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”Hours later, Benoit was still alive: why? He had a WWE booking to make! It’s not surprising that a man so disoriented and fixated on wrestling, who murdered his own child with his character’s wrestling move, would seriously consider returning to the one place where he felt happy: in the ring. While Daniel died, did Benoit hear Jim Ross announcing in the background? Was he screaming, ‘TAP! TAP!’?

Matthew Randazzo’s “Ring of Hell” offers a lot of sizzle and little steak, which ultimately takes away from this book, which could have been an excellent launching point to initiate change in wrestling. The biggest problem with “Ring of Hell” is that Randazzo offers up a caricature of Chris Benoit as a nasty, deranged, and ugly man, which he wasn’t by all accounts he wasn’t.

Randazzo takes the reader through Benoit’s entire career, but the stories told are often exaggerated or overblown. In turn, these overblown stories about Benoit are used to set up the case that he was destined to perform the murderous acts he committed shortly before taking his own life. The problem with Randazzo’s thesis is that nobody saw Benoit as someone capable of killing his wife and son. Sure, those closest to Benoit knew of the volatile nature of his relationship with his wife Nancy.

The overly negative and sensationalistic content in “Ring of Hell” will likely ensure the book is ignored by those within the industry, which is sad, as the conclusions about the industry that are drawn by Randazzo are ultimately accurate. If Randazzo had simply presented the facts of the Benoit incident and the dark nature of the wrestling business without the sensationalistic content of this book, his conclusions would have resonated much stronger than they do in their exaggerated state. It was also paradoxical of Randazzo to write about the overall inability of professional wrestlers to find a life outside of the industry while taking a shot at former ECW Champion Shane Douglas for working at Target.

The book is also weighed down by its subtitle: “The Story of Chris Benoit & The Fall of the Pro Wrestling Industry.” Numerous small time book publishers are cranking out wrestling titles that depict pro wrestling as a fallen industry, which simply isn’t true. In fact, it’s the global popularity of the industry and Vince McMahon’s insistence on pushing chemically enhanced bodies that are among the largest problems that exist in this form of entertainment.

The truth is that Benoit was chemically and clinically damaged by the pro wrestling industry. Benoit suffered a tremendous amount of damage to his head and body from years of wrestling a dangerous style and taking numerous chairshots to the head. Benoit is guilty of doing terrible things to his own body, but ultimately the wrestling promoters that pushed Benoit into the ring are also responsible for his condition as well. Their joint responsibility should not be ignored.

Nobody saw the Benoit tragedy coming, which is ultimately something that was too big for Randazzo to ignore. The saving grace of “Ring of Hell” is that there is good content here, specifically Randazzo’s talks with several former WWE writers that depict McMahon as being bats—t insane. Randazzo also lists several changes to the WWE that wrestling experts have lobbied for that McMahon should have adapted, but in his failure to do so, has possibly cost several wrestlers their lives.

Hopefully another author takes the reigns from Randazzo and writes a book about the industry that will provide a spark to necessitate change. A more balanced view of the industry would have likely helped “Ring of Hell’s” cause, but ultimately this book only offers a look up at the problems while failing to point towards solutions, due to the overly negative tone Randazzo takes up throughout.

Randazzo provides a beginning, but ultimately someone else must run with the ball from where “Ring of Hell” ends. It’s going to take something huge to necessitate change in the wrestling industry. Over a year has passed since Benoit’s death and the industry already has received a pass from congress, but the problems continue.

Wrestlers still use drugs to heal quicker and attain the physiques necessary to fit the mold of McMahon’s vision of a star. In order to deal with injuries, wrestlers continue to pop pills in order to sleep and escape their pain. A change is necessary in the industry, but we can only hope it doesn’t take another tragedy to initiate it.

Be sure to check out the Sean Radican Audio Showcase with co-host Derek Burgan this weekend for an in-depth look at the world of pro wrestling. Get caught up with the podcast that is capturing the attention of PWTorch.com VIP members today when you sign up for a subscription! You don't want to miss out on the leading source for pro wrestling podcasts at PWTorch.com/members.

Email Sean Radican.

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