Les deux plus énervés du web ensemble… Préparez-vous mes fans de lutte.
Je tiens à remercier Ben K7 pour cette fabuleuse entrevue et de nous intégrer dans le K7 Club.
C’est juste ”too sweet”!
Advertisements
Wrestling
Jim The Great
Written by Sabine Demosthenes
Yesterday seemed to be a typical Monday. Anticipating my day in academic life, I started by reading my emails and preparing my posts for the week.
I went to my office and for a Blue Monday, I was in a pretty good mood, especially for a girl that doesn’t like Mondays for some childish reason.
Then, I heard my Twitter alert and grabbed my cell phone to see what is going on. The moment I saw that Bret Hart tweet, I felt like I was in a silent movie. My mouth was moving, but no sound was coming out. I gasped and suddenly, tears were slowly hitting my desk.
Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart had passed away.
I stopped doing whatever I was doing for a good 5 minutes. My thoughts went to Ellie, Nattie, Muffy, Jenni and TJ. He was a heck of a father and family man. He would do anything for his girls. Then, I was thinking about Bret. His partner in crime and one of his closest friends was gone.
A family lost a husband, father, brother-in-law, uncle, brother and cousin. Friends have lost a loyal, funny, kind-hearted friend. Fans have lost an hero. It’s an inspiration to be who you are and to give your best in everything no matter what.
A month ago, we had filmed a little tribute to the Hart Foundation. It wasn’t a perfect video, but Donald and I were both so proud to recall our fondest memories of The Hitman and The Anvil. I remember saying that I was always mesmerized by Jim’s charisma. As a child, I called him my fun uncle Jim since I truly wanted to have a fun uncle like Jim.
I’m happy that Jade, her brothers, her sister and her cousins have the honor of having this one-of-a-kind gentle giant of an uncle like Jim.
In recent years, I realized that the most precious gift from someone who loved you, but is no longer with you, is the gift of sweet memories.
Photographs, videos, letters and foremost, the recollection of sweet stories and memories are truly the most valuable legacy they could have left us.
I dedicate this post to Ellie, Nattie, TJ, Stephanie, Jennifer, Jim’s grandkids, Bret and the entire Hart and Neidhart families. To Jim’s friends too and to all his fans.
To Jade Lambros-Hart, The Chronicle Family is sending big hugs.
With love,
The Chronicle Blog Family
What’s next for Stephanie McMahon?
When you can say that one of your childhood friend and hero was in the Princess Bride movie and he is one of the most legendary wrestling figures of all time?
In my book, you are one of the coolest people alive!
This exact same kid that grew up to be one of the great leaders of our time. During my teenage years, as a wrestling fan, I couldn’t stand the sight of her.
Because of her onscreen character of course. She played the role of a spoiled, snobby daddy’s girl so well. At that point, I was still young and couldn’t differentiate between a fictional character and the person playing the role… Now that I have grown up (now almost 35), I asked myself this question: what made me change my perception of this woman, the perception I had over all those years?
Yes, I grew up, but over the years, I read some interviews and saw others and I realized, my oh my, I have more in common with her than I ever could have imagined.
This woman is Stephanie McMahon.
She is the COO of the World Wrestling Entertainment.
Stephanie couldn’t be more different than the character she is portraying, but she does have something in common with The Million Dollar Princess.
She is ambitious!
Even since she was small, she wanted to be part of the family business.
For myself, I never really wanted to be in the family business (entertainment manager of Haitian talent), but I knew I wanted to create something parallel or inspire my father dreams. I was the little helper at the house whenever we had some theatrical rehearsal in our living room (I was the bell girl). I would listen to every business phone call that my father had, I would sometimes even go to meetings with my father. In a way, Stephanie had a similar path.
From a young age, she was learning all the different aspects of the empire her parents had created. She couldn’t deny that wrestling would be a big part of her life.
What I have admired Stephanie over the years is the fact that she has encouraged everyone to be a good leader. Not only that, she wanted to give back too. You could see it in her genuine nature; when she met young fans or whenever she spoke about the Connor’s Cure Foundation.
That, for me, is a real leader.
Honestly, when I saw her during the Attitude Era, my eyes were rolling. But now, when I read or I see an interview, my eyes are wide open and I’m listening.
When she says she was bullied and she finds it hard sometimes to read tweets on her Tweeter feed, we are seeing the real Stephanie McMahon. I learned all of it on the Lillian Garcia Podcast. It is a must!
McMahon is a mom. She is a woman that wants to be part of the change in our society, contributing to a revolution, not only in the square circle but in the boardroom too.
We can witness her achievements by just watching the Women’s Revolution in the WWE.
The fact that she is balancing being a boss lady, a wife, a mother and a leader all at once is admirable.
What can we expect from Stephanie McMahon in 2018?
I guess this question should be answered by the one and only Stephanie McMahon herself, but I will write about what I expect from her in 2018.
I expect Stephanie to continue to bring smiles to faces, especially children. I hope when Raw comes to Montreal in a few weeks, kids from Montreal Hospitals, like Sainte-Justine Hospital (I was born there in the 80s; they saved my life as a premature baby) could maybe have one of their wishes granted from one of the WWE Superstars.
I expect her to continue making waves as a woman in an executive role. She didn’t have it easy getting to where she is now, as some people may wonder. She works hard, or even harder, as the boss’s daughter. I can relate to that.
I love to end my post with a question, and I ask this one directly to Stephanie :
What does Stephanie McMahon expect from herself in 2018?
http://www.wwe.com/superstars/stephanie-mcmahon
Written by Sabine Demosthenes
The unforgettable fire of Chris Benoit
This is a post I was waiting a long time to write. I took my time, I meditate on it and I’m ready to talk about the big elephant in the room.
I was so shocked to hear in June 24th 2007 the death of Chris Benoit and the atrocity act of killing his wife and his young son. For me, it just didn’t make any sense at all. As you will read this post, maybe you will see some lights on this tragedy and why I want to write an hommage to him.
Foremost, as a wrestler, he was one of the best there was in the business. I discovered Chris while I was watching a WCW pay per view as one of the members of the reform Four Horsemen. He was a quiet storm. He didn’t say much but you could see the eye of the tiger. I was mesmerized by his aura.
He was a born Montrealer that grew up in Edmonton. From a young age, he idolized one of the most avant-garde wrestler of all time Dynamite Kid (Tom Bellington) and The Best There is Bret the Hitman Hart.
Actually, Bruce Hart was the one that discover this young boy and if my memory is right, he did start training him and he did trained some really unbelievable given wrestlers.
Bruce is one of the older brother of Bret Hart and this guy is a wrestling guru. He have the eye to discover new talents and he have this perspicacity of understanding the psychology and the development of a good wrestler.
So Chris was trained at the famous Dungeon at the Hart’s house. He grew a close friendship with a fellow canadian prodigy Owen Hart. Ahh Owen and Chris could have the perfect dream tag team.
When Eddie Guerrero and Chris both won the championship belt at WrestleMania, what a beautiful moment it was in the wrestling history. Two guys from WCW that they were finally shining like a bright and beautiful diamond at the biggest night of sports entertainment. You could feel the brotherly love between the two of them.
The three amigos were a better version than the one of Steve Martin, Martin Short and Chavy Chase. Dean Malenko was one of Chris best friend and they were the both of them peanut butter and banana. They were dynamite together on the ring as a team.
When he was in the ring, he was superman. He was well liked by his peers and the fans. That is ironic that I will compare him toO.J, but like O.J Simpson, he was well liked and admire by many people and bang, he committed this really awful crime and people stop mentioning his name like he never exist and was never part of this world. Ok, this week, we did hear a lot about O.J (again) like we were back in 1995.
My opinion is that except from O.J, people still love Chris Benoit and at the time, your ethical side and your rational side is in a perfect conflict. We must choose the ethical right…
From an business point, you don’t want to associate yourself with a murderer and I do understand 100%.
But…
How come someone could have this change of personality and being so violent like this? He was one of the nicest person ever. What happen?
The result of the autopsy shown that he had so many concussions that his brain was like the one of a elderly 80 years old man with an advanced alzheimer. Chris was forty when he die. It like what the fuck moment. And add the steroid and painkillers and it was a bomb ready to explose. This is so sad. We will never forget the crime he made but with the knowledge we know now about concussions, can we just forget the career of a legend? I know I will get a lot of heat for writing this but I said I will talk about his wrestling legacy with pride. I know I may shock some readers and I do apologize but I won’t apologize for changing the conversation.
The movie Concussions with Will Smith (by the way, an excellent movie and brillant performance by one of the best actor out there) is the perfect way to explain how multiple concussions can change someone behavioural cognitive especially in the sports industry.
Just to give you a small example.
In the movie, there was a football player that was inducted in the all of fame right in the beginning of the move. He was playing for actually my favorite team The Steelers of Pittsburgh. He had so many concussions that he left his family, he was living in his car in the middle of nowhere and was addicted to anti-freeze liquid… When they did the autopsy, they discovered the many concussions he had change his personality and he develop a really heavy case of Dementia. And while the movie goes, you see that many football players are committing suicide and while performing the autopsy, they had several major concussions.
You will tell me it is a movie. Actually, this movie is based on a true story and the character that Will Smith played is the one of the groundbreaking pathologist and scientist Dr. Bennet Omalu. This man is a warrior and a scientist I really admired. Thank God for Dr. Bennet.
It’s a real killer having so many concussions. They were some that was so lucky but their life did change. Bret Hart had a serious one while wrestling a reckless Goldberg. A few years later, he suffered a major stroke. I had two concussions not while wrestling or playing soccer but the first time, I was playing at my neighbour and his mom told him to not jump on the bumper bed because the bed is a little bit shaky. This kid (I’m kind) jump and all the bed fell on my little 7 years old body. I don’t remember the rest until this moment I’m typing. The second one was my only fight at grade 6 and I felt my head straight to the ground. And it was the beginning of my terrible migraine and hallucinations. Imagine having those type of situation over and over again since you were a kid until you are retiring in a sports like Football, Hockey and even Wrestling.
With that knowledge, I always felt Chris Benoit have the right to have a proper respect for his wrestling legacy. He was smart, quick in the ring, agile, not a big flamboyant wrestler but a quiet storm. He did deserve all the championship he won with all his heart. I’m proud of his achievements and I’m proud to say it out loud. I also admired what Steve Austin said about Chris:
“Well first and foremost, what I think about Chris Benoit is that guy was one of the most nicest guys I ever met in my life. He’s one of the most talented, hard working cats I’d ever seen in the squared circle. Anybody who knew Chris would tell you those exact two things. That guy loved the damn wrestling business, he was born to be a wrestler and was absolutely phenomenal. Drawing a lot of his influence from The Dynamite Kid, he blazed a path as the Pegasus Kid and his legacy as The Crippler Chris Benoit was just one hellacious career.
Speaking for myself, Chris Benoit as the person I knew, loved him. Chris Benoit as a wrestler, loved him. Chris Benoit as the person who did what he did, unforgivable. Bottom line.”
The only thing he didn’t deserve was to be another victim of the CTE ” Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy”. It’s the name of the disease that is a neurological one that is degenerative and found in the athletes that had repeated blows to the head.
Let’s change the conversation. Let’s talk about the elephant in the room. Let’s remember the happy times. Let’s continue to aware the community about CTE and to be a safe athlete. I’m happy the NFL, the WWE and even some universities football leagues are taking the stand for it. Thank you!
As for Christopher Michael Benoit, he will always be in my top 5 all-times wrestler. He may not be in the HOF but he will be in mine because he is one of the greatest period.
And that is because I said so!
Excellence of Execution. Period!
For me, he is clearly the Excellence of Execution.
This Canadian have face so many opponents and he has won so many belts but one of his biggest fight was his fight against prostate cancer. The same cancer that my dad had. And so far, so good for Bret. But my Chronicle on this very early Monday morning is to let me present to you this inspiring gentleman.
I present you mister Bret “The Hitman” Hart.
Actually, as you may know by now, my family and myself are big wrestling fans “even my sweet classy mom”. Back in the days (the eighties and the nineties), my father brought us to see wrestling show “especially my brother Donnie” at the Paul Sauvé center and the famous Forum. In the mid 80’s, I was still to young to follow them in 86 but my brother make sure to explain to me what he did witness with passion and joy in his eyes.
It was a tradition to watch wrestling all together saturday night on tv or we were renting the video cassette at our local video store. Actually, wrestling brought our family closer for this small moment. I quickly was mesmerized by two men that wore pink tight pants. By the way, blue is my favorite color.
They seem very confident and a little cocky but not in a obnoxious way. I watched my big brother jumping and being happy to see them. I was the ultimate little sister that wanted to love and mimic everything her big brother do.
The Hart Foundation were fighting Demolition Man and it was a two vs three tag team match. For me, I was wondering how the HF will beat those monsters. I was wishing in my little heart please god may they beat those big really red tongue guys. And my wish came true.
After, Bret went solo. I enjoyed his matches and his promo even if he didn’t consider himself the best on the mic. I always like his sincerity and authenticity. For me his matches were like watching a nice ballet. Especially when he was wrestling Curt Henning aka Mr. Perfect.
The drama, the move and the chemistry was there. His matches with Piper, Bulldog, Austin and of course Shawn Michaels were all magical and spectacular.
Bret made his matches a true cinematographic piece of art. He is the Picasso of wrestling. I will call him The Artist.Sorry Jean Dujardin.
He was the one of the guy champion in the locker room. A true leader. Not like some blond, steroid, pray and eat your crappy vitamins SOB. I can be pretty harsh in my words. Back to Bret.
Later on, Bret went solo and as I grew older, I admire more and more this man. Outside of wrestling, he was truly a very nice guy that is still always thankful for his fans and the nice career he got. And he is the ultimate badass.
A guy that stand up for himself and for his friends, his family legacy and for the underdogs is a total badass in my eyes.
He didn’t have it easy inside the wrestling and outside of it. But he always manage to get up and keep fighting.
He is not perfect and as everybody did some mistakes but if you have the chance to read his autobiography “even a non wrestling fan will fall in love with his writing style and pure honesty”, you will discover a beautiful human being that love and clearly understand wrestling, life, love, adore his children, admire his father and like every son, he wanted to please his father.
Stu Hart is a legend in Canada and I’m pretty sure his father was really proud of his son. So do I and a million of fans all around the world.
Still in his book, you will witness he’s have some complicated relationships with a few members of his family.
And you will read about some beautiful relationship he got with a few of his siblings and his brothers in the wrestling world. He was a true big brother. Always there to protect and defend his family by blood or by wrestling blood.
Life on the road wasn’t easy at all and Bret did talk about it in a pretty damn honest way.
Une petite paranthèse, while reading his book, you have the feeling you are having a beer with him while he is telling to one of the kind stories. Correction , I felt like I was drinking a nice glass a white wine and him a nice Kilkenny beer for him.
Again and again, I can talk or write for hours about Bret. I will leave it for other posts. But here a nice video about Bret. Watching it, I still get some goosebumps.
Here the link to the Prostate Cancer Canada. Please guys, go check yourself!
Prostate Cancer Canada Website
To Bret, keep fighting and you are truly The Best there is, The Best there was and The Best there ever will be.
Cheers!
