Benoit Brain Damage Update, Not Emotionally Responsible!

[Outsiders]

- Former WWE wrestler Chris Nowinski has been doing several media appearances recently regarding his "Sports Legacy Institute" studies in to concussions in sports, most notably the studies of Chris Benoit's deteriorated brain. He has made it clear that concussions in wrestling are a big problem and during a discussion, it was revealed that ECW star Tommy Dreamer has apparently had a whopping 12 concussions that the two know about.

 

Nowinski's studies show a correlation between multiple concussions and strange, violent and depressive behavior. Most of his work revolves around football players but since the Benoit tragedy he is branching out in to studying wrestling. It is his and many other doctor's beliefs that undiagnosed concussions caused major brain problems with Chris Benoit, and that he cannot be held emotionally responsible for the murders of his family members.

 

- Recent CBC documentary "Fight To Death" revealed that the studies highlighted by the Sports Legacy Institute are about to be published in major medical journals, meaning that the majority of professional doctors agree that multiple concussions cause complete personality changes resulting in the problems mentioned above.

 

- During the contrived CNN Death Grip documentary Vince McMahon dismissed said studies and has since never made any contact with Chris Nowinski or his non profit organization.

 

- The main criticisms revolving around Vince McMahon and the WWE are that they do not actively check wrestlers for concussions and that the company is on the road 200+ days a year. WWE have acted on the much publicized problems with steroids and drugs but not the less publicized problems with concussions.

 

- Although this obviously doesn't make Chris Benoit innocent it is a major contributing factor and may have caused the former champ to be "unhinged."

[BeautifulDisaster]

Honestly, concussions is more serious than steroids ever could have been. WWE needs to work on the mental health of the wrestling industry and the concussion count of wrestlers. Brain damage is something that can not be reversed. Once the proverbial bell is rung, it can not be un-rung, sort to speak.

[MrBlisterfists]

lol, what a joke.

 

if this murdering psycho bastard hadn't been a coward and killed himself for what he did (PROOF to me that he was emotionally responsble, by the way), this crap would never hold up in court.

 

and it doesn't hold up in the court of public opinion.

 

you can try to save your 'hero' any way you want, but the fact remains that your hero is nothing more than a god damned child killer.

[hamsterboy]

So if this had happened to say Steve Young or Troy Aikman,you'd have the same feelings with them as you do with Beniot?

[BeautifulDisaster]

Wow... someone hates Benoit and what he did. I agree, if Young, Aikman, or some of those guys who had concussions had did this, I would be willing to give them the benefit of a doubt in this tragedy too. It doesn't make it better, but at least it gives a reason why a guy snapped. And, if anything good comes from this, hopefully it will be that others who suffer tons of concussions will get the help they need before losing their faculties and turning into a murderous monster.

[ARES-god_of_war]

lol, what a joke.

 

if this murdering psycho bastard hadn't been a coward and killed himself for what he did (PROOF to me that he was emotionally responsble, by the way), this crap would never hold up in court.

 

and it doesn't hold up in the court of public opinion.

 

you can try to save your 'hero' any way you want, but the fact remains that your hero is nothing more than a god damned child killer.

 

Let's hear it for Anonymous Web Dude and the 313,897,524,564th Dumbest thing ever written!

[khamla]

You know what i find wierd...is that I cant believe Beniot's brain was that scrambled. I mean i understand he's been in the business that long, But i dont think he's taken as many head shots as say Mick Foley, and some of the other ECW originals have. There brains have to be more scrambled than his. The shots to the head aren't the excuse for what he did. The guy was suffering from depression; the loss of Eddie, the dealings with his son, etc.

[MrBlisterfists]

So if this had happened to say Steve Young or Troy Aikman,you'd have the same feelings with them as you do with Beniot?

 

Chris Benoit murdered his child.

 

that is unforgivable, and it takes away ANY accomplishments he may have earned while in the ring.

 

to say that he was not responsible for his actions, when in any other case, that excuse would be inadmissable, cheapens the death of his wife and child. To put him first, and try to absolve him of responsibility for this reprehensible crime, just because he is famous is just sickening.

 

I am not a sports fan, I would hold any human being, famous or not, to the same standard.

[ButchBeretta]

You know what i find wierd...is that I cant believe Beniot's brain was that scrambled. I mean i understand he's been in the business that long, But i dont think he's taken as many head shots as say Mick Foley, and some of the other ECW originals have. There brains have to be more scrambled than his. The shots to the head aren't the excuse for what he did. The guy was suffering from depression; the loss of Eddie, the dealings with his son, etc.

 

concussions are weird and unfortunatley commonplace in the business. I've had four concussions and I'm not even well traveled at all. in fact, I dont think I know any workers personally who have not suffered at least one.

 

Foley's style was dangerous to his body and he's a had a good amounmt of concussions I'm sure. the thing is most concussions don't come from necesarrily getting hit in the head, it's when your body is literally moving faster than your brain, then when you make impact and your brain ends up smacking into your skull. Benoit had such fast paced explosive moves like his snap suplex, while Foley was more into taking insane bumps. also, as weird as it sounds, Mick Foley's body is almost designed to take impact, he's wide with a flat back. Benoit is a big man on a small man's frame. no matter how much weight you lift, or steroids you take, the insides are gonna be the same. all of these are factors

[Bigsexy944]

Im sure its A reason but not THE reason why he snapped. I'd bet its more of a contributing factor than the steroids however there are many of the aformentioned stars who are way further off their rocker than Benoit was and they're not snapping and killing their families. He was level headed for the most part 100% of the time.

 

Truth is the depression, and maybe a bit of brain damage coupled with the fact that he did not want his son to grow up handicapped are all of the unjust, but real contriuting reasons for why he did what he did.

 

This will never sit well with people no matter how much time has passed. It doesn't make him any less the wrestler he was but I can never look at him the same way therefore have lost all appriciation for him as an entertainer.

[RobertDeNitro]

Chris Nowinsky is a doctor? And he's doing research? o_O

Damn...

I wanna work with him, after I'm done with my PhD!

[hamsterboy]

You know what i find wierd...is that I cant believe Beniot's brain was that scrambled. I mean i understand he's been in the business that long, But i dont think he's taken as many head shots as say Mick Foley, and some of the other ECW originals have. There brains have to be more scrambled than his. The shots to the head aren't the excuse for what he did. The guy was suffering from depression; the loss of Eddie, the dealings with his son, etc.

 

 

But you've got to remember,he was doing the head butt off the top rope almost very night,for how ever many number of years he used that move. If he hit his mark,he's hurting his head not to mention all of the damage he did if he missed. Over time,all of that is going to add up.

[Bandalero]

I think it was a whole number of contributing factors - with Eddie's death being the catalyst to push him into such a massive depressive state.

 

The years of bumps in the ring, abuse of prescription drugs and steroids, severe depression - all contributing factors. Does it absolve him of his actions? Nope. Does it act as an example and warning to those in the biz (and other related fields) taking the bumps, abusing the drugs, and falling into manic states of depression? It sure does.

 

Why this is such a tough pill to swallow (no pun intended) is because he was admired and respected by his peers and fans - at least the Chris Benoit that showed up to the arenas and on our television screens. I'm sure if it were a Jake Roberts or Scott Hall, it wouldn't touch/hurt people so deeply. They are just as famous as he was in the biz, maybe less accomplished - but I dont think the impact would be so profound as it was.

 

Dimensia is a frighting reality. My Manager's mother suffers from it and that's the closest to home that I'm aware of and I see the tensiveness she expresses whenever that topic comes up.