On a similar note, from a radio interview w/ Rob Van Dam about Benoit's brain:

 

Joes co-host Tim Cates then asked Rob if WWE should tone down the more extreme aspects of the matches. Rob responded by saying that he thrived on the more hardcore aspects and if he didn't have a black eye or bloody nose that he felt that he wasn't giving the fans a good show. He also said that when he first got to WWE that he was taking a lot of unprotected chair shots, but that Vince McMahon told him almost in a fatherly way to not take them directly but to put his arms up. However, Rob said that it was his way of respecting the business.

What a fucking fucked up business.

I loved how Rob seemed more concerned about the long term effects of flying on wrestlers in that interview than concussions or drug abuse.

 

That said, I don't really expect rational thoughts from a guy whose brain is probably fried by a combination of concussions, pot and years of brainwashing.

I thought the part about how taking unprotected chairshots to the head "was his way of respecting the business" was even more screwed up.

 

Also, ROH feels quite disgusting when you realize how the severe concussions received by Marc Briscoe & Delirious were handled earlier in the year, and that is a company not run by VINCE MCMAHON.

Also, ROH feels quite disgusting when you realize how the severe concussions received by Marc Briscoe & Delirious were handled earlier in the year, and that is a company not run by VINCE MCMAHON.

Oh man, that fucking match. Briscoe had like two weeks after he took some ridiculous head drop on his head, and then focused an entire match around getting dumped on his head repeatedly without protecting himself. That match made me hate wrestling for a good few weeks. Mark Briscoe might die before he's 35, legit.

It's disgusting that there are fans who think Jamie Noble is wasting his talent chasing midgets when he could be having FIVE STAR CLASSIX being dropped on his head for little money.

 

In light of all this, could ROH attempt to change their style, or will they fall back on "we're Japanese style~! and our dudes get time off between concussion-filled tours!"

Also, ROH feels quite disgusting when you realize how the severe concussions received by Marc Briscoe & Delirious were handled earlier in the year, and that is a company not run by VINCE MCMAHON.

Oh man, that fucking match. Briscoe had like two weeks after he took some ridiculous head drop on his head, and then focused an entire match around getting dumped on his head repeatedly without protecting himself. That match made me hate wrestling for a good few weeks. Mark Briscoe might die before he's 35, legit.

 

Didn't he also have a violent outburst in the lockerroom when he woke up, the same way Delirious did?

 

EDIT: Or was that when he had a seizure?

http://www.latimes.com/sports/custom/extra...a-sports-extras

 

On Wednesday, WWE officials responded to the Benoit brain report with a prepared statement:

 

"Today's attempt to explain that Chris Benoit's murder of his family was possibly caused by some form of dementia as a result of alleged concussions is speculative. WWE can certainly understand the anguish of a father having to deal with the fact that his son allegedly murdered his wife and young son, as Chris Benoit is alleged to have done. We respect the desire of that father to do whatever he can to find some explanation as to why his son might commit such horrible acts."

 

Bailes said his research has shown as few as three major concussions can cause "serious, major consequences."

 

Although Michael Benoit said his son suffered "quite a number" of concussions while wrestling, WWE spokeswoman Jennifer McIntosh said officials "dug around" and found "no medical records of [benoit] suffering a concussion.

"We don't have any answers as to why Chris did what he did. We're still awaiting the law enforcement investigation to be concluded," McIntosh said

Translation: "Hey, Waxman! Yeah, just wanted you to know that when you ask us about this under oath we're going to have to say that we don't keep track of concussions and actually think that Nowinski is kind of a pussy. Really, it's just 'Hey, is your head still on? Great! Go wrestle.' Just wanted you to know."

 

I keep thinking they can't get any more clueless, and then they raise the bar.

It's pretty mind-boggling that they added that as opposed to just dismissing the idea that the injuries made his mental state worse when PICTURES OF HIS BRAIN ARE IN THE NEWS.

Although Michael Benoit said his son suffered "quite a number" of concussions while wrestling, WWE spokeswoman Jennifer McIntosh said officials "dug around" and found "no medical records of [benoit] suffering a concussion.

EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE COMPLETELY FINE, FOLKS!

What do they think they're really protecting there when they release something so incredibly stupid?

I figured that WWE would go after the "steroids didn't cause this, so leave us alone" angle. Plus benoit must have suffered all those concussions while working for WCW... He certianly would never have suffered one while doing a tope' head first into a steal chair...

Reading about these findings, I can't help but think of the story my mom once told me. She worked as an aide in a nursing home and one of the patients was a former heavyweight boxer who had Alzheimer's. Now he was old, but he still had a powerful punch. My mom was able to be one of the few staff to avoid getting knocked the fuck out by realizing that in Jerry's mind he was still a boxer and he was thinking the people trying to put him in bed were his opponents. My mom talked to him like she was his corner man and was able to get him to do what she wanted without him getting violent.

 

I guess my point is that brain damage is bad enough, but if it's affecting someone who had a career in a violent business (boxing/football/wrestling) they're going to revert to that mindset. Maybe that's why Benoit used the crossface on Daniel, he thought he was back in the ring.

Jerry Quarry?

No, my mom worked there in the mid 80s and her Jerry was already an old man by then.

 

Also, from the latest WO update:

 

--Josh Hungerford, 29, of Gillette, WY, who was injured in a Friday night MMA match, is expected to be out of the hospital by the end of the week. He suffered from a subdural hematoma, a brain injury with blood collecting between layers of the brain after being dropped on his head. He had no permanent damage and no broken bones. Doctors have told him fighting again wouldn't be a good idea because a second head injury of the type could be fatal.

Translation: "Hey, Waxman! Yeah, just wanted you to know that when you ask us about this under oath we're going to have to say that we don't keep track of concussions and actually think that Nowinski is kind of a pussy. Really, it's just 'Hey, is your head still on? Great! Go wrestle.' Just wanted you to know."

 

I keep thinking they can't get any more clueless, and then they raise the bar.

I honestly have a feeling that the WWE thinks Waxie is a fucking pussy and they can pull one over his eyes.

 

Do they know nothing about him and his crack team of staffers? These are the guys who crawled up the ass of Haliburton at a time when the War wasn't so loathed, Cheney was still feared, and to question anything about it was a sign of being a terrorist loving pussy. When the Republican run committe would stonewall full investigations and hearings, Waxie's teams would do their own, put the reports up on their website, and get the stories out in the media.

 

Waxie has far, far, far bigger fish to fry than a bunch of pissants like the McMahons. That said, if your start pissing off his team, they're not exactly going to go away. They will dig. They will find sources (one suspects they and the other committe are already either dialed into Meltzer or Keller or someone seriously hip to the history of the WWE's policies). And they will doing a hearing and report that make the WWE look like dogshit.

 

Whether that has any impact on the WWE... I don't know. Wrestling has long been a cockroach of an industry. It's extremely hard to kill.

 

 

John

"In Your Face" has the most brutal three-way ever pitting Bryan Danielson vs. KENTA vs. Samoa Joe. This match saw Joe suffer a ruptured eardrum while KENTA and Danielson both suffered concussions.

Per ROH site.

 

Looks like they're bragging about their talent getting fucking hurt pretty badly.

 

Danielson is following way to closely in Benoit's footsteps.

Danielson is following way to closely in Benoit's footsteps.

Not just Danielson, pretty much the whole ROH roster, as it's clear most of them idolised Benoit and tried to emulate him in the ring and other workers of his ilk.

If wrestlers were unioned/licensed, they'd have to get medical exams frequently and ideally, I guess two concussions would result in a permanent loss of license, meaning the career is over right then.

I would be shocked if you could find a single wrestler on the WWE payroll who hasn't suffered at least two concussions. Hell, I've gotten a concussion in the ring, and my "wrestling career" consisted of about a dozen matches. If the congressional committee pays serious attention to the matter of brain damage and enforces some sort of strict regulation on that front, bye-bye wrestling as we know it.

 

And I can back up the story about Smothers being brain-fried too. Aside from hearing countless stories about his infamous temper (New Jack: "Tracy Smothers is one crazy motherfucker"), I've worked with the guy and been ring announcer for his matches on twenty or thirty occasions, and every time he greeted me with "Hi, I'm Tracy, what's your name? Nice to meet you, Jingus."

Well, if everyone has more than two concussions, then that means everyone is brain damaged, which means wrestling is hazardous, which means it probably shouldn't exist. I'm a fan and I'm not actively hoping for anyone to bring it down or anything, but objectively, what's the argument for allowing it to continue as is when the status quo is pretty horrible?

If wrestlers were unioned/licensed, they'd have to get medical exams frequently and ideally, I guess two concussions would result in a permanent loss of license, meaning the career is over right then.

I would be shocked if you could find a single wrestler on the WWE payroll who hasn't suffered at least two concussions. Hell, I've gotten a concussion in the ring, and my "wrestling career" consisted of about a dozen matches. If the congressional committee pays serious attention to the matter of brain damage and enforces some sort of strict regulation on that front, bye-bye wrestling as we know it.

 

And I can back up the story about Smothers being brain-fried too. Aside from hearing countless stories about his infamous temper (New Jack: "Tracy Smothers is one crazy motherfucker"), I've worked with the guy and been ring announcer for his matches on twenty or thirty occasions, and every time he greeted me with "Hi, I'm Tracy, what's your name? Nice to meet you, Jingus."

 

Not just WWE but I'm willing to bet every wrestler out there has had at least one concussion. Just like I beileve everyone in the whole universe is on some kind of drug. They just don't know it.

Politics and solipsism ... I love it!

 

This thread is officially anything goes.

Politics and solipsism ... I love it!

 

This thread is officially anything goes.

In fairness, it's a lot easier than admitting to yourself that you're supporting a business that kills people dead for fun and profit.

Politics and solipsism ... I love it!

 

This thread is officially anything goes.

In fairness, it's a lot easier than admitting to yourself that you're supporting a business that kills people dead for fun and profit.

 

I see dead people and I think I like it?

 

But really that Danielson story is interesting. I'm intrested in Hearing ROH fan boy Rob Naylor's thoughs. Will he stop watching after hearing this?

WWE spokeswoman Jennifer McIntosh said officials "dug around" and found "no medical records of [benoit] suffering a concussion.

Jesus can they hire a real PR person already.

 

I mean to put out a statement like that is just shameful and digs them into a bigger hole..

 

What was the story on the RAW where Helmsley hit Benoit in the back of the head with a chair? Memory was Benoit couldn't get up under his own control after.

 

"Your son-in-law preformed a stunt where he hit Benoit in the back of the head with a chair and Benoit took a long time to regain conscioussness. And your spokesperson suggests that you did no medical screening of him afterward".

 

Is the WWE's legal staff looking at stuff before it goes out?

 

The more stuff I read out of the WWE and McDevitt, the more I think that the goverment prosecutors from the early 90s must have been the shittyest lawyers in the world.

Yeah, they were. They tried to get McMahon on charges that technically he really wasn't guilty of, and badly blew some of the facts, getting dates wrong and such for alleged steroid deals.