The Mercy Side: I'm Going to Disneyland!

Here's my first wrestling article in nearly two months. Enjoy.

I may not be writing as often as I used to anymore but that’s because of time, not because of my lack of interest in doing it. I still play video games, listen to music, watch football games and watch wrestling. I just don’t often get the chance to jot my thoughts down on anything anymore, which is a shame. But in the wrestling world, one of the most intriguing, most entertaining, and most unpredictable storylines in recent memory is the program that’s occurring between Kane and Daniel Bryan.

I’m a huge Kane fan. I have been for a long time. And while Daniel Bryan individually is by far my favourite wrestler at the moment, and has been for about half a year now, this article is actually in homage to Kane. You see, Kane is a character and wrestler who is always overlooked by both his peers and the younger talent. Back in the late nineties, there were far more popular wrestlers than Kane. He was a medium fish in a huge tank in those days, in comparison arguably larger fish in The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Mankind and The Undertaker. Then when that tank got smaller, new talent were still considered bigger fish; Chris Jericho, Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit. Then the new breed came in when the fish tank was getting smaller still; John Cena, Randy Orton, Edge, Jeff Hardy, Brock Lesnar and now CM Punk. At this time Kane’s medium sized fish was shrinking. He was getting older, slower, less interesting.

One thing they tried to keep Kane’s character fresh was take Kane’s mask off. This was a huge angle. I never thought they’d get Kane to take his mask off; it was key to his character and a fundamental part of his look. Kane was supposedly burnt in a fire as a kid so the idea behind the mask was to cover up his scarred face. And while Glen Jacobs, the man who portrays Kane, has a menacing look on him, it took away a huge part of Kane that made him so scary in the first place. The only reason why I’d have been happy for Kane to lose his mask was if the WWE were to actually give him the push to the top he deserved for such a long time. They never really did.

Something that always used to annoy me about the WWE was that they burderned Kane with a one day title reign for so long. I never thought he deserved to lose the title in one day, after finally getting to the top and get a win over Stone Cold Steve Austin in the process. I thought that was terrible; at the time Kane was still one of the most interesting characters on TV, even in the fruitful attitude era. He didn’t deserve that. No one does really. It’s one of the reasons why I feel sorry for Dolph Ziggler and Rey Mysterio and their terrible title reigns. What’s a bigger crime though is that it took over 12 years for him to not only get another World Heavyweight Title reign, but for him to have a good crack at the top. Kane had a decent run as champion a couple of years ago, and his program while wasn’t great, his character was pretty damn entertaining.

It's hard to remember this ever happening.

Who was he in a program with as World Heavyweight Champion? Oh yeah, some guy called The Undertaker. Kane has the unfortunate title as being an Undertaker-lite. In nearly every way possible, Kane is inferior to The Undertaker. He’s a big guy like The Undertaker, but in the ring he can’t compare to Big Evil. The Undertaker is unparalleled when it comes to big guys and their ability in the ring. He’s untouchable. Kane however, is a damn good wrestler, for a man of 7 feet and 320 pounds; he can fly across that ring and put on a very good show. His moveset is distinctive despite him sharing his finishers with The Undertaker. On the microphone, The Undertaker, when on form, floors Kane in this respect too. Kane isn’t often given much time on the microphone, not because it’s a weakness, but because it’s against his character to talk too much. But he’s still very good; one of the highlights of the disappointing program between Kane and The Undertaker for the World title two years ago was Kane’s “reveal all” promo where he explained his plot for the title all along and how The Undertaker fell for it. That promo was gold, and he was on the microphone for a good 10 minutes then, a rarity for Kane. His character is inferior to The Undertaker’s as well; in the respect that The Undertaker’s Deadman gimmick has lasted an incredible 22 years, bar the few years as The American Bad Ass, with few tweaks here and there. Kane has had to change his character over and over again, to avoid being too similar to The Undertaker, and yet maintain the entertainment value. Kane is less popular than The Undertaker in every other way possible too; fan opinion, backstage respect and reputation, merchandise, everything. Kane is exactly that, The Undertaker-lite.

But there is one thing that Kane can revert to that The Undertaker can’t. There’s one thing that Kane has the ability to do that The Undertaker can’t even begin to compare with, and that’s the ability to be funny. You can call it an underrated trait in a wrestler, but the ability to make an audience laugh is important. It’s entertaining; it’s an often overlooked quality in a wrestler. I can give you two very easy examples to back myself up on this. The first, Santino. Santino will never be a World Heavyweight Champion. He’s not good enough in the ring, not popular enough overall with any age demographic, not even kids. But if you remember The Elimination Chamber earlier this year, Santino was amazing. He was put into the match due to a concussion to Randy Orton, he was a surprise entrance really, and no one expected him to be given the spot in the match. But how the fans reacted. They knew he had no chance of winning the Elimination Chamber. They knew he was a huge underdog. And they supported him in his underdog role. Why? Because they knew his value as a comedy wrestler. And you know what? Santino delivered big time in the Elimination Chamber. He got by far the biggest pops in that match when he dug in deep and survived to the final two in the chamber, with Daniel Bryan. It was a simple story, but if it wasn’t for Santino playing the funny guy so well now for a number of years, we wouldn’t have got that great performance from Santino.

Secondly is Daniel Bryan himself. Daniel Bryan is a great story in today’s WWE. A little indie guy who happens to be the best technical wrestler since Chris Benoit, gets his chance at glory by winning Money in the Bank, and cashes in. But he’s still one of the most entertaining wrestlers in the roster, in my opinion; he’s been the most entertaining wrestler for a good half year now. And why? Because he’s just so funny. He knows how to garner a reaction. And his in ring ability is unquestionable; it’s always been the ability to play a character that people questioned. And how he’s backed that ability up. He gets probably more time on TV than any other wrestler nowadays. It speaks volumes, it really does. And it’s the comedy element to his character that makes him stand out, even when he’s not heading into a World Title at the moment. Because he’s such a good wrestler, the true best in the world I’d say at this time, and because he’s so entertaining and funny, it’s inevitable he’ll be given that reward at the top again very soon.

I admit it, I'm a huge Brothers of Destruction mark. I have no shame.

Because Kane is immediately compared in every way to The Undertaker in everything he does, not only because he’s the storyline brother of The Undertaker, but also because he too has an evil streak, is a big guy that has a similar move set, Kane has to adjust himself in a way that’s different to The Undertaker. I think deep down Glen Jacobs knows that he’s just not as good in most ways to The Undertaker. Sometimes it’s good to accept that you’re not #1 and just be the best you can, and be better in ways others can’t. And Kane does that by being funny, in usually inappropriate or unexpected ways.


Kane has a great career in comedy segments. Because it’s not every week, every time we see him and a little unexpected when it does happen, it’s often absolutely hilarious. Kane does evil and sinister segments, he does horror slapstick segments (usually badly, take the Paul Bearer freezer storyline as an example), and he also does comedy. One of my all time favourite funny moments from Kane is when he’s preparing a six-man tag team match with The Rock and Hulk Hogan, and his partners are discussing how they’re not too sure how to deal with The Big Red Machine. Kane walks in and just tears the roof off with his amazing impressions of The Rock and Hulk Hogan, hulking up, posing, everything. It’s just brilliant. It came out of nowhere and was just one of my favourite segments ever. What about the celebratory Santino trumpet segment from last year? Kane was just turning into a good guy but wasn’t quite there yet at the time, and was in an eight-man tag team match with Santino, Big Show and Vladmir Kozlov; his three partners start doing the trumpet celebration and Kane just stands there in disgust. Then all of a sudden he just starts joining in. It’s just moments like that that Kane can get away with, in a way that The Undertaker can’t, and he’s just so good at it.

Which brings me to his current program with Daniel Bryan. I truly believe that the paring of these two unexpectedly funny guys wasn’t planned long term. I believe everyone thought they’d have a program that ended with Daniel Bryan being put over by Kane to the top again, because Kane has spent long periods of his career putting smaller wrestlers over, which is another trait he’s better than The Undertaker at. But the segments have been just so funny consistently over the last couple of months that they’ve started to pair them and even gave them the Tag Team Titles. The Tag Team Titles were almost inevitably being readied for Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara to the point that the writing was pretty much engrained on the belt, but with Kane and Daniel Bryan working so well together with their fantastic chemistry, plans have changed. And while Daniel Bryan is a really big part of why this team is so successful on TV, Kane needs more credit in his role.

The "hug it out" segment was comedy gold.

That’s the purpose of this article. To pay homage to Kane, something that isn’t done enough. Sure, there have been better wrestlers than Kane, in many different ways; in ring ability, on the microphone, everything. I’m not taking anything away from these wrestlers. I’m not taking anything away from The Undertaker, who in most ways is better than Kane. I prefer The Undertaker to Kane myself. But Kane is just not praised enough for the role he’s done consistently since 1995. That’s fifteen years service. He’s a scary monster, he’s a big wrestler but can wrestle really well, he’s decent on the microphone, he’s put more smaller wrestlers over in that time than most other wrestlers (Chris Jericho may trump, but I doubt many others do in the past 15 years). But he’s also a very, VERY funny guy. I don’t know if it’s Glen Jacobs the man who has decided that comedy segments are good for his character, or if it’s Vince McMahon, or multiple other people over the years that have created storylines for him, but it works. It’s always worked. And Kane, I thank you for your fantastic work throughout your career. You’ll always be one of my favourite wrestlers. And one more thing Kane, I really, truly, deeply hope you enjoyed Disneyland. Thanks for reading.


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The Mercy Side: Crossface

On Saturday, it was revealed on many wrestling websites that a film was to be made about the disastrous events that happened in the Benoit household between Friday 22^nd and Monday 25^th June 2007, and the life and career of the murderer, Chris Benoit. Benoit was an absolutely fine wrestler, one of the best, and his actions between these two dates were out of character yet brutal and some could argue, evil. Very little before or since the murder and suicide story has evoke such strong and diverse reactions.

Before I divulge in the idea of a film about Chris Benoit, let me tell you of the two sides to the man who was almost set in stone in terms of being one of wrestling’s modern legends, before the horrible incident occurred. On one side of the coin, you had Chris Benoit, forty years old, a technical genius in the ring and well respected by both rookies and his peers for his aggression and passion for the business. He worked his way up the highly political wrestling ladder from his days on the indie scene, to Japan, to ECW, WCW and eventually, WWE. He always had one of, if not the best match on every card everywhere he went and was well liked by many wrestlers backstage. A lot of people not only respected him, but he was a friendly man, helped out a lot of people in their careers while developing his own the hard way. He also had a great level of dignity; when WCW’s roster was getting thin because of the decrease in ratings and talent leaving the company, he was given the WCW heavyweight title, but after demanding change, left the company and vacated the title due to a lack of faith in him and the wrestlers that were still being held back due to politics. This shows his courage and passion for the business as a wrestling company rather than as a business for profit and greed. He left for the WWF, and despite injuries and a slow build up, he eventually won the gold at Wrestlemania XX and celebrated with long term friend Eddie Guerrero, who also retained his world title at the same event. It was one of the most emotional and real scenes ever displayed in a wrestling ring, a place where characters and acts are central and personal lives are hidden.

Due to the nature and subject of this article, this is the only picture I'm adding. It's a picture I personally want to remember, IF I have to think of Benoit.

And a personal life indeed was hidden. No one saw what Chris Benoit was to do coming. His work colleagues, friends, family, fans, and more importantly, his wife and son didn’t know what was coming. No one foresaw him as a person who could bound his wife, press a knee into her back and pull a chord around her neck and strangle her, as speculated. No one expected him to sedate his son and to suffocate him, as speculated. And then to kill himself by hanging himself with a chord attached to a weight machine. Who knows what went on in that house before Chris did these unforgivable things? Did he have issues with his wife? His kid? Was he just insane? It was certainly planned.

The most common and logical reason that is hypothesized is that brain damage and repeated trauma to Benoit’s head were major factors in this incident. It was discovered that Chris had damage to all four lobes of his brain. It is almost inevitable that so much strain to the brain gave him loads of concussions, and too many concussions can affect people’s behaviour. Because of Benoit’s actions the WWE have never mentioned his name on television again, and they have removed him from nearly all the archive footage in their history. Only his name, and his name only, is mentioned in the history books when he won titles. No descriptions on how he won, the feuds that lead to the wins are stated. Just his name. Also the WWE have made their product much safer, they have stopped chair shots directly to the head and removed the gore element of their matches. If blood is shed in matches now, it’s certainly not fake blood or cuttings, and the match is often paused so the officials can deal with the injury. Most importantly, the WWE have tried their best to make sure things like this never happen again by including a Wellness Policy that tries to eliminate illegal drug use, including steroids and abuse to prescriptions. The WWE Wellness Policy actually started with the death of Eddie Guerrero, two years prior, but activity was definitely revved up after the double murder and suicide of Chris Benoit. The WWE have acted very professionally in this situation, after all, they have to defend their company but they also needed to take certain measures so that these situations would hopefully never happen again.

It’s a horrible and scratchy subject to bring up, the wrestler once known as Chris Benoit. Why? Because one of two memories always crops up, for nearly everyone. The majority of people I’d say think of the horrible and disgusting ending to three people’s lives when they think of Chris Benoit. But there is a minority that like to celebrate the wrestler that was Chris Benoit, and try not to think about him as an evil man who committed unforgivable actions. I’m probably in the latter. Now, before you jump on me and tell me I’m terrible for having that view, as I’m sure there are many people who just can’t fathom to understand how that can be a possibility. But I don’t like to see the negative side of people if I can help it. Don’t misunderstand me, I don’t jump away from the subject, if people ask me for my thoughts on what Benoit did, I’m one of the first to say it’s disgusting, sick, inexcusable and reprehensible. But I like to think about his work in the ring before those actions. The reason is simply because I don’t want to think about those things, I mean who does? So that’s the reason. But I try not to think about Benoit at all, because of it beign such a sketchy subject.

The same by the way applies to other talented men who did committed malevolence, like Gary Glitter. I see them in the same boat. I grew up listening to Gary Glitter as a kid and loved his music. By the time I was entering my teens news was rife about his disgusting and filthy actions towards children. Those actions are equally as indefensible. But if a Glitter song comes on, I try my best to enjoy it, as it was good music from the seventies. So, that’s my attitude towards these things, and if you don’t’ agree with it I can completely respect that, just try to understand my logic is all I ask.

Anyway, back to the subject, a film is apparently going to be made about Chris Benoit, and most particularly, the acts he caused. Why? Well the film is to be made by SRG films, and the chief there had this to say:

“Chris Benoit has become a poster child for everything that’s wrong with professional wrestling and Sarah [Coulter]’s terrific script captures his struggles and the many factors that led to the deaths of three people.”

“People immediately point to steroids, never thinking about the brain trauma these wrestlers can, and do, incur in their profession, nor do they consider the rigorous schedule that keeps them working even when they shouldn’t be. The Benoit story is one that needs to be brought into the light.”

So in an nutshell, the idea is that this film is going to raise awareness of brain trauma and the hectic schedule that wrestlers have to deal with (which can be around 300 nights a year of wrestling) and its effect on them. Essentially, this film will focus on the negatives of wrestling and the toll it has on a human being. I’d say you’d expect to see lots of headshots and headbutts and a lack of focus on the wrestling side of things. It'll be more about Benoit's life than his career. It's going to be unsettling to watch and is being made to emphasise how dangerous the game is. So if you’re expecting a film paying homage to wrestling, or even more stupidly, to Benoit, then you’re wrong. This film is here to shed a dark light on wrestling. And not even in a way similar to The Wrestler.

Comparing this film to The Wrestler, the good thing that The Wrestler does is celebrate wrestling. Yes it deals with the hard and grubby situations that wrestlers have to deal with. It deals with a lot of negative aspects of wrestling, but it does it in a tasteful way, a realistic way and it does it educationally. The Wrestler got nearly everything inch perfect about how wrestling life is like. And the best thing is, it IS homage, as it shed great light on the spectacle, on the show, on the sportsmanship and the good and great. It had a balanced story of positive and negative.

This film won’t do that. There will probably be very little actual wrestling in the film. I’d expect most of this film to be out of the ring, and full of speculation on what happened backstage, in the Benoit household and the potential motives the man had. It’s going to be very dark and extremely unsettling.

Am I for or against this film? It’s hard to say, it’s not as black and white an answer of yes or no. I'm 'for' the idea of bringing focus on the dangers of brain trauma and the psychological strain these guys go through. I’m for the educational purpose of this film. But I'm against the idea of these people trying to take a negative spin on all the great things about wrestling, and the WWE in general, The Wrestler did this but also celebrated wrestling. Let's be honest, these people want wrestling to be banned or at least strong lines to be drawn on what can and cannot happen in a wrestling ring, which in a certain way you can admire them for their concern, but I think the WWE have things under control more now than they ever had. To expect miracles in four years is stupid.

The main problem with this film is simply that it’s a film in the first place. They describe the film as a “biological thriller”. Really? If it was a biological film it will deal with the life of Chris Benoit. It’s not about Benoit as a person; it’s about Benoit as a murderer. I very much doubt there will be no stories on Benoit as a child, or as Benoit as a teenager. There may be some parts of the film that deal with Benoit’s early career, but only as a referencing point of how early he was causing damage to himself. So that’s not a biography really is it? Of course, in the end I’m speculating what the film will be about and do I know really? No I don’t, but I think it’s obvious how this film will be made if you put the thought into it.

The worse part of the whole film will be the actual scenes of murder. Once again, reports are strong about what happened and the methods used, but in the end, no one knows what happened the night before the murder. Did Nancy provoke Chris? How much thought did Chris Benoit put into killing his family? The motives were there but did he plan it the day before, the morning of, or longer than that? No one knows this. And to further this being the worst part, watching a grown man sedate a young boy and then suffocate him is going to be absolutely distressing to watch. Benoit didn’t strangle his son; he suffocated him, probably with a pillow or a plastic bag or something. In the end, this is a film; you’re supposed to enjoy films. Even thrillers and horror films are to be enjoyed. How can you enjoy this? Yes it’s described as a “biological thriller”, and it is certainly ‘thrilling’, but for the wrong reasons. It’s unsettling, it’s upsetting and it’s uncomfortable to think about. Also, how does the film end? In the end of a film you should have some form of satisfaction. It doesn’t always have to be a happy ending, but how can you end a film like this? Where does it end? If it ends at the point where Chris commits suicide, that’s a hideous ending. It if ends with the police finding the bodies, it’s equally as horrible. How else can it end? It’s just not a story that has an ending where you can feel fulfilled and all you have at the end of watching such a film is discomfort and distress.

So on the whole, I'm against this film happening. There are pros, but the cons dramatically outweigh them. Yes this is a subject that has relevance and importance, but the WWE have already taken good steps to make sure these horrible stories don't happen again, with the ban of headshots, the turn into a PG product and the banning of fake blood and the graphic side to wrestling on the verge of obscurity. But the idea of making this scene into a film is also baffling due to it actually having to be a film anyway, and there’s no satisfaction to watching the events unfold, even for educational purposes. But if they are to make this film, I'm definitely interested to see to and I will watch it, with clenched fists and seething teeth. Thanks for reading.

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