Review of Ring of Hell by Matthew Randazzo V

Ring of Hell is arguably the most controversial book about pro wrestling ever written. It is the second Benoit book to hit the market and it is significantly better than the first. However, there are some significant flaws in this book that took it from a potential five star rating and dropped it down to three stars. While it does cover some new ground, most of what is in the book can be found in many other books on the market that provide a more balanced view of some of the controversial topics in this book.

The subtitle of this book is The Story of Chris Benoit & The Fall of the Pro Wrestling Industry. Before I get to the first part of that title, I have to question the motives behind the second part of the title.

Even though he mentions that 2007 was the highest grossing year in WWE history, I can only assume that the author's hatred of the business resulted in such a ludicrous title. His contempt for the wrestlers, fans, promoters, and business spews from most of the pages in this book. When confronted with the opportunity to take the high road, the author usually chose to take the low-road and in too many cases uses gutter language to describe things.

Here are just a few examples of his smarmyness:

• "the voluntary choice to pursue a pro wrestling career is fundamentally too stupid, irresponsible, and silly to ever allow for victimhood."
  
• Stu Hart's dad "had the personality of a wild-eyed medieval peasant"
  
• "producing eight strapping sons and four comely daughters at a rate that made Helen [Hart] feel like a broodmare"
  
• Described the Stampede area fans as "stupid redneck audiences"

These charming quotes are all towards the beginning of the book. I can guarantee you that his descriptions do not get more flattering as the book goes on.

The book delves into many stories that are barely related to the Chris Benoit story. At times, it is very easy to wonder if you are reading the life story of Chris, the story of the Dynamite Kid, the history of WCW and Japanese wrestling, or any other number of books.

While the author tells many non-Chris stories, it takes over 100 pages for us to find out that Chris's first son was born and approximately another 100 to find out that he was divorced. The author then provides an explanation of why he chose to ignore Chris's first marriage. However, by refusing to tell us this story then he fails to tell us the Chris Benoit story. While the author didn't want to exploit his ex-wife and children, the author could have told their story in a non-exploitative although given the way he wrote about everyone else maybe he is incapable of telling a story without being exploitive. If that is the case then I am glad he spared them. However, it would be nice to have an understanding of how Chris met his first wife, at what point in his career did they marry, did he have contact with them, was he an abusive dad or husband. Given the facts that he killed his second wife and their child, one of their last arguments was about a policy he took out for his old family, and that there were reports of Chris giving needles to his son the author's decision to not delve into this topic is a disservice to both the reader and conclusion he is trying to make about the murders. Was Chris always a psycho to his family or was this a relatively new phenomenon due to his concussions and drug abuse?

The book relies on many sources that many times throughout the book are at odds with each other and the sources even take shots at each other's recollection of events. "Was the janitor unavailable? I think you as a reporter, know to consider the source. You can't possibly expect me to take his statement with any credibility, can you? You would shock me if you put any faith in that bonehead." After reading that about a major source on the WWE chapters, I don't know what and who to believe in this book.

The author continues to perpetuate the myth that Eddie Guerrero was supposed to win the title the night that he died. I had hoped that when Batista denied this rumor in his book that it would die but it hasn't.

Towards the end of the book he provides a list of suggestions of what he feels could be done to help the wrestlers. One of them included time off for the wrestlers. The author conveniently left out of his book and analysis that Chris had requested time off and was given it. He returned to the ring a few months before his deeds and when he returned he quickly resumed his place on the card. He either forgot that fact or didn't want it to ruin his thesis.

The Stampede chapters are covered better in several other books (Bret Hart's book, Dynamite Kid's book, and Pain & Passion) as are the history of wrestling sections (Sex, Lies, & Headlocks and Between the Ropes ). The part of this book that makes it unique are the stories of the Japanese dojo system and the story of wrestling in Japan and some of the stories in the WWE locker room. The most shocking thing to come out of this book is that Dave Lagana, a former head-writer for SmackDown, was fired earlier this year for offering to suck more than just the blood of the WWE's vampire. The other new item to come out of this book was the extent that Benoit was both a sadist to young wrestlers and a masochist to himself.