Head Hunting: Over the months since the Chris Benoit murder-suicide, the wrestling world has seen ample evidence of the harmful effects of multiple concussions and head shots on the human brain. In fact, there was discussion of the link between multiple concussions and dementia before the Benoit deaths in late June.
Chris Nowinski's original request to check Benoit's brain for concussion trauma happened in late June. On Sept. 5, the Sports Legacy Institute held a press conference to announce that had discovered trauma in Benoit's brain. Last week, WWE chairman Vince McMahon told CNN that he had banned wrestlers from taking steel chair shots to the head, pending further analysis of SLI's data.
Many people inside and outside of the industry have argued that World Wrestling Entertainment shares in the responsibility for the damage done to wrestlers during the course of their careers. The McMahon family, especially Vince McMahon, disagrees. But at least WWE has done something to address the danger posed by concussion blows to wrestlers. Now it is time for other companies to follow suit.
In the North American wrestling scene, many wrestlers put together wild and possibly dangerous spots. Why single out chair shots to the head? Well, there's one good reason. The chairshot to the head is the only spot where by, if set up and executed by design, you have a strong chance of causing a concussion.
Sunday night's TNA Genesis 2007 pay-per-view featured some high-risk bumps, and the usual array of painful hardcore spots in the Abyss vs. Dustin Rhodes match. But the most disturbing spot of the night was 46 year old Rick Steiner taking an unprotected chairshot to the head in the middle of the Steiners' tag team title match with A.J. Styles and Travis Tomko. Sure, the spot led up to the finish and wasn't just a transition, but wrestlers and fans can't look at shots to the head the way they did a year ago.
It isn't fair to mention TNA without also putting the onus on smaller promotions. The second show of Ring of Honor's excellent Death Before Dishonor weekend is out on DVD. The main event, taped Aug. 11 featured an eight man streetfight, and a sequence saw Roderick Strong give an unprotected chairshot to the head on Erick Stevens. In real life, Stevens is Strong's protege, and the two wrestlers are close friends. Still, that's no excuse. A couple of PWTorch writers gave Ring of Honor a pass on the head shots in the Bryan Danielson-Nigel McGuinness main event of the "Driven" pay-per-view, seeing as the show was taped before the Benoit murders. That explanation has expired.
Frankly, in the modern era of pro wrestling, the stiff shot to the head is no longer a necessity. Consider, if you will, the aforementioned "Shop of Horrors" hardcore match at Genesis. Despite all the weapons Abyss and Black Reign used on each other, the biggest pop in the match came when Abyss delivered a nice-looking kick to Dustin's crotch.
Sometimes in this business, wrestlers view the taking of physical punishment as a sign of machismo. Wrestlers occasionally try dangerous stunts in the ring without discussing it with agents or promoters. But we have reached a point where everyone, from the office on down to the wrestlers, needs to be playing off the same sheet of music. The goal of pro wrestling isn't to hurt your opponent for real, it is to provide the appearance of a legitimate contest without hurting your opponent. We now know that repeated head shots can cause concussions, and multiple concussions can shorten a wrestler's career. Worse yet, the same wrestler could have brain trauma that lasts after they leave the squared circle.
A decade ago, World Championship Wrestling was mocked when wrestlers used wooden chairs on each other instead of metal chairs. This was especially prevalent in Hulk Hogan's main events, when Hollywood didn't want to take a stiff shot to the cranium. It turns out that the Hulkster was, once again, a man ahead of his time.
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