Benoit incident marred pro wrestling in '07, by Mike Mooneyham - The Post and Courier - 30th December 2007

The pro wrestling industry will not soon forget 2007.

Never before in the history of the business has one story garnered such mainstream attention as the Chris Benoit double murder-suicide in late June. It was a gruesome, grisly tragedy that far transcended professional wrestling, yet its link to the business added another dimension that made the story even more sensational.

The face of pro wrestling would forever change the day the 40-year-old Benoit, wife Nancy and 7-year-old son Daniel were found dead in their suburban Atlanta home. The wrestler, who had been universally respected for years as one of the most accomplished performers in the business, took his own life by hanging himself after strangling his wife and suffocating his son. Bibles were placed near the bodies. The horrific incident drew a staggering level of public interest in the days and weeks that followed.

The story opened the floodgates for serious discussion and action concerning a number of hot-button topics including steroids, painkillers, concussions and congressional hearings. Benoit's extensive use of steroids and prescription medication exposed loopholes in WWE's drug-testing policy and drew media scrutiny.

The ramifications of the Benoit rampage are still being felt, and most likely will for years to come.

A nasty legal battle is expected in the wake of WWE's recent rejection of a deal offered by Benoit's estate. WWE has adamantly insisted that it had absolutely nothing to do with the Benoit tragedy, and balked at paying $2 million to Benoit's two surviving children from a previous marriage. The Benoit estate would have renounced any future claims against WWE in exchange for the settlement.

Medical experts in September detailed the many concussions Benoit suffered over the years while performing. The tests showed that Benoit's brain was so severely damaged it resembled the brain of an 85-year-old Alzheimer's patient. The research team claimed the damage was the result of a lifetime of chronic concussions and head trauma suffered while Benoit was in the wrestling ring.

Michael Benoit, overseeing his son's estate, alleges the WWE knew of the head injuries, but failed to provide treatment to any of their performers or much-needed rest. He believes years of head trauma his son suffered while in the ring contributed to the killings.

"Had the WWE taken the slightest interest in its wrestlers — before it became the object of the interest of district attorneys and Congress — there is little doubt that Chris Benoit and his family would still be with us today," Cary Ichter, Michael Benoit's Atlanta-based attorney, recently told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Despite the overwhelmingly negative publicity, WWE has weathered the storm, finishing the year strong with plans for major worldwide expansion in '08.

Among the many wrestling personalities we said goodbye to in 2007: Harry "Cowboy" Lang (Jan. 4, age 56); Cocoa Samoa (Ulualoaiga Onosai Tuaolo Emelio) (Jan. 9, age 62); Scott "Bam Bam" Bigelow (Jan. 19, age 45); Bob Luce (Feb. 8, age 70); Jim Melby (Feb. 11, age 57); Mike Awesome (Mike Alfonso) (Feb. 17, age 42); Ray "Thunder" Stern (Walter Bookbinder) (March 6, age 76); Bad News Brown/Allen (Allen Coage) (March 6, age 63); Ernie "Big Cat" Ladd (March 11, age 68); Arnold "Golden Boy" Skaaland (March 13, age 82); Abe Coleman (March 22, age 101); Harold "Sonny" Meyers (May 7, age 83); Ferrin "Sandy" Barr (June 2, age 69); Sensational Sherri Martel (Sherri Russell) (June 15, age 49); Princess Tona Tamah (Tona Ford) (June 15, age 72); Nancy "Woman" Benoit) (June 22, age 43); Chris Benoit (June 24, age 40); Biff Wellington (Shayne Bower) (June 24, age 42); Moondog Nathan (Nathan Brian Randolph) (July 4, age 37); John "Eliminator" Kronus (George B. Caiazzo) (July 18, age 38); Ronnie P. Gossett (July 23, age 63); Tor Kamata (McRonald Kamaka) (July 23, age 70); Karl Gotch (Karl Charles Istaz) (July 28, age 82); Frank Butcher (Francisco Garcia) (Aug. 2, age 84); Bronko Lubich (Sandor Lupsity) (Aug. 11, age 81); Brian "Crush" Adams (Aug. 13, age 43); Dewey "Missing Link" Robertson (Aug. 16, age 68); Frank Fozo (Aug. 23, age 79); Karloff Lagarde (Carlos de Lucio Lagarde) (Sept. 1, age 79); Billy Darnell (Sept. 7, age 81); Enrique Torres (Sept. 10, age 85); Zack Murray (Sept. 23, age 61); Sean "Shocker" Evans (Oct. 2, age 36); Rey "The Great Kabooki" Urbano (Oct. 16); Lillian "The Fabulous Moolah" Ellison (Nov. 2, age 84); El Gran Markus (Juan Chavarria Galicia) (Nov. 15, age 68); Dave "Angel of Death" Sheldon (Nov. 24, age 54).

Reach Mike Mooneyham at (843) 937-5517 or mooneyham@postandcourier.com. For wrestling updates during the week, call The Post and Courier Info Line at (843) 937-6000, ext. 3090.

The gurus of grapple, By Jon Geddes - The Daily Telegraph - 7th December 2007

THEY were the legends who thrilled and chilled Aussies with their antics in, and often out, of the wrestling ring for two decades.

Stars such as Mario Milano, King Curtis, Brute Bernard, Bulldog Brower, Spiros Arion, Killer Kowalski and the sinister Professor Tanaka - who threw salt in opponents' eyes - became household names.

And let's not forget our homegrown heroes Ron Miller, Larry O'Dea and George Barnes, who matched it with best of them.

Forget the glitz and showbiz associated with today's WWE. World Championship Wrestling was the real deal.

People of all ages religiously tuned into World Championship Wrestling, an institution on TCN 9 at midday on Saturdays.

"We did three TV shows a week and 300 live shows a year - which would average 15,000 a week," 66-year-old Miller said, who is retired and living at Tweed Heads.

"You would have 1000 people at the airport to meet you. We stayed in first class hotels and would get upgraded by the airlines."

On one trip to Tokyo, Miller and the other wrestlers were mobbed by 10,000 fans.

Miller said the big years for the WCW program were from 1964 to 1978 and the reasons it was so successful were the weekly TV show, the different nationalities, the characters and those fantastic language-crunching interviews.

There is no bigger character than King Curtis, who made a huge impact whenever he visited.

"For the last 26 years the King has had a hire company with surfboards and everything on Waikiki Beach, in his native Hawaii," Miller said.

"He was a really good professional guy and the master of the interview.

"In those days he was absolutely incredible. None of his rants were scripted. I don't know where he got it from. It just came to him from the top of his head.

"And then there was Mario Milano. He came to Australia in 1966 and never left."

After leaving the ring, Milano had a number of businesses including a pizza shop and travel agency and lives in retirement in Melbourne.

Killer Karl Kox became a prison warden. One day an inmate reminisced how he used to watch Kox all the time.

"Now I watch you all time time," Kox replied.

A former Australian champion himself, Miller has revived those halcyon days with a DVD called Ruff Tuff & Real, which provides an amazing insight into what really was a phenomenon in Australian life.

The DVD includes rare footage of the dark time Milano grew a moustache and turned bad guy, with referee Bob McMaster suggesting he may have been hypnotised or mesmerised by his manager.

And what about those sensational moves - the sleeper hold (Mark Lewin), the Texan brain buster (Killer Karl Kox), the coconut butt (Bobo Brazil) and the Indian death lock (Chief Billy White Wolf).

Commentator Jack Little - wrestling's version of Frank Hyde - would often warn the audience that a competitor had a "foreign object down his trunks".

There were also those mysterious wrestlers, often masked, who hailed from "parts unknown".

Miller and his long-time tag team and business partner O'Dea started their wrestling careers at a small gym in Wentworth Park.

"We did all the hard yards in the small clubs and gyms and learnt some hard lessons and how to respect the business," Miller said.

"By 1973 we owned it."

But WCW wasn't to last forever and it took something with the viewer appeal of World Series Cricket - which took its regular time-slot - to spell the end.

Miller and O'Dea remained close friends until O'Dea died in 1997.

These days Miller keeps fit by diving into the water rather than on to the canvas mat.

"I've got new knees and new hips. I'm like a mechanical man. Most of the guys are like that," he said.

And Miller told a story proving the old wrestlers really were a special breed.

He said Killer Kowalski, 79, got married for the first time last year to his blushing bride of 78.

When Killer was asked: "Why would you get married now?", he replied: "She told me she was pregnant so I had to do the right thing."

WHERE ARE THEY NOW:

Ron Miller: Retired and living in Tweed Heads

King Curtis: Runs a beach hire business on Waikiki Beach

Mark Lewin: Living in the US and is married to a Tahitian princess

George Barnes: Ran successful trucking business

Spiros Ario: Retired and living in Greece

Ox Baker: Farmer, New York state

Killer Karl Kox: Prison warden

Professor Tanaka: Ran a fishing boat before passing away

Brute Bernard: Died playing Russian roulette in a bar

Skull Murphy: Committed suicide after a failed romance

Bruiser Brody: Stabbed to death in a dressing room in Puerto Rico. Nobody saw a thing.

Big Bad John: Fatally shot in Tennessee bar

Abdullah the Butcher: Runs a restaurant in Carolina. "He doesn't have a menu, he tells you want to eat," Ron Miller said

Steve "The Crusher" Rackman: Executive manager of a gym

Jan Jansen: Former Bondi parking ranger. Now in the fitness industry on the South Coast

Media Man Australia Profiles

Ron Miller

Wrestling

Local fans infuriated by decision to pull Flair from Raw, By Mike Mooneyham - The Post and Courier - 9th December 2007

The formula was to have been fairly simple for last week's Monday Night Raw at the North Charleston Coliseum.

Ric Flair, the greatest performer in the history of the business, would make his first live local wrestling appearance in more than three years. The moment would be even sweeter considering he had returned to WWE a week earlier following a hiatus of several months. His promo on that week's edition of Raw, which aired from his hometown of Charlotte, was the highlight of the show, and his non-title win over WWE champion Randy Orton drew one of the best numbers in months for the highly rated mat program.

Some local fans remained skeptical, however, recalling past WWE shows in which Flair was pulled at the last minute for storyline reasons (selling an injury) and off-camera circumstances (fallout over a highly publicized divorce and an alleged road rage incident in which charges were later dropped).

But this event, Flair followers reasoned, would be different. Vince McMahon's "lose and you retire" stipulation was the beginning of a can't-miss, Rocky-like storyline, with fans tuning in each week to see if the 16-time world champion could beat the odds. And while Charlotte may be the Nature Boy's hometown, Charleston ranks a close second, being smack dab in the heart of Flair country.

Even of more import historically was that last Monday night most likely would have marked the 58-year-old Flair's final match in Charleston, a town where he first laced up the boots back in 1974, making his appearance that much more special. With the plan calling for Flair to retire at Wrestlemania next March, another local showing before then would be highly unlikely.

There would be no early Christmas present for local wrestling fans Monday night. Flair, once again a victim of company politics and a contract dispute, was pulled from the show. Those in attendance at the North Charleston Coliseum were left wondering why in the world were they deprived — yet again — of seeing the beloved performer who helped define a generation of wrestling in this area.

Local response was fast and furious.

"I am incensed. I don't understand," said longtime fan Robert Ellington of Charleston. "We're in Charleston, South Carolina, and this is Ric Flair country. Why did we not at least even see Ric Flair get a chance to cut a promo or do a run-in? Anything with Ric Flair would have been fine. It didn't have to be a full match. We didn't even get to hear him talk. I just don't understand it. That was really a bad move. WWE needs to do better than that."

Ellington said he hasn't seen Flair in a live appearance since 2002 and was greatly looking forward to Monday night's nationally televised event.

"It was a decent show, but it could have been that much better with Ric Flair. The pop would have been amazing."

Greg Pitt of Charleston also voiced his displeasure with the decision to scratch Flair from the show. He harkened back to the days when Flair worked for WCW and often found himself the victim of backstage politics.

"When WCW — and mainly Eric Bischoff —were trying to bury his career, it made me extremely angry and sad. One year after WCW folded, it was great to see the Nature Boy back on TV, and this time getting the respect he so richly deserved. As usual, though, over time he's put in a mid-card role and putting younger talent over. It's tremendous for the younger talent because they launch their career by getting one over on the greatest professional wrestler of all time. On the other hand, year by year, Ric has done what's best for the business only to be put down and not given what he deserves — one final title reign."

Pitt also pointed to why Flair has had to play second fiddle to Hulk Hogan during their respective careers in WWE.

"Vince McMahon made the overrated, overpaid Hulk Hogan ... but he didn't make Ric Flair. Ric was already the best when he went to the WWF the first time. That's the only reason why Vince gives Hogan more liberty and Ric less. It looks as if Ric's last match will be at Wrestlemania. Unfortunately I probably won't see it.

"Shame on Vince McMahon and the entire WWE for not doing the right thing for tradition and the business ... No one can take away what Ric Flair means to this business, this part of the country and tens of thousands of fans."

It should come as little surprise that Raw's ratings, which held up nicely the previous week on the strength of Flair's return, dropped to a 3.2 for last week's lackluster show. A strong Monday Night Football game, combined with viewers tuning out after realizing there would be no Flair, the numbers suffered.

WWE is rolling the dice with this week's installment of Raw. The company is presenting a three-hour celebration commemorating Raw's 15 years on the air, advertising such past and present WWE luminaries as Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, Mick Foley, Bischoff and Lita (Amy Dumas). Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, one of the biggest stars in the company's history, turned down an offer to appear on the show.

Flair is being listed for the special as part of an Evolution "one night only" reunion with Triple H, Batista and Orton.

--WWE has extended its contract with USA Network for two more years. Its current deal, which expires at the end of September 2008, was renewed until September 2010. The contract includes two specials per year on NBC.

--It appears that Scott Hall's short-lived stint with TNA is over. Hall no-showed the company's Turning Point pay-per-view last Sunday night. He claimed to have had food poisoning. No one bought the excuse, however, and Samoa Joe buried him in a promo during the event.

Hall, 49, whose career has been beset by personal problems, most likely squandered his last opportunity to work for a major wrestling promotion.

--Old School Championship Wrestling will hold a show tonight at Weekend's Pub, 428 Red Bank Road, Goose Creek. Main event will be an elimination match for a chance at "King of the Ring." Semifinal will be pit Josh Magnum against Roughhouse Matthews. Bell time is 6 p.m. Adult admission is $8 (kids 12 and under $5). For more information, call 743-4800 or visit www.oscwonline.com. X-Media Productions features wrestling commentary podcasts, including OSCW shows, at www.livefromthesunsetflip.com.

Reach Mike Mooneyham at (843) 937-5517 or mooneyham@postandcourier.com. For wrestling updates during the week, call The Post and Courier Info Line at (843) 937-6000, ext. 3090.