Q&A with 'Ring of Hell' author Matthew Randazzo

Matthew Randazzo, author of “Ring of Hell: The Story of Chris Benoit & The Fall of the Pro Wrestling Industry,” answers some questions about his controversial new book on professional wrestling.

How long have you followed the business, and do you consider yourself a devout fan?

I’ve been a wrestling fan since I was a child, and for many years I was a hardcore, tape-trading, dirtsheet-reading fan. Though I enjoyed wrestling on its own terms, my fandom was always largely due to my fascination with the business itself, the bizarre behind-the-scenes subculture that I’ve always found fascinating.

What first attracted you to the business, and what attracts you now?

Since I became a fan as a small child, I would probably say it was the larger-than-life characters and epic good-versus-evil storylines. Today, my interest in the business is a sort of morbid fascination at how twisted, destructive and morbidly hilarious one of the great fascinations of my youth has become.

What compelled you to write a book on the Benoit tragedy?

A good friend who worked in WWE contacted me shortly after Benoit’s death. He was in shock, as he had been a good friend and great admirer of Benoit’s. He asked if I would help him put together a book proposal on the subject, which I did. Shortly afterwards, worried about the ramifications for his career, my friend backed out, but I decided to finish the project on my own. The more I thought about pro wrestling and how little it is understood by even hardcore fans, the more I realized that a serious study of the wrestling business and its dysfunctions was, in the aftermath of Benoit’s death, more timely and necessary than ever.

Why do you think Benoit killed his family? More specifically why would he kill his son?

The simple answer is that Benoit was a brain-damaged junkie who was completely out of his mind. The chemical cocktail that Benoit was regularly and haphazardly consuming in enormous dosages — steroids, speed, alcohol, painkillers, various psychiatric drugs was, by itself, enough to induce severe derangement similar to schizophrenia. This dangerous pyschoactive brew happened to be affecting a brain that was already desperately scrambled and dysfunctional; post-mortem autopsies discovered severe damage to all four lobes of Benoit’s brain and the brainstem, ostensibly from repeated concussions Benoit suffered in the ring. When all of these factors are considered, it’s clear that it would be impossible to deduce a rational motive for an insane man’s actions. After all, Benoit was in such a disturbed state of mind that, after murdering his 7-year-old son, he rebooked his flights to the next WWE show so that he wouldn’t miss a match and then, in an apparent attempt to clean up the mess he made, searched Google for the “prophet Elijah” — who had resurrected a boy in the Old Testament.

Do you feel characters like Benoit and Eddie Guerrero could have been portrayed more sympathetically, or do you think that would have hampered the flow of the narrative? Were they victims of their own devices, or did the wrestling business ultimately dictate their fate?

I feel like I treated Benoit and Guerrero as sympathetically as they deserved. These were two men who made orphans of their children for pro wrestling. While I can appreciate their devotion to their craft, the essential fact is that they selfishly and irresponsibly accepted a lifestyle that they knew was destroying their bodies and minds and killing their friends so that they could wrestle, despite having wives and children who desperately needed them. There have been countless writers who have portrayed Benoit and Guerrero’s literally suicidal devotion to wrestling as a noble sacrifice to the art they loved, so I certainly don’t think my criticism of them is unwarranted. Responsibility primarily rests on Benoit and Guerrero as adults for accepting the lethally horrible terms that the pro wrestling business offered them, but promoters like Vince McMahon are equally responsible for configuring their businesses according to a model that results in the destruction and deaths of the performers.

What do you consider the most scandalous stories in the book?

The most scandalous story in “Ring of Hell”, to me at least, was the harrowing tale of Hiromitsu Gompei, a young trainee in New Japan Pro Wrestling who was allegedly beaten to death for failing to perform his wrestling drills satisfactorily. According to numerous wrestlers who I spoke with, this crime was covered up by the Japanese mob, and no one involved in his death has suffered any penalty whatsoever to their career or reputation.

What prompted the former WWE writers you sourced to speak up?

They saw themselves as “whistle-blowers.” I believe most of the WWE writers spoke to me because, since they can get mainstream entertainment industry jobs, they realize that they are the only insiders in the WWE monopoly who can afford to speak up and suffer Vince McMahon’s wrath. They saw the friends they made in the wrestling business slowly being demeaned on a daily basis — called racial slurs by WWE VP Michael Hayes, sexually harassed by WWE Smackdown head writer Dave Lagana, berated and fired by Vince McMahon for seeking medical attention for injuries — and they got fed up.

Describe the wrestling business in your own words.

World Wrestling Entertainment is a multi-billion dollar, publicly traded entertainment company that treats its employees like disposable circus animals. The wrestling business is the only place in the world of sports or mainstream entertainment where international TV celebrities are classified as independent contractors who receive no benefits, no pensions, no vacation time, no insurance, no medical care, no travel expenses, no contractual security, no liability standing in court and no respect from their bosses.

Why do you think wrestlers, either way past their prime or in no shape to perform, continue to return to the business?

Among the countless wrestlers I interviewed for “Ring of Hell,” one phrase came up more than any other: “Wrestling is an addiction.” To make it in modern wrestling, wrestlers have to sacrifice their entire lives to the pursuit of stardom; they sacrifice their bodies, their family lives, their financial security and their dignity to work their way up the ladder. By the time they finally reach success, wrestling has become their reason to get up in the morning and their way of life; they’ve become addicts. It’s almost impossible to walk away, especially when the creative and physical high of performing in front of millions is so invigorating. The money’s also addictive for men with no other way to make six or seven figures per year.

What is the most important message you wanted to drive home in the book?

In “Ring of Hell,” the most important thing I wanted to impart was just how exploitative, destructive and dysfunctional the wrestling business is. I did this in the hope that young men and women seeking a career in wrestling would be fully informed of the potentially fatal sacrifices they’d need to make to succeed, and, also, so that wrestling fans can make informed choices on whether they want to support companies with such callous and deadly business practices.

How is your wrestling book different from other similar books?

“Ring of Hell” is the most uncensored, no-punches-pulled investigative expose of the pro wrestling business ever published. It is the ultimate behind-the-scenes account of what it is like backstage in wrestling locker rooms and dojos across the world. If you want to know what it’s really like training in the Hart Dungeon or the New Japan dojo or working side-by-side with Vince McMahon everyday, then “Ring of Hell” will give you the answer. In addition, I have had deep and meaningful access to the inner echelons of World Wrestling Entertainment and the Japanese wrestling business, which has allowed me to break countless shocking, heretofore unpublished stories.

Would you acknowledge that there have been positive changes in the industry, or do you see them as band-aid measures designed to deflect negative publicity?

I certainly believe that there have been some beneficial changes to World Wrestling Entertainment policy in the last year, especially the new medical scans added to their Wellness Program and their willingness to pay for rehab programs for ex-wrestlers. Of course, since these changes have come without any meaningful change to the underlying business practices that foster drug addiction and physical breakdown in veteran wrestlers — the relentless schedule, the lack of vacation time and off-season, the lack of benefits or pensions or job security — I can only conclude that it is done primarily to deflect criticism, not out of any serious concern for WWE employees.

Where do you see the future of the wrestling business?

Until Vince McMahon meaningfully changes his business model and begins to treat his employees as something other than disposable circus attractions, we will see deaths and scandals at the regular, once-every-couple-months clip that we’ve seen over the past decade.

Where can readers find out more about “Ring of Hell?”

Readers can find out more about “Ring of Hell” at MatthewRandazzo.com

— Mike Mooneyham

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