Is Davey Richards the next Dynamite Kid/Chris Benoit?

[PowerButchi]

This was one thing that actually disappointed me as his WWF run progressed. In WCW, you saw a Chris Benoit match, and when he hit that head but, you knew it was over. As our late great Gorilla would have said;

[Richie Freebird]

Not entirely true. It was rarely finishing matches from 1997 or so, unless it was off a cage (which was really fucking daft) or to someone on a weekend show.

 

I do seem to remember him putting a lot of guys away with it on Nitro

[PowerButchi]

Of the top of my head...

 

That one you posted,

Teaming with Malenko vs Horace Hogan and Big Brian Adams on Thunder,

Against Dean Malenko in the World Title Tourney on a Nitro in Autumn '99,

Teaming with Bret Hart vs Goldberg/Sid vs Hall/Nash in late '99.

 

Wouldn't be surprised if there were another couple as well.

[Richie Freebird]

Teaming with Malenko vs Horace Hogan and Big Brian Adams on Thunder,

 

Now this is one that even I would deem unnecessary and overly risky reward minimal reward.

 

That being said, I

[PowerButchi]

It was a surprisingly awesome match, to be fair. Probably Horace Hogan's only good match ever. The way Benoit lands on the headbutt couldn't have been healthy.

[Richie Freebird]

It was a surprisingly awesome match, to be fair. Probably Horace Hogan's only good match ever. The way Benoit lands on the headbutt couldn't have been healthy.

 

Yeah, I

[king_dezeeuw06]

Reznors post was very well worded. The frequency Benoit did the more risky things aren't what made him a great wrestler. I'm sure he would still have been considered just as great if he never used the diving head but and did half the german suplex's. The dangerous moves were part of his repertoire but unlike some guys they weren't the only thing he had going for him, his ability to make the standard and generally safe wrestling offence look so good plus his in ring psychology are what made him great. The is no doubt anyone looking to perfectly emulate Benoits move set and willingness to take risks on a WWE schedule (even without the steroid abuse and chair shots) is a not a good idea, but that doesn't mean that it's impossible to work a similar yet adapted style that is generally safer without losing the overall intensity and aggression that was such a part of Benoits persona.

 

As for the weapons and chair shots, granted generally Benoit wasn't ever doing the crazy hard core stuff, but he certainly took a fair share of steel chair shots. I even remember reading a quote from Chris Nowinski where he commented on the number of chair shots Benoit had taken and the damage he believed they did. Not only that but he noted Benoit never put his hands up to protect his skull and on a few occasions even allowed his opponents to hit him on the back of the head much like the way Jeff Hardy gave Anderson a legit concussion recently. One of those steel chair shots probably did a lot more damage than any move he took or delivered.

 

There is no doubt Benoit did do some risky things more often than he should, but and I don't know if any of us realised just how much of a toll it was taking on him till after the fact. I'm certain if he realised the severity of the damage he was doing he would of still have been the Chris Benoit we loved to see but would certainly cut out the overly risky stuff or at least cut back on the frequency of it. But how many other wrestlers have worked a lot softer and less intense style and ended up dead as well? I think if Benoit would of been a comedy jobber who never did the headbutt or ever deliver moves the rolling german suplexes but still took the same amount of steroids, was still suffering the same mental / personal issues at the time and had suffered just as many steel chair head shots we might of ended up with the similar / same tragic end.

 

There is a lot to admire from Benoit's in ring work, and regardless of how his life ended many young upcoming wrestlers will still watch his matches for many years to come and try and integrate a lot of what he did into their own act. There are certain cautionary lessons to be learned from him but a worker can still try to emulate a large part of what made Benoit great without putting themselves in as much risk as the man himself.

[Richie Freebird]

Another great post by yourself there King. When you do get to thinking about it you realize how lucky Foley is to have walked away from his epic Rumble battle in 1999 with Rock. Not only did he receive a nutty amount of chairshots, but his hads were physically handcuffed behind his back, preventing any kind of protection. Rocky didn

[David]

Is that a hairband you're sporting there, Richie?

[PowerButchi]

[Richie Freebird]

Is that a hairband you're sporting there, Richie?

 

It is indeed. Black with white polka dots, borrowed from the missus

[king_dezeeuw06]

Thanks Richie, looking back with hindsight the Foley match with Rock was one of the most disturbing and dangerous things from the attitude era. Foley is a very lucky boy to seemingly be ok after that and the overall career he had.

[Loki]

I'm not so sure Foley IS ok, if I'm honest. If you read his first autobiography and then listen to him today, his personality seems to have changed quite a bit.

[IANdrewDiceClay]

Foley isnt OK at all. He says some of the discs in his back are decaying, his memory is shot after all the concussions and his knees are a mess. You only have to read his twitter or listen to interviews with him to keep updated on how his health is. He recently said his back pain is "ruining his daily life". He's in rotten shape. And he isnt even that old is he? He's only in his mid-40s I reckon. Fuck knows how he'll feel when he's in his late 50s.

[ColinBollocks]

Isn't he partially blind in one eye too?