Benoit brain examination findings to be released tomorrow

[Bix]

http://www.wrestlingobserver.com/wo/news/h...t.asp?aID=20630

 

9/4/2007 6:24:00 PM

 

Medical experts will be releasing test results on Benoit's brain tomorrow

 

by Dave Meltzer

 

[email protected]

 

A press conference is being held tomorrow at 10:45 a.m. at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York to release findings from the examination of the brain of Chris Benoit.

 

Michael Benoit had given Julian Bailes, MD, the Chair of the Department of Neurosurgery at West Virginia University, the rights to examine his son's brain. Benoit will be speaking at the press conference along with Dr. Robert Cantu, the Director of sports Medicine at Emerson Hospital in Concord, MA, and Benoit's lawyer, Cary Itchter.

 

It is believed the findings will confirm damage that would enable a "diminished capacity" defense in Chris Benoit's slaying of his son and his wife, before killing himself.

Besides the estate implications, it appears that more shit is about to be unleashed upon the fan for WWE.

[Guest wheatbox]

At this point I think WWE can't really fail any more in their PR adventures, so it'll be a lot of fun to see how they'll behave if they have to face a new wave of controversy.

[S.L.L.]

Good to see your hard work paid off, Bix.

[Bix]

I'm sure it had nothing to do with it, but taking fake credit to piss people off will be fun.

[S.L.L.]

I'm sure it had nothing to do with it, but taking fake credit to piss people off will be fun.

David Bixenspan: The Man Who Killed Professional Wrestling

[Bix]

I'm sure it had nothing to do with it, but taking fake credit to piss people off will be fun.

David Bixenspan: The Man Who Killed Professional Wrestling

 

...like he killed Jesus.

[S.L.L.]

I'm sure it had nothing to do with it, but taking fake credit to piss people off will be fun.

David Bixenspan: The Man Who Killed Professional Wrestling

 

...like he killed Jesus.

 

WHEN WILL THE MADNESS STOP?

[Loss]

http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3560015&page=1

 

The article can't be C & P'd, but highlights:

 

- Test was conducted by Julian Bailes of the Sports Legacy Institute

- Brain was so severely damaged it resembled the brain of an 85-year old Alzheimer's patient

- Research team attributes this to lifetime of concussions and head trauma suffered in wrestling

- Brain showed an advanced form of dementia

- He had several brown spots on his brain, which were actually dead brain cells

- Damage was in all four lobes of brain and deep into the brain stem

- Bailes does not believe steroids played a role, but does think concussions/dementia played a role

 

Again, I'm really hoping this isn't the beginning of some long-term trend where wrestlers hang themselves. It's already happened three times this year.

 

There's also information here about three concussions being enough to cause permanent brain damage. If wrestlers were unioned/licensed, they'd have to get medical exams frequently and ideally, I guess two concussions would result in a permanent loss of license, meaning the career is over right then. I'm all for personal choice, but now that we've seen that those personal choices can result in the death of other innocent people, that really can't be argued anymore.

 

If anything, this overwhelmingly strengthens the argument for regulated pro wrestling.

[kjh]

If wrestlers were unioned/licensed, they'd have to get medical exams frequently and ideally, I guess two concussions would result in a permanent loss of license, meaning the career is over right then.

I'm not sure that would really be feasible, as I'd guess all the veteran wrestlers in WWE have at least two concussions during their career. I do think WWE at the very least need to institute regular neurological testing of their performers, stop their performers from working through concussions and completely ban unprotected chair shots to the head.

 

I agree that this is bad news for WWE, as it opens up another can of worms for WWE to deal with and strengthens the case for regulation of professional wrestling, but I don't think WWE will see it that way. I'm sure they'll be overjoyed that they've been proved right that the murders weren't due to roid rage and they'll look forward to flaunting that fact in front of Congress. Of course, that's besides the point.

[khawk20]

New WWE Rule by 2009: No Chair shots to the head. Period.

 

All concussions sustained before 2009 will be grandfathered in under whatever new system they devise for keeping track of concussions.

 

Something like that, anyways.

[Guest KCook]

Those results sound plausible, but Sports Legacy is Chris Nowinski's brain-trauma organization and we don't know what kind of relationship they have with the Benoit family, which has a big financial stake in these findings and presumably had to OK them taking Benoit's brain. I'm not accusing them of corruption, but as the oh-so-esteemed Dr. David Black has shown, doctors are hardly to be considered above board just because they have degrees, and with results so perfectly in line with what would be in their interests, it's a bit suspect to me.

[Bix]

http://www.wrestlingobserver.com/wo/news/h...t.asp?aID=20635

 

9/5/2007 11:42:00 AM

 

Brain examination finds Benoit with massive damage

 

by Dave Meltzer

 

[email protected]

 

The results of a brain examination of Chris Benoit found significant damage from both repeated concussions and sub-concussive blows that may have played a part in his killing of himself, his wife and son in late June.

 

Dr. Julian Bailes of the Department of Neurosurgery at West Virginia University of Dr. Robert Cantu, the Chief of Neurosurgery Service and Director of Sports Medicine at Emerson Hospital in Concord, MA, presented their findings at a press conference this morning in New York. Also speaking were Chris' father Michael Benoit, and Benoit family lawyer Cary Ichter of Atlanta.

 

Cantu noted that out of the five athletes they have diagnosed with similar problems, including football stars Andre Waters, Terry Long and Mike Webster, the former two of whom committed suicide at a young age, that Benoit's brain showed the highest level of Tao protiens, indicating damage.

 

"Chris had, by far, the greatest amount of brain damage of the five," Cantu said.

 

Bailes said the level of damage was enough to explain the suicide and homicides

 

Neither Michael Benoit nor Ichter would comment on potential litigation. Ichter said the family is still in mourning and has given no thought about, "what steps are appropriate in the legal arena."

 

The only hint came in a statement by Michael Benoit who said he worked for a company where the top priority was the health and safety of its workers, and only wished his son had worked for a company with those same priorities.

 

Bailes and Cantu are the leading doctors in the Sports Legacy Institute, which became an official charitable corporation in June. The president of SLI is former WWE wrestler Chris Nowinski, who was not present at the press conference. Nowinski contacted Michael Benoit for the rights to examine Chris' brain. The WWE was not consulted or made aware of any of these findings ahead of time.

 

In questioning, the doctors downplayed the role of steroids in the case, but couldn't rule it out, only saying there is no medical evidence long-term steroid use causes the damage to the brain Chris Benoit had.

 

They portrayed the brain examination as the only tangible evidence that has come to light to explain why Chris Benoit may have done what he did, They noted his level of damage would lead to cognitive impairment, major depression and heightened aggression.

 

Michael Benoit also noted he had read Chris' diary and said it gave the impression of an extremely disturbed person, but that in his limited contact with Chris, a few minute phone call every week or two, he had no indication anything was wrong.

And from ABC News (re-uploaded to ImageShack in case the link goes bad):

 

Julian Bailes of the Sports Legacy Institute showed an image from a healthy brain versus Chris Benoit's brain, which showed brown spots indicating signs of cell death, similar to what an Alzheimer patient's brain might look like.

[Dylan Waco]

http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3560015&page=1

 

The article can't be C & P'd, but highlights:

 

- Test was conducted by Julian Bailes of the Sports Legacy Institute

- Brain was so severely damaged it resembled the brain of an 85-year old Alzheimer's patient

- Research team attributes this to lifetime of concussions and head trauma suffered in wrestling

- Brain showed an advanced form of dementia

- He had several brown spots on his brain, which were actually dead brain cells

- Damage was in all four lobes of brain and deep into the brain stem

- Bailes does not believe steroids played a role, but does think concussions/dementia played a role

 

Again, I'm really hoping this isn't the beginning of some long-term trend where wrestlers hang themselves. It's already happened three times this year.

 

There's also information here about three concussions being enough to cause permanent brain damage. If wrestlers were unioned/licensed, they'd have to get medical exams frequently and ideally, I guess two concussions would result in a permanent loss of license, meaning the career is over right then. I'm all for personal choice, but now that we've seen that those personal choices can result in the death of other innocent people, that really can't be argued anymore.

 

If anything, this overwhelmingly strengthens the argument for regulated pro wrestling.

No offense Loss, and I realize this is a site called prowrestlingonly.com, but the conclusion you have drawn here is madhouse liberalism at its worst.

 

Don't get me wrong. There may be an argument for regulating wrestling (though I think the likely result would be the destruction of many,if not most indepedent promotions, and probably a bigger stranglehold on the industry by Vince who is likely the only person who could afford compliance), but "personal choice can result in death" is not a particularly good one.

 

The reality is that all kinds of personal choices result in far more deaths. Are you opposed to driving? Do you favor the return of prohibition? Yes, both driving and drinking are regulated activities..but the regulations have hardly solved the deadly unitended consequences of said activities..activities that are directly responsible for exponentially more deaths than steroids has been linked to in wrestling (or in general for that matter).

 

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Regulation will mean shit without some sort of union/collective bargaining agency/et. that is totally independent of both industry bigshots and the government. As Cook has pointed out before wrestling is most likely a self selected form of employment, that fills up with people already inclined to me-firstism, paranoia and douchebaggry. The conditions make it worse, but the seeds are probably already there.

 

Facing that strong possibility I'm not sure much can be done.

[Loss]

I'm only throwing things out there. It was an idea I had, but I'm not declaring it perfect or even the right solution. But it does strengthen the case for regulating wrestling.

 

But to argue your analogy, driving is regulated, and people with certain medical conditions (vision problems, epilepsy, alcoholism, etc) are not able to drive in most states. If Benoit's dementia and track record of concussions were documented, and he was required to be licensed as a wrestler, those issues might have been addressed.

 

I think in the case of an Eddy Guerrero, or Mike Awesome, or Brian Pillman, you can argue personal choice, and simply regret that they made those choices and that it's unfortunate that they died young and left children behind. With Benoit, he killed his wife and son. What choices did they make that led to them dying?

 

I'd love for wrestling to not have to be regulated, but wrestling doesn't seem to care about its own issues, so the only other option would be to completely ban wrestling because it's too hazardous. I'd rather not see that happen, but besides that, the only other thing that could happen is for every wrestling company to be willing to sacrifice what's best for short-term business in an attempt to clean things up, but we have decades of proof that it's never going to happen.

 

Yes, wrestlers should bargain to protect themselves and get benefits, but they're not, and in the current system, they're never going to for fear of reprisal. They are to blame for not doing that. The question remains -- what precautions can be taken to lessen the chance of a 7-year old getting choked to death by his drug-addicted, mentally ill father again?

[Dylan Waco]

There are alot of precautions to take. Perhaps we can ban wrestlers from having custody of their children or even having kids at all? That is one way that I can think of which would absolutely guarantee that this would never happen again. There are others I can envision..most equally draconian, absurd or implausable.

 

The point is this..the emotional response of "we have to do something" is entirely reasonable and justified..but the reality is if these guys won't do something for themselves there is NOTHING you or me or the federal government or Vince McMahon can or will do for them.

 

There will always be masking agents for drugs. There will always be "soft" doctors (espcially on notoriously corrupt state athletic comissions) that will let the guy with the brain bruises wrestle. There were always be shady promoters who will run their workers into the ground for a buck. If you think Congress can change any of that you are living in the world of fantasy.

 

To return to the earlier analogy, yes there regulations on who can and can't drive..somehow this does not stop drunk driving or crazy old people from driving into Denny's and killing bystanders. The reason it doesn't is because crazy shit sometimes happens, espcially when the necessary tools for such shit are readily available in a given enviornment.

 

There is nothing that could be done that would guarantee no more Daniel Benoits. There is nothing that can be done that will even reduce the risk in any measurable way

[Bix]

Why do you guys think this story has received a relatively minimal response to far online?

 

I think that it probably comes down to the fact that:

 

- A lot of people are too dumb to see how important it is.

- A lot of people are no-selling it because they are afraid that being fans of more reckless wrestling makes them responsible.

- A lot of people are afraid that it will make their favorite promotions look bad.

 

Etc.

 

It really is a sad look at the minds of wrestling fans.

[Dylan Waco]

I think it is because it sort of exposes the real dangers of wrestling the hardhitting style that alot of smarks like.

[Guest KCook]

I don't think that's wrong, but I think it's a bit more complicated than that.

 

This case has exposed some of the worst consequences of pro wrestling—domestic violence, drug abuse, and people enabling these things. It's easy as a fan to get distance from that and say that these people would have been beating their wives and using all the drugs they could lay hands on whether or not they were wrestlers, or to say it's all personal choice. Nancy Benoit made a personal choice to stay with her abusive husband, Chris Benoit made a personal choice to use drugs, and lamentable as those choices were, they were theirs to make, and really had nothing to do with wrestling.

 

When someone's brain is turned to pudding it's a lot harder to make that argument, both because wrestling inherently puts even the safest workers at risk of brain damage and because if Benoit had never gone into wrestling he wouldn't have incurred massive brain damage. This makes every wrestling fan complicit, and there's no way to hide from it.

 

I don't think the fans here are "better" than other fans just because we're all aware of our complicity and the true nature of the business, but it's worth remembering that a lot of people still refuse to face the fact that in a real sense they and wrestling are complicit in all the deaths. I'm sure that a lot of people are relieved with this news, actually—"Chris wasn't evil, it was just all the diving headbutts and chairshots that did it. I can enjoy his matches again." The meaning of this isn't even registering.

 

I should also add that while I was expressing skepticism upthread I do think this is a really important finding and probably the most consequential thing to come out so far. This is also a truly industry-wide problem. How many times has that fucking moron Bryan Danielson rung his bell and then worked an hour-long draw? He probably can't remember whether his first name is spelled with an "i" or a "y" at this point. I remember pointing this out on some board and getting told off by a bunch of ROHbots with "personal choice" arguments in hand.

[Loss]

There are alot of precautions to take. Perhaps we can ban wrestlers from having custody of their children or even having kids at all? That is one way that I can think of which would absolutely guarantee that this would never happen again. There are others I can envision..most equally draconian, absurd or implausable.

 

The point is this..the emotional response of "we have to do something" is entirely reasonable and justified..but the reality is if these guys won't do something for themselves there is NOTHING you or me or the federal government or Vince McMahon can or will do for them.

 

There will always be masking agents for drugs. There will always be "soft" doctors (espcially on notoriously corrupt state athletic comissions) that will let the guy with the brain bruises wrestle. There were always be shady promoters who will run their workers into the ground for a buck. If you think Congress can change any of that you are living in the world of fantasy.

 

To return to the earlier analogy, yes there regulations on who can and can't drive..somehow this does not stop drunk driving or crazy old people from driving into Denny's and killing bystanders. The reason it doesn't is because crazy shit sometimes happens, espcially when the necessary tools for such shit are readily available in a given enviornment.

 

There is nothing that could be done that would guarantee no more Daniel Benoits. There is nothing that can be done that will even reduce the risk in any measurable way

To be clear, there is absolutely nothing that can be done to totally eliminate the possibility of this happening again, and I am totally aware of that. Where I disagree is that the risks can't be reduced. I agree that there will always be masking agents, corrupt doctors and carny wrestling promoters, but every system can be beaten. That doesn't mean the system doesn't work to some degree.

[Bix]

Pro wrestler in court on harassment charges

By Jared Allen, [email protected]

October 26, 2006

 

 

Tracy Smothers, 44, who also was known as “Freddy Joe Floyd” when he was affiliated with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), is scheduled to appear before a General Sessions Judge on Thursday to face two charges of criminal harassment.

 

In March, Smothers’ live in girlfriend, Melba Renee Payne, told authorities that Smothers made a series of phone calls to her threatening bodily harm.

 

“[He] called me at work and told me that he was going to bash my head in with a baseball bat,” Payne alleged in her affidavit. “[He] called me nine (9) times and left multiple messages. I told [him] not to call me anymore.”

 

Payne went on to allege that Smothers called later that day and “stated that he was going to get me when I least expect it and take me away in a car where no one would ever find my body,” according to a second affidavit written by Payne.

 

Smothers, of 5170 Hickory Hollow Parkway, has had prior brushes with the law while in Nashville.

 

In March he appeared in court to faces two charges of misdemeanor drug possession and one charge of unlawful use of drug paraphernalia. Criminal Court documents indicated those charges were “settled.”

 

In August of 2005, Smothers defended himself against a charge of domestic assault, which was also brought forth by Payne.

 

“The defendant, who is my boyfriend and resides with me, has been calling me and leaving me voicemail messages threatening me with bodily harm. The defendant has stated to me that he is going to kill me,” Payne wrote in a sworn statement at the time.

 

“The defendant has assaulted me in the past,” she alleged last year. “He is also addicted to steroids and he is a professional wrestler.”

 

According to various professional wrestling Web sites, Smothers began his career in the early 1990s with the World Championship Wrestling (WCW) series.

 

While with the WCW, Smothers joined wrestler Steve Armstrong in the tag-team duo “The Southern Boys.”

 

He later joined the WWF under the name “Freddy Joe Floyd.”

 

Since March 2004, Smothers has continued wrestling on the independent circuit.

http://tinyurl.com/2ksjer

 

The case is now being dealt with by mental health services. The charges will be dropped if Tracy goes though with getting the help that he needs.

 

He has had 30 plus concussions and being around the wrestling business for 23 years makes it a little hard for him to deal with reality. That results in him being sick almost every morning, irrational mood swings and violent tendencies.

 

I filed the charges in an attempt to get him the help that he desperately needs. He lost his health insurance while in the UK. The neuroligist told him he should have gotten out of the ring 10 years ago due to the amount of brain damage he has suffered.

 

He has not done any steroids since the issue last year. When that occured he had just come off a cycle in hopes of getting hired by the WWE after the ECW PPV. The last cycle almost killed him and made him violent.

[S.L.L.]

When someone's brain is turned to pudding it's a lot harder to make that argument, both because wrestling inherently puts even the safest workers at risk of brain damage and because if Benoit had never gone into wrestling he wouldn't have incurred massive brain damage. This makes every wrestling fan complicit, and there's no way to hide from it.

Bingo.

[Bix]

A few minutes ago, Anderson Cooper 360 had a short segment about the story. Dr. Sanjay Gupta (a neurosurgeon who is CNN's chief medical correspondent) briefly went over the case and for the most part repeated what we already learned (and added credence to SLI's findings), but added that there is also a condition known as "steroid encephalopathy" and Benoit showed no signs of it.

[sek69]

Reading about these findings, I can't help but think of the story my mom once told me. She worked as an aide in a nursing home and one of the patients was a former heavyweight boxer who had Alzheimer's. Now he was old, but he still had a powerful punch. My mom was able to be one of the few staff to avoid getting knocked the fuck out by realizing that in Jerry's mind he was still a boxer and he was thinking the people trying to put him in bed were his opponents. My mom talked to him like she was his corner man and was able to get him to do what she wanted without him getting violent.

 

I guess my point is that brain damage is bad enough, but if it's affecting someone who had a career in a violent business (boxing/football/wrestling) they're going to revert to that mindset. Maybe that's why Benoit used the crossface on Daniel, he thought he was back in the ring.

[Guest BilJim2]

I should also add that while I was expressing skepticism upthread I do think this is a really important finding and probably the most consequential thing to come out so far. This is also a truly industry-wide problem. How many times has that fucking moron Bryan Danielson rung his bell and then worked an hour-long draw? He probably can't remember whether his first name is spelled with an "i" or a "y" at this point. I remember pointing this out on some board and getting told off by a bunch of ROHbots with "personal choice" arguments in hand.

I wrote about Danielson's concussions years ago. Probably around 2001 based on the topics in the column.

 

http://www.wrestlingclothesline.com/brams7in2.htm

 

I bet he's got a lot more than seven now.

[Guest *FH*]

I should also add that while I was expressing skepticism upthread I do think this is a really important finding and probably the most consequential thing to come out so far. This is also a truly industry-wide problem. How many times has that fucking moron Bryan Danielson rung his bell and then worked an hour-long draw? He probably can't remember whether his first name is spelled with an "i" or a "y" at this point. I remember pointing this out on some board and getting told off by a bunch of ROHbots with "personal choice" arguments in hand.

I wrote about Danielson's concussions years ago. Probably around 2001 based on the topics in the column.

 

http://www.wrestlingclothesline.com/brams7in2.htm

 

I bet he's got a lot more than seven now.

 

Not to mention his latest injury: broken orbital bone and detached retina from OMG STIFF~! forearms from that fat girl Morishima. Probably "got his bell rung" from that as well. And for what? So a bunch of smelly mongoloids can chant "best in the world?" Christ, what a fucking business.