An entire week as the spotlight column: not bad for the new kid on the block.
For the few of you who have been wondering, my name is Ben Morse and I am a nineteen-year old college student. My major is English, my minor is Theater, but much of my passion lies in other areas as well. For example: I took my first ever philosophy class this past semester and absolutely loved it. I particularly enjoyed the work of Aristotle and found that I was able to apply his way of thinking to many things in life.
I’ve also been a fan of pro wrestling since I was about eight years old, and a reader of 411 since I discovered the internet several years ago, so needless to say this gig is a dream come true for me. Thanks to all of you who wrote in with responses to my initial column, I appreciated it and wish I had the chance to write more of you back (unfortunately finals and my girlfriend’s birthday interfered); but please keep writing, be it praise, criticism, or suggestions for who you would like to see featured in “The Mean.â€Â
That having been said, I’ll offer a little warning for those of you who plan to read this column every week (and hopefully that amounts to more than just my Mom and my friends): at the beginning of each column I’m going to have a brief explanation of precisely what this column is and how it works. Feel free to skip over said introduction if you’re not a new reader. So enough about me, let’s get going here
The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle believed that everything in life could be broken down into two extremes: excess and deficiency. He believed that if a person could find the medium or mean between the two extremes in all that they did in life, they would travel down the path to happiness and virtue. With pro wrestling fans, the two extremes are clear: the deficient “mark†enjoys watching wrestling more than anybody but has very little knowledge of anything not on TV, while the excessive “smart†knows every backstage dealing, but as a result can become highly bitter and cynical, losing their ability to enjoy the show. These two extremes view each wrestler differently, often disagreeing with each other. Each week I look at both perspectives and then attempt to find “The Mean†between the two. This week, let’s take a look at Chris Benoit
As always, let’s begin with a bit of history about Mr. Benoit. The “Canadian Crippler†(or “Rabid Wolverine,†depending on the announcer’s mood) was trained in the legendary Hart family Dungeon and got his start as the tag team partner of Beef Wellington in the Hart’s Stampede promotion. From there Benoit moved onto Japan where he began to become recognized as one of the world’s top light-heavyweights, wrestling sometimes under a mask as Wild Pegasus and Pegasus Kid. Benoit returned stateside in 1994 and spent a year in the on-the-rise ECW as a member of the Triple Threat along with Shane Douglas and Dean Malenko (it was Benoit’s first shot at the American “bigtime†save for a brief early ‘90’s stint in WCW). Benoit & Malenko captured the ECW Tag Team titles, and Benoit earned his “Crippler†nickname by breaking Sabu’s neck during a match. In the fall of 1995, Benoit, Malenko, and Eddy Guererro were signed by WCW, and that’s where things get interesting.
Upon his entrance into WCW, Benoit immediately became the newest member of the legendary Four Horsemen along with Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, and Brian Pillman. In ’95 and ’96, Benoit garnered both heel and face heat on different occasions (being aligned with Flair and Anderson will do that for you). He also put on some great matches and fans were really getting to see what he could do. He became involved in a feud with veteran Kevin Sullivan and managed to get some of the best brawls out of Sullivan in years. Benoit was clearly on the fast track to success and then, something happened.
It’s not clear exactly when, but somewhere relatively early on in his WCW tenure, Chris Benoit made a choice that would haunt him for years to come: he entered into an affair with Nancy Sullivan (aka Woman, his valet at the time), wife of Kevin Sullivan, one of Benoit’s in-ring rivals, but more importantly an important booking figure behind the scenes. In 1996, ’97, and ’98, Benoit put on great matches with the likes of Malenko, Raven, Booker T, and others, but never received a title or any sort of significant push. It has long been held more or less as fact that so long as Sullivan was in power, he used that power to hold back Benoit out of resentment (Nancy has divorced Sullivan in the interim and has gone on to have a child with Benoit).
In 1999, Benoit’s career took a turn for the better. He first garnered heel heat as a member of the reformed Four Horsemen, and then face heat as a member of The Revolution with Douglas, Malenko, and Perry Saturn. He was given runs with the Tag Team, Television, and U.S. titles. In October ’99, Vince Russo came into power in WCW, and made it clear that Benoit was a big part of his plans. Benoit was starting to get over as a solo face and was positioned by Russo as a major player in WCW’s war with the new nWo. Then, in one night, it all came crashing down.
At Souled Out 2000, Benoit was set to wrestle nWo member Jeff Jarrett in a best of three series for the U.S. title while Sid Vicious was scheduled to challenge the clique’s leader, Bret Hart, for the World title in the main event. Plans changed when in a matter of days, Hart and Jarrett were both injured, and Russo was removed as head booker. The main event was hastily changed and had Benoit go over Sid to win his first World title. It seemed as if Benoit’s day had finally come then Russo’s replacement was revealed: Kevin Sullivan. Rather than take his chances with Sullivan at the helm, Benoit gave up the title, and along with Malenko, Guererro, and Saturn, asked for, and received his release from WCW.
Less than a month after leaving WCW, Benoit and the others showed up in the WWF as “The Radicalz.†During his year in the WWF, Benoit has held the Intercontinental title three times, main evented pay per views, and wrestled the top stars in the business (The Rock, Triple H, Steve Austin, The Undertaker). Benoit recently turned face, after over a year as a heel, and has been getting some of the biggest pops of his career. It seems that the man many refer to as “the best pure wrestler in the world†is finally on the verge of his biggest break yet.
Now then
THE MARK: It’s easy to understand why the casual fan does not get initially excited over Chris Benoit. For one thing, he’s not very big; for another, he does not deliver the best interviews; Benoit does his work in the ring. The fact that he has added on considerable muscle over the past few years has helped, but the fact remains that Benoit still does not have the ability to get instantaneously over with a crowd; but that doesn’t mean he can’t get over. Benoit’s strengths lie in building a fanbase over time. The more Chris Benoit matches a mark sees, the more they realize that he always delivers solid outings, and the more likely they are to cheer him the next time they see him. While Benoit does a great job playing a sadistic heel, he has always been more over with the marks when playing a babyface. There is something about Benoit’s quiet intensity that the marks like to cheer, but they have no real reason to boo. The key for Chris Benoit getting over with the marks is staying in the same promotion and getting considerable TV time for a long period of time (I’m talking like a year; fact of the matter is, marks have short attention spans). Conditioned properly, the marks like Chris Benoit. It took almost his entire WCW tenure for him to get over, but in the WWF he has made much quicker progress.
THE SMART: This is not intended to be a religious column, but when talking about the smart fan’s view of Chris Benoit, it is difficult not to use the term “God†at some point. The internet smart fans consider Benoit to be the best technical wrestler in the world, and the man who puts on the best matches on television or anywhere else. They respect and revere the man for his athletic ability and his unparalleled work ethic (when is the last time Chris Benoit took any significant amount of time off due to injury or anything else? The man is dedicated). The smart fan is quick to lash out against anything or anybody that prevents their hero from reaching the top: be it a promoter that doesn’t push Benoit, an opponent to whom he jobs, or somebody who makes him look anything less than perfect in the ring. Smart fans are very defensive of their heroes, but with Chris Benoit, it’s a whole other level.
And finally
THE MEAN: Respect Chris Benoit for being a hard worker and a great athlete, but the fact is, there are more important things in life than how well you do your job. Benoit made a decision in the Nancy Sullivan situation that was both unethical and immoral (entering into an affair with a married woman), as well as tremendously stupid (entering into an affair with your boss’ wife!). As much as I love to watch Chris Benoit in the ring, I feel no pity for the fact that he was held back all those years in WCW; he got what he deserved. This of course raises the question of what exactly it means that smart fans hold a man’s ability to perform in the ring over his moral character (mark fans are exempted here as most probably have no idea about the Sullivan situation). I tend to see nothing wrong with the view of the smart fan; they are observers of a form of entertainment and really have no obligation to take the entertainers for task for their ethical decisions. Smart fans have the right to support whomever they want, and as fervently as they want. As far as Chris Benoit goes however, the man is a tremendous wrestler; further, he possesses several traits that have to be seen as virtues: dedication, work ethic, athleticism, etc. But the fact is: Benoit committed adultery, and I don’t see how you can justify that. Perhaps Kevin Sullivan did abuse his powers in an unprofessional manner, but he certainly had the moral grounds to do so. Regardless, the Sullivan debacle is in Benoit’s past now, and he has a whole new opportunity before him in the WWF; whether or not the sins of the past come back to haunt him remains to be seen.
In the mean time, thanks for reading.
