Benoit signs at Raw?!?!?

[HiddenInPlainView]

I have the flu and can't sleep so i am watching the A.M. Raw recap at 2 a.m. when i noticed something that i hadn't on Monday. During the opening sweep of the crowd someone right in front of the camera held up a sign that could clearly be read "Induct Chris Benoit in 2012".

I know that since the unforunate incident took place the WWE has tried to distance themselves and pretend as if he ever existed. They have even gone as far as to confiscate signs in the past. Surely someone in the company had to notice this? Will this lead to even stricter sign checks at arenas in this "pg" era? Or maybe even a ban on signs altogether?

I ,for one, wouldn't mind that. There is nothing worse than being at a show and having some moron in front of you holding their sign up every fifteen seconds because they might be on tv! Thoughts???

 

[Father Uncle Oscar]

Ban signs? As Miz would say, "Really? REALLY???" Crowd signs are a WWE Live Event staple. To take that away would be like saying it's illegal to dunk in the NBA. Sure, they get in the way sometimes, but that's when you stand up and piss off the guy behind you lol.

Back on topic, I don't think this will lead to stricter sign searches. Vince McMahon, in the past year, has buried his hatchets with Bret Hart and "Macho Man" Randy Savage. Hell, he's been mentioning Hulk Hogan on WWE TV for the past 12 months also. I don't think this will change for someone who killed his family, then himself, as it shouldn't. Just because that tragedy took place doesnn't mean he should be disregarded by the company for the rest of its existance. Besides, Chris Benoit was arguably one of the best WWE wrestlers of the past decade. Nobody can ever replace The Rabid Wolverine. And now I think Vince is realizing that.

 

[Brahma Bull]

As the poster above said, signs are a part of wwe. i love reading some of them when i watch raw, or smackdown at home. people get pretty clever some times, and i find them to be amusing. of course they should comfiscate some that are blatenly bad (such as signs with racial, sexist, homophobic, etc. remarks), but i think censoring the signs is a bad step to take with the fans, since it takes away from fan interaction.

 

[Midgetmania619]

Surprisingly WWE are much more stricter about negative Cena signs, or even chants.
Example: They confiscate Cena signs that degrade or insult him, and in the closed captions Cena Sucks will be translated to "CM PUNK".

So I think they worry more about Cena signs because that's what is more likely to offend the kids, the targeted audience. They also (successfully) try to remove discriminative signs.

 

[achromat666]

To attempt to address both issues:

Signs are a blessing and a curse in that people can say what they feel on them. Yes the WWE can take signs down as they see fit as it is their show, but removing them altogether solves very little. As mentioned above there are a great number of harmless signs but also signs that are blatantly bad and should be dealt with.

On the Benoit issue, this has been extraordinarily hard to really respond to without getting personal. I remember cheering for him at WM20 when he cleanly beat Triple H for his first and only title win in the WWE. It's so easy to recall a Benoit match, because he never gave you any less than his best, and could put on a stellar performance with anyone. His matches with Guerrero, Jericho, HHH, Angle, Lesnar and so many others are a testament to his work ethic, conditioning, skill, and dedication to wrestling.

He and Undertaker have been my favorites for years, and to have all of it erased seemingly is hard to see. I can't blame Vince for wanting to distance himself from the circumstances of his death and the death of his family. There's no justification for the events and it stands in stark contrast to the life he lead. And while his ring work deserves every ovation he ever received, the cloud hanging over his work with a single disturbing is a very large, ominous one. I'm simply not certain we will ever see him in the HOF

Sorry if that seemed to go off topic. Guess it got personal after all.

 

[brainsuks1234]

Well for one they need to induct Benoit sometime soon because he just deserves it because of wrestling skills. Though I think he shouldn't get the same respect other HOF'S get since he killed his familly just induct him and forget him after that.

As for banning signs.....Um no just no wwe will never ban signs simple as that

 

[BenChiefin]

Good. Dude's a legend. What he did outside the ring doesn't change his wrestling accomplishments.

 

[GameOver]

no way in hell they are gonna induct him while they are a public traded company.
Doesn't matter how talented he was in ring. The fact remains he was presumed guilty of a double murder, case closed

Not like a minor drug offence etc. It's murder people

as for signs, i doubt they have a huge impact unless they are blatant and big....
Personally i can't stand sign people, people who where big hats or insist on standing all the time when at events, it blocks the view of others behind them. FFs think of others.

 

[GameOver]

As the poster above said, signs are a part of wwe. i love reading some of them when i watch raw, or smackdown at home. people get pretty clever some times, and i find them to be amusing. of course they should comfiscate some that are blatenly bad (such as signs with racial, sexist, homophobic, etc. remarks), but i think censoring the signs is a bad step to take with the fans, since it takes away from fan interaction.

Overall i'd go with this step. Issue though is they then have to hire someone at every entrance to check every single sign that comes in and in return bump up the admission price or vendor stand prices to compensate for that extra salaries. Much easier and cheaper for all to just ban them altogether

 

[DreamcastDriver86]

Wow, no matter how many times I see people talk about this it still blows my mind how many people think that Benoit should be inducted into the HOF. How ignorant can you be? That single act by Benoit wasn't only heinous but it also damaged WWE, and wrestling in general more than probably anything in the history of the business, let alone the fact that he murdered a child, but people think he still deserves accolades? Give me a break. Tell you what, lets have the Undertaker or Ric Flair come murder half of your family, then lets see if you think those guys should be in the Hall of Fame. There is wrestling, and there is real life. What Benoit did was not a work, her is a MURDERER and DOESN'T deserve ANYTHING. He ruined his own legacy and should be buried by the WWE. Idiots.

 

[chrisddusombre]

Wow, no matter how many times I see people talk about this it still blows my mind how many people think that Benoit should be inducted into the HOF. How ignorant can you be? That single act by Benoit wasn't only heinous but it also damaged WWE, and wrestling in general more than probably anything in the history of the business, let alone the fact that he murdered a child, but people think he still deserves accolades? Give me a break. Tell you what, lets have the Undertaker or Ric Flair come murder half of your family, then lets see if you think those guys should be in the Hall of Fame. There is wrestling, and there is real life. What Benoit did was not a work, her is a MURDERER and DOESN'T deserve ANYTHING. He ruined his own legacy and should be buried by the WWE. Idiots.

took the words out of my mouth and i'll say the same thing when this thread is started again............

 

[conkdeeznuts]

^^^^ The two posters above me have NO CLUE what they are talking about Benoit is one of the GREATEST in ring performer of all time, he stole the show at wrestlemania 20 and pretty much anytime he had a match he held pretty much every major title the WWE has and this isn't suppose to be bash Benoit fans thread and a point that most people over look that wasn't the real Benoit, he had been told to quit cold turkey on a supplement by WWE that he had been using for years and they said he couldn't ween his system off of it so that was the first part of it and the second part was after his atopsy when they saw his brain they couldn't even tell how many concussions he's had because his brain was so beat up, so that meant he had no control over what he did he had demensia and that combined with anger withdrawls from the steroid supplement is what did it and I put the blame on the WWE for not letting him ween off of the supplement but I hadda do that cause I can't stand Benoit bashers sun they get facts wrong but he should deff be a HOF

 

[Wickpeeka]

Yes, that brain autopsy is what saves Benoit's legacy in my mind. For the several years prior to that people such as Christopher Nowinski, etc, etc. had been publicly saying that something like this would have to happen before the WWE would realize what all of these concussions were doing to the wrestlers. Guess what? It finally did and he was right.

The brain autopsy revealed that Chris Benoit had the brain function of an 80+ year old man with Alzheimer's whose brain was pure mush. When you put that type of brain function into such a strong physical body bad things are bound to happen.

With the changes that the WWE has made since the Benoit murders I believe that the WWE has taken some responsibility for the actions that Benoit made. Certainly, they've done what they can to ensure that it never happens again.

As sad and as sorry the end of his life may have been it's time to move on and to remember the Chris Benoit that was one of the most stand up (and best) professional wrestlers in the history of the business. It's time to realize that had people known how ill he was that he would have been in a state psychiatric hospital, that he wasn't the Chris Benoit that we all knew and loved nor should his legacy be tainted as a result. Separate the two.

 

[Dowdsy McDowds]

Wow, no matter how many times I see people talk about this it still blows my mind how many people think that Benoit should be inducted into the HOF. How ignorant can you be? That single act by Benoit wasn't only heinous but it also damaged WWE, and wrestling in general more than probably anything in the history of the business, let alone the fact that he murdered a child, but people think he still deserves accolades? Give me a break. Tell you what, lets have the Undertaker or Ric Flair come murder half of your family, then lets see if you think those guys should be in the Hall of Fame. There is wrestling, and there is real life. What Benoit did was not a work, her is a MURDERER and DOESN'T deserve ANYTHING. He ruined his own legacy and should be buried by the WWE. Idiots.

You're confusing the reason why people feel he should be inducted; no-one wants him in the Hall of Fame because of the double murder, people want him in because of his WRESTLING abilities/dedication/accolades. Wickpeeka raises a good point about the amount of brain damage he had received over the years too; he was a pretty damaged machine when he did what he did and obviously not in his right mind so not all the blame can be laid at his feet.
I remember seeing a quote on a wall in school that I think is from Lincoln - "There is more to a person than the worst thing they have done."

As for signs, they're never going to be completely banned, and there's no need to take even more atmosphere out of the WWE just now.

 

[Dr.Shades]

When will people understand that HOF is for wrestling careers and not for and entire life of someone. Notice that they make no mention of wrestlers being "born again christians" when they are inducted? also the signs are just a great way for fans to feel involved with my personal favorite being "Van Dam wins or we riot!"

 

[HiddenInPlainView]

Wow!!!! Did this get way off topic!!!! But let me play devil's advocate here.

One could argue that any sports Hall of Fame should be reserved for what the person did on the field, and that what a person does off of it should have no affect on whether or not they get in.

The NFL still lists Lawrence Taylor and OJ Simpson as members of their illustrious HOF. As a player and and retiree Taylor was arrested numerous times for drug charges and recently for having sex with a 15 year old child. Simpson, although found not guilty, murdered two people and currently sitting in jail on robbery charges. Yet whenever they are mentioned it is always with the words NFL Hall of Famer in front of their names. Even right now one of the NFL's most marketable players and runner-up for MVP is a convicted dog murderer. And every Sunday Donte Stallworth puts on a Baltimore Ravens uniform after he drunkenly murdered a man on the way home from the grocery store with his car.

Major League Baseball's Hall of Fame is filled with drunks, racists, drug abusers, and womanizers. Some of the games all-time biggest names are on that list: Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, and Mickey Mantle to name a few. It wasn't until recently that the HOF started caring about other things and not inducting great players. Pete Rose can't get in because he gambled. Mark McGwire and his 589 home runs can't get in even though he never tested positive for steroids while playing. Every hitter from the so called steroid era, with maybe the exception of Ken Griffey Jr, will have doubt cast upon them when the voters weigh their worthiness of HOF status.

What this brings me too is this. Does the fact that OJ Simpson murdered his wife make him a worse running back? Does the fact that Babe Ruth was a drunk, racist, womanizing, wife beater change the fact that he hit 714 home runs and completely changed baseball? So does what Chris Benoit did change the outcome of any of his flawless matches or the fact that he was one of the greatest of all time?

Do i think that ,as a wrestler not a person, Chris Benoit is a Hall of Famer? Absolutely! Do i think there is a snowball's chance in Hell he will ever be inducted? No freaking way!!!! And am i comfortable with that? Absolutely!

 

[DanielJames]

Surprisingly WWE are much more stricter about negative Cena signs, or even chants.
Example: They confiscate Cena signs that degrade or insult him, and in the closed captions Cena Sucks will be translated to "CM PUNK".

So I think they worry more about Cena signs because that's what is more likely to offend the kids, the targeted audience. They also (successfully) try to remove discriminative signs.

really? is this actually true
im pretty sure you can still hear cena sucks chants each and every week and it hasn't stopped kids from liking him.
and he always addresses the fact that half the fans hate him
and how bout the fact that theres always people in the audience at mania with we hate cena shirts or the we've cena'nuff signs
im not trying to sound mean im actually curious as to where you read this cause it is interesting

 

[DanielJames]

and look i agree benoit was a great wrestler, BUT he kinda killed his family. no other sport would let him in so why should wwe?
and besides he was good, but he never had a hall of fame worthy career
he had the title once. does that mean sheamus deserves to go in twice as much as he does?
what he did hurt the company. when the media covers wwe stuff they are usually trying to find problems with it and uncover scandalls. this didn't help that cause.
what he did is unforgiveabl.
and lets say they did, then benoit gets off completely unpunished. he does that and then gets put in the HOF like he is a hero? i get that alot of people loved the guy, but that doesn't change what he did

 

[DanielJames]

Wow!!!! Did this get way off topic!!!! But let me play devil's advocate here.

One could argue that any sports Hall of Fame should be reserved for what the person did on the field, and that what a person does off of it should have no affect on whether or not they get in.

The NFL still lists Lawrence Taylor and OJ Simpson as members of their illustrious HOF. As a player and and retiree Taylor was arrested numerous times for drug charges and recently for having sex with a 15 year old child. Simpson, although found not guilty, murdered two people and currently sitting in jail on robbery charges. Yet whenever they are mentioned it is always with the words NFL Hall of Famer in front of their names. Even right now one of the NFL's most marketable players and runner-up for MVP is a convicted dog murderer. And every Sunday Donte Stallworth puts on a Baltimore Ravens uniform after he drunkenly murdered a man on the way home from the grocery store with his car.

Major League Baseball's Hall of Fame is filled with drunks, racists, drug abusers, and womanizers. Some of the games all-time biggest names are on that list: Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, and Mickey Mantle to name a few. It wasn't until recently that the HOF started caring about other things and not inducting great players. Pete Rose can't get in because he gambled. Mark McGwire and his 589 home runs can't get in even though he never tested positive for steroids while playing. Every hitter from the so called steroid era, with maybe the exception of Ken Griffey Jr, will have doubt cast upon them when the voters weigh their worthiness of HOF status.

What this brings me too is this. Does the fact that OJ Simpson murdered his wife make him a worse running back? Does the fact that Babe Ruth was a drunk, racist, womanizing, wife beater change the fact that he hit 714 home runs and completely changed baseball? So does what Chris Benoit did change the outcome of any of his flawless matches or the fact that he was one of the greatest of all time?

Do i think that ,as a wrestler not a person, Chris Benoit is a Hall of Famer? Absolutely! Do i think there is a snowball's chance in Hell he will ever be inducted? No freaking way!!!! And am i comfortable with that? Absolutely!

well all those sports wouldn't take a huge hit from this. scandalls this big could put wwe under. they have a bad rep for their product causing early deaths and all around unwellness.
the superbowl wouldn't have bad ratings cause of those things, mania would.

and in ruth's case, that was a whole different time, where everyone was intolerant and ignorant. everyone was like that. how could he not be racist blacks weren't even allowed to play baseball in that league at that time. im not saying thats right but thats how the times were back then. we've grown and developed as a country and as people since then and now those kind of actions are intolerable.

or if you really feel that way, then maybe its the other HOF's that have the problems by letting these people in, maybe they should be more like WWE. cause there is no way that benoit should be allowed in the HOF. he honestly does not deserve it

 

[Heartbreak_Kid_707]

Im sorry but if you take away what he did by being a murderer, what has Benoit done to deserve to be in the HOF?? He did win a major championship once didnt he? Really? is that enough? really?

Same goes for Eddie Guerrero...

Niether proved anything HOF worthy...Look at this list..Shawn Michaels, Brett Hart, Chris Benoit... NOPE, doesnt work...he just doesnt fit

 

[DanielJames]

^^^^ The two posters above me have NO CLUE what they are talking about Benoit is one of the GREATEST in ring performer of all time, he stole the show at wrestlemania 20 and pretty much anytime he had a match he held pretty much every major title the WWE has and this isn't suppose to be bash Benoit fans thread and a point that most people over look that wasn't the real Benoit, he had been told to quit cold turkey on a supplement by WWE that he had been using for years and they said he couldn't ween his system off of it so that was the first part of it and the second part was after his atopsy when they saw his brain they couldn't even tell how many concussions he's had because his brain was so beat up, so that meant he had no control over what he did he had demensia and that combined with anger withdrawls from the steroid supplement is what did it and I put the blame on the WWE for not letting him ween off of the supplement but I hadda do that cause I can't stand Benoit bashers sun they get facts wrong but he should deff be a HOF

no one is saying he is a bad wrestler, he was great, no doubt about it. but he dug his grave and now he has to lie in it.
maybe he had a hof worthy career (i dont think he did) but either way because of his actions he won't even get the chance, and you can't say he doesn't deserve it. he did that to himself.
do you know how bad the wwe would hear it if they did that
"oh a man murders his family and as a reward he gets put into the hof"
thats what the media would say. it just wouldn't be a good thing for anyone.
what he did hurt everyone he was envolved with or close too, then he took the easy way out, so basically he went unpunished for this. so this is his form of punishment, being forgotten.

 

[mral82]

Chris Benoit is Hall of Fame worthy and I still don't think he did it cause the jabroni cops down there jumped to conclusions and assumed he did it. I think his family and him were killed but made it look like a Double Murder-Suicide. The Benoit death is a conspiracy. If you don't think Benoit should be in the Hall of Fame then Verne Gagne should be stripped of his spot in all hall of fames as well cause he actually did kill somebody at a nursing home. Stone Cold was an abusive drunk so his spot should be stripped if the consider that. So Chris Benoit will be there eventually I guarantee that. His in ring accolades should be honored and they don't have to mention his death, nuff said.

 

[The Brain]

We don't need another Benoit thread. I know it was intended to just be about Benoit but it's obvious it was going to go in that direction.