Customer Reviews

Ring of Hell: The Story of Chris Benoit and the Fall of the Pro Wrestling Industry

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Attempting to explain to non-wrestling fans just how shocking the news that Chris Benoit had brutally exterminated his immediate family shortly before, in a gesture pregnant with symbolism, strangling himself on his weight bench is more or less an impossible task, mostly because it requires people to explain the appeal of wrestling in the first place. After all, the story arc of Benoit's entire professional career - if not his entire life - is one of the redemptive power of professional wrestling, the vector he exploited to overcome his physical and charismatic shortcomings and become a genuine favorite among fans despite decades of conditioning to reject wrestlers like him on first sight. For fans of Benoit's no-nonsense, give-%110 approach to their beloved form of entertainment, the news of his family's fate was almost Shakespearian in its tragedy; it was as if Paul McCartney were to admit to have killed his first wife Linda and eaten her corpse for Christmas dinner.

Matthew Randazzo's "Ring of Hell" is simultaneously both the best possible introduction to that world for outsiders and the most intimidatingly thorough reckoning for fans yet put out. The stories it contains are wild beyond belief, but Randazzo documents his sources extensively, attributes quotes whenever possible, and demonstrates a willingness to question his own sources' credibility if journalistic responsibility demands it. The end result is a ruthlessly compelling read which nevertheless leaves the reader feeling like they've learned something - namely, that contemporary professional wrestling is a soberingly cannibalistic industry driven on the willing suicides of its stars.

"Ring of Hell" is the story of a love so absurd normal folks probably haven't ever even considered its existence - an all-consuming love for pro wrestling. As the book exhaustively documents, this singular love motivated Benoit to endure nightmarish training regimens all over the world, poison himself with performance-enabling (not, the book stresses, "-enhancing") drugs, and willingly subject himself to degenerative brutality with a regularity so reliable as to defy comprehension. Worse, Benoit's tragic compulsions are mirrored over the course of the book by dozens of figures, from functionally insane billionaires to palpably good-natured, kind-hearted fellow wrestlers. All are punished.

Randazzo explains how a climate for such behavior could even exist, let alone flourish, by relying on an treasure trove of source material, much of which comes to light for the first time in this book's pages. While the notion that pro wrestling is a dangerous, sleazy place shouldn't really be news to anyone, literally every page of "Ring of Hell" brings revelations about the depth and wicked creativity of the professional wrestling industry's inherent amorality with the potential to drop your jaw. Sometimes, these stories are cartoonishly hilarious (Japanese icon Antonio Inoki buying "Inoki Friendship Island" on the assurance of treasure being buried therein by Fidel Castro springs to mind), particularly when Randazzo lets his gift for vituperative phrase-turning loose. Others are salacious enough to stagger even the most hardened wrestling adherent; senior WWE writer Dave Lagana's sexual improprieties (and correlating abuses of power) practically cry out for a book of their own. Most, however, are just sad, all-too-believable tales of former World Champions working at Target, or speaking to sincere desires to try and fill "the empty hole in my heart with wrestling" - a bafflingly inappropriate urge even without being preceded by two hundred pages of supporting exposition.

But really, the value of all the garishly ghoulish anecdotes is dwarfed by the context Randazzo steadfastly refuses to ignore for all of the respect Benoit received - earned - over the course of his career. In laying out, in gruesome detail, the hows and the whys of Benoit's rise to prominence, Randazzo fearlessly cites contemporary accounts of not just praise for Benoit's efforts as a wrestler, but stinging critiques of behind-the-scenes forces disinterested in (or outright dismissive of) his televised death spiral. Randazzo also never neglects to remind the reader of Benoit's character, widely considered among the most unimpeachable in the history of wrestling before that weekend in June. Even in the book's first chapter, Randazzo makes a point to mention how, despite "unprecedented pressure to close ranks and demonize Benoit so as to exonerate the wrestling industry of all responsibility", the wrestler's colleagues were a unified front of praise for the man, both in wrestling terms and in terms of the character they'd always only ever seen him exhibit.

"Ring of Hell" isn't without its weaknesses; since Benoit neglected to leave a note explaining his actions and the cyclical nature of the news media guaranteed a woefully short shelf-life for the story, investigations have hit a potentially-insurmountable wall, meaning there's precious little in the way of revelations about Benoit's actual crimes (a roadbump likely to prove particularly galling to readers approaching this book first and foremost as a work of true crime). To harp on those weaknesses, however, would mean missing the point of the entire book, which announces itself as a revelatory work rather than a supplementary one from the first page. Its outspoken intent - boldly couched, relentlessly revisited - is to impress upon the reader the sheer impossibility of justifying the tunnel-visioned love for pro wrestling Chris Benoit worked his whole life to embody, and its greatest triumph might be its conclusion that he never really managed to do so until his last few hours on earth.

First, this is where I'm coming from: In the late '80s and early to mid-'90s, I was a pro wrestling fan. My brother was interested in it, and I started watching because I wanted to see what interested him about pro wrestling. I found it to be fun, and he and I started going to shows and conventions together. I even wrote up a couple of indy shows for a pro wrestling newsletter. I stopped watching as pro wrestlers started dying, and their deaths were increasingly linked to steroid abuse. I was never so naive as to believe that the matches were free and fair bouts, I knew they were pre-determined, I even knew there was a certain level of physical risk in pro wrestling. But over the years, the more I watched, saw, and learned, the more I came to believe that my support of pro wrestling was tantamount to participation in a profoundly immoral business. And I could not continue to support a form of entertainment that left so many of its participants dead or physically disabled.

So I write this review as a former fan. By the time, Chris Benoit reached national prominence in the pro wrestling world, I had stopped watching. That said, I believe that in writing and publishing Ring of Hell, Matthew Randazzo V has performed a valuable service to pro wrestlers and their fans. The book has its flaws, chief among them being poor copyediting and a few too many f-bombs for my middle-aged tastes, but these are far outweighed by the rocks he turns over in the world of pro wrestling. Under those rocks are some dark and festering creatures, not the least of which is Vince McMahon, Jr., the man who currently has an effective monopoly on pro wrestling in the USA. Anyone with any aspirations in the world of pro wrestling will have to work for McMahon and his organization, the WWE.

Ring of Hell looks at the world of pro wrestling during the past 30 years through the lens of the rise and horrific fall of Chris Benoit, a small-sized wrestler who was obsessed with achieving success in the industry during a time when gigantic, musclemen ruled in the squared circle. As a result, if a man the size of Chris Benoit was ever to gain a foothold in this fiercely competitive, unforgiving business, he was going to have to rely on artificial enhancements and an obsessive drive to succeed. This meant taking enormous doses of steroids, and even greater physical risks in the ring. Chris Benoit dosed himself with mind-boggling quantities of drugs of all kinds and endured literal beatings in the ring on a daily basis. The demands of the WWE and other organizations he wrestled for seldom allowed him any time to adequately recover from his injuries, so he ended up taking even more steroids and pain-killers. As a result he wound up a barely functional, profoundly brain-damaged, drug addict. After years of watching his friends die, in and out of the ring, he ended up murdering his wife and child and taking his own life. A postmortem study of his brain revealed extensive damage to all four lobes, plus the brain stem. This was due to his having sustained an estimated 1,000 concussions over the course of his career. The doctor who studied his brain compared it to that of an 85 year old Alzheimer's patient.

Although I deducted a point for the lackadaisical copyediting, I highly recommend that anyone who loves pro wrestling, or has a child who watches pro wrestling, read this book and absorb the lessons of Chris Benoit's career and tragic fall from grace. Then decide for yourself if this is a form of entertainment you can continue to support with a clear conscience.

As for me, I'm glad I stopped watching all those years ago. And I wish I had never watched to begin with.

A year after the Benoit murders, the media circus has forgotten and moved on. Now is a great time to make a book that reinforces what went wrong and help other wrestlers. Unfortunately, this is not that book.

Lance Storm called this the "Jerry Springer" of wrestling books. I'd rather think of it as the "Rush Limbaugh" of wrestling books. If you are a wrestling fan, this book would more likely insult you into staying one. It seems to be written for the folks that say "Yeah, you stick it to `em, Randazzo!"

The book chronicles the life of Chris Benoit and what changed him over his career. You get an idea of each organization that he wrestled for and how each atmosphere may have affected him. If you weren't already knowledgeable, this book can teach a lot about the industry and its history.

That is, if the book didn't seem like it was written by a high school student that didn't know Word had a spell check option (exactly how much is "tenty"?). There are odd phrases like "finding the hell out of Jesus". There is a mountain of curse words and f-bombs. This is book is so well researched, it's just a crying shame that all that great info couldn't be compiled in a less insulting way, either to wrestling fans or to the reader's intelligence.

As for the truth in this book, who lets the truth get in the way of a good wrestling book anymore? Many say it's full of lies, though not many specific statements have been challenged. From the stories I've heard over the years, I'd say at least 80-90% of this book is true. Some statements do seem do seem far fetched: When Randazzo says "[Stu] made Helen Hart feel like a brood mare", did she specifically say she felt this way or is this speculation? When Kevin Sullivan suplexed Tazz, did Dean Malenko say "I'll have what he's having"? (You'd have to read the book to get THAT one...) But hey, controversy is what wrestling, much less wrestling books, are all about!

The one thing missing: Benoit is painted as a driven man, no dispute there. This drive is only explained by "he was smaller than the others". If a child is brought up well, that one fact doesn't lead putting yourself through anything to be accepted. The father gets a free pass, here.

As a long time fan, I enjoyed reading about the atmosphere of the sport I once enjoyed, although everything is painted in the most negative light possible. Almost every character is displayed as despicable. Sure, wrestlers are a dysfunctional bunch, but I know there are plenty of happy and enjoyable stories. They just aren't here.

Maybe they shouldn't be. The book does give you an excellent insight into the stress that Chris went through. Drug use, dying friends, locker room politics and physical abuse eat away at Benoit until he spirals out of control. You get a pretty clear understanding why the tragedy happened.

This book could save lives, sure. But it would have had a better chance if it was written more professionally.

Found this "gem" at my local library mixed in with actual books wrestling.

Matthew Randazzo's style reeks of a want-to-be Bryant Gumbel that wishes only to sensationalize a tragedy and create martyrs out of people who have made their own choices in life. Two facts must be mentioned that completely negate Randazzo's "expose":
1.Professional wrestlers will be the first to discuss the "hellish" conditions of training, however those who did so out of a passion for the business (and not just a desire for quick money) will quickly follow that up with the fact that it was their decision to train in that manner. These men are not greyhound dogs bred and chemically enhanced for performance with no free will. These men are athletes that have made a conscious decision to make this their life (or at least attempt to until they realize how difficult it is).

2.The era of drugs will never be over in wrestling, however proper steps are now being taken to limit usage and get rid of those who choose to use performance enhancers. In 2009 the ratio of men found to be using HGH in the WWE was lower than it was in football and baseball at the close of their respective seasons. Vince McMahon continues to enforce avid drug testing and financially aid those who need rehab (including former wrestlers in retirement).

I am no long a big fan of pro wrestling, though I will watch it now and again. This book had no impact on my enjoyment of sports entertainment, it simply made me shake my head at the lack of knowledge and proper research.

There are a number of autobiographies in publication that are independent from the WWE and are much more truthful than this grammatical and factual trainwreck (Bret Hart being the best thus far). Read the truth from people who know what the truth is and are willing to tell it out from under Vince McMahon's umbrella. It's not a pretty business, and Vince McMahon is not a saint (never claims to be) but these men have made their own decisions.

This book is one you can definitely miss.

Well first let me ask, did the author's over use of the word "sadistic" annoy anyone else? Seriously, he probably use it 200 times! Dude, ever hear of a thesaurus?

The first 100 pages in this book can be summed up in 3 easy words. "Benoit used steroids". The majority of Ring Of Hell I felt like I was reading a direct copy of A Lions Tale, only all the positives were warped and twisted into negatives. Where Jericho talked fondly about Benoit, Mr. Randazzo would turn it into a negative "sadistic" description. Mr. Randazzo talked about the entire Hart family and any wrestler whose name was unlucky enough the be printed in his book with total disgust. Understand when you pick this book up that the author is not a sports writer or a wrestling fan, he writes about murderers. Chris Benoit is a murderer, and what he did was undoubtedly evil and disgusting. However, I think this man, Matthew Randazzo, was the wrong person to write a book on the life of Chris Benoit. I didn't want to read a rewrite of other wrestlers' biographies or shoot interviews, I wanted to read an accurate description of one of my favorite wrestler's tragic life.

It's not always easy being a wrestling mark. Very few other forms of entertainment elicit the extreme responses that admitting you are fan of wrestling fan does. There really is no in between - people either love it or think of it in the same light as paying to see the 75 pound rat at the state fair. This book was written for the former group, but the tone will be much more appealing for the latter.

Ring of Hell is mainly centered on around the rise and mega-fall of Chris Benoit - a man who most hardcore wrestling fans thought of as an almost a god-like being during the late 90s and early part of this century. It chronicles Benoit's insane (barbaric) training, massive drug addiction, and psychological downfall. Really though most of that was either already known (or widely assumed) - the book's real contribution is the insight it provides to the wrestling industry as a whole. This is a no-holds-barred expose on wrestling. From the addictions to drugs, booze, and sex to the "ribs" played backstage to the deaths of the wrestlers, no stone is left unturned. If you ever wanted to know what truly goes on behind the scenes, this is your book.

I gave this book "5-stars" mainly because I think every wrestling (and non-wrestling) fan should read it. That's not to say the book doesn't have its flaws. For one, there are typos and the author uses graphic language to describe situations. Second, the book almost reads as a personal attack on wrestling while very little (or, in most cases, zero) time is spent bringing up counterarguments. Third, there are times when this negative criticism of wrestling becomes so one-sided it's tough to figure out exactly what the author wants done. For example, the book constantly bashes wrestlers like Benoit and Eddie Guerrero for being devoted to the "business" and unwilling to leave despite the overwhelming evidence that it will eventually kill them. Then the author almost looks down on Shane Douglas, a man who got out of wrestling, because he now makes an honest living working at Target. I'm sure the author's point was that a grown man now has to make a living working at Target due to wrestling, but what about the fact that Douglas was able to make oodles of money while as wrestler, enjoyed the high life for a time, got out, and is now working a low-stress job that can support his family. If all the money he earned while wrestling was blown leaving him no other option, who's fault is that - wrestling or Douglas'?

Again though, the book will make you think twice about the insane world of pro wrestling. It's not always fair or willing to discuss the counterarguments, but it's truthful and thought provoking - a rarity when it comes to this profession.

For any TRUE Chris Benoit fan, who still hasn't been able to come to grips with the loss of one of, if not the absolute best, wrestler of all time,this book is for you. Matthew Randazzo V has done his research and has done it well. In this book, he shares an in depth look at the world of wrestling in which Chris Benoit lived. Not the world of wrestling in which the viewer lives, but the hardcore truth. His style of writing brings with it both truth that hurts and comforts. If you are looking for some answers and maybe some closure on what brought on the tragic loss of a great wrestler and a great man, look no further than "Ring Of Hell". Bravo to Matthew Randazzo V on such a fine piece of work.

I am one of those former "crazy Philly fans" who sat ringside at ECW for years. Oh the stories I could tell....whew....The toughest thing about being a female ECW fan, besides the boys thinking you're a rat, was watching the guys put their bodies through hell for us. I did not like the blood crazed matches - I am a purist.

Chris Benoit is still my favorite wrestler. I know the pain he went through in the ring. And I know the "high" of hearing the fans pop and feeling he got when a match went well was one of the things that was hard to walk away from or hear any arguments about.

Nancy was an inspiration. Despite "marrying a midget" (only an ECW fan, and Steve Austin will get that), she was a strong sexy and smart role model. No valet/manager/eye candy has compared to her - period.

My heart broke when details of this crime came to life. I thought those two would pull if off - the happily ever after wrestling couple.

Oh the book? Hmmm....between Jericho's book, Eddy's book, Dynamite Kid's book and Mic Foley's books I kinda got the jist of it (read them all). I agree with everyone, who is a fan of pro wrestling who, says that this book seems a little bit caustic. But the business itself isn't something that's full of glamour. Wrestlers who don't "pay dues" don't have as much respect as one who have. And paying dues isn't meant to be pretty. Neither are the drugs, the booze or the sexual escapades. But it is real.

If you are a dirt sheet reading, smart mark you may feel a little insulted by his tone (I was). But I ould not put it down.

Now excuse me while I wonder why CM Punk is no longer getting his push.......

"Ring of Hell" is a wake-up call for wrestlers, promoters, fans, and--most importantly--the rest of the world. One cannot rationally imagine why any wrestler wouldn't champion this book, which is a watertight argument in favor of improving working conditions--if not basic human rights--within the industry.

Grim subject matter aside, this entertaining, captivating and informative book will ultimately engender positive change. Any aspiring pro wrestler who reads this book will have no choice but to think twice about their perspective vocation. At the very least, they will gain well-founded misgivings about working for Vince McMahon, saving their own health and happiness in the process. Randazzo can hardly be faulted for that.

Randazzo is already being unjustly vilified for pointing fingers, naming names, and exposing facts that those within the industry gamely attempted to hide for years. Many have bristled at the book's wider exposure of Chris Benoit's colleagues and their respective proclivities. Such inclusions of "dirt" are entirely justified, if not unavoidable, in order to illustrate the pervasive, industry-wide insanity that fed Benoit's downward spiral.

Contrary to the recent self-serving carping of lesser authors who mistakenly consider themselves Randazzo's "competition" (Irv Muchnick, I'm looking in your blog's direction...), "Ring of Hell" will stand the test of time due to the pure, visceral honesty contained within. At times, this direct approach lapses into a narrative voice that seems downright insulting (especially if your last name is "Hart"). Depending on one's personal alignment, the reader may find this alienating. The ugly truth cannot be avoided: people are suffering, if not dying, in ways that are entirely preventable. Randazzo's fresh perspective is a welcome and long overdue slap in the face.

It's a certainly interesting, disturbing, and entertaining (in a grisly gallows humor sort of way.) Ultimately, it's also relatively hampered by relying on unnamed sources with obvious biases, which lead to the reader not being sure of their particular story's veracity.

Ultimately, I bought it because I am greatly interested in anything Vince McMahon dislikes or does not want revealed and if things revealed in this story are anything like they are in real life, I am justified in this mindset, particularly since I have not ever paid for a WWE event, or attended one, and plan on never doing so.

As much an autopsy of the career of Chris Benoit as it is a written mockery of the current state of the professional wrestling (an insidious oxymoron if there ever was one, if again, stories presented here are at all true) industry, Ring of Hell probably should have been released along with Beyond The Mat.