Ring of Hell by Matthew Randazzo V
August 22nd, 2008Title: Ring of Hell
Author: Matthew Randazzo V
Publisher: Phoenix Books (2008)
WAY back in the 1980′s and early 1990′s I was a big wrestling fan. I mean, what more could a young boy ask for? I got to see over muscled men scream and fake punch each other! Obviously, I wanted to be as awesome as The Undertaker and Sting, so my buddies and I would stage drawn out wrestling matches on top of a futon in my parents basement. Often the opponent was a giant stuffed polar bear…although sometimes we would try out our moves on their little brothers. Which brings me to my latest review, Ring of Hell: The Story of Chris Benoit & The Fall of the Pro Wresling Industry by Matthew Randazzo V.
I am sure you remember the story from a few years back. Pro wrestler Chris Benoit murdered his wife…then drugged and murdered his little boy (with Benoit’s signature choke hold no less)…then hanged himself on one of his weight machines. The tragedy brought to light all of the awfulness that goes on in the world of pro westling. These juiced up athletes are destroying their bodies and minds on their way to early steroid caused deaths. Chris Benoit’s story is only an exaggerated version of other pro wrestlers’.
In order to make it as a wrestler, you are basically required to take steroids. The modern wrestler must be gigantically muscular and must be able to recover from a lot of physical abuse very quickly. In order to do that…the only option is steroids. You see, even though the outcome is predetermined, the wrestlers really do take a lot of pounding. Bruises, soreness and broken bones are par for the course. So in order to get back out there, they can’t be in pain. Which means they take elephant sized quantities of prescription pain killers. Which is, of course, very very bad for one’s health.
This book does a spectacular job of exposing the wrestling industry (and the WWE, run by the despicable Vince McMahon) at the same time as telling Benoit’s story. Like a lot of wrestlers near the end of their lives, Benoit was almost totally broken down mentally. Famous for taking his wrestling to the extreme, his famous move was a flying headbutt off the top rope. Unlike most wrestlers who perform this move, Benoit did not break his fall with his hands…he landed directly on his head. The human skull is not meant to take that kind of abuse. Autopsy results showed Benoit’s 40 year old brain had the same level of decay as an 85 year old Alzheimer’s patient. Who knows if he even knew what he was doing when he murdered his family.
One running theme is Vince McMahon, the CEO of the WWE, and how terribly he treats his employees. He has no regard for anything except his financial well being and basically forces his employees to dope up. Obviously, no one is ever forced to take steroids…but in order to keep their jobs these guys had to. McMahon has (in my opinion) directly lead to the premature deaths of dozens of wrestlers. He is a total creep. That said, I don’t know that wrestling is even all that popular anymore. Is it?
Randazzo writes in a very easy to read, exciting style that draws you in to the story. His ability to express the intricacies of this train-wreck of a business keep you very interested. The only problem I had with his writing was his tendency to use profanity/crude language at times unnecessarily. Except for those few occurrences, he was great.
This is an excellent book that anyone interested in the professional wrestling world will really enjoy. Even those with a passing interest would enjoy this book as they learn about this abysmal business. And now that you are probably depressed after reading about child murder…I recommend you think about puppy dogs and rainbows.
See…all better!
Rating: 4 out of 5
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August 22nd, 2008 at 9:46 pm
I started to think about puppy dogs to cheer myself but…then I thought about Michael Vick’s puppy dogs and I became depressed. Any other bright ideas?
September 1st, 2008 at 3:23 pm
benoit is a piece of shit. i just wish that he would have just killed hisself. nobody forced him to take any steroids. i hope that he rots in hell.
January 26th, 2009 at 5:36 pm
charles, have some respect, de didn’t know wat he was doing, if u read the book u would know that u ass
January 30th, 2009 at 9:35 pm
Wow, Chris Benoit was indeed a good wrestler. I don’t hate him nor do I like him. All I can say is, It wasn’t his fault. He took to much steroids and he took his job serious. R.I.P Nancy And Daniel and Chris.
March 21st, 2009 at 7:47 am
It was not Steroids.he had the brain of an 85 year old man with alzhsemers.It is not his fault for what he did.
March 29th, 2009 at 4:21 am
steroids and brain damage were ruled out. the toxicology reports indicated the he did take steroids but they were not high to cause roid rage and roid rage cant take place for 3 days. he placed bibles and send messages to his peers which means he was in right state of mind
October 15th, 2009 at 2:49 pm
The person who wrote this review sucks at doing so. You lose sight about their view of the book, and instead seem to get there soapbox view of the wrestling industry and the WWE. If you are going to review a book, then review a book.
October 15th, 2009 at 5:42 pm
aww…that’s a sad comment!
October 18th, 2009 at 12:55 pm
I had been wanting to make a comment about this for a long time. I grew up watching Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero on television, and these two were major influences in my life. Both men were greater than Bret hart, Ric Flair, or Hulk Hogan, and I will always believe this. I will remember the good things Chris did in his life, and they will always outweigh those last horrible hours. In the long run, I hope Chris will be remembered as someone who helped to clean up the wrestling business, even if it took a gruesome act to do it.