The Untold History of the WWE Magazine

[King Patrick Star]

For the first time ever, WWE’s incredible journey is charted through a detailed timeline of watershed events, from Mr. McMahon’s early bold steps in the business to the global success it is today. Featuring exclusive interviews with The Chairman and incredible archival photography, The Untold History of the WWE is your essential guide to the most memorable milestones in WWE history.

Interesting notes:

The History is divided into 6 parts:
The '80s Boom [1982-1985]
The Dawn of WrestleMania [1985-1990]
The New Generation [1990-1996]
The Attitude Era [1996-2001]
The Postwar Era [2001-2005]
The Modern Era [2005-Present] (I wonder what they are going to call it when this Era isn't "Modern" anymore)

VKM has a Q & A at the start of every Chapter. Now, I haven't read through the whole mag yet, but something caught my eye.

Is there any part of WWE history that you wish could be erased?

I wouldn't erase any of it. I've had a wonderful experience

What about the Chris Benoit tragedy? We're two years removed - will there ever be a time when we can acknowledge him as part of WWE history?

It's not right to pretend he didn't exist. It's one thing to include him as part of a historical perspective, which I believe is OK, and it's another thing to promote him, which is not OK. The situation is very similar to that of O.J. Simpson - despite his controversy, O.J. was still a part of the NLF scene. You can't deny that he existed.

Interesting.

 

[Fallen Angel 21.3]

wait i am really confused here they haven't said that benoit has won the rumble for like 2 years, didn't say he was a former wold champion yet vinnie mack is saying yeah benoit was in the rumble we won't deny it when they denied it for two years, i think that they are just blowing smoke up there asses because for 2 years vince did deny that benoit was in the company when the murders hit the news

 

[mral82]

Originally Posted by WWE Magazine
What about the Chris Benoit tragedy? We're two years removed - will there ever be a time when we can acknowledge him as part of WWE history?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vince McMahon
It's not right to pretend he didn't exist. It's one thing to include him as part of a historical perspective, which I believe is OK, and it's another thing to promote him, which is not OK. The situation is very similar to that of O.J. Simpson - despite his controversy, O.J. was still a part of the NLF scene. You can't deny that he existed.

OJ Simpson is in the pro football hall of fame for his acolades and Chris Benoit deserves the same thing as does Pete Rose in MLB. I Think a person should be inducted on the professional life not their personal as the WWE put in the Suicidal Adkisson/Von Erich family. So please let Benoit in the WWE Hall of Fame. I will have to get that sp. edition of the mag as it seems as a terrific read.

 

[samboisdead]

O.J. was put in the hall before it happened. To compare Pete Rose to these two is sick. To say benoit deserves anything other than to burn in hell is messed up. I loved Benoit the wrestler. I dont really care what the man did to Nancy I dont no the facts. I do care that the sick sack of shit murdered an inocent child. Vince should come out and say they want nothing to do with the sick piece of shit if he does anything.

 

[yur_momma]

its a very good magazine but in the timeline they do keep benoit out. the mention the radicals and all their storylines but no mention of benoit at all.
the magazine is good though, im a collector so for me its a must-have. full of little facts like rob van dams first wwe appearance way back in 1987, complete card for the first SNME, a few wcw mentions, top tv shows of the day...things like that.

 

[Sean Valjean]

An interesting read. I'm glad that they're starting to mention Benoit again. I'm not saying they should promote him, because as Vince said, that's not a good idea. Acknowledging his existence is good enough for me.

It's been a LONG time since I've read WWE magazine (since the Attitude Era), but this looks pretty interesting. I'll have to stop by my local supermarket and take a look through it sometime.

 

[DaGhost]

Different sports treat their Hall of Fame very differently. Baseball is VERY exclusive and right or wrong, they do take your personal and professional life into consideration. There are some great players that had long careers that will not get into the MLB HOF.

Benoit deserves mention as he is part of their history as O.J. and Pete Rose are to their sports. But does Benoit deserve anything more than a mention? I don't think so. Maybe many many years from now. But not yet, maybe never.

DaGhost

 

[Codebreaker]

Yeah this didn't make very much sense to me. Vince says its alright to remember him as a part of history. Its not ok to promote him. Ok thats fine. But if your going to say directly in a magazine that its ok to remember him as part of history, but not have any of his major acomplishments in the timeline, what kind of sense does that make. Winning the Royal Rumble from #1? Winning the World Heavyweight Championship at Wrestlemania XX? First TLC Match on Smackdown? The list goes on. This didn't make very much sense to me. I won't tell a lie though, it is nice to see him actually mentioned by WWE a few times. This magazine, the WWE Encyclopidia. Hopefully we will have a Toothless Hall Of Famer some day.

 

[Proof]

Yeah this didn't make very much sense to me. Vince says its alright to remember him as a part of history. Its not ok to promote him. Ok thats fine. But if your going to say directly in a magazine that its ok to remember him as part of history, but not have any of his major acomplishments in the timeline, what kind of sense does that make. Winning the Royal Rumble from #1? Winning the World Heavyweight Championship at Wrestlemania XX? First TLC Match on Smackdown? The list goes on. This didn't make very much sense to me. I won't tell a lie though, it is nice to see him actually mentioned by WWE a few times. This magazine, the WWE Encyclopidia. Hopefully we will have a Toothless Hall Of Famer some day.

Benoit won't get inducted into the Hall of Fame. Benoit did more harm than good to the industry. I don't know how does that warrant a spot in the HOF.

 

["Cool Guy" Jensen]

I think Vince McMahon has a very hard time staying true to his word. "It's not right to pretend he didn't exist. It's one thing to include him as part of a historical perspective, which I believe is OK, and it's another thing to promote him, which is not OK." He's full of it.

Over the past 29 months, Vince McMahon and WWE.com workers have been doing everything to erase Chris Benoit from their history. That includes title histories, pay-per-view histories, event photos, everything. What if Benoit's Royal Rumble record wasn't beaten? What would happen then? Would WWE have quickly make a Rumble winner beat that record or would they just go with the 2nd longest time in the Rumble the first

Never mentioning Chris Benoit is one thing, but saying that it is not okay to erase his existence , but do just that is a completely different issue. Now, I have been on WWE.com recently looking for Chris Benoit stuff, but last time I checked, there was not much to look at, involving Benoit.

I don't think this can really be compared to the O.J. Simpson case. A double murder-suicide is much differnt than a double-murder. If the NFL was planning to pretend that O.J. never existed, they'd likely have a pretty hard time doing that, since he is still around to change that, if he wanted. Chris Benoit, however, cannot. WWE could have done whatever they wanted to sabotage Benoit's legacy, and he wouldn't be able to do a damn thing about it. The O.J. Simpson and Chris Benoit issues and completely seperate matters... I do not think they should be compared.

 

[Marty]

To delete Chris Benoit totally would be wrong. I think he just not be promoted. If he happens to be on a DVD, then so be it.