Official "Squared Circle" Thread

[MHizzle85]

I've said it before and I'll say it again...

 

I don't think there's anyone with a better 18 month resume of matches than the Briscoes... even if you're not a huge ROH fan, you can't go wrong with ANYTHING they've been a part of in the last year and a half

 

I say this watching them vs. Shelley/Sabin from a few months ago, which is just as good on DVD as it was live

I agree, i've become a fan after watching only a few of their matches.

[T R U]

GPratt I gotta say, I really enjoy reading your little article things.. very nice work man

[Gregory Pratt]

Call me Greg, Gregory Pratt, Pratt or Greg Pratt. I hate GPratt.

 

Thank you, mate.

[T R U]

Call me Greg, Gregory Pratt, Pratt or Greg Pratt. I hate GPratt.

 

Thank you, mate.

 

I know you do, thats why I call you GPratt

[Brian]

Randy Orton Got Screwed Like Bret Hart
Uploaded by KazDaGr81

Randy Orton Promo
Uploaded by KazDaGr81

Edited July 1, 2007 by Brian

[Gregory Pratt]

Sneak preview I guess. Again.

 

Johnny B. Fair

 

Before I discuss the mainstream media's handling of Chris Benoit further I'd like to take a moment to challenge the charges made by Scott Williams of the Wrestling Observer.

 

We al

s

o

k

now that for every outraged parent who fir

s

t read or heard Benoit

’

s

name when thi

s

new

s

bro

k

e, there

’

s

a wre

s

tling fan trying to rationalize. Don

’

t ta

k

e my word for it

–

u

s

e any

s

earch engine to find an online wre

s

tling me

s

s

age board or blog. You will find

s

omeone trying either to explain circum

s

tance

s

to mitigate the double murder, offer bizarre alternate theorie

s

, or argue that we

s

hould focu

s

more on Benoit

’

s

tremendou

s

in-ring ability than the crime

s

that punctuated hi

s

life. It

’

s

thi

s

mentality that ha

s

k

ept fan

s

from getting outraged at the dozen

s

of drug tragedie

s

in wre

s

tling

’

s

recent hi

s

tory. It

’

s

thi

s

mentality that led fan

s

la

s

t year to care more about

K

urt Angle

’

s

next in-ring opponent than the real circum

s

tance

s

of hi

s

departure from World Wre

s

tling Entertainment, where Benoit al

s

o wor

k

ed.

 

Thi

s

i

s

the mentality of wre

s

tling fan

s

—

not all of them, but a di

s

turbingly large percentage who

s

pea

k

out. It allow

s

them to weep and wail about wre

s

tling

’

s

late

s

t tragedy (which they inevitably never

s

aw coming), while they plun

k

down money for entertainment they

k

now i

s

bought with dangerou

s

ly heavy drug u

s

e and

s

imultaneou

s

ly

s

ay,

“

It

’

s

not my fault that (dead wre

s

tler

’

s

name here) cho

s

e to put bad thing

s

in hi

s

body.

”

I

s

WWE owner Vince McMahon to blame for Chri

s

Benoit

k

illing hi

s

family and him

s

elf? Are wre

s

tling fan

s

? No, Benoit ha

s

de

s

ervedly traded in adulation for revul

s

ion, ultimately accountable for hi

s

hideou

s

act

s

.

 

But the wre

s

tling bu

s

ine

s

s

fo

s

ter

s

an environment that

’

s

anything but healthy, and both it and it

s

fan

s

s

pring to the unhealthy

s

y

s

tem

’

s

defen

s

e whenever tragedy hit

s

and out

s

ider

s

que

s

tion it. We

’

ve

s

een plenty of that thi

s

wee

k

, a

s

well. In the wee

k

s

to come, we

’

ll get an an

s

wer to at lea

s

t one que

s

tion: will thi

s

tragedy torpedo the wre

s

tling bu

s

ine

s

s

? Tho

s

e who

k

new him be

s

t

s

ay Chri

s

Benoit loved the wre

s

tling bu

s

ine

s

s

. Ironically, it

’

s

po

s

s

ible that hi

s

end could precipitate it

s

end. However, we already have an an

s

wer

—

one that

’

s

been evident for a long time, to anyone willing to loo

k

hard and hone

s

tly

—

to another que

s

tion: Doe

s

wre

s

tling de

s

erve to be

s

un

k

?

 

That an

s

wer i

s

a

s

ad,

s

orry

“

Ye

s

.

”

 

This wrestling fan, for one, is criticizing and defending which is what I believe to be the proper and necessary response. When the mainstream media uses the testimony of the Ultimate Warrior and Chyna on the air it deserves to be criticized for presenting a misleading and incredibly tainted version of speculation, let alone events, and when the press does a number on what actually happened by hypothesizing nonsense about Nancy Benoit's ex-husband murdering the them all, well, it deserves to be criticized. It deserves to be criticized for running amok with Steroids! as the headline when the truth is far from it, as many believe, myself and the wrestlers who knew him and the police department investigating included. Similarly, anyone that would claim that wrestling "creates the monster," as Nancy Grace did and Williams is doing, deserve to be criticized and vehemently so. I simply can not accept any claim of "Wrestling creates the monster!" or "The wrestling business encourages this behavior!" as that's demonstrably untrue (how many other wrestlers have gone off on double homicides?). Anyone who would argue that wrestling creates more monsters than the post office or working at Dairy Queen or writing on a political website for a living has an agenda, and anybody who would argue that wrestlers themselves are inherently more dangerous than most just because of the work they do is dishonest as well.

 

I'm just disappointed that someone who covered wrestling for a living would fall for such gobbledygook, because I'm only defending wrestling from those who would claim that it creates double murderers and child killers and monsters as a matter of routine and use the Ultimate Warrior and Chyna to paint a picture of steroids as if every professional wrestler is a homicide waiting to happen. I am defending the business from nonsense. I am not defending it from the claims that it should be forced to change the way wrestlers schedule, especially in the WWE. I am not giving the drug policy ("The Wellness Program") a ringing endorsement, as I definitely believe it should be tightened. That said, let's not lose our mind and start calling for an end to professional wrestling or perpetuate the partyline about wrestling creating monsters.

 

Bruce Hart, who was Bret Hart's father and Benoit's trainer in the famed Hart Dungeon, made some interesting comments on Friday that I missed until now. First, let's look at the introduction to the article,

 

Chri

s

Benoit wa

s

a "delu

s

ional juice frea

k

" who cha

s

ed the dar

k

s

ide and had trouble di

s

tingui

s

hing between hi

s

fictional character and reality,

s

ay

s

the man who

s

tarted him out in profe

s

s

ional wre

s

tling. "The la

s

t time I

s

aw him he wa

s

in pretty rough

s

hape mentally,"

s

aid Bruce Hart,

s

on of the legendary

S

tu Hart. "I didn't

k

now all the detail

s

but I

k

new it wa

s

n't good. I wa

s

not at all

s

hoc

k

ed (by what happened).

 

and now let me say, "Nowhere in the article does Hart call Benoit a 'delusional juice freak.'" He goes on to talk about Benoit's mental health, and he says that Benoit appeared troubled every time he saw him in recent years, then he criticizes the WWE for not being able to see that something was wrong with Chris. All of these points are interesting, and I think the last one is valid (an employer must be able to tell when its employee is ill; to WWE's credit, they've said numerous times that Benoit's been a different man lately: to their detriment, they didn't ask him to see a counselor or do enough to help him, but it is also important to know that two of his best friends in the business had died within the last two years). But beyond all that, I think the author of the article deserves to be fired for the introduction, as do the editors who allowed (and, I'm sure, encouraged) it, as it's completely dishonest but drags in the reader.

 

Let me ask you something, Dear Reader. Do you think editors and producers all over called a conference and said, "The man and his family are dead, right? So nothing matters now besides ratings, right? And bringing down the wrestling industry?" because it sure seems like that's what happened to me.

 

I'd like to briefly discuss the mainstream media's coverage of the Benoit murder now and focus a little on cable, since I've spent a few hundred words talking about print sources already. Here is a YouTube page that has video of many of the wrestling segments on cable news. First, I'll say that I'm disturbed by the inclusion of Johnny B. Badd Mark Mero to the list of wrestlers who've been interviewed as Mero didn't know Benoit particularly well, hasn't held a steady, serious job in the wrestling industry in ages -- but other than that, he's a great source!

 

Actually, I think he might be a little better than the Ultimate Warrior, and he's a lot better than Geraldo Rivera, but that doesn't excuse him or the media from turning this tragedy into a circus, and in so doing creating a second tragedy. I only wish Johnny P. could B. Fair and Accurate, but that's far too much to ask when there's money to be made, right?

[Gregory Pratt]

I've added two paragraphs to the beginning:

 

John Meehan of 411mania has posted a comprehensive timeline of all the things that have happened in this story and what they mean to the wrestling community, coupled with rebuttals and support of every claim made by critics of wrestling and reporters in the wake of Chris Benoit's actions last weekend. It's very much worth a read (that means "read it, Dear Reader"), and I'd like to say thank you to Meehan for posting it.

 

After that, I'd like to direct your attention to this article about Benoit and drugs, specifically "GHB," which is often used as a date-rape drug. There's evidence to suggest that that was a drug he was using and that it caused him, as it's caused others, to go insane. I've long believed that prescription drugs, mental illness and a lack of harmony with his wife were the causes of Benoit's actions. It's a much more sensible reaction than "Oh, it's the steroids!" and "Oh, it's wrestling! because if it were the steroids, all of Major League Baseball and professional football would be filled with wife-killers and if it were "wrestling, more wrestlers would be murdering.

[Kyyle23]

all of the coding in your writing is making my eyes cross

[Purdue129]

For anyone that was on the fence about getting the ROH PPV, buy it... it was very well put together and they did a great job of introducing new viewers to the roster.

 

The tag title match and the main event are worth the $10 by themselves.

[MHizzle85]

Umaga/Marella for the IC strap tommorow night.

[Buehrle>Wood]

So the only thing we know about Raw tonight is the main headline on wwe.com, the IC title match. Seems a bit fishy to me.

[MHizzle85]

Expect Cena/Lashley & Mysterio/Edge to be the main events at the Great American Bash.

 

Triple H is pushing for Orton to win the strap. The idea is that Cena doesn't need the belt to be over with the fans and that he only gets boos from being the champ. And that more money will be made in him chasing Orton for the belt.

 

Oh, The Mcmahon angle was to conclude with everyone finding out he faked his own death....lame.

 

per the observer.

Edited July 2, 2007 by MHizzle85

[Buehrle>Wood]

Triple H is pushing for Orton to win the strap. The idea is that Cena doesn't need the belt to be over with the fans and that he only gets boos from being the champ. And that more money will be made in him chasing Orton for the belt.

Someone has a brain backstage.

[Gregory Pratt]

Hey guys, I need a favor.

 

If each night, someone could check out WrestleCrap or some other site and see who was where on the news re: Benoit and drop me a note with a recap, let me know. I haven't got much Internet access now because of a move and so I need some help recapping as I don't have cable either.

[The Critic]

I don't know if I buy this, but here's an article from the Sun newspaper from England:

 

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2003560...7300340,00.html

 

It says he used the Crossface to strangle his son.

Isn't the Sun kind of "Enquirer-ish"?

[T R U]

I don't know if I buy this, but here's an article from the Sun newspaper from England:

 

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2003560...7300340,00.html

 

It says he used the Crossface to strangle his son.

Isn't the Sun kind of "Enquirer-ish"?

 

Ha

 

Thats dumb, the Crossface doesn't even strangle as a hold itself.. they, much like everyone else, probably dont have an idea what they are talking about.

[Purdue129]

If they're going to push Lashley like they're planning, please god get him a mouth piece... he's leagues below every other of their top guys on the mic

[Soxfest]

They were protecting Mr. Kennedy tonight he must need a little more time to heal.

[Brian]

They were protecting Mr. Kennedy tonight he must need a little more time to heal.

 

Exactly.

 

Usually when two faces are going to fight for a title, wouldn't they shake hands at the contract signing. Turn Lashley Heel and give him AAE as a manager!

[Brian]

RVD's contract quietly expired on Saturday.

[Gregory Pratt]

Somebody please PM me about Warrior's appearance tonight.

 

My latest article:

 

Causes for Concern [soprry about the HTML]

 

I believe that the police officers in Georgia should be disappointed in themselves for releasing this irresponsible and demonstrably improbable bit of speculation.

 

WWE wre

s

tler Chri

s

Benoit i

s

s

aid to have murdered hi

s

s

even-year-old

s

on with hi

s

WWE fini

s

hing move according to police in Georgia. Police are

s

peculating that Benoit, 40, u

s

ed a ver

s

ion of the Crippler Cro

s

s

face hold on hi

s

s

on the morning after

s

trangling hi

s

wife Nancy, 43, to death. Later that day Benoit committed

s

uicide, report

s

The

S

un. The Crippler Cro

s

s

face wa

s

a move Benoit performed in almo

s

t all hi

s

wre

s

tling matche

s

.

 

It wa

s

the brui

s

ing on the young boy that threw police initially, according to the

S

un'

s

report. The

S

un claim

s

an officer reviewed tape

s

of Benoit and put the move

s

together with the mar

k

s

on the child. The

S

un report

s

that "the mar

k

s

on Daniel'

s

body matched the application of a ver

s

ion the Cro

s

s

face." The

S

un report

s

that Di

s

trict Attorney

S

cott Ballard

s

aid: "A cho

k

e hold wa

s

u

s

ed to

s

trangle the boy, rather than hand

s

, becau

s

e there'

s

no brui

s

ing con

s

i

s

tent with

s

trangulation by hand

s

."

 

According to the

S

un, wre

s

tling reporter Dave Meltzer claimed: "There wa

s

brui

s

ing con

s

i

s

tent with the Crippler Cro

s

s

face on one arm and Daniel'

s

face. There were no brui

s

e

s

on hi

s

nec

k

. The police don't believe, becau

s

e of the

s

ize difference, that the hold wa

s

applied exactly a

s

it would be in a pro wre

s

tling match. "Benoit would have been in more of a

k

neeling po

s

ition,

s

ort of

s

traddling Daniel while u

s

ing one leg to pull bac

k

on hi

s

arm."

 

First of all, the article points out what I would: the move would be impossible to do on a child by a grown man, but the second point I'd hammer upon is that the boy was asphixiated and the Crippler Crossface can't possibly asphixiate you. If it's true that Benoit used a chokehold of any sort on his son, it's misleading to call it a variation of the Crossface. You just can't do it, and if he simply choked him and pinned him down with a knee, that's not a wrestling move, and it's misleading to talk about it as a wrestling move. Theoretically, I could sneak up on someone on the street, twist their arm and choke them with my bicep from behind and someone could say, "He's using a wrestling hold." But I wouldn't be, and neither did Benoit. The policemen should be ashamed of themselves for speculating that he used the Crippler Crossface, although I will say that I'm not sure policemen have made such claims as it's only been reported in print by the Sun of England and then parroted through the blogosphere. It is, at least, bad reporting, and the bloggers who have spread the claim should be ashamed.

 

It's a horrible killing as it is. Let's not pretend that Benoit put him into the Crippler Crossface, too.

 

If you want to have an investigation, investigate his doctor and the pharmaceutical industry, instead of interrogating wrestlers over whether or not wrestling makes a man into a monster. I've always believed America to be overmedicated and medication in excess to be dangerous. I don't think I'd ever take a Prozak or a Benedryl or a Viagra pill. Further, doctors who overprescribe their patients violate their oath and should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law -- which should reach further, in my view.

 

The per

s

onal doctor of a pro wre

s

tler who

k

illed hi

s

wife and

s

on before committing

s

uicide wa

s

charged Monday with improperly di

s

pen

s

ing pain

k

iller

s

and other drug

s

to other patient

s

. The

s

even-count indictment

s

aid Dr. Phil A

s

tin, phy

s

ician to wre

s

tler Chri

s

Benoit, di

s

pen

s

ed drug

s

including Percocet, Xanax, Lorcet and Vicoprofen between April 2004 and

S

eptember 2005. The recipient

s

were identified in the indictment by the initial

s

O.G. and M.J.; Benoit'

s

initial

s

were not li

s

ted.

 

U.

S

. Magi

s

trate Judge Linda Wal

k

er ordered A

s

tin held in lieu of $125,000 bond and

s

aid that regardle

s

s

of whether he came up with the money, he would be in jail overnight. A

s

tin will be under hou

s

e arre

s

t once he po

s

t

s

bond,

s

he

s

aid. A criminal complaint filed before the indictment and made public Monday

s

aid A

s

tin had written pre

s

cription

s

for about 1 million do

s

e

s

of controlled

s

ub

s

tance

s

over the pa

s

t two year

s

, including "

s

ignificant quantitie

s

" of injectable te

s

to

s

terone cypionate, an anabolic

s

teroid. The complaint by Drug Enforcement Admini

s

tration Agent Ani

s

s

a Jone

s

s

aid the amount of pre

s

cription

s

wa

s

"exce

s

s

ive" for a medical office with a

s

ole practitioner in a rural area li

k

e Carrollton, about 40 mile

s

we

s

t of Atlanta.

 

Doctors like him alarm me far more than any professional wrestler and pills like those he, and they, prescribe cause far more monsters than Vince McMahon does. I don't understand why Fox and CNN and the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times and the Asheville Review don't all go after the pharmaceutical industry instead of wrestling -- or, at least, alongside it. It's just as seedy, twice as dangerous and reaches more people. Not only that, it'd create waves as big as "Wrestler Kills Family: Ultimate Warrior Agrees It's a Bad Thing, Hates McMahon." But I guess they don't want anybody to know about their drug problem, which is America's drug problem, which is the reliance on "harmless" stimulants and relaxants.

 

(And before I'm accused of hypocrisy, I'd like to say that I don't believe in painkillers or relaxants or stimulants. If I want stimulation, I turn on my music, call a friend or drink a Coke. If I want to go to sleep, I insomniac around until I go to bed. The last time I took a painkiller it was a one-time deal when I tore my left knee apart and the doctor's insisted on it before the X-Rays. In hindsight, I'm glad they did because the pain was brutal even with the pill, but I never used the ones they gave me to take home. None of this is to say that I look down on wrestlers and stuntmen and football players and circus clowns who have to take pills for their pain. It's the doctors who over-prescribe and the parents who over-medicate their children and the system that encourages it and ignores it that bothers me.)

 

I have a couple more notes.

 

S

cott Ballard, Di

s

trict Attorney of Fayette County in Georgia i

s

s

ued the following

s

tatement thi

s

afternoon to go

s

s

ip web

s

ite TMZ.com:

 

"There are additional report

s

that contradict the earlier information that

s

ugge

s

ted that Daniel Benoit may have

s

uffered from Dwarf

S

yndrome or Fragile X

S

yndrome. Daniel'

s

family denie

s

that he

s

uffered from either condition. A

s

a re

s

ult of the family'

s

concern

s

, the Fayette County

S

heriff'

s

inve

s

tigator

s

and the Di

s

trict Attorney'

s

Office have inquired into thi

s

matter. A

s

ource having acce

s

s

to certain of Daniel'

s

medical report

s

reviewed tho

s

e report

s

, and they do not mention any pre-exi

s

ting mental or phy

s

ical impairment. Report

s

from Daniel'

s

educator

s

li

k

ewi

s

e contradict the claim

s

that Daniel wa

s

phy

s

ically under

s

ized. The educator

s

report that Daniel graduated

k

indergarten and wa

s

prepared to enter the fir

s

t grade on par with the other

s

tudent

s

."

 

I'm not sure how I feel about this. It seems odd that a seven year old would just be passing Kindergarten but I have nothing else to add. It's sad and tragic whether or not he was suffering from Fragile X Syndrome or in full health, but we'll see what else is said about it in coming days and weeks.

 

This article about Benoit's neighbor who was friends with his wife and discovered their bodies and has run off to Boston where she used to work as a publicist because she's in pain over the loss of her friend Nancy and her boy Daniel and is uncomfortable with all the media jackals around says that Daniel Benoit suffered from Fragile X. Who knows?

 

In more media news, Hulk Hogan has publicly called out Nancy Benoit as a "Satan worshiper."

 

Chri

s

Benoit wa

s

a peaceful man, according to wre

s

tling

s

uper

s

tar Hul

k

Hogan, but hi

s

wife Nancy Benoit may have wor

s

hipped the Devil. According to Hul

k

Hogan, Nancy Benoit'

s

wre

s

tling character wa

s

into devil-wor

s

hip, but Hul

k

thin

k

s

s

he may have made that character her reality. Hogan tell

s

U

S

Wee

k

ly: "He wa

s

peaceful and

k

ept to him

s

elf." A

s

for what Hogan thin

k

s

of the double murder/

s

uicide? "I thin

k

it had to be

s

omething per

s

onal, a dome

s

tic problem between him and hi

s

wife."

 

Hogan then tal

k

ed about Nancy Benoit: "

S

he wa

s

into devil-wor

s

hip

s

tuff. It wa

s

part of her [wre

s

tling] character, but [

s

he wa

s

]

s

omebody who get

s

s

o clo

s

e to their character,

s

omeone who get

s

into their character too much.

S

ometime

s

the

s

e people believe their own publicity."

 

Hogan is the last man in the world who should be talking about wrestlers believing their own publicity, for one thing. He also sounds like an idiot saying that Benoit is a peaceful man and Nancy was a Satan worshiper. I will concede that I agree wholeheartedly that it was all a domestic dispute gone terribly, terribly wrong, but I can't say I'm happy with what Hogan said or the frenzy it's caused.

 

Lastly, these are Lance Storm's thoughts on Benoit. I'm glad he took his time in writing them to learn all the facts, and I'm sad that he, like we, had to go through this, especially since he was close to Benoit. I'm also happy that someone else in wrestling -- someone far more influential than me or Keller -- is calling for something to be done about the problems faced by wrestlers.

[T R U]

I just went to Best Buy and picked up the 3 disc Ladder match DVD they recently put out.. 21 entire matches, ill check it out and let you guys know if its worth the buy.. im pretty sure I can safely say it is, but hey who knows..

 

Royal Rumble anthology is still $200, I will be getting it in the near future though..

[Brian]

I pre-ordered the Stone Cold DVD that comes out next month. I'm kind of interested in the Ladder Match DVD but I have seen all those already.

[T R U]

I pre-ordered the Stone Cold DVD that comes out next month. I'm kind of interested in the Ladder Match DVD but I have seen all those already.

 

So have I, but now I can watch them whenever I want.. this brings my collection to the Wrestlemania Anthology, Ladder Match Set, ECW: Blood Sport, RVD: One of a Kind, Shawn Michaels: Boyhood Dream, and soon to be the Royal Rumble Anthology

 

Dunno if you wanna include the countless VHS WWF and WCW pay per views that I have.. s*** I watched World War 3 98' the other day

[Brian]

I used to have a bunch of wrestling tapes but I gave them away years ago. Wish I had some of them like the ECW shows from 1995 and 1996.

 

If the Ladder Match set ever drops in price, not that it is expensive, I would probably get it.

 

What a bout a DVD with all the War Games matches? Granted, there were only like 8, but you can add Elimination Chamber matches and Hell in a Cell.