The WWE HOF audience makes me embarrassed to be a wrestling fan

[Bix]

So it seems that Flair mentioned a bunch of the Horsemen by name, including Chris Benoit. Live reports are saying that while there were some boos but mostly cheers.

 

Seriously...what the fuck is wrong with people? I get that there are some idiots who want to separate the wrestling performances from the human being who murdered his family before killing himself, often so they can watch his matches, but c'mon...CHEERING AT THE MENTION OF HIS NAME? That is just remarkably fucked up. It reminds me of when Roman Polanski, absent so he wouldn't get arrested for fleeing the country so as to avoid 50 years in prison for drugging and violently raping a young girl, got a ridiculous standing ovation for winning a Best Director Oscar. That may have been worse, as there seemed to be a sentiment of "YEAH! FUCK THE GOVERNMENT FOR GOING AFTER THIS GREAT ARTIST WHO HAPPENED TO DRUG AND VIOLENTLY RAPE A LITTLE GIRL!!!!!!!" and I'm not sure if the HOF crowd was leaning that way or just "BENOIT DID BAD STUFF BUT WAS STILL TEH GOOD WERKER AND U CANT 4GET IT!!!" Still, that's pretty terrible, too.

 

What the fuck is wrong with people? I'm reaching the point where I don't give a shit about people stereotyping wrestling fans because it's largely true and people like most of this board's posters are exceptions. It's too bad that we may feel the need to hide our fandom, but idiots like the "YAY BENOIT!" crowd make it a necessity.

[Loss]

I agree that it's a little sick that Benoit got cheered, but I honestly think most wrestling fans think that because we'll never know what motivated him to do what he did on that day, we should just remember him as a great wrestler. You'd be surprised at the number of people who think Nancy probably killed Daniel, and Benoit killed her to avenge him and then killed his own life, even stating things like that since a definitive timeline hasn't been established, it can't be ruled out. There's also WWE doing a good job of making the whole story seem pretty cloudy when it's a pretty straightforward thing. It's a flawed reasoning, sure, but yeah. I also think all of WWE's attempts to pretend he didn't exist have almost turned him into an antihero. I remember Dave talking in a WON a few months back about how he's become a sympathetic figure.

 

I agree that it's really fucked up, though.

[Bix]

You'd be surprised at the number of people who think Nancy probably killed Daniel, and Benoit killed her to avenge him

Really? Still? What awful forums are you hanging out on lately?

[tigerpride]

I'm not surprised they cheered Benoit, that's wrestling fans for you.

 

I really wish they would be more strict about idiots yelling stuff out, and kicking out the ones who try to get themselves over. At least try to be respectful

[Loss]

You'd be surprised at the number of people who think Nancy probably killed Daniel, and Benoit killed her to avenge him

Really? Still? What awful forums are you hanging out on lately?

 

I'm referring to stuff like the letter in Torch Feedback after Survivor Series when Michaels used the crossface. Also, when I've had conversations about it with wrestling fans I know, they've said things like that they think the whole story is wrong because the media was just on a witchhunt to hurt WWE. "We'll never know what happened, so all we can do is remember him as a friend and great wrestler" is the common line, and it's not hard for that to become gospel when company shills like Kennedy, Cena, Jericho and Jim Ross say it all the time.

 

Never underestimate WWE's ability to influence (brainwash?) its audience.

[Loss]

Also, I think it's the type of crime that will over time be less about the horrific nature of what happened and more about the intrigue and pop culture importance that goes with it, a la JFK's assassination, Charles Manson, OJ Simpson, etc.

[Bix]

You'd be surprised at the number of people who think Nancy probably killed Daniel, and Benoit killed her to avenge him

Really? Still? What awful forums are you hanging out on lately?

 

I'm referring to stuff like the letter in Torch Feedback after Survivor Series when Michaels used the crossface.

I forgot about that. That was horrifying.

 

Also, when I've had conversations about it with wrestling fans I know, they've said things like that they think the whole story is wrong because the media was just on a witchhunt to hurt WWE. "We'll never know what happened, so all we can do is remember him as a friend and great wrestler" is the common line, and it's not hard for that to become gospel when company shills like Kennedy, Cena, Jericho and Jim Ross say it all the time.

 

Never underestimate WWE's ability to influence (brainwash?) its audience.

Who are these people and why didn't you slap them?

[Slasher]

It's possible that the fans just wanted to be anti-establishment. They're the same fans that booed Cena every time he tried to talk at the ceremony.

[Resident Evil]

So what should the "proper" reaction to a mention of Benoit's name be? It's a difficult situation.

[Loss]

It's possible that the fans just wanted to be anti-establishment. They're the same fans that booed Cena every time he tried to talk at the ceremony.

That's probably part of it too.

[Bix]

So what should the "proper" reaction to a mention of Benoit's name be? It's a difficult situation.

Not cheering.

[Resident Evil]

So what should the "proper" reaction to a mention of Benoit's name be? It's a difficult situation.

Not cheering.

 

Silence is what I would do. I don't think you can boo especially as a wrestling fan. But you can't cheer either

[sek69]

Not that anything Bix is saying is wrong, but I gave up on wrestling fans acting anything resembling human beings a long time ago.

[CodySave]

To be honest, it's always really bugged me that they let fans attend the Hall of Fame ceremony at all. Every year without fail, people in the audience manage to take away from the ceremony by chanting really stupidly or calling out names.

 

I missed most of the ceremony and it doesn't appear that they are keeping a stream of it on the WWE site. Does anyone know another option of watching it besides getting the DVD in a couple month's?

[Robert S]

There are stream captures of the webcast on all the usual pro wrestling torrent sites.

[Ryan Faulconer]

There are groups on Facebook proclaiming Benoit's innocence, or at least there were a few months ago. People refuse to believe what they hear from the media. These are the same people who think that Miss Elizabeth died from breast cancer or that they actually watched Owen Hart fall on live TV (or on the news later). Heck, type some combination of innocent + Chris Benoit in google and you will find a ridiculously sad number of people who just don't get it.

 

The media has skewed the reality of pro wrestling for so long that fans get confused over any wrestling stories that they may here. There are three Undertakers, four Ultimate Warriors, Benoit killed Nancy after she killed Daniel, urban pro wrestling legend and urban pro wrestling legend that. Benoit is just another wrestler to fans and all the proof in the world might not sway them as they probably will eventually martyr Benoit for some completely nonsense bullshit pro wrestling-as-reality reason. Benoit's case is just another wrestling legend/myth to them.

 

On a sadly related note. A second ROH forum started up because some fans liked to swear a lot, say even stupider things and hated being censored or restricted in what they said on the official board. I've signed up for like fifteen different forums over the years and rarely post at any that aren't here, the rohwrestling.com forum or DVDVR. I signed up for the uncensored board one day and posted twice but I won't be posting there again. Its even more retarded than the regular forum for several reasons. They had a poster with an sig. file that read something like 'Chris Benoit is Innocent Movement" which looked pretty fancy in all its photoshoppy splendor. ROH hardcore fans aren't much different from WWE or other more mainstream fans. They believe the myths more than the truth even when presented with undeniable evidence.

[shoe]

The fact that people would cheer for someone who murdered his family is twisted on so many levels. They are the lowest common denominator out there and makes it hard to be a fan of wrestling.

[anarchistxx]

Aren't most people embarassed to be wrestling fans anyway?

[Bix]

Aren't most people embarassed to be wrestling fans anyway?

Yes, but it's better to not have it thrown in our faces like that.

[Jingus]

I'm not surprised by anything wrestling fans ever do. While working indy shows, I met countless dumbasses (along with a few legit retarded people) who REALLY thought that wrestling is real. Christ, when I was a heel manager I was once attacked by a chain-wielding granny who was well known for being a violent old bitch. And this was in the 21st century! There are lots of perfectly decent and intelligent wrestling fans out there, but they're buried under a mountain of idiots, jerks, and psychopaths.

[Bix]

I'd say that's a different variety of stupidity.

[anarchistxx]

Problem is, a lot of wrestling fans are society's rejects. There's got to be a reason for that.

[Guest robgomm]

Please stop generalising about wrestling fans. Any debate over why people cheered on hearing Chris Benoit's name is overshadowed when people start talking about "wrestling fans" being this or that. I am a wrestling fan and I would not have cheered Benoit's name.

 

My impression for a while has been that a lot of people don't have a true understanding of what Benoit really did. If they did, they surely wouldn't cheer. The main news coverage I saw was so sensational, so full of bullshit that it was difficult to feel any real emotion about what had happened. People who know the intimate details of the case (ie: you guys) aren't about to cheer Benoit. Most people don't know those details and so perhaps they associate Benoit with other dead wrestlers, not differentiating between him and Eddie Guerrero. Even then, it's hard to explain because they must know that Benoit killed his wife and son. I'd like to hear the views of fans on that - not the conspiracy theorists, the ones who know the basics of what happened but cheered on hearing Benoit's name. Personally speaking, I think WWE trying to bury the memory of what happened by not mentioning it has helped foster this weird atmosphere and I think they should've been up front and honest about it. But it's hard to criticise them for trying to move on when they were all grieving.

 

I'm confused on a lot of this stuff but just burying wrestling fans is a total cop out.

[Bix]

Please stop generalising about wrestling fans. Any debate over why people cheered on hearing Chris Benoit's name is overshadowed when people start talking about "wrestling fans" being this or that. I am a wrestling fan and I would not have cheered Benoit's name.

I'm a wrestling fan and so is everyone else at this board. My point is that I don't care about people making negative generalizations about wrestling fans anymore, because it sure looks like they're right about the majority.

 

My impression for a while has been that a lot of people don't have a true understanding of what Benoit really did. If they did, they surely wouldn't cheer. The main news coverage I saw was so sensational, so full of bullshit that it was difficult to feel any real emotion about what had happened. People who know the intimate details of the case (ie: you guys) aren't about to cheer Benoit. Most people don't know those details and so perhaps they associate Benoit with other dead wrestlers, not differentiating between him and Eddie Guerrero. Even then, it's hard to explain because they must know that Benoit killed his wife and son. I'd like to hear the views of fans on that - not the conspiracy theorists, the ones who know the basics of what happened but cheered on hearing Benoit's name. Personally speaking, I think WWE trying to bury the memory of what happened by not mentioning it has helped foster this weird atmosphere and I think they should've been up front and honest about it. But it's hard to criticise them for trying to move on when they were all grieving.

 

I'm confused on a lot of this stuff but just burying wrestling fans is a total cop out.

It's well known that he violently killed his wife and son before killing himself. While the majority doesn't know that the Crippler Crossface was used to kill Daniel, or that Chris was beating Nancy for years (though more would know this as it got decent mainstream coverage), or other more obscure stuff, they know the key details, and that's all that matters. If they question it without doing research, then they're idiots. If they question it after doing research, then they're idiots. You are right that it would be interesting to hear the views of that group of fans and the reasoning behind it, because I can't wrap my head around it.

[Guest robgomm]

You should care about negative generalisations of wrestling fans because, when someone does that, they are making negative generalisations about you. I'll certainly defend fans like you who are able to see the joy in pro-wrestling while, even more creditably, being able to see the faults.