Stone Cold Steve Austin's honest opinion on Chris Benoit

[the game]

So I get what stone cold is saying here and he's not wrong. I know we have wrestling fans here. Do you guys think Benoit should go into the hall of fame?

[gyrados]

as a wrestler yes chris benoit should be in hall of fame i understand why wwe wont put em in wwe has to protect their image but chris benoit was an awesome wrestler

[RickJamesLich]

Nah, the guy should never go into the hall of fame. Him murdering his family overshadows the rest of his career. It's sad but it would simply be wrong to put him in the HOF.

[Bathory]

I agree. Don't put him in, unless he's put in as a lesson/warning of the dangers of the sport/concussions/steroid abuse. Put him in as a warning, not as a champion.

But then again, I don't know if a definitive cause was ever confirmed, or ever will be confirmed.

[Jtbrig7390]

Nah, the guy should never go into the hall of fame. Him murdering his family overshadows the rest of his career. It's sad but it would simply be wrong to put him in the HOF.

What he did outside his Career doesn't change what he did in his Career. This isn't the hall of frame for best life. Its the hall of frame of the WWE.

So with that said yes he should be in the hall of frame. Just like hogan should even tho he said the shit he did and China should even tho she made porn and did drugs.

[the game]

What he did outside his Career doesn't change what he did in his Career. This isn't the hall of frame for best life. Its the hall of frame of the WWE.

So with that said yes he should be in the hall of frame. Just like hogan should even tho he said the shit he did and China should even tho she made porn and did drugs.

Didn't they remove hogan from the hall of fame? Triple H also said they won't let chyna into the hall of fame because of the porn she did. The WWE seems more worried about image than anything. Chyna should be in the hall of fame. I'm not decided on hogan and I don't believe benoit should be. People are always going to remember that he killed his family.

[Kapadons]

I would put him in. But I would also put Barry Bonds in the baseball hall.

I don't have an issue separating his wrestling career and what he did to his family.

But honestly , who really cares. Benoit doesn't cause he is dead and most of his family doesn't because they are dead too. If neither him nor his family are here to care, I'd say just leave him out so you don't have to deal with the PR shitstorm in our faux-outrage society

[RickJamesLich]

What he did outside his Career doesn't change what he did in his Career. This isn't the hall of frame for best life. Its the hall of frame of the WWE.

So with that said yes he should be in the hall of frame. Just like hogan should even tho he said the shit he did and China should even tho she made porn.

I have no qualms with Chyna going in (X Pac did porn with her and he's in good graces with the company), Hogan dropped the n-bomb, it's fucked up by the WWE has given a pass to all sorts of other shit. What Benoit did goes way beyond any of that. The very fact that this guy would be honored would really be an insult to the family of the victims.

That being said, it seems pretty clear that Benoit was not in the right state of mind, probably due to a combination of drug use and taking dangerous bumps. That being said, in my opinion at least, it still doesn't make it right that he should go into the HOF.

[Wolfie of Medivh]

No. Sorry, I adore him in the ring, but it's just impossible. Let's put it this way: if he hadn't been in the hall of fame all ready, OJ could never have been in the Hall of Fame for football. Chris is the same way. I miss him, whatever happened in that house for those two days was not the guy who I met and who could be so friendly and kind. But it happened, and you can't ever remove how it ended. Let the past be the past, he is never, ever gonna be and should never be. I personally feel he wouldn't want to cause that level of stir by being part of it.

[Jtbrig7390]

Didn't they remove hogan from the hall of fame? Triple H also said they won't let chyna into the hall of fame because of the porn she did. The WWE seems more worried about image than anything. Chyna should be in the hall of fame. I'm not decided on hogan and I don't believe benoit should be. People are always going to remember that he killed his family.

Benoit should be but at a later date or something. There is many others who deserve being in the HoF first.

Chyna won't be due to the reasons you said and also the history she has with Triple H and his wife. It was rumored that they was working things out before she died. Hogan should be as well just based on his history alone.

Benoit should be in it, just maybe not some big announcement. Just do it behind the scenes.

[Wolfie of Medivh]

I have no qualms with Chyna going in (X Pac did porn with her and he's in good graces with the company), Hogan dropped the n-bomb, it's fucked up by the WWE has given a pass to all sorts of other shit. What Benoit did goes way beyond any of that. The very fact that this guy would be honored would really be an insult to the family of the victims.

That being said, it seems pretty clear that Benoit was not in the right state of mind, probably due to a combination of drug use and taking dangerous bumps. That being said, in my opinion at least, it still doesn't make it right that he should go into the HOF.

There's no evidence he had taken drugs, nor steroids that were not under a doctor's care. He did however, have the brain of a 90 year old Alzheimer's patient. He had multiple, serious concussions that did not heal properly. His style - from the flying headbutt to the rolling germans - played hell on his body.

WWE should have twice-yearly CT scans for all active performers, and required concussion testing after any event that could cause brain injury, and mandatory time off after injury. But hell, that could screw up all those carefully written storylines by that group of goddamned over paid soap opera writers Vince and the son-in-law have, so nope, time to ship you back into the ring. And if you don't, well, good bye to your push!

This is why I have a giant collection of wrestling tapes and DVDs - and they all stop about 1986, because by then the idea that McMahon's way was right seeped in and the business went to hell.

[the game]

There's no evidence he had taken drugs, nor steroids that were not under a doctor's care. He did however, have the brain of a 90 year old Alzheimer's patient. He had multiple, serious concussions that did not heal properly. His style - from the flying headbutt to the rolling germans - played hell on his body.

WWE should have twice-yearly CT scans for all active performers, and required concussion testing after any event that could cause brain injury, and mandatory time off after injury. But hell, that could screw up all those carefully written storylines by that group of goddamned over paid soap opera writers Vince and the son-in-law have, so nope, time to ship you back into the ring. And if you don't, well, good bye to your push!

This is why I have a giant collection of wrestling tapes and DVDs - and they all stop about 1986, because by then the idea that McMahon's way was right seeped in and the business went to hell.

You didn't like the Attitude era?

[Wolfie of Medivh]

Benoit should be but at a later date or something. There is many others who deserve being in the HoF first.

Chyna won't be due to the reasons you said and also the history she has with Triple H and his wife. It was rumored that they was working things out before she died. Hogan should be as well just based on his history alone.

Benoit should be in it, just maybe not some big announcement. Just do it behind the scenes.

But then what's the farking point?

Listen, you do realize the "WWE hall of fame" is not a real hall of fame right? It's not some achievement to honor people. It's not voted on by a committee with a governing board that has rules. How else do you think Koko B. Ware is in there? It's not for his stunning ring work! WWE has possession of but not rights to use a lot of his old footage, and when he signs the Legends contract it lets WWE use it for a small token. It's a way to get old wrestlers to sign over their likenesses, their TV and video rights, and give them a token payment and a night of glory, all to make tons of cash off the videos and DVD sales and the network stuff.

The WWE hall of fame is not about recognizing people - it's a bribe. I don't blame a single person for taking it, and for some it is not about the money (for instance, Bret Hart, they all ready own all of his Calgary, WWF and WCW content - in other words, all of it), but in the end, it's a way to twist some money both out of fans and the wrestlers.

Don't EVER fall into the mistaken notion that WWE does anything out of the goodness of its heart - it is a profit making entity with a rather ruthless guy at the helm. He is there to make money, and don't fall for the work that its anything but that.

[Sylvaeres]

No. He absolutely should not be in it. He murdered his entire family. How the fuck does that warrant a HOF induction?

[Stormspellz]

No. He absolutely should not be in it. He murdered his entire family. How the fuck does that warrant a HOF induction?

he was also one of the best performers, who also had severe mental issues and brain disorders from said performance, thats the dangers of stacking concussions on each other. How ever due the general public not able under stand any of the nuances of the situation other then murder suicide it simply won't happen

[Felya]

I'm going to get flack for this, but no... which has nothing to do with the murders. I know there are some strange choices in WWE hall of fame, like Colon and prolific jobbers. But, what did Benoit do in the ring, that folks like Jerry Lynn didn't do, without WWE spotlight? Sorry, he was great, but not HOF great.

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You didn't like the Attitude era?

The funny thing is. For people to dislike attitude era and call back to old days of wrestling are usually phony. You had to be super old to remember Crockett production. It's like people who say Buddy Rogers is their favorite wrestler, because Stone Cold said so. No, fuck you, you haven't seen shit.

[Wolfie of Medivh]

You didn't like the Attitude era?

I liked some performers - Stone Cold is one of the best in-ring story tellers since Dusty Rhodes (with really, in essence, the same gimmick), the Rock was a talker that could go. Foley was on Stone Cold's level if not as complete an athlete. And having Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler before he went insane helped a lot too. Some of the gimmicks were fun but in the end, the attitude era was a watered down version of ECW, which was in of itself a distilled version of the old outlaw promotions and the Japanese death matches with a heaping helping of mid-90's trash TV (Maury, Jerry Springer, act) tossed in. The best parts of the Attitude era were when we got two talented people - Rock/Austin, Austin/McMahon, Bret/Austin, Trips/Foley, Rock/Foley, etc - together to put on a show. Most of the worst involved no-talent time wasters.

You'll notice except for the Rock, the notable exception, everyone on that list came out of the old territory days, and knew how to work.

I loved it at the time, but that's because I was a dumb teenager who loved the idea of rebellion that Stone Cold and DX represented. But as I grew up, and learned more about the business my tastes grew up too - and I find McMahon's stuff unpalatable.

HEre's my big problem, and it mostly started in the Attitude Era: The modern product has the best athletics in the history of the business - its just unfortunate that they've let all the secrets out and now no ones watching. AJ Styles and Nakamura are gifted athletes, but who cares when the fans have had it shoved in their face that a bunch of backstage politics (See: the airing out of Montreal and the Curtain Call) controls everything, there's a ton of soap opera writers handling the talent, and nothing matters. Any mark on the internet for instance knows Stone Cold only got his big break at King of the Ring 96 because of the blow back on Hunter for the Curtain Call. If WWE had its way there was no Austin 3:16, no Bret/Austin, no Austin/Rock, none.

Back in the day, guys worked hard to put on fake fights and people paid huge money to see them. Mid-size towns like Memphis, Louisville and St. Louis that had full houses weekly for years at a stretch, pulling in millions. Lots of people got paid, and lots of people earned good careers on it. Now you get one giant arena filled in a town a year. Guys are killing themselves to put in shows that no one is freaks' watching nor believes in! That's terribly sad.

So no, I didn't like the attitude era, because I realize what it was: A lot of throwing shat against a wall, then realizing "Oh, right, two talented performers against each other for reasons that matter! That works!", and then everyone remembers it like it was all every week Austin in the beer truck and Rock/Austin at Wrestlemania, and it wasn't.

Sorry for a diatribe there but I

- - - Updated - - -

I'm going to get flack for this, but no... which has nothing to do with the murders. I know there are some strange choices in WWE hall of fame, like Colon and prolific jobbers. But, what did Benoit do in the ring, that folks like Jerry Lynn didn't do, without WWE spotlight? Sorry, he was great, but not HOF great.

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The funny thing is. For people to dislike attitude era and call back to old days of wrestling are usually phony. You had to be super old to remember Crockett production. It's like people who say Buddy Rogers is their favorite wrestler, because Stone Cold said so. No, fuck you, you haven't seen shit.

Well I am fairly old, at least for this crowd. I remember WWF on the Super Station - yes, at one time, WWF was on TBS. And I remember WCW being founded, and how it took over for the NWA.

Most of my pre-80's wrestling was something I discovered later in life, a lot of it from watching shoots from guys who actually were involved (And from many view points), so I went from there.

[Fencers]

I don't think Benoit should be in the HOF. What happened to him and his family was unfortunate. Whatever circumstances leading to the murder-suicide are irrelevant- Benoit murdered them both. He died a murderer.

[Sinndra]

it bothers me that others cant separate personal life from the business. HoF recognizes the profession, and should not have anything to do with personal life. with that in mind, Benoit's professional career was amazing, and should be recognized by a ceremony that recognizes that career. personal life should be separated.

[Budong]

it bothers me that others cant separate personal life from the business. HoF recognizes the profession, and should not have anything to do with personal life. with that in mind, Benoit's professional career was amazing, and should be recognized by a ceremony that recognizes that career. personal life should be separated.

No. What you do in your personal life reflects on your professional. You can't separate the two. He was a murderer. Of his own children. You don't celebrate a murderer. I can't understand why this is even a debate. The extreme lack of empathy displayed in this thread is pretty astounding.