Chris Benoit Update: He Had Brain Damage.

[lifer]

I didn't know if I should have started a new thread for this, or added it to the old one. I decided to start a new one, because I thought it would generate more discussion, and I thought the old one would get ignored by a lot of people if it was merely bumped up. Anyway, if somebody wants to read the other thread, or if the mods want to move this into it, here is the link: http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthr...t=Chris+Benoit


This story is up on Sportnet's website: http://www.sportsnet.ca/more/article...05_130726_4568
Apparently, Benoit's Father figured that the murder of his wife and child and his son's suicide was "out of character" for Chris, so he allowed a doctor associated with the Sports Legacy Institute (specializes in the long term effects of consussions) to study Benoit's brain tissue. They found that Benoit had suffered an amount of brain damage that can cause irrational behaviour and depression.
Benoit's brain showed the same degenerative processes that doctors working for the institute found in the brains of three men who had played pro football and committed suicide, (Dr. Robert) Cantu said. There were abnormal protein deposits caused by trauma to Benoit's brain, he added.
Benoit's Father said that he son had suffered from numerous consussions during his career as a professional wrestler, but no medical records of consussions were found in the WWE's books.

I want to be clear, I am not making excuses for what Benoit did, but if the WWE was sweeping concussions under the rug, they could be in some trouble here. I'd like to know how strong the link between concussions, this form of brain damage, and suicidal/criminal behaviour is before I draw any strong conclusions, but I'd expect the WWE to see a law suit from some of the parties involved in this Benoit incident. It could be taken a lot further than that as well if some retired or current wrestlers are showing the same kinds of brain damage symptoms, and some other negative side effects. Wrestling can be fun to watch at times, and I used to love it, but something needs to be done to protect these wrestlers. Obviously the WWE is just squeezing every oz of sacrifice and energy out of its employees with little regard to their future health. Vince MacMahon is scum for the way he treats the people who make him rich. He needs to be held accountable.
How can this be done? A union for wrestlers? An independent task force that woudl monitor the industry? How about a bunch of court cases? I don't know.
I do know this though, if anybody didn't expect the WWE to be implimented in this in some way, they must have been out of their mind.

[burn_baby_burn]

I see your point. But! Did Chris Benoit have a gun pointed to the back of his head each and every time he entered the ring?

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by burn_baby_burn

Did Chris Benoit have a gun pointed to the back of his head each and every time he entered the ring?

Do coal miners who suffer lung damage have a gun pointed to their heads? While I do think a lot of responsibility for his health should have rested upon him and his family; you cannot excuse an employer who promotes an unhealthy work environment as being off the hook because they didn't use a firearm.

[Prototype]

Owen had a choice to not go on that catwalk, but feared for his job had he said no.

It's been rumoured that Vince likes the tall, muscular body on his stars, so in order to 'make it', people think Steroids are the answer.

Benoit had a choice not to walk out that curtin night after night to entertain his fans... but he was known as a guy who fought through pain, a guy who put his body on the line for his fans. I wouldn't be surprised if he came back too early from his neck surgery...

The thing is, there's a higher percentage of workers in the WWE who fear for their job on a nightly basis. With WWE being the only show in town (TNA isn't quite there), it's sink or swim, no matter what the cost.

I bet the dog's at Micheal Vick's house have better working environments then most of the workers in the WWE.

[lifer]

Originally Posted by burn_baby_burn

I see your point. But! Did Chris Benoit have a gun pointed to the back of his head each and every time he entered the ring?

No, but he likely had chairs smashed against it during performances that a responsible doctor or employer wouldn't have given him medical clearance to participate in.

[FCAV]

I thought I had read somewhere that his brain was essentially equal to that of an 85-year-old male with Alzheimers.

Forgive my spelling.

[burn_baby_burn]

Originally Posted by ken0042

Do coal miners who suffer lung damage have a gun pointed to their heads? While I do think a lot of responsibility for his health should have rested upon him and his family; you cannot excuse an employer who promotes an unhealthy work environment as being off the hook because they didn't use a firearm.

No. They have a family to support. I don't think you can compare a poor coal miner to a multi-millionaire wrestler. Benoit probably liked the lavish life style and didn't want to give it up. Is Vince McMahn taking advantage of that? You bet he is. But Chris, or any other wrestler, could have walked away as well. If they really wanted to.

When I first got of college I worked for a large multi-national company. Our safety guy would allways tell us that we could refuse work that we thought was too dangerous. Allthough that sounds easy enough. If your a young person trying to make a good impression. You have a tough time saying no.

[Prototype]

Originally Posted by burn_baby_burn

When I first got of college I worked for a large multi-national company. Our safety guy would allways tell us that we could refuse work that we thought was too dangerous. Allthough that sounds easy enough. If your a young person trying to make a good impression. You have a tough time saying no.

I think this is the point for both sides. Sure, you could quit, but where would that get you. You've been training all your life to be a professional wrestler. Then one day your boss says you're going to take a harmless chairshot to the head. Do you say OK, or do you say... you know what... I'm going to be a real estate agent. Less chairshots.

How do we know that the 'doctors' the WWE uses didn't disclose this information to Chris? Maybe he didn't quite know that he was as messed up as he was.

Sure, if the family saw changes in him... they do have a resposibility... but there shouldn't be a blind eye to the employer or the individual in this case. It'd be like telling half the story.

[burn_baby_burn]

Originally Posted by Prottotype

I think this is the point for both sides. Sure, you could quit, but where would that get you. You've been training all your life to be a professional wrestler. Then one day your boss says you're going to take a harmless chairshot to the head. Do you say OK, or do you say... you know what... I'm going to be a real estate agent. Less chairshots.

How do we know that the 'doctors' the WWE uses didn't disclose this information to Chris? Maybe he didn't quite know that he was as messed up as he was.

Sure, if the family saw changes in him... they do have a resposibility... but there shouldn't be a blind eye to the employer or the individual in this case. It'd be like telling half the story.

I see both sides as well. Vince McMahn is living in the stone age. More than one former wrestler has stated that they are basically treated like cattle. But if the wrestlers are going to let Vince McMahn take advantage of them. He will continue to do so.

Maybe some of these wrestlers need to ask themselves. Is it worth being a cripple or a vegtable to be a millionaire? Some younger ones probably aren't too worried about it. But how rich do you need to be, if your going to drastically shorten your life expectancy?

[FCAV]

Originally Posted by burn_baby_burn

No. They have a family to support. I don't think you can compare a poor coal miner to a multi-millionaire wrestler.

Aren't coal-miners relatively well paid given the nature and danger of their job?

[GreenTeaFrapp]

Originally Posted by lifer

I want to be clear, I am not making excuses for what Benoit did, but if the WWE was sweeping concussions under the rug, they could be in some trouble here. I'd like to know how strong the link between concussions, this form of brain damage, and suicidal/criminal behaviour is before I draw any strong conclusions, but I'd expect the WWE to see a law suit from some of the parties involved in this Benoit incident.

Who says the concussions occurred while Benoit was working for the WWE? The majority of his career was outside of the WWE.

[GreenTeaFrapp]

Originally Posted by lifer

No, but he likely had chairs smashed against it during performances that a responsible doctor or employer wouldn't have given him medical clearance to participate in.

According to Chris Nowinski, founder of the Sports Legacy Institute, Benoit was one of the few wrestlers who was willing to take a direct chairshot to the back of the head. If that's true, then no one is responsible for Benoit's concussion problems other then Benoit himself.

[MelBridgeman]

there are lots of wrestlers out there who have taken roids, have had too many concussions - and still havent killed their wife and kid and themselves, lets not give this guy any excuses. Given the circumstances of his life , this is how Chris Beniot dealt with it, doesnt mean others will

[Maritime Q-Scout]

Originally Posted by Aaron Vickers

Aren't coal-miners relatively well paid given the nature and danger of their job?

can't really say that Cape Breton was ever really a rich part of the country

[CaptainCrunch]

This story is such a tragedy and a damning indictment of the wrestling business.

Owen Hart died because he felt like he couldn't say no to doing a dangerous stunt, his brother Bret Hart had severe concussions bought on by fighting a relatively untrained opponent in Bill Goldberg, and these brain injuries probably led to his stroke. Dynamite Kid sits in a wheel chair due to a combination of drugs and a high risk wrestling style. Then there are the wrestlers who have died due to current or past drug abuse.

I don't want to belittle Benoit's actions but cumulative brain damage can lead to depression, mood swings and uncontrollable emotions, I've heard multiple times from people who knew Benoit that his actions were so far out of character that they can't comprehend his actions.

Its obvious that the WWE wellness policy is not doing its job, we've just seen the suspension of up to 14 wrestlers announced, but a wrestler like Randy Orton who is a star and was named in the online pharmacy indictment continues to wrestle, while minor wrestlers like Nick Dinsmore, the tag team of Cryme Tyme and others are being terminated.

A athletic wellness program has to go beyond the drug testing, to the physical well being, Mick Foley in his book talks about wrestling with injuries and in pain with the WWE taking a blind eye to them, to the mental, if Benoit was brain damaged and suffering from mood swings or emotional issues its up to his employee's to monitor it and pull him off of the road.

My gut feeling is that the WWE is about to get hit on multiple sides by big money law suits. Benoit's family has enough evidence to go to the courts, the wrestlers that were just fired are going to go forward, and there is a possiblity that long time WWE wrestlers that died due to drug use whether it was encouraged or winked at are owed something.

Here's hoping that Mcmahon finally see's the light and starts working towards a safer work environment for his wrestlers. while its doubtful that the wrestlers will ever get a union, they're going to have to start to find the courage to say no to the high risk moves and the need for performance enhancing drugs.

the other end of the spectrum is that the fans have to take some of the blame as well. Again Mick Foley talks about the insatiable demand by the fans for more high risk, high impact wrestling. As he stated getting thrown off of a steel cage to crash through a table 15 feet below might be a holy sh%t move one day, but the next day they want it from 25 feet onto a bed of nails.

Its a sad situation for me as a former fan of both Stampede Wrestling and the WWE. Its especially sad when you watch today and your first thought is on who's on juice and who's going to die next.

[lifer]

Originally Posted by GreenTeaFrapp

Who says the concussions occurred while Benoit was working for the WWE? The majority of his career was outside of the WWE.

I certainly didn't say he sustained them while working in the WWE. I said "if" the WWE is sweeping concussions under the rug. He did spend about a third of his career in the WWE, so it wouldn't be surprising if he suffered a concussion in those 7+ years.
As for him being willing to take a chair shot to the back of the head...I didn't know that. It doesn't release the WWE from responsibility though IF they were allowing (I wouldn't be surprised if they were encouraging) him to wrestle when he shouldn't have been

As for making excuses for Benoit, there is a significant difference between a reason (in this case, 1 of many possible reasons) for a behaviour, and an excuse for it. If I get pulled over for speeding and the officer asks me why I'm in such a hurry my response could be something along the lines of "I don't want to miss the start of the Jays game". He would likely still give me the ticket, so he is not excusing my behaviour, but I did give him a reason. This article is implying that the brain damage could be a contributing factor for Benoits behaviour, which by all accounts had changed in the time leading up to his death. It doesn't make what he did OK.

[corporatejay]

I'm as anti-union as the next guy but there are just some businesses where they are needed. This is one of them, you essentially have an employer who has a monopoly who dictates the terms of your work environment. You don't have a choice to go work somewhere else since they are the only game in town (don't use the TNA example because that's like telling an NFLer to go play arena or CFL football).

a Union would fix A LOT of their problems.

[badnarik]

Unless the employer is somehow hiding the risks or the wrestlers are incompetent to make personal decisions then I don't see how there is any problem here. These guys have seen their dead wrestling buddies piling up for years now.

[burn_baby_burn]

I havn't followed wrestling for years. I did read the "Dynamite Kids" book recently. A question for you wrestling fans. Is there still a strong wrestling league or federation in Japan? Isn't that where Mick Foley started? Clips I have seen of him in Japan (at least I think it was Japan) before his WWE days. Wrestling in barbed wire. Looks like some of these guys will do anything to make it.

[greerb]

Cryme Tyme wasn't fired over the pharmacy thing. The roughed up a ref after a match, that had the ending changed on them without them knowing. Yea sure it was a rib on them but they should have never gave the ref thier finnisher whet he wasn't trained to take the bump. That is why they got fired. Dinsmore was fire due to the fact that this was his second infraction on the wellness pollicy.