Random Wrestling Thoughts (Part 2)

gerrybbadd

I had began working in Dublin that year. Was made redundant prior, and had turned into a bit of a night owl, so trying to adjust into a proper routine to be up for work in the morning was killer.

One of my buddies texted me simply "Benoit is dead". He had been watching Raw live, and i thought it was one of those things like he performed some crazy move and hit hard or something. I was real mad, being woken for something that seemed to my sleep addled mind, so trivial. Reamed my mate out of it for texting me stupid sh1t in the middle of the night. But no, he was really dead.

What a strange time. Wrestling has never been the same since. He nearly took down the whole industry, and single handledly erased his whole legacy

Itssoeasy

I remember watching night of champions and I'll always remember it because the entrance set had those big banners. They said on commentary that Benoit was being replaced in the ecw title match because of a family emergency and I'll be honest outside of hoping they family would be okay(if only we'd known) and Chris Benoit would be back in action soon I didn't think much of it after that.

I can't remember at what time or how (I remember how I heard the news of Eddie dying) I heard the news but I know I watched raw live and vince in the ring in an empty arena(In Texas I think) and he described the situation and there would be a tribute show. My one clear memory is regal and his "tribute" and having watched them back it's easy to see in hindsight that he knew something or had an idea of something.

Lord TSC

I was over in America the night it all started. IIRC, Vince had "died" two weeks before and it was meant to be his funeral. We were in an airport hotel room, and I asked the family if they minded me watching the wrestling, which they didn't.

Ran to the toilet right before the show started but was missing the initial moments, and Dad shouts in "Hey, did someone die?". I start shouting back about the angle of Vince dying, and he replies along the lines of "No, this is something else!". Walk back in to Vince standing in the empty arena, and realizing something absolutely horrific had happened.

It was so sureal being over in America for that, and watching the story develop in real time (as opposed to waking up the next morning and getting 12 hours of news all at once. Fox News was incredibly eye-opening; Nancy Grace spewing utter bull**** (she asked Bret Hart if it was possible that Benoit did it because he had been "demoted from the Four Horsemen to Raw"). Flicking between the Raw show which opened as a tribute with talking heads, and keeping track of breaking news live as the realization hit that the tribute show was for someone who just murdered his wife and kid, and noticing the talking head segments disappeared as Raw kept going.

jaykhunter

I remember how distasteful the "whodunnit" McMahon death was, as Sensational Sherri had just passed (15th June).

When Benoit had missed the Night of Champions PPV due to a family emergency I thought "it must be extremely serious if Benoit was to break a commitment" . The actual cause is unfathomable

Something that has gotten out but I haven't seen Vince get ANY flack for, is that officers told him about the probable cause of death around 4pm but he still went ahead with the tribute show.

Hindsight's 20/20 of course but what do you think?

sky88

i cant imagine the wrestlers and the company trying to deal with that situation as it was happening it was so hard to deal with as a fan never mind knowing him personally caught between wanting to honour a friend but coming to terms with what he has done

every now and again ive heard jericho, chavo etc over the years talk about how great benoit was as a performer and i still feel so uncomfortable

Riddle101

I was on camp with the Reserve Defense Force at the time. My sister called me to let me know that Beniot was dead. I was shocked but didn't know he the full details until later on. It just didn't seem real to me at the time as Benoit was one of my favorite wrestlers. Now I can't look at him the same way anymore.

J. Marston

Weird seeing Becky without neon orange hair...

Pentecost

Yeah you nearly wouldn't recognise her but she looks well.

Lithium93_

Feels like she's been off TV forever, but she's only been gone since May 11th.

Genetic Jackhammer

Posting a picture of a female wrestler and commenting on her hair and looks. It is 2020 lads read the room.

mayordenis

Genetic Jackhammer wrote: »

Posting a picture of a female wrestler and commenting on her hair and looks. It is 2020 lads read the room.

Get a grip.

Agent Coulson

mayordenis wrote: »

Get a grip.

Lithium93_

Genetic Jackhammer wrote: »

Posting a picture of a female wrestler and commenting on her hair and looks. It is 2020 lads read the room.

mayordenis wrote: »

Get a grip.

Agent Coulson wrote: »

I feel this is going to become a running joke whenever a picture of a female wrestler makes an appearance.

CastorTroy

How about posting gifs of female androids?

Agent Coulson

CastorTroy wrote: »

How about posting gifs of female androids?

Wouldn't androids be non-binary they/them.

Lithium93_

CastorTroy wrote: »

How about posting gifs of female androids?

I mean, androids aren't really human, so I think they count? :pac:

CastorTroy

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Wouldn't androids be non-binary they/them.

She's identified as Data's daughter so I'm just respecting the decision

Agent Coulson

CastorTroy wrote: »

She's identified as Data's daughter so I'm just respecting the decision

I'll just check with J. K. Rowling if that is possible.

mayordenis

I'll accept my stone of shame.

Agent Coulson

mayordenis wrote: »

I'll accept my stone of shame.

To be fair it is easy to miss these things in threads.

gerrybbadd

mayordenis wrote: »

I'll accept my stone of shame.

Not to worry, you weren't to know! Stick about the threads here, we're all welcoming and friendly, a great community here, even when we pull the piss from time to time.

You're welcome here!

jaykhunter

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Wouldn't androids be non-binary they/them.

This is very clever, well done sir.

CastorTroy

And here I thought Androids would be all about binary

Lord TSC

jaykhunter wrote: »

I remember how distasteful the "whodunnit" McMahon death was, as Sensational Sherri had just passed (15th June).

When Benoit had missed the Night of Champions PPV due to a family emergency I thought "it must be extremely serious if Benoit was to break a commitment" . The actual cause is unfathomable

Something that has gotten out but I haven't seen Vince get ANY flack for, is that officers told him about the probable cause of death around 4pm but he still went ahead with the tribute show.

Hindsight's 20/20 of course but what do you think?

I cannot imagine what Vince was thinking in that day.

I don’t mean that negatively, I mean I simply cannot comprehend what his mindset could have been.

You’re trying to write a show, you have a hard commitment to produce something in three hours, contractually. The police arrive, and tell you one of the most respected guys in your company and the industry has not only killed himself and it’s quite possible he’s killed his wife and kid too.

It’s easy to look back now and go “he should have done this or that,” cause we have the benefit of a decades worth of hindsight and thought.

I guess in the few hours he had, Vince thought “if this is true, we have to wipe this guy from history, but if it’s not, if there’s more to the story, we can’t look to have wiped him too quickly”. And, again, so far removed, it’s easy to say that, but Benoit was obviously close friends with so many. And the mantra has always been “the show must go on.”

Maybe Vince, even as the show was starting, was holding out hope that the cops were wrong and that it wasn’t what it looked like.

I don’t know if there’s a book I want more in the world than a proper Vince autobiography, where he actually dives into stuff like that. What was his genuine mindset at the time. It would be narcissistic and carny as all hell, but it would be fascinating.

CastorTroy

How come Regal seemed to be the only one that knew there was more to it?

Itssoeasy

CastorTroy wrote: »

How come Regal seemed to be the only one that knew there was more to it?

He lived near Benoit I think.

jaykhunter

Lord TSC wrote: »

I cannot imagine what Vince was thinking in that day. [...] Maybe Vince, even as the show was starting, was holding out hope that the cops were wrong and that it wasn’t what it looked like.

I enjoyed reading your thoughts on it. My quibble with that reasoned position is that what you described is a normal person's reaction - Vince is the the King of all the nasty underbelly of Pro-Wrestling - he's the guy who created and propagated the steroids, painkiller and abuse mentality in the 80s/90s/we're still getting horrible things in 2020. His vault of secrets must be incomprehensibly huge. Like when Snuka was interrogated by the police re: killing his 'road wife' Nancy Argentino; Snuka acted like a dumb savage (ie playing up his gimmick) Vince came in, did all the talking, and Snuka wasn't interviewed again.

Point being is that he likely knew Benoit much more than a typical employer-employee, ya know?

JP Liz V1

J. Marston wrote: »

Weird seeing Becky without neon orange hair...

Is that her natural colour?

Itssoeasy

JP Liz V1 wrote: »

Is that her natural colour?

Close enough.

jaykhunter

It's not on her insta, where is that pic of Becky from?

It is v weird to not see her blistering shock of red hair!