Book review: Ring of Hell

In June of 2007, wrestling heavyweight Chris Benoit, a man who portrayed himself as a cold, heartless assassin in the ring, became such a person in real life. The 40 year-old Benoit murdered his wife and kid before hanging himself later in the day. The deaths of the Benoits made headlines in the sports section, which is rare for the notoriously-fake WWE, because it was discovered that he had consumed copious amounts of steroids over the course of his career.

However as Matthew Randazzo V explains in Ring of Hell: The Story of Chris Benoit & the Fall of the Pro Wrestling Industry, it was not steroids alone that led to Benoit's destruction; it was the culture of wrestling that was greatly responsible.

As Randazzo chronicles the life of Benoit, it's not hard to see where Chris derailed into a sociopath. The company he grew up with was cruel and menacing and were not strangers to substance abuse. Benoit's mentors, idols, and friends all took turns for the worst, and the unperceptive Benoit never got the hint.

Along the way, Ring of Hell explores the back stories of the wrestling industries across the globe. The transition is easy to make, as Benoit explored Canada, Japan, Europe, and Mexico before settling down in the United States. Not only is professional wrestling fixed, it's so corrupt that even the commissioners of wrestling are drug-addict scumbags. Vince McMahon, Benoit's last boss, is a man so callous that when wrestler Owen Hart accidentally plummeted to his death on live TV, McMahon refused to cancel the bout, forcing the other wrestlers to go on with Owen's blood still on the canvas.

Of the notable characters in the book, one of the most absurd is the drug-crazed Kevin Sullivan. This WCW wrestler was so desperate for star power that he actually encouraged his wife to have an affair with Benoit so that their on-screen rivalry would look more convincing.

Ring of Hell is a brutally frank look into the wrestling industry that helped drive Chris Benoit to insanity. Not for the squeamish, anyone interested in a behind the scenes look at the WWE or anyone curious as to how one of the brightest stars in wrestling could go so rogue should check this out.

Amazon.com: Ring of Hell