Hard Knocks: The Chris Benoit Story [DVD]

Chris Benoit was the greatest wrestler of his generation, a two-time World Heavyweight Champion in the two biggest promotions the industry has ever seen, and a man who managed to get almost every single fan on his side with no gimmicks and through nothing more than being the very best at what he did. His career has seen a myriad of legendary contests - his Best of Seven series with Booker T in WCW, his matches with Dean Malenko and Eddie Guerrero in WCW and ECW, his ladder match with Chris Jericho at the 2001 Royal Rumble, his matches with Kurt Angle in 2001 and later at the 2003 Royal Rumble, and of course his run in the early part of 2004 that saw him sky-rocket his way into legacy status. The death of Guerrero (and, later, Mike Durham) in November two years ago may very well have gone some way towards robbing Benoit of his marbles, but you'd have to believe that the tragic double-murder/suicide that Chris supposedly carried out in July of this year was the result of concussions and injuries sustained in the ring. And, when you see just how much he put into every single appearence he made, it's not difficult to understand. Here's a man who jumped face-first out of the ring straight through a chair and into the barricade. A man who broke his neck in 2001, and whose primary finishing move was a headbutt from the top rope. Benoit gave it all to the profession he loved, and in hindsight he gave too much. His departed wife and son are the proof of that. I miss Benoit deeply and I wish he'd never left, but more to the point he has two remaining children who've just lost their father, stepmother and half brother this year. Do you really think it helps them when they see hot-headed, arrogant and idiotic comments made about how Benoit is in hell or was 'cold-blooded' from people who never met him and have done absolutely no research? No, it doesn't. And those that continue these attacks are of a more distinguished and detestable evil than Chris has been made out to be. If any good has come out of this, it's that it is now easier than ever to tell the difference between someone who's legitimately concerned, and someone who's using events to their own narcissistic advantages.Anyway, I've rambled for a bit too long, so I'll wrap this up. Buy the DVD. Show the WWE that they can do all they want to pretend he never existed, but they'll never take away the memories or the respect. Survivor Series proved this, as the crowd cheered and a small but noticable section chanted 'Benoit' when Shawn Michaels applied the Crossface to Randy Orton. If you want this DVD, and you want to appreciate the most amazing of careers, do yourself a favour - make your own mind up.

Even though the dvd focuses on a murderer's life, and throughout the documentary there are parts where you have to cringe because of what is said about Chris and his influences in life, the dvd still informs everyone leading up from his early life up until his peak when we won the world heavyweight championship at wrestlemania 20. But you have to remember, just because he killed his wife and son, doesn't mean you have to automatically hate this guy. yeah what he did was totally not justifiable (despite sufering from CTE), but this guy lived one hell of a risky life. When he was 19 years old, he moved to Japan not knowing how to communicate with any Japs or anything. Then during his time with ECW, he was almost banned from entering the US because of Paul Heyman, but he still continued to wrestle for the company. Then when he was in WCW, he was put in a position to rebel against the ENTIRE industry because of his real-life rivalry against the head booker of WCW, and it paid off because on his last day in WCW he won his first world heavyweight championship. And lets not forget the company that made Benoit a superstar, his time in WWE was unbelievable. He won multiple championships (Singles and Tag), he broke his neck after years of straining it, he then became the 2nd man in history to win the Royal Rumble after entering at Number 1., and then he (Along with Eddie Guerrero) made a moment which has now been erased from WWE History, where both of them held the world titles after WMXX (Which was my personal favourite WrestleMania moment ever).If you actually wanna be entertained by the most technical wrestler in history, then you will love the 15 matches on the dvd, and if you wanna learn about his life leading up to his second world title reign, then you will love the documentary. Otherwise, if you still hate this guy for what he did in the last 3 days of his life, then by all means don't but this dvd, but it's still worth watching despite what he did anyway (the only tip i have is you might wanna look away when Nancy Benoit is giving her interview lol)

Hard Knocks consists of a documentary describing Chris Benoit's rise up the pro wrestling ladder plus 15 of his matches spanning just as many years, from his time in the Japanese federations in 1990 right up to Wrestlemania in 2004.The documentary contains lots of interviews with Benoit's family and his WWE colleagues Eddie Guerrero and Dean Malenko. He comes across as a really nice guy and it's interesting hearing how dedicated he was to making a career in grappling at a very early age. He idolized the Dynamite Kid and from the clips it's amazing how similar their ring styles are - they even look alike.Of the matches, I liked the two early Japanese shows the best, against Jushin Liger and Eddie Guerrero. These were the days when Benoit wrestled under the name Pegasus Kid and Eddie appeared as Black Tiger. You've got the option of alternative commentaries on these bouts so you get to hear Benoit commenting on his own moves, together with Malenko, who also wrestled at the same time in Japan.Overall, this is a good value DVD with a nice balance between documentary footage and whole matches.

It woz ok thought it would be better

As controversial as Chris Benoit was surrounding the death of himself and his family I can't detract from his skills in the wrestling ring, one of my favourites in the squared circle since I first saw him in WCW and have watched many of his matches from ECW and Japan as well as his WCW and WWF/E career until his death in 2007. The DVD is excellent and covers all of his career from beginnings in Stampede to his World Heavyweight Championship win in 2004 and all in between, its an uplifting and sometimes emotional story especially watching it now. The bonus disc is also excellent boasting many classic bouts, if you are a wrestling and have yet to watch this DVD, I can highly recommend it.