Cox

Bam Neely is Justin LaRoche, some other guy. Roadkill was fired a few months ago for selling WWE merchandise that he wasn't supposed to be at OVW shows.

It makes sense, since Cornette needed a new tag team partner/mouthpiece for Unabom after Eddie Gilbert burned his last bridge in wrestling (not that it would have mattered, since he died a month later anyway). Since everybody raved about his work, and he showed he could actually talk a little, it helped him get a job.

Maybe it aired on AWA TV? They were able to air the Lawler/Funk empty arena match a few months back on account of it having aired on Florida TV.

OK, so I've read the whole thing now, so some thoughts. -First off, like I said, very engaging read. I picked it up last night and didn't put it down until I was done reading it. The book does a really great job establishing that Benoit's mindset clearly started going haywire at an early age, and only got progressively worse as time went on. I don't necessarily think that there is anything in this book that will be a total shock to any long-time wrestling fan, and I think most people know the basic story laid out in the book, but reading it all at once, it really hits you: Chris Benoit led a really fucked up life, and it was a life he chose to inflict upon himself for a ridiculously poor reason, to be the best professional wrestler in the world. I think we all knew this going in, though. Other than describing specific details of how rough the New Japan dojo was, I don't think anything about this book will cover new ground for wrestling fans who have followed Benoit's career religiously, and there isn't a lot of new ground broken on the crime itself that hasn't already been revealed, but even knowing the story and how it would end, the book always kept my interest. -All of that said, I did often feel like the second most important person in the book wasn't Eddy Guerrero, Brian Pillman, Stu Hart, or anybody else, but Matthew Randazzo. It just feels as though his narrative forces his opinion down the throat of the reader. I agree with a lot of his own opinions, but personally, I feel that allowing the reader to reach these opinions on their own without his narrative being so heavy-handed would have made for a better book. I'm not disagreeing with what he has to say, we all know wrestling is a fucked up business and Chris Benoit was a massively, massively fucked up person. I just wasn't necessarily a fan of the narrative of the book, even though I thought it was funny at times. -Also, that this is in the True Crime section of Barnes and Noble is ridiculous. The crime doesn't even get discussed until page 335 of a 341 page book. Before that, it's 334 pages establishing Benoit's mindset, with large tangents devoted to describing the tone of the wrestling business at certain times in Benoit's life. Yes, establishing the mindset of a man who would kill his wife, child, and then himself is important in discussing the killings, but it really feels like the crimes themselves are almost anti-climatic after everything else that takes place. It reads more like a wrestling book about a crime than a crime book about wrestling, if that makes sense. Overall, I did enjoy the book, problems with narrative aside. Randazzo is a good author, and even if you don't agree with his opinions or his narrative, he's still clearly an interesting author with a good story to tell. Still, I don't necessarily feel like this is the "definitive" Benoit book, and that there may be even still more fucked up things we don't know about the Benoit situation. In particular, I think that there could be a great book written about WWE and the aftermath of the Benoit story, which this book didn't really touch on other than the tribute show. I would recommend it, but don't go into it expecting to learn anything that you didn't already know, either, except for some National Enquirer-esque backstage scandal stuff written about late 90's WCW and WWE since 2000.

I've read most of the book, and while it does often read like a 340 page wrestling message board post at times, I've found it to be a very engaging read. I'll have more when I'm finished reading.

Man I wish I had read this before going to Barnes and Noble. Nothing weirder than asking the clerk in the customer service section, "Hey can you help me find the Chris Benoit book?"

LOL Of all people to chime in- and with the stupidest analogy. My apologies, Ben. You're black so it's an OK term for you, right? Sir, do you know what an analogy is? Because I'm not sure what I used right there was an analogy. LOL! You're 30 years old and so socially stunted you vacation with Mommy and Daddy- and post on the Net while you're doing it. You have no business criticizing others on anything. Shut up. Stop chiming in every time I post here and elsewhere- it's fucking creepy. I'll make it easier and leave you here with your really close e-friends to use racial slurs to attempt to be hip. I'm 30 years old? Really? For somebody who is doing such a great job at internet stalking, you'd think you'd know how old I am. It's pretty amusing that the guy who is reading up on the vacation plans of a total stranger, in the same post, calls replying to another person's dumb message board posts "fucking creepy." There's something creepy going on in this thread, Jim Brambilla, oh yes there is.

LOL Of all people to chime in- and with the stupidest analogy. My apologies, Ben. You're black so it's an OK term for you, right? Sir, do you know what an analogy is? Because I'm not sure what I used right there was an analogy. LOL!

I believe our friend Benbeech is a young African American (or "black," the term used in Mr. Brambilla's day) gentleman, so he would be entitled to attempt to be as "hip" as he pleases.

Leg's still amputated.

Eh, I'm not surprised they're keeping this one secret. I mean, if they were to make this public, it would almost be like they were admitting that there might be something to the Michael Benoit defense that Chris went nuts because of the concussions, which even moreso than the steroids, is clearly the part of this story they'd prefer to keep hidden more than anything else. I mean, you could make a case that, as bad as WWF/E has handled their drug problem over the past 25+ years, that their treatment of those who have suffered concussions has been as bad or worse, and any investigation into their past treatment of wrestlers who have suffered concussions would reflect very negatively upon the company, so it doesn't surprise me that they're trying to keep this one out of the news.

I dunno, when you're in this conman business for long enough, it could be that these guys are just incapable of sounding completely sincere about anything.

Are you retarded or something? Is this funny in your little sorry world? Wait- if it's going to mean more PMs from you, then please don't answer. I saw the letter on CZWFans in this thread: http://www.czwfans.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=25720 People can believe that there are items out there about it- I asked for specifics. Haven't seen any yet. People can say they heard a story from their e-friend about Tracy's behavior where, quite frankly, if it's a friend of Chris's I could certainly envision someone wanting to kill them while simultaneously looking for a booking- but the guy gets booked constantly. He's not off in his own world, he works all over the place. Hell, the Blue Meanie was on Classics and it's obvious he's in the dark about it. And Meanie is someone who actually knows the guy in person and has worked with him. The one main source is a woman with a definite bias and apparently, since there's supposedly a book being written, a possible ulterior motive and a separate agenda. Note that I never wrote that Tracy doesn't have problems. I do, however, question the motivations behind this online campaign to get Tracy help while making sure to plug the book idea. There's a real world out there, you know...and that's where she should be going for help, not sharing Tracy's private supposed struggles with a bunch of sociopaths and strangers. I'm just saying (without name calling) that people HAVE been talking about the state of Smothers' brain condition, here and elsewhere, with specifics. Not just this Renee chick, but people close to him. There is legitimate concern for his well being from others besides this flaky ex-girlfriend. Just because you're burying your head in the sand when they're given does not mean that they haven't been. I don't recall anybody stating that this chick's intentions are 100% good and pure, but that doesn't detract from the fact that this dude does have problems. It's not just the ex-girlfriend, it's been talked about elsewhere for some time, and frankly, your defenses of "He's worked in all sorts of locker rooms, and nobody's noticed anything wrong!" seems even more ludicrous in a Chris Benoit thread considering none of Benoit's colleagues considered him a candidate to snap and kill his family and then himself. It's especially silly when there actually have been people who have worked with Smothers and expressed concern that the dude has serious problems. But hey, don't let specifics and examples get in the way of the great dick waving you're doing here!

I'm pretty sure the question has been answered. Just because nobody is talking about it with you, James Cornelius Brambilla, does not mean that the topic has not been brought up. A friend of mine who has worked with Smothers repeatedly in the past told me back in October that he called a wrestler who was now promoting shows, and at the start of the conversation threatened to kill the guy, and by the end of the call was asking to get booked on the next show, while still saying he was going to kill the guy. This is not rational behavior. Also, while I won't doubt that she is trying to capitalize on the craziness of Tracy Smothers, that doesn't mean that Smothers isn't crazy, either. The two are not mutually exclusive. She can be out to try to squeeze money out of Smothers while Smothers is still a guy who is in desperate need of help.

It isn't just Tracy Smothers' girlfiend talking about how crazy he has become.

Oh man that was DEFINITELY hand-drawn.

Man what does it say for poor Harley Race when the two people he's being compared to in this thread are a drug-addicted delusional sociopath and a family-murderer?

Yeah, while listing JBL, Kennedy, and Jake Roberts, I couldn't help but think, "One of these things is not like the other." Kennedy is Shawn Stasiak with a better push.

To be fair, Missy Hyatt could send Dave Meltzer a picture of a turd every week, and it would be better than anything written on that site about wrestling, so the bar wasn't exactly set very high.

The poll at WO.com seems to think more people are backing Martin on this one, as among the five choices, "Worse than (fourth-biggest of all time), will be a disappointment" is in a strong second place behind "Best of all time."

And it still doesn't make sense, because why would they be using Pillman when he was also employed by WCW at the time? Austin was hurt at this point and WCW sent Pillman as a replacement.

That's never a good sign, right? Then again, they're holding this show in the middle of nowhere in north Jersey, about 2 hours from Philadelphia and not really close to New York City either, so I guess it shouldn't be a surprise.

It's funny, because even while I'm reading this, I swear I can see Vince's lips moving from afar.

Um, isn't it the booker's job to...you know, remember everything he wrote? Especially when his promotion only runs about 4 times a month? It sounds like those who criticize Gabe and say he's untested until he has to write a weekly TV show are right - if he can't handle what little he has to worry about now, how would he handle the stress of taping TV week after week? Judging by what little he has control of these days, it sounds like he'd fold under the pressure quite quickly.

The WON Booker of the Year for the past three years apparently forgets his own storylines. I don't know how a guy manages to come off as both condescending and incompetent at the same time, but there ya go.