone wrote: »

I still like Hulk

I cant say the same

do you like Hulk or the memory of Hulk?

Penn

Yeah, wrestler's work hurts.

That's why he's ****ing leaving! Because he's in pain, and runs the risk of becoming paralysed. And the pain occurs because of all the stuff he did when WWE was a wrestling company rather than a global entertainment company.

This is Hogan taking any excuse to take a pot shot at the WWE. He thinks he's making TNA look good, when really, he seems to be highlighting one of TNA's greatest weaknesses. Hulk Hogan.

Hogan and Edge were tag team champions. Hogan knows that Edge became a wrestler because of him. He was Edge's idol, and now Hogan is taking the hardest thing Edge has probably had to do in his professional career, being forced to retire and give up his whole way of life or risk serious injury, and Hogan pisses all over it to essentially say "We fight through the pain to wrestle for you!"

Nobody, anywhere, wants Edge to continue if it means he risks his health to that degree with every match. Nobody. Edge gave all he could to the industry and no one should ever try and take that away from him, least of all his ****ing idol.

Hogan tried to **** on the WWE. He just shat on himself.

Diabhal Beag

Hulk has just spiralled since the HBK match.



Vince Russo will never be topped as the most hated though.

Wolfe Tone

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

I cant say the same

do you like Hulk or the memory of Hulk?

Twitter is a disaster for famous people, we all talk sh!t, millions listen when he does it.

I think he was a great wrestler and the most charismatic ever seen. He built wrestling. He is past it now and should leave it, but he has made so many great memories etc, no matter how many stupid things he says wont outweigh the good.

Rjd2

Diabhal Beag wrote: »

Vince Russo will never be topped as the most hated though.

glenjamin

What exactly did Hogan say about the tsunami?

Bounty Hunter

Wolfe Tone wrote: »

Twitter is a disaster for famous people, we all talk sh!t, millions listen when he does it.

I think he was a great wrestler and the most charismatic ever seen. He built wrestling. He is past it now and should leave it, but he has made so many great memories etc, no matter how many stupid things he says wont outweigh the good.

unfortunatley that to me sounds like the latter of the two options i posted. Actually im not sure why I say unfortunatly as What he has done for the wrestling Industry and the memories he gave us is how we should want to remember Hulk Hogan. Unfortunatley the guy I see pretending he is running TNA as HH (no idea how to type squared/to the power of 2) and tweeting utter garbage isnt as much of a likeable guy

btw the History bit in the title may make for interesting discussion but im not saying Hogan is that as Benoit has to be imo and Russo would probably come second but atm he'd prob be no.1.

The Tsunami thing was that Hogan refered to TNA as the Tsunami of Wrestling days after what happened in Japan iirc in a promo which then never aired, I only mentioned it as a result of all the posts on here about it recently and as its another example of who he is nobodys favourite now

Diabhal Beag

Rjd2 wrote: »

Even Benoit is more loved.

Wolfe Tone

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

unfortunatley that to me sounds like the latter of the two options i posted. Actually im not sure why I say unfortunatly as What he has done for the wrestling Industry and the memories he gave us is how we should want to remember Hulk Hogan. Unfortunatley the guy I see pretending he is running TNA as HH (no idea how to type squared/to the power of 2) and tweeting utter garbage isnt as much of a likeable guy

btw the History bit in the title may make for interesting discussion but im not saying Hogan is that as Benoit has to be imo and Russo would probably come second but atm he'd prob be no.1.

The Tsunami thing was that Hogan refered to TNA as the Tsunami of Wrestling days after what happened in Japan iirc in a promo which then never aired, I only mentioned it as a result of all the posts on here about it recently and as its another example of who he is nobodys favourite now

Ah I agree, its like with Flair you want to remember the heyday.


I agree about Benoit, e killed wrestling for me, was never the same after that.

Rjd2

Diabhal Beag wrote: »

Even Benoit is more loved.

Which is tragic really, Russo's biggest sin was dismal booking while Benoit killed his family.

Motley Crue

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

do you like Hulk or the memory of Hulk?

The memory, he has become more a typecast of himself in recent years, I watch him because of the comedy factor...I laugh my ass off at his ridiculous TNA rants and this constant "Brother" being used in every third word

To be fair, I think at 57, if Hulk is still lucky enough to still have a career in PW he should think himself lucky and shut his mouth

rossie1977

andre dead since 1993
tully basically retired from full time wrestling since 1989
hennig dead since 2003
arn anderson retired since 1997

is hogan on a windup

Degag

Rjd2 wrote: »

It's not really the same though, as others have said. Of course what he did was terrible and reprehensible but he obviously had huge mental problems at the time. i have more pity on the man than hatred tbh.

Jazzy

i remember watching wwf when hogan was at his pomp. i remember feeling like i 'had' to like hogan and that he was the #1 guy no matter what. all my friends loved him and being that young, i loved him too... but only because i felt i should.
i never saw him wrestle (except taped ppv's.. maybe) i never saw him on the tv do his thing, i just saw promo's and vignettes of him. in hindsight, he wasnt my favorite 'wrestler', i suppose perfect and micheals were (from that time). hogan was just this celebrity that was there. i remember when taker made his first appearance and the big feud the 2 of them had but that was about it, the feud with slaughter was a joke for me and after recently watching that match again it confirmed to me that he had just cheated me for years.

me and a friend have also being watching the old nitro's from 96 through to 98. hogan is the weakest f**kin guy on it yet he and his cronies take up 40 minutes of the show. now hes back on TNA and doing his level best to make it the Hogan show. as far as im concerned he can f**k off. he is literally a weird old man hanging around because he still thinks hes cool. sad, pathetic little man who has so many people to thank for making him what he is.


that said, there have been times where hes been enjoyable - rock v hogan for example, but he is nowhere near deserving of the fame and respect he gets in the biz. austin for example is a million times the man and performer he is... and austin beat up debra

starviewadams

Never cared much for Hogan,he strikes me as the John Cena of his era(look,promos and not great in the ring),I wasn't around for his 80's hey-day maybe thats why,and I didn't see much WCW in the 90's cos we didnt have Bravo,I only really saw him properly during his comeback to the WWE in 2002 and I wasn't much impressed by that.The comments he made about Edge are in very bad taste and in reality it's just Hogan patheticaly trying to steal the spotlight yet again.

G-Money

Hogan's comments seemed a bit tasteless but I never really bought this overstated idea of "respect" and "toughness" that a lot of those wrestlers constantly bang on about. There's nothing to respect about someone putting themselves in a wheelchair when they knew ahead of time that they should stop.

parker kent

starviewadams wrote: »

Never cared much for Hogan,he strikes me as the John Cena of his era(look,promos and not great in the ring),I wasn't around for his 80's hey-day maybe thats why,and I didn't see much WCW in the 90's cos we didnt have Bravo,I only really saw him properly during his comeback to the WWE in 2002 and I wasn't much impressed by that.The comments he made about Edge are in very bad taste and in reality it's just Hogan patheticaly trying to steal the spotlight yet again.

I used to watch Nitro on TNT and didn't warm to Hogan in that period. The whole NWO angle in 1996 was awesome but it was Hall and Nash that made it for me. The couple that with the awesome Sting angle. I was only 12 at the time, but I could see Hogan phoning it in every week on the same show Rey, Eddie, Malenko etc were having jaw dropping matches.

I wouldn't call him his generations Cena though. Hogan genuinely could whip a crowd into a frenzy in promos. A lot of that was booking and in 1996 he was living off the iconoclastic heel turn, but he obviously had charisma to sell it. Though so much of that was self serving and ruining angles. Such as his idiotic self serving, moment stealing actions after the Mania match with the Ultimate Warrior or the way he tried to steal the Mania match from The Rock.

Bret Hart is right, he is just a self serving asshole and his career is full of moments where he acted solely out of self interest despite him being the safest wrestler in the world in terms of pushes and booking. He should have put Bret over in the 90s and he should have returned the favour to HBK.

Rjd2

Degag wrote: »

It's not really the same though, as others have said. Of course what he did was terrible and reprehensible but he obviously had huge mental problems at the time. i have more pity on the man than hatred tbh.

Any pity I may have had for him went out the door when he killed his defenseless son, the guy even before that was a workplace bully and a complete scumbag who gets a pardon from the IWC because he was good at fake fighting.


Also Bret is another who gets a free pass from the IWC because he was a decent worker, he is bitter and the less said about his comments to Martha last year the better.


Russo at least is probably not to bad in real life.

gimmick

Wolfe Tone wrote: »

no matter how many stupid things he says wont outweigh the good.

His in ring legend is secure. No disguising the fact that he is now a complete jackass

Rjd2 wrote: »

Rjd2 wrote: »

Which is tragic really, Russo's biggest sin was dismal booking while Benoit killed his family.

As has been mentioned, Benoit was an extremely sick man who was not acting in his right mind when he did the awful thing he did. Not forgiving him by any measure of means, but there is an explanation for what he did. I will never remember Benoit fondly mind, as the fact of the matter is, despite his illness, he is still a child killer.

As for Hogan, he is a self publicising mark for himself. After Edges promo where he referenced Hogan, the fact that Edge has said many many times that Hogan was a hero of his, to show such disrespect out of pure bitterness toward the company Edge works for? Thats just childish.

Then with his Tsunami comments, and worst of all his "Karma" crap in reference to the dude who was paralysed after his idiot son crashed his car - all these lumped together makes my mind up that Hulk Hogan is a reprehensible individual. (And those are only 3 incidents)

krudler

Then with his Tsunami comments, and worst of all his "Karma" crap in reference to the dude who was paralysed after his idiot son crashed his car - all these lumped together makes my mind up that Hulk Hogan is a reprehensible individual. (And those are only 3 incidents)
__________________

Didnt he also imply that Nancy Benoit had some karma as a result of messing aruond with Kevin Sullivan and all his Satanism nonsense in the early 90's?

JP Liz V1

IDIOT!

Charisteas

Hardcore Bob Butt-Plug Holly. Just read so many stories about him being an absolute d!ckhead to guys on Tough Enough, and working really stiff towards rookies in the ring, such a bully.

Can people stop quoting the Chris Benoit picture. Seeing it once is more than enough, don't need to see it four times.

Jazzy

the one thing i will respect hogan for is his charity work for kids.

as for vince russo - the man is just an idiot who doesnt really get wrestling. hes smart in one very pure sense but a complete fool in the senses he needs to be smart in as far as PW is concerned.

benoit... i dunno. just such a massive dissappointment. very very dark and tbh, completely outweighs anything any dumbass like hogan etc has done.

Charisteas

Jazzy wrote: »

the one thing i will respect hogan for is his charity work for kids.

Yeah that's a good point, plus anyone who watched Hogan Knows Best could tell that he is a real decent family man, i think he's a good person who just makes the occasional stupid comment.

Mr.Nice Guy

Hogan at some point seems to have been a genuinely good guy. You often hear stories of how he went out of his way to do charity work and that kind of thing. Even Bret praised him for this. Then in recent times he just seems to have changed for the worse. His comments about Edge are very lacking in class but you're almost not surprised these days based on other stuff he's come out with.

In terms of most hated man though, what I find odd is that Kevin Nash tends to escape a great deal of criticism. Here is a guy that was very important in the destruction of WCW who tried to get out of doing jobs, made fun of smaller guys like Jericho, Rey and Malenko calling them 'vanilla midgets', who booked himself to be put over frequently and who ended Goldberg's streak at a time when it really didn't need to happen, a guy who often crapped on Flair and the Horseman's legacy, a guy who was involved with the fingerpoke of doom and refused to elevate new talent.

Why does he always escape criticism? It's funny because apparently a lot of guys he worked with find it hard to hate him because he has an infectious personality, and a lot of fans seem to be the same way. He's taken far more from wrestling than he has given back.

jaykhunter

I'm not going to dignify comments about Benoit being the most hated man in pro-wrestling.

Has to be Vince Russo. The guy has been responsible a visible chunk of WCW's ailing years and 2007-present TNA, who has proven time and time again that he doesn't know anything about pro-wrestling. The guy only knows turns and swerves, and not how pro-wrestling works. The worst part is that he keeps a job and has the most influential job in WWE's only competition. He has more stroke about what happens on screen than everyone in WWE except for the McMahons and Jean-Paul....

In any other industry, in any other media of all types, if someone said to you "this man's last successful year was over a decade ago, and proved he cannot produce even average results in any way". he'd be in the unemployment line looking for work in a different sector. But not pro wrestling.

Unlike everyone else, Russo's unbelievable incompetence hugely negatively affects TNA, which negatively affects WWE. Nobody else can claim that.

His terrible booking and squandering of amazing potential is worse than anything Hogan can say or Vince can decree. Pro-wrestling would be so much better if he were gone. And we can only hope.

parker kent

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Why does he always escape criticism? It's funny because apparently a lot of guys he worked with find it hard to hate him because he has an infectious personality, and a lot of fans seem to be the same way. He's taken far more from wrestling than he has given back.

He's got a lot of stick over the years, the Big Lazy nickname is one example. Or look back at older threads here where he got a lot of stick for his comments about how younger guys don't draw. Nash is far from escaping criticism.

parker kent

Russo's booking was no worse than Flair, Nash or any number of WCW bookers over the years. He just came at a time that was just before the demise of WCW so gets more blame than most. He obviously didn't help things, but he happened to be the man on the scene when Ted Turner wasn't able to bank roll WCW any more.

Don't get me wrong he is an absolute idiot who has no notion of how they book wrestling (other than occasional ideas that are polished by others in the WWE). But he was far from the first terrible booker in WCW. Flair was a particularly idiotic booker.

jaykhunter

I imagine the worst part of Russo is that he's still ruining wrestling and booking sh!te to this day and for the foreseeable future. At least other people have contributed to wrestling in some way.

From reading the Death of WCW, it might be a lop-sided review, but although other bookers have been horrible, none have been quite so protracted and frustratingly inane as Russo.

G-Money

I have a shoot interview with Bob Holly and I can't really work out what to make of him. I don't really like the idea of him beating the crap out of someone just because they are new and it being dressed up as "paying your dues". I think that is such b*****ox. If you turn up, work hard, have the right attitude and are willing to listen, that is all that should be needed. Getting a kicking from some "veteran" as a means of some sort of initiation is just stupid imho.

thebostoncrab

Charisteas wrote: »

Hardcore Bob Butt-Plug Holly. Just read so many stories about him being an absolute d!ckhead to guys on Tough Enough, and working really stiff towards rookies in the ring, such a bully.

Can people stop quoting the Chris Benoit picture. Seeing it once is more than enough, don't need to see it four times.

That's how Holly was trained, and alot of guys did the same (And still do) to new wrestlers. I think there needs to be more trainers like Holly, it's one way to figure out who really wants to be in the WWE.

I was once in the anti-Holly camp, then I watched his shoots. Bob Holly is a legend and I would give my right arm to spend an evening on the piss with him.

On the topic of Hogan, I respect the hell out of what he did for wrestling (And it would be foolish of anyone here to think otherwise) and he is one of the most important men in the history of this sport. As a human being though there are few people who I loath more. His comments about the chap that was in the car accident were disgusting and unforgivable. He is an awful excuse for a human being and it sickens me to hear him open his mouth every week.

Benoit will always have people who still look back at his career with a smile (Guilty), and will never be at that level of hatred. As others have said, he did something that is just unforgivable no matter what excuse is put out there. But he wasn't in a right state of mind, so I think of that weekend with anger and sympathy at the sam time. Benoit the wrestler however I have all the respect in the world for.

Judith Bagwell on a pole match= Russo being ok in my books

D.Q

What did Bret say to Martha? Tbh the entire Hart family seems extremely ****ed up. I eman there is a story in his book about how his older brothers used to piss in the younger brothers mouths in the showers.

"Then it was time to hit the shower. Dean and I usually ended up crying because Smith and Bruce would pee in our mouths or blast us right in the eyes, which burned" What the **** like!

Though I have to say, while he is bitter. Why wouldn't he be. He was publically humilliated in his home country, he lost his brother, and was then crippled. The wrestling business did take alot from the guy.

As for Benoit, scumbag. Complete and utter scumbag. "Right frame of mind". I can guarantee, the same level of empathy would not be expressed towards the killers of jamie bulger, or holly and jessica, or any other children who have died. What Benoit did was much worse, he was the kids dad. His hero. And I dont agree with this "Benoit the wrestler" either.

Sure, although what Ian Huntley did was terrible, he wasnt in his right state of mind. I like to happily remember Ian Huntley the caretaker.

welchy

Not that both incidents weren't horrible and abhorrable, but saying Benoit's state of mind and Huntley's were the same thing isn't right either. Huntley had no history of mental illness and was cleared by a psychiatrist just before his trial. Benoit had quite a number of problems by all accounts.

"Benoit's brain was so severely damaged it resembled the brain of an 85-year-old Alzhiemers patient." Tests conducted on Benoit's brain tissue revealed he did in fact suffer from severe chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), and had brain damage in all four lobes of the brain and brain stem Bailes and his colleagues concluded that repeated concussions can lead to dementia, which can contribute to severe behavioral problems

thebostoncrab

It's not that simple with Benoit though. I don't think anyone here (I hope) will say that Benoit the man was a great man; he was a child and woman killer. But it doesn't take away the fact that he was a brilliant wrestler, and some people can still enjoy watching his matches. I can 100% understand why someone wouldn't want to watch his matches again though and I'll never argue against that.

The right frame of mind arguement comes from that we know his mental state became ****ed during the last years of his life and it could have been stopped. That's what makes him different from say Shipman or, in a sports world, OJ Simpson.

2ndcoming

There is no way for me that Chris Benoit should be the most hated man in wrestling.

That tragic incident ultimately will improve conditions and medical controls for wrestlers more than any other for future generations, which hopefully will not only have the effect of ensuring something like it never happens again, but also incidents like Scott Hall's latest meltdown, to name the most recent example of the completely ridiculous amount of cases of self inflicted damage and ultimately death in the industry, will be as much as possible consigned to history.

Comparing Benoit to the murderers of Jamie Bulger or to Ian Huntley is entirely inane.

Benoit's case, as awful and disturbing as it was, was in reality a crime of passion carried out by a man with a massive amount of accumulated brain damage, particularly in the frontal lobe region which controls personality, against the people he loved most in the world, through fear of losing them. A vicious circle brought about no doubt by his own acquired personality defects, acquired by sacrificing to much of himself in the ring.

There's a tragic sense of wasted life on both sides of the story that is not present in cases of murder for murder's sake or depraved sexual satisfaction. There are few if any similarities.

Wolfe Tone

Crime of passion me hole. He systematically butchered his wife and son in a premeditated manner. No crime of passion.


He was a murdering scumbag, no bones about it. A sick fcuk.

irish_stevo815

Bloody hell, I am sickened and disappointed in the so called Wrestling Fans. Yes what Benoit did in his final moments were horrible and tragic but as a performer and wrestler, he was of the best of our time and i can honestly i say i don't hate him, and i would put money on it that 90% of wrestling fans feel the same!!!! So all you Benoit haters, just leave it be!!!

As for my opinion on my most hated I would probably say hogan for all the **** he speaks and what he said about Edge retiring was just cold and made him even more of a bitter jealous man.

Also i have to say both Jeff and Matt Hardy. They were truly loved by the fans and just threw it all back in our faces. Especially Jeff, he was destined to be one of the greats, but now he'd rather show up for a main event match, with a legend like Sting, stoned and ****-faced!

2ndcoming

There is little to no dispute that the vast majority of inter-marital/familial murders are emotionally motivated.

It's a simple fact. Deplorable nonetheless, but the reality of it isn't black and white as say your Ian Brady's and Ted Bundy's of this world.

Mr Trade In

Hogan can't let anyone have their moment without passing judgement,guess you could say since twitter he has become the alpha smark,nothing can now happen without his seal of approval,which really is sad as Edge is one of the greatest ever,Hogan is a dark memory now and has outlived his dues. Hogan would get my vote for most hated as he has buried many great guys in Tna just to use the scraps of WWE.

Degag

Rjd2 wrote: »

Any pity I may have had for him went out the door when he killed his defenseless son, the guy even before that was a workplace bully and a complete scumbag who gets a pardon from the IWC because he was good at fake fighting.


Also Bret is another who gets a free pass from the IWC because he was a decent worker, he is bitter and the less said about his comments to Martha last year the better.


Russo at least is probably not to bad in real life.

Legitimately never heard about this. Please tell.

In any case i don't think anyone can defend the man... just that he had huge troubles at the time. I think that at the time of his death, numerous relatives/close friends etc related the love he had for his wife and even more so, his son..... Bah, i don't know what i'm saying, just that it's not just as simple as saying that the man killed his wife and son.... there's more to the story than that. Does it make it any better.... probably not. Just something to consider.

Charisteas

Rjd2 wrote: »

Any pity I may have had for him went out the door when he killed his defenseless son, the guy even before that was a workplace bully and a complete scumbag who gets a pardon from the IWC because he was good at fake fighting.

Degag wrote: »

Legitimately never heard about this. Please tell.

There was an incident between Benoit and The Miz.

I believe the backbone of the story is that The Miz was in the locker-room eating some fried chicken (Charisteas the vegetarian doesn't approve!), and he dropped a piece of the chicken onto someone's bag (think it was Undertakers bag).

Chris Benoit then took it upon himself to grab Miz's bags, throw them into the hallway, and told Miz to get changed outside. Miz was then banned from changing in the WWE locker room for 6 months.

Miz actually told this story on Raw within the last year, without mentioning Benoit's name of course.

Then after Miz told the story on Raw, Jim Ross took a pop at Miz on twitter, defending Benoit's actions.

Jim Ross tweet - http://twitter.com/JRsBBQ/status/9024164755

DrumSteve

I always hated Rikishi.

grames_bond

Charisteas wrote: »

I believe the backbone of the story is that The Miz was in the locker-room eating some fried chicken (Charisteas the vegetarian doesn't approve!),

Grames Bond the butchers son DEFINATELY doesnt approve of this!

I lost every ounce of respect i had for hogan when i heard his phone convo he had with nick when he was in jail - blaming poor john for the accident, talking about how his "karma" rubbed off on poor little nick! Absolute disgrace of a human being!

GTR63

To the guy with the Miz/Benoit story.I could be wrong but I think Miz got banned by WWE Court(it was a mock Courtcase where JBL played the role of a Judge & the Lockeroom decided to ban Miz).Have to admit I hate Hogan, Bischoff & Russo a lot. Hate Scotch Hall too the guy has been given so many chances & stays screwing them up. Nash too is so Lazy i'm suprised he found work so long.

Rjd2

Degag wrote: »

Legitimately never heard about this. Please tell.

In any case i don't think anyone can defend the man... just that he had huge troubles at the time. I think that at the time of his death, numerous relatives/close friends etc related the love he had for his wife and even more so, his son..... Bah, i don't know what i'm saying, just that it's not just as simple as saying that the man killed his wife and son.... there's more to the story than that. Does it make it any better.... probably not. Just something to consider.

Cahristas explained the story. He has always had a reputation as a bully, but the IWC downplayed because he was a great worker, he rolled with Hardcore Holly who gets quite a lot of flack for this but as he wasn't much of a worker the IWC don't mind slagging the **** out of him.


On the murdering, I know its not black and white but when you really think about what he done which was total evil, I can't defend him no matter how good his workrate is unlike the rest of the IWC who still handle him with kid gloves because he was good at pretending to fight.:(


Its just madness really when you consider the venom that the likes of Hunter and Russo receive.

Charisteas

DrumSteve wrote: »

I always hated Rikishi.

Why?

parker kent

Rjd2 wrote: »

On the murdering, I know its not black and white but when you really think about what he done which was total evil, I can't defend him no matter how good his workrate is unlike the rest of the IWC who still handle him with kid gloves because he was good at pretending to fight

It is not that simple though. Yes it was a terrible act, nobody pretends otherwise. But and it is a big but, the guy was torn apart due to mental issues from brain damage and drugs. He wasn't in his right mind. It was a terrible act and can never be forgiven. But there are caveats to it and it is simplistic to just say people treat him with kid gloves because he was good at what he did.

Mental illness can make people do terrible things.