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Vice to release Chris Benoit Doc

HotAndTender

HotAndTender

Member
Dec 6, 2017
856
https://www.wrestlingnewssource.com/news/60823/Vice-Making-A-Documentary-On-Chris-Benoit/

Vice is making a documentary on Chris Benoit for their "Dark Side of the Ring" series.

Sister of Nancy Benoit (Chris's wife) tweeted:

"Vice. We did it. Coming soon. How do you heal a family when murder and hate is involved? Well.. your sister #nancybenoit leads the way. I LOVE YOU @IAmJericho & @mexwarrior for giving me my nephew back. 😘😘"

She later removed the tweet. Chris Jericho tweeted:

"That's fuckkn heavy!

The Wrestling Observer confirmed the documentary and who will be involved:

"Sandra Toffoloni (the sister of Nancy Benoit who knows the case better than anyone), Chris Jericho (who has studied the case harder than any pro wrestler because he considered Chris Benoit his best friend in wrestling at one time), Chavo Guerrero Jr. (Who Benoit was close with, often travelled with, and who Benoit texted that weekend), Michael (Chris' father) and David (Chris' son from a first marriage) Benoit."
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I believe his story needs to be told. I've watched a few of the Dark Side of the Ring episodes and they're really well made, be interesting to see.
 
Woolley

Woolley

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
2,420
I don't know if I want to watch this or not. I just really hope they don't try to sugarcoat anything.

Benoit was one of my favorite wrestlers growing up but what he didn't was absolutely disgusting and I don't think any mental illness he may have had changes that for me.
 
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Lee Morris

Lee Morris

Member
Oct 28, 2017
3,724
If you want the full details of this tragic story have a look at the podcast The Lapsed Fan 3 part Series: 10 Years After the Chris Benoit Tragedy. 11+ hours looking at it from every angle. Not for the faint of heart as it really is heart breaking and disgusting as to the events and aftermath.
 

DeltaRed

Member
Apr 27, 2018
5,746
I love watching old wrestling videos on YouTube but hate how many comments in them I see sympathetic to Benoit.
 
BebopCola

BebopCola

Member
Jul 17, 2019
2,040
Woolley said:
I don't know if I want to watch this or not. I just really hope they don't try to sugarcoat anything.

Benoit was one of my favorite wrestlers growing up but what he didn't was absolutely disgusting and I don't think any mental illness he may have had changes that for me.
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This is my own thoughts in a nutshell. As a foolish lad who preferred WCW over WWF in the 90s, he was like a goddamn lightning strike of wrestling compared to all the others, skill-wise. And the Wrestlemania where he won the title for the triple threat is still, to me, one of the best PPV matches of all time.

And then he did that horrific, unspeakable shit.
 
Jamie OD

Jamie OD

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,591
Lee Morris said:
If you want the full details of this tragic story have a look at the podcast The Lapsed Fan 3 part Series: 10 Years After the Chris Benoit Tragedy. 11+ hours looking at it from every angle. Not for the faint of heart as it really is heart breaking and disgusting as to the events and aftermath.
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I second the recommendation.
 
SparkleMotion

SparkleMotion

Banned
Nov 3, 2017
2,812
Woolley said:
I don't know if I want to watch this or not. I just really hope they don't try to sugarcoat anything.

Benoit was one of my favorite wrestlers growing up but what he didn't was absolutely disgusting and I don't think any mental illness he may have had changes that for me.
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Mental illness is a hell of a thing. Dude had CTE to the point where they said his brain was similar to that of a 90 year old Alzheimer's patient. It doesn't excuse his actions, but I don't believe it was the "real" Chris Benoit that did it.
 
Doober

Doober

Banned
Jun 10, 2018
4,295
I still remember that day. Raw was fucking surreal that night. They went from tributes and interviews with friends to erasing Benoit from WWE history in an instant.
 
GungHo

GungHo

Member
Nov 27, 2017
6,126
I hope it helps shine a light on what CTE really does to people and their families.
 
Masquerader

Masquerader

Banned
Nov 4, 2017
1,383
SparkleMotion said:
Mental illness is a hell of a thing. Dude had CTE to the point where they said his brain was similar to that of a 90 year old Alzheimer's patient. It doesn't excuse his actions, but I don't believe it was the "real" Chris Benoit that did it.
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Based on the fact that he already was a domestic abuser anyway, I am entirely happy with saying it was absolutely the real Chris Benoit who did it. This 'heat of the moment' narrative needs to stop. It wasn't spontaneous, it was planned.
 
dennett316

dennett316

Member
Nov 2, 2017
2,979
Blackpool, UK
Doober said:
I still remember that day. Raw was fucking surreal that night. They went from tributes and interviews with friends to erasing Benoit from WWE history in an instant.
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I remember watching it and amid the tributes, William Regal's interview stood out as he said he respected his talent, but didn't want to say anything beyond that. I think Regal had either heard some details by the time his interview was recorded, or he had an inkling that something wasn't right and didn't want to praise the man.

Such a sad, awful incident. Benoit was not a nice guy for many years before this, with Nancy filing for divorce in 2003 due to alleged domestic abuse. Certain people online latch onto the state of his brain as the entire cause of everything, mostly so they can feel OK about saying they want him in the Hall of Fame and think his matches should be promoted again.
 
Doober

Doober

Banned
Jun 10, 2018
4,295
dennett316 said:
I remember watching it and amid the tributes, William Regal's interview stood out as he said he respected his talent, but didn't want to say anything beyond that. I think Regal had either heard some details by the time his interview was recorded, or he had an inkling that something wasn't right and didn't want to praise the man.

Such a sad, awful incident. Benoit was not a nice guy for many years before this, with Nancy filing for divorce in 2003 due to alleged domestic abuse. Certain people online latch onto the state of his brain as the entire cause of everything, mostly so they can feel OK about saying they want him in the Hall of Fame and think his matches should be promoted again.
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Yeah, him being abusive towards Nancy was a separate issue from his CTE.
 
Violence Jack

Violence Jack

Drive-in Mutant
Member
Oct 25, 2017
41,674
Benoit was a dick way before the murder-suicide happened, but I think I remember those closest to him say they didn't ever believe he was capable of anything like that. I fucking loved him, and thought he was one of the best technical wrestlers next to Bret and HBK. Not sure if I want to watch this because I was so shook by everything that happened after the Raw tribute show.
 
Stove

Stove

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,078
I will likely watch this. Benoit was my favourite wrestler and I've never been able to watch wrestling properly since. Nor have I watched a match of his in at least a decade.

Thirding the Lapsed Fan recommendation, they go deep into what happened. I learnt things I was not aware of. Benoit was awful even before what he did.
 
RecRoulette

RecRoulette

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
26,044
Lee Morris said:
If you want the full details of this tragic story have a look at the podcast The Lapsed Fan 3 part Series: 10 Years After the Chris Benoit Tragedy. 11+ hours looking at it from every angle. Not for the faint of heart as it really is heart breaking and disgusting as to the events and aftermath.
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Will also recommend this, the humor isn't for everyone but when it comes to in-depth research it's hard to find a better source
 

Deleted member 23212

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 28, 2017
11,225
Woolley said:
I don't know if I want to watch this or not. I just really hope they don't try to sugarcoat anything.

Benoit was one of my favorite wrestlers growing up but what he didn't was absolutely disgusting and I don't think any mental illness he may have had changes that for me.
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It's important to discuss the concussions though, because it's a big issue in the wrestling industry and shows just how problematic it is (you cannot tell me that he was not showing massive symptoms beforehand, yet nobody did anything about it until after he already murdered his family).
 
Stove

Stove

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,078
Oheao said:
It's important to discuss the concussions though, because it's a big issue in the wrestling industry and shows just how problematic it is (you cannot tell me that he was not showing massive symptoms beforehand, yet nobody did anything about it until after he already murdered his family).
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Oh absolutely, it's a vital part of what happened. I hope the doc looks into all of it. The damage he had taken in his career was absolutely insane, coupled with the ridiculous amounts of drugs he was prescribed from his physician (who spent 10 years in jail, and was also linked to another patients death). I really hope the documentary sugarcoats nothing, and that the WWE involvement is zero.

I think some of us take issue with the narrative that Benoit was this amazing compassionate human being who just snapped due to brain trauma. He wasn't.
 
Astandahl

Astandahl

Member
Oct 28, 2017
9,007
I probably won't watch this. I was just a kid when i was watching Chris and loved him. His feud with Angle was amazing and after his death Mediaset stopped showing Smackdown on television...
 
DJChuy

DJChuy

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
5,232
Will give it a watch.

I remember Vince came back from the dead to pay tribute on Raw, and then apologized to the public the following night on ECW.
 
Burly

Burly

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,070
Wiseblood said:
I always wondered what they were thinking rushing to do a tribute show the way they did. They had to have known the whole family was dead, right? What did they think happened?
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IIRC there were rumors about everything from a home invasion to carbon monoxide poisoning. It wasn't until like an hour into the show that they found out Benoit was the suspect.
 
shaneo632

shaneo632

Weekend Planner
Member
Oct 29, 2017
28,980
Wrexham, Wales
Doober said:
I still remember that day. Raw was fucking surreal that night. They went from tributes and interviews with friends to erasing Benoit from WWE history in an instant.
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Yep I came home from the pub and my bro told me he'd died in a gas leak with his family. Watched Raw with tears in my eyes the whole time then logged onto WWE.com and saw that there was an investigation. WTF.
 
PHOENIXZERO

PHOENIXZERO

Member
Oct 29, 2017
12,065
At least it'll probably be much more hard hitting than most of the first season's which IIRC I only liked two of them because of how much was glossed over, left out or allowed to "revise" history. The Moolah episode still annoys the crap out of me.

Benoit's idolization of Dynamite Kid and how much he emulated him probably should've been an early red flag, of course easy to say since most of us on the outside didn't hear the Benoit stories on how much of a shitty person he was until well after he died.
 
AbsoluteZero0K

AbsoluteZero0K

Alt Account
Banned
Dec 6, 2019
1,570
I was also a huge fan, and never quite took the time to read into all the details due to mourning a fallen "hero."

Looking forward to watching this.
 
Bakercat

Bakercat

Member
Oct 27, 2017
10,154
'merica
I always try to look at benoit as something we can learn from, and not how sympathetic people try to make the situation. What he did is inexcusable and should be condemned. What happened there should be a learning lesson on multiple things, such as CTE, prescription drug abuse, domestic violence, etc.
 
janoGX

janoGX

Banned
Nov 29, 2017
2,453
Chile
I think, what Heyman said on a Q&A he did a couple months ago captures what I feel about Chris Benoit and any fan who tries to "save" his image because of his work.

 
Parch

Parch

Member
Nov 6, 2017
7,980
It's a helluva story.
It can be easy to mess up a documentary like this if it is presented with bias. There's a lot to it and it would be difficult to have a fair, both sides, presentation. No matter how it's made, there's probably going to be some people who won't like it because they think it doesn't match their opinion of the incident and emphasizes the wrong things.
 
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