Benoit: Wrestling with the Horror That Destroyed a Family and Crippled a Sport

by Steven Johnson, Greg Oliver, Heath McCoy, et al.

Book Overview

In the wake of the horrific double-murder suicide, four noted wrestling writers grapple with the life and death of Chris Benoit in this book by Steven Johnson, Heath McCoy, Irvin Muchnick, and Greg Oliver, all respected investigative journalists committed to looking at this terrible event with integrity and passion. All four authors have been interviewed extensively about the Benoit situation, including by CNN and Fox.

The book will discuss...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1550228129
• ISBN13: 9781550228120
• Release Date: October 2007
• Publisher: ECW Press
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.62 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.3" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

The life of Benoit

The biggest problem with this book is that it was rushed out after the disgusting events which Chris Benoit perpetrated on his wife and son. Just the idea of putting the book out because of the media coverage of this event is what prevents it from being more favorably reviewed. The upside of the book is that it in no means attempts to forgive Benoit for his actions nor does it attempt to figure out why he undertook the murders. It is a collection of essays about Benoit up to the murders but does not cover the deaths in detail thankfully. The big question is, is this a book honoring Benoit's previous career or is it attempted damage control in the aftermath of a monster or is it just a cash-grabbing attempt? 1. Greg Oliver presents his take on Benoit's career and now tarnished legacy. Oliver wraps up his entry with Benoit's title wins throughout his career. 2. In his second article, Greg Oliver recounts the events of Nancy Benoit and her place in wrestling history. Very interesting article on arguably the best non-wrestling woman in wrestling. 3. Heath McCoy submits the best article in the book which is a much more detailed history of Benoit's career from his start in Stampede Wrestling up to his final days. If the attrocities of Benoit's final actions didn't happen, this is then the definitive history of the man's career. Heath McCoy seems to have a much deeper grasp on the history which is also covered in his astonishingly good book Pain and Passion: The History of Stampede Wrestling. Great article. 4. Steven Johnson attempts to balance out the positive articles with a more direct perspective on the media circus, possible steroid influence, and drug issues rampant in the business. 5. Irvin Muchnick, who has a personal connection to wrestling through his Uncle Same Muchnick, proceeds to write yet one more article attacking the entire wrestling business as well as Benoit. For someone who seemingly despises wrestling, he spends an awful lot of time writing about it. Overall, several great articles but it still doesn't overrule the fact that the man's life ended in the brutal deaths of his wife and son. Had Benoit only committed suicide, the entire wrestling world and public view of it would have been forgotten quickly. The fact that he took his wife and son with him is what kept/keeps this in the negative thoughts of the public in general otherwise no one would have cared about his own death.

Benoit-Three days that tarnished a legacy

I have never been a Chris Benoit fan but over the years I grew to gain respect for him for his great wrestling abillity. It is a shame that his 10+ year legacy was tarnished by his last three days alive. This book puts Benoits life into perspective and takes us from his early wrestling days in Japan, to the night that changed the Wrestling industry as we know it. The book also features several chapters on Daniel,and Nancy Benoit (Woman). This book is a Un-Bias look at the tarnished career of arguably the greatest Wrestler of this generation. It is a Intresting read that shows you the life of the Chris benoit who loved his family and was on a soul searching journey after the death of his best friend Eddie Guerrero. I highly recommend this book.

Analysis of a tragedy

If you want a blow-by-blow description of what happened in the Benoit case, you won't find it here. Instead, this is a short, tightly written and very readable analysis of Benoit, his career, and the consequences of the tragedy. The authors are very fair in putting his career in perspective and explaining his position in wrestling. The section on the media explains not just how the media became consumed by the steroid issue, but more importantly, why that happened. It shows how superficial the media in covering many stories of this type and why that is the case. This book is recommended for both wrestling fans and general readers who want some perspective on this troubling story.

Disecting Wrestling's Darkest Day

Between November 22nd, 1985 and June 20th, 2007, Chris Benoit built a Hall of Fame wrestling career. Throughout his twenty-two years in the business, he was a promising newcomer, a rising star, an international sensation, an admired hero, a consummate ring general, a respected locker-room leader, and champion of the World in every division. But the horrific events that happened on the final weekend of June 2007 would forever tarnish Benoit's legacy and leave him remembered as the monster that killed his wife (Nancy) and 7-year old son (Daniel) before taking his own life. It took ECW press only three months to produce the first of what I imagine will be many books written about the Benoit tragedy. Established writers Steven Johnson and Greg Oliver (co-authors of "Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Tag Teams" and "Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Heels") were joined by Heath McCoy (author of "Pain & Passion: The History of Stampede Wrestling") and Irvin Muchnick (author of "Wrestling Babylon: Piledriving Tales of Drugs, Sex, Death & Scandal") to compile several essays focusing on the frenzy that occurred following what has become known as wrestling's darkest day. The book fittingly begins as a tribute to Chris Benoit's wrestling career, which was a good move because the great professional life of Chris Benoit, the wrestler, deserves to be acknowledged. However, many would argue that point. After paying reasonable tribute to the wrestling career of Chris Benoit, the authors turn their attention to the real story of what exactly happened on that dreadful weekend. They also reflect on the media frenzy and the battle for information which resulted in the reporting of many unsubstantiated claims, such as the blockbuster presented by WWE that Benoit's son, Daniel, suffered from Fragile X syndrome - which ended up being proven false by family members and Daniel's school teacher. The internet also played a part in the global distribution of BENOIT developments. The world of professional wrestling had a powerful spotlight placed upon it, as theories of Roid-rage were splattered on every major news publication on the planet. This was another theory eventually proven ghastly inaccurate. By the time the toxicology reports were released, the world was exhausted and had already moved on to the next news story. This book contains a series of essays written by four of the best wrestling journalists in the world, presenting a very informative version of the life and death of Chris Benoit and his family. It is a short book, about 160 pages; large print, a strong reader could polish it off in one sitting (three sittings for me). At around $17 Canadian ($15 US), the price is certainly worth it to get the entire Benoit story - as straight-forward as it's ever been told. There will be more books about Chris Benoit in the future, including a full-length book by Irvin Muchnick called "Chris and Nancy: The True Story of the Benoit Murder-Suicide and Pro-Wrestling's