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Morning Glory RCC: Will
Benoit Ever be Main Event?
Chris Benoit is the best
technical wrestler in the WWE today. Forget Lance Storm, Kurt Angle, Eddie Guerrero, all
pale in comparison to the Canadian Crippler. But in my opinion, Benoit will never be
recognized as a full-on main eventer, on the level of The Rock, Triple H and Steve Austin.
Why?
Near enough all the main eventers of the past ten years have had one of these three
‘magic ingredients’. The ‘look’, awesome mic skills, or size. Those
who don’t have one, usually have the other two. The greatest main eventers, such as
The Rock, have all three. Let’s take a look. Shawn Michaels wasn’t the biggest
guy, but he certainly had the star look, and could work a mic like a pro. Kane had both
the look, and he’s huge, and also had Paul Bearer to work the mic for him during his
initial main event push. The Rock has all three, as does Steve Austin to a certain extent.
The Ultimate Warrior couldn’t really work a mic to save his life…but he looked
like a star, and was huge. People complain about HHH’s lack of promo skills, but he
still looks like a star. Chris Jericho is no bigger than I am, but his mic skills and rock
star looks make him stand out. The only exception that I can think of is Bret Hart. Bret
wasn’t the biggest guy, didn’t have so much of a unique look as someone like
HHH, and he wasn’t that great on the mic. But Bret DID ooze charisma, so he’s
there.
My point is that Chris Benoit has none of the above three. This is why, however many *****
matches he puts on, however many bad workers he carries, someone like Psycho Sid, who
can’t touch Benoit in the ring, will always get a bigger crowd reaction. It’s
just a simple fact really. Benoit is smaller than the average wrestler. He’s around
the size of a normal, everyday bloke. Sure, if Benoit approached me in a pub, looking
pissed off, I’d absolutely crap myself. But if I was the size of say, The Undertaker,
I’d probably laugh in his face. Although Benoit is dynamite in the ring, his size and
look do not make him seem intimidating at all, regardless of how pissed off or intense he
looks. If he was tattooed all over like Perry Saturn, with dreadlocks and a pierced
eyebrow maybe….but back to the point. However non-threatening someone looks, as long
as they talk a good fight they’re OK, right?
Let’s look at the good mic workers in the WWE right now. The Rock, Chris Jericho,
Kurt Angle, Christian, and Ric Flair would probably be my top five. Is it a coincidence
that neither man is a ‘big man’ wrestler, and four of the five (excluding the
Rock) are actually smaller than average pro wrestlers? Of course not. It’s a
well-known fact of nature that most smaller guys are louder. At 5’9”, I’m
pretty much a shortarse myself. But I AM a total loudmouth. Where would Kurt Angle be
without his awesome mic skills? Or Jericho? Most likely, Angle would be in the mid-card,
and Jericho would be in a cult indy fed.
Now, Benoit, back when he was in WCW, was always known for being weak on the mic. If
Benoit had good mic skills, people spouted, he would be an instant main eventer. Very
true. Upon Benoit’s WWE entrance, his mic skills were still relatively poor. Around
September 2000, they began to improve somewhat to the stuff we hear now, but his promos
are still nowhere near above average, possibly even below average. Benoit was getting over
well as a face in 2001, and if he had good mic skills then, he could have become HUGE. But
he didn’t, and as his push was beginning to get bigger, he injured his neck. Benoit
was out for nearly a year. But on his return, had his mic skills improved? Nope.
People say that you can’t learn charisma, and I agree. You either have it, or you
don’t. It’s like that magical aura that draws people to you. The Rock, Kevin
Nash, Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels have charisma, as does Chris Jericho. Chris Benoit does
not. Fair enough, others (Triple H, Undertaker, etc) have done fine without that natural
charisma. Like I said, charisma can’t be learnt. But I think mic skills can. Sure,
nobody can learn to work a mic like The Rock or Kurt Angle. But surely, with a lot of
practice, a wrestler can get pretty good. Let’s look at the evidence. Undertaker,
between 1990 and 1996, barely spoke a word. His mic work was handled by his manager and
mouthpiece Paul Bearer. Now, whether Taker could actually work the mic, and the silence
was part of the gimmick is something I’m not sure about. But once Bearer left him in
1996, Taker had no problems handling the mic himself. Edge and Christian were silent for
over a year, before they began to use the mic in early 2000. Within 2 months, they were
producing some of the most outstanding mic work in the WWE. I think they were learning how
to use the mic during this period, because why let them be silent, when they could get
more over using the mic? You can also see how much they progressed, by hearing their
soundbytes in the early 1999 game ‘WWF Attitude’. Hell, people are saying that
Heyman is being used as Brock Lesnar’s mouthpiece just until the big guy is good on
the mic.
Which brings me back to Mr Benoit. With a year off with a serious neck injury, surely,
between rehabs and spending time with his family, he, being a ‘professional’,
would work on his weak point, his mic skills, right? Wrong. This proves one thing to me,
and that is if anything, Benoit doesn’t really deserve the main event push all the
smarks crave for him. If he is so desperate to break through, why not practise religiously
with the mic while he was rehabbing the neck? Edge, Christian, and Undertaker to name
three obviously practiced and learned their mic skills, why not Benoit? Sure, he probably
would never end up with the world’s best mic skills, but with practice he could learn
to be able to carry a main event feud. But as it is, he’s still at ‘Mr
Roboto’ level. And until his mic skills improve, however much ‘smarks’
cream over him, he will never break through the barrier that stands between him and the
main event.
Scott Newman
scott.newman@ntlworld.com
AIM:- thesuperstar24
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