The Aftermath & Future: What will happen next & will there be a backlash?

[prtzelby]

All Angles aside who do you think WWE is going to bring in. They have to get someone that can change things a little. Don't be surprised if you see Triple H and Mysterio back a little sooner than expected even if it is non wrestling. The WWE has got to wash away this ill will? Does he make phone calls to some old names and bring them back. Does he ask Austin to make a few appearances? Does he call Hulk Hogan?
Given what I have heard from other fans around me...Shock, awe, disbelief but the one notion that continued to arise is Benoit was a coward! WWE has got to disassociate themselves from that notion.

 

[BlackHoleCradleShock]

Now that Armando Estrada will probably be sent to ECW to work with the younger heels just comming in, maybe this will open things up to have some better matches and longer lasting more memorable fueds.

Nitro as the champ is a make or break thing,
I'm cheering for 'make' at this point.

I just hope the same things that happened to Test and Bob Holly don't happen to Nitro.

As for the death angle,
I agree it isn't the worst,
but it's right up there on the list.

 

[xDeaddreams]

Vince is going to get a lot of heat for the death angle thats for sure, but since Benoit killed his family they dropped it straight away, so who knows what'll happen now

 

[Moon Knight]

Folks let try to keep this cool and NOT turn this another shitfest.

Alright so what does the future hold for wrestling?

My first thoughts:

Few weeks back Vince faked his own death. I guess ratings were his goal. Dispite insulting peoples inteligence. However it was tasteless. Next Sensational Sherri passes away. NOW Benoit and family are found dead.

Well here are second thoughts:

No matter what happens as always wrestling will continue. Ratings will/have gone up. Wrestling fans will bash Vince to no f/n end. This Vince death Angle with him will go down as the #1 worse moment in history. The next few weeks wrestling fans will be glued to they're internet and TV.

As soon as everything passes what do YOU think will happen next???

I won't attack Vince over his death angle, it was fun for a while. He didn't know that sherri and benoit would die. He dropped the angle and with the sub storylines I think they can drop it all out, they got other storylines and built in ones waiting. This storyline hadn't gone on long enough nor got deep enough to make it hard to drop. I think they will drop the angle all out and pretend it never happened, but expect Vince to not come on TV anymore for a while, that is the biggest if.

 

[scott2963]

wrestling is in trouble. benoit, the murderer, has opened mcmahon and co back up to politcal scrutiny. You think mlb has it bad. vince isn't going to have it taken easy on him for this one.

i hope roids is not the reason, but wwe has to do the right thing either way. benoit hurt the sport more today than any man has ever done. (amazing when you think of his in ring work ethic) i hope the bastard riots in hell.

 

[Shocky]

WWE Chairman Vince McMahon will apologize for the three-hour USA Network tribute to pro wrestler Chris Benoit that aired Monday night, sources said.

The WWE and USA Network have received complaints about the tribute, which was hastily produced after Mr. Benoit, his wife and their son were found dead in their Georgia home Monday afternoon.

Authorities said Tuesday that Mr. Benoit strangled his wife and suffocated his son, then took his own life. But WWE and network officials were unaware of the circumstances of Mr. Benoit’s death when the tribute was assembled, sources said.

The WWE canceled its regularly scheduled “Monday Night RAW” event on USA Network Monday night and aired the tribute in its place.

Mr. McMahon will address wrestling fans tonight on Sci Fi Channel’s live Extreme Championship Wrestling event. He also plans to address speculation that Mr. Benoit’s actions were the result of steroid use.

The WWE plans to resume its regular wrestling telecasts, which air on USA Network, Sci Fi Channel and the CW.

Easily a step in the right direction. Honestly, why are people bashing the WWE for the show last night. There is precedent for tribute shows. No one Knew at the time Benoit was a suspect, and I imagine if that was the case, the show would not have been a tribute.

Good think for Vince to step in there and address this. I really hope he calls news sources out for exploiting "roid rage." Roids have nothing to do with this, it's just ridiculous and yellow journalism when it comes down to it.

Poor McMahon though. The emotions that have gone threw him the last day. Sadness, depression, betrayal, anger, it's just insane. The tribute show was well done, and if he didn't do it, and the results were different, he would have been buried alive today. I hope McMahon sticks to his guns and gets these guys threw a tough situation.

 

[theflash219]

It's so ironic that after all Benoit gave to this business, he's also done the most damage. This is probably the biggest PR nightmare that could have came to WWE. I'd like to extend my deepest sympathies to the guys who poured their hearts out last night and now look like chumps. Benoit should never be in the Hall of Fame or honored in any way. If it's not too late, he should also be removed from the upcoming video game. WWE is making all the right moves and, hopefully, they'll survive this.

 

[TJ2069]

Did anyone else notice how disturbing Chavos tribute on monday was. When he talked about just days before he stayed at Benoits and was rushed by Chris out of his house to get to the airport and make his plane but Benoit still missed his as Chavo caught his. And that the last words to chavo after he checked up on him was :Chavo i love you" on friday.
The reason this disturbes me is it seemed like Chris had this planned ahead then it being a spur of the moment thing like being on steriods but this is only my thought.

 

[Minor League Brian]

In reality, we all know the news media will be tearing WWE a new one; professional wrestling as a whole as well. My own question is, though, what will happen to the shows? I mean, like someone said earlier; I can’t boo Chavo or Edge anymore, not after what I saw Monday. I guess I could do it by looking at there just playing a character, but honestly I don’t see how ANYONE can boo those two any more.

Another thing, this just makes all the feuds pointless. I can’t boo Vince either, at least not at the moment. He thought what he was doing was right, no matter how much backlash he get’s from this; him turning RAW to a tribute show was the right move. Was it bad knowing what we know now? Of course, but at the time it was the best option.

Maybe there will be a silver lining, maybe they’ll turn the likes of Edge face and will open the door to more feuds. Maybe this will be a rebirth of actual wrestling. Or maybe this is just one more bump on the road that won’t do much but rattle a few cages for a time. Who knows, only time will tell.

I believe it was Shockmaster, not sure so sorry if I'm wrong, who said that he hopes Vince will stick to his guns; You know he will. The man has shown us he has a heart, he's shown his soul, but we all know that if he has to be he'll be hard as a rock. They'll wether the storm, my only question is how they will fair after she's past.

 

[SneakyGoblin]

Almost all of the interviews were about someone saying "I love you Chris" at the end of the conversation...

 

[cypherslock]

My Thoughts: Let's wait and see if we can find out the motive. I don't hope Benoit rots in hell to be honest. Not condoning it of course but I think that it is not our place to judge. The final analysis of Benoit's immortal soul is between him and God, no one else. And I don't think Vince should apologize for the tribute show because at the time no one knew what went on and he would have gotten flak if he just did "business as usual". I feel for the man as no matter what move he makes, he can't seem to win. RIP and God Bless Nancy and Daniel.

 

[TJ2069]

Almost all of the interviews were about someone saying "I love you Chris" at the end of the conversation...

I wasent talking abou the wrestlers that gave tribute to Benoit im talking that Chris Benoits last words to Chavo were "Chavo i love you". Which Chavo said that Chris never says to anybody that is what i meant.

 

[THE Madcap]

Wrestling is in a sorry state I'm afraid to say. The way the media will react to this will be to blame the industry, not the guy to blame. From what has surfaced today, it would appear that Benoit had some demons he was battling with, mentally. I hope and pray to god that he didn't murder his family, but the way people have been going on with the "i love you" messages, this is becoming more and more unlikely.

For those who are quick to place the blame on steroids, lets get our facts straight here. Steroids do not cause rage. If a person has a history for being angry or being an asshole, 'roids isn't going to change this. There has been no empirical evidence to suggest any link between steroids and psychological damage.

I truely think WWE should consider taking a hiatus from our television screens, to let the fans and the media get their heads round what's gone on. If we mourn his death like on last nights RAW, we get crucified by the media, if we ignore it, we get crucified by the media. Once WWE returns from this hiatus, they should scrap ECW, scrap the roster splits and have everyone competing on the same shows, allowing the wrestlers to have some relaxation time and time to be with their families.

Wrestling as we know it is in a state of mess.

 

[Benh182]

If the WWE takes two things from this they should be

a) As people have said, cut down on mid-week house shows and give them a "weekend" so to speak. With the schedules more hectic than ever, are the recent burn outs\deaths\drug problems a coincidence?

b) Add psychological testing to the guys on the road 300+ days a year. And implement that as strongly as they should do failed drug tests. In the enviroment those guys perform in, Mental health should be taken in the same light as physical.

Obviously by that point I'm not making a direct reference to Benoit, nobody knows what his mental state exactly was, however it may give management a hint on when a wrestler is about to implode (Eugine and Mercury and Masters off the top of my head for recent ones).

 

[coltx7]

Wrestling is in a sorry state I'm afraid to say.
Wrestling as we know it is in a state of mess.

That pretty much sums up everything. I don't think we as wrestling fans realize how bad allot of things are now before today. I do however realize now that no matter what you see on TV we don't know shit. People are people and until you know somebody physically, we don't know squat. I do not believe wrestling is going to ever be the same anymore. We have gone to sports entertainment to murder over night.

I also don't think that this is the LAST or Final tragedy. I think in the years to come more wrestlers will pass away at young ages. I also think more tragedies will occur in and out of the ring. The only positive perspective I can offer is this. Life is not and has never been all rainbows. This is a day and age in which we as a human race need to find our own happiness.

No matter what the outcome or ending is everybody should remember 1 thing. Your not promised tomorrow. There is no guarantees on life. As far as wrestling's future only time will tell. At this point anything is possible.

 

[ggeeoorrggee]

I didnt have a problem with the Vince Death storyline. It was so over the top and very WWE. Its a shame actually It felt like it was '99 all over again and I was looking forward to seeing where they went with it.

Wrestling will be fine. The media will get bored with a story like they always do and stop reporting on it and it will be back to your normal WWE. Good!

 

[Shocky]

Well the main stream media took shot after shot at McMahon today, and the WWE. They thought WWE defending itself with the Steroid Allegations was bullshit. They bashed the WWE for commenting more about denying steroids, then dealing with the Benoit issue. I actually think it is a fair bash on the WWE.

The big picture is, WWE stock prices are going down currently. This is going to be the main thing that makes the WWE have to do something. A lot of the positive media attention from Wrestlemania 23 and Donald Trump has been erased in the blink of an eye. People are attacking McMahon, and fairly or not, are putting some of the blame on him.

Now, The WWE is rumored to begin changing their wrestling style, implementing a more UFC style match. This means, look for knockouts and things of this ilk. It probably won't go overboard with it, but you'll see big guys starting to knock younger guys out.

Personally, I'm tired of the storylines. I know I'm in the minority, but honestly, they were going to killing characters off to get people to watch. Some people don't have a problem with it, I do. You have a freaking monopoly on the business, and yet they are still resorting to shock TV tactics to gain viewers. Hopefully this is an eye opening experience, and the over the top antics go the way of the Do-Do.

I would like to see, and probably will see, less flashy tactics by the WWE for a few months. You'll probably see kayfabe go by the wayside, which it should. The WWE is going against the grain. They were trying to revert the business to 1985 and pre internet times. Instead of embracing the internet, they have an attitude problem with it, and alienate there net fans. Embrace the internet, embrace the smark community, you know the ones that will actually by pay per views if you don't treat them like idiots.

Right now, the WWE is at a low, whose to blame, hard to say. The WWE needs to secure it's core fan base, and rebuild it's image. This is the perfect time for them to do something right.

 

[Downward Spiral]

To start off, I'm going to defend the WWE to a degree on this McMahon death angle. For one, how many of them knew that 2 great wrestlers would die during the time of the angle? I doubt anyone actually thought that would happen, so don't bash them for that reason. But, what you should bash them for is being so tasteless to start the angle, and also, not finish it after Martel died. But they should be noted as finally having some common sense and breaking kayfabe so to speak, to stop the angle after Benoit and family died.

Moving on from that, the future I think for the WWE, is going to be totally Benoit-less now. And don't come out with 'duh, he's dead' comments, because what I mean by that, is that it looks like they are going to continue as if nothing happened with him now. The WWE must feel pretty embarassed about themselves having such a backlash from the tribute show, so I guess no mention of Benoit will be made at all.

It's interesting to note what has happened on ECW and SmackDown this week, with some cross-brand matches that were put on for an unknown reason. But it would appear that they are immediately looking for a boom in ratings after this incident, and are getting it as evident from this week's ECW rating (1.8). So really, the WWE look to be going ahead, business as usual now, so their future is not going to be that effected in the long run. Some wrestlers are going to be affected, no doubt, but as more news of the Benoit incident comes in, the more it appears that people are going to move on and move on quickly.

 

[A.J.]

Well i have to agree with DS that the future of the WWE will be Benoit-less from all aspects as no name droping or clips showing him as he will no more. Contuning as if nothing has happened is a smart move in my books as WWE is taking a major PR hit. Today I watch Jim Rome, Around the Horn, and PTI on ESPN and they all bashed WWE for the tribute show and saying Steriods had no invlovement. SO WWE has to go benoit-less if they wnat to clear themsleves of this mess.

Plus what I saw from ECW and what will occur on Smackdown they are trying anyway to get ratings now with these cross-brand matches and i have to say i can not blame them one bit about this. But hopefully they will take a break on things and get back to basic wrestling with no drama but that is wishful thinking. But in the future for now we will see new angles to grab ratings but it be same old WWE just benoit-less but a tighter WWE in the meantine as what they do and say in ther programs.

 

[coltx7]

Regardless of how hard Vince tries to put Benoit, Sherri and his own death angle behind him. It ain't going to work not ever. For the time being I can honestly say after everything that has happened this entire situation of events is total embarrassment & humiliating to wrestling fans. It's so easy to put all the blame on the Benoit tragedy and if you choose too that's fine. Everybody played in roll in this especially Vince. I don't know if WWE will recover from this. The thought of people cheering Vince and the WWE really sickens me. Anyway that's how I feel right now. Maybe tomorrow I will not feel the same.

Bottom line, I think the Blow up thing was too over the top, in for WWE.

Yeah & Vince is going to act like his death angle never happend. Which is nothing more then the act of a coward.

 

[TheShiznetNo2]

For a split second, as someone stated previously, "Man this whole Vince death is like a throwback to the attitude era." Then I realized Austin getting "hit" by a car and Vince be "blown" up are on two different levels.

I was never that gullible to believe Austin really got hit, but from 9 to 11:05
I could let my imagination get the best of me. But a guy getting blown up? I looked at that as a desperation move for wrestling.

I don't think wrestling is headed in a good direction and have thought this for a while. Their are not enough variety of story lines. In the attitude era, you'd have a comical story line(DX), a soap opera love story line(Lita&Matt), and a fierce rivalry(Rock and Austin) somewhere in their.

Bottom line, I think the Blow up thing was too over the top, in for WWE.

 

[Satan's Hockey]

I don't think they Vince death angle will go down as the worst moment in history of the WWE. Everyone over the age of 8 knew that it wasn't real and NO ONE expected anything like this Benoit situation would happen. Vince did the right thing too by ending the Vince death angle as soon as the Benoit stuff happened.

 

[Highway Boots]

As much as I hate to say it, I think the only way the WWE can totally recover is to bring back some of their former top stars immediately such as Stone Cold, The Rock, Triple H, Chris Jericho, & ect because those people can divert the bad attention away from all the recent negativity that has plagued the WWE since the "let's kill McMahon" storyline started. They desperately need to get all this off our minds and go back to greatness once again. If you look at all their top talent right now, none of them match the popularity of those previously mentioned. Cena has great momentum but he cannot really carry the WWE by himself. Batista has never really lived up to his hype and Flair, as great as he is, might be Smackdowns only savior at the moment but let's face it, they don't believe in him because if they did they wouldn't have him job to so many others. Edge cannot carry a toothpick let alone a company unless he's battling Mick Foley. There has been so many things wrong this year as far as pushing talent and then when they do the talent seems to go out with some sort of injury. 2007 is not been a good year for the WWE so far, so what they need to do is bring back some great talent from the past to help push them out of the slump they are in. I'm almost embarrased to watch any WWE programming right now because the talent isn't living up to the standards of yesteryears.

 

[Kasey]

I've sat around for a couple of days with a sick feeling in my stomach over everything that has happened and the feeling just won't go away. Benoit was on steroids and it's obvious that he has been for quite sometime. Just like a grip of other superstars who've been shooting or popping them for a couple of decades now. If it's not those, then it's painkillers. There have been numerous wrestlers who've gone on record as admitting steroid use (Hogan and Warrior) to outright stating that McMahon supplied them to wrestlers (Dave Shultz and Billy Graham). And even if they're not supplying them to the wrestlers, then they are obviously turning a blind eye to the usage. It doesn't take binoculars to see that a vast majority of the WWE stars have been on the juice at various points in time throughout the decades. Now that I think about it, I could run off a laundry list of names of guys who obviously tinkered with illegal pharmaceuticals at one time or another (some who lived off of them). Do I trust McMahon or his company? Hell no. Just look at Vince himself. How old is the man? Look at the physique on him. He's a freak, too, and for anyone to tell me that the WWE is drug free is so beyond a moot point it defies all logic. I think it's time for another grand jury investigation. The laws of what is and is not okay in the wrestling business need to be rewritten with regards to how talent is used. I love the fact that these guys entertain me as much as the next diehard...but at what cost? For anyone to sit there and with a straight face tell me that the "Wellness Program" is effective is a crock of shit (and that's me putting it lightly). Even now, the company is rife with easily spottable users. For the first time in my life, my heart is completely dead to watching the shows (I'm even having trouble finding any remote desire to watch TNA). I don't know if I can anymore because whether or not I like it...I've supported this beast as much as anyone. I hope that McMahon's company falls on hard times because of this stuff. I really do. Where does the WWE go from here? Hopefully straight down if there is any justice in the world.

 

[coltx7]

I've sat around for a couple of days with a sick feeling in my stomach over everything that has happened and the feeling just won't go away.

Welcome to the party just about everybody here feels the same way. I myself am actually starting to feel better. I do believe in/have Faith. No matter what happens I hope with every inch of my heart that when those toxicology reports are posted that we will all get some closer.