Moving Right Along: Chris Benoit

[Guest TSMAdmin]

Moving Right Along: Chris Benoit

 

Welcome one and all to yet another edition of Moving Right Along. I am your host, Mark Goodhart. This week on Moving Right Along, we’re going to be taking an in depth look at the one and only Chris Benoit and his moveset to see if it truly measures up to his reputation of being the very best technical wrestler in WWE today. I think it’s worth noting that a whole lot of Benoit historical offensive moves aren’t going to be covered in this article since he doesn’t seem to use them anymore. So, instead of precisely discussing the execution of the dragon suplex or superplex, they will be only be taken into account during the In Conclusion portion of today’s article. So, without further ado…

 

The Crippler Crossface

When discussing whether a wrestler has a good grasp of psychology or not, it always helps to first examine their finisher and see where exactly where on the opponent their offense should be targeting. This is actually my major concern with the crossface. While the crippler crossface is generally put over as injuring the shoulder, the actual physics of the hold would seem to indicate that the neck would be what is actually under pressure from Benoit pulling up on it. Generally, it appears to me as though the lock on the arm is simply there in order to keep the person in the hold from using it to escape and doesn’t look as though any pressure is actually being applied to the shoulder. So, the question becomes whether Benoit should be working the shoulder or the neck in order to prepare for his submission finisher? For the sake of this discussion, I am going to treat the crossface as though it is actually causing damage to both areas although it is focused on the arm, since that is the way the move is generally sold.

The actual crossface is extremely well suited to both Benoit’s character and his style of wrestling. Benoit is pushed as a human meat grinder that tears and rips at his opponents until they can’t fight back anymore, so a submission finisher is perfectly suited for him. The only mechanical issue I have with the crossface is that Benoit no longer seems to pull it out at different angles and instead seems to rely on using the fujiwara armbar to drive his opponents to the mat and then slapping on the hold. I think that applying the crossface out of a number of different positions would help get the hold more over as a constant threat, instead of being part of a specific telegraphed sequence.

Grade: B+

 

The Belly-to-Back Suplex

One of Benoit’s more overlooked moves is his version of the belly-to-back suplex. Typically, Benoit well raise his opponents as high as he can into the air, pause for a moment, and then bring them strait downward into the mat. The pause generally adds a rather dramatic element than the typical belly-to-back and is an interesting variation on the move. The move also targets the wider area of attack of the crossface and can easily either serve as a transition move or worked into Benoit’s offensive portions of the match for a near fall. The only issue I have with the suplex is that Benoit usually brings his opponent strait downwards in a flat back bump instead of bringing them down on more of an angle as the belly-to-back was originally intended. By dropping his opponents more on his shoulders, it would also serve as a direct set up for his crossface finish.

Grade: B+

 

The Chops

Benoit’s trademark strike is his hard chops. These things come flying in at a blistering pace but just quite aren’t in Ric Flair’s level, not that it is a knock or anything. Generally, Benoit doesn’t have the same windup that Flair would use to accentuate the chops and make it look more devastating to his opponents. Another factor with Benoit’s chops is that his WWE foes don’t seem to give them an appropriate response. Selling the chops as though their chests where collapsing would help the chops get over much more effectively. The chops don’t really factor into the psychology of the match, but no one in WWE uses strikes as part of their match build so I’m going to overlook it.

Grade: B+

 

The Clothesline

One of those moves of Benoit’s that looks exactly the way Dynamite Kid’s used to, the clothesline is a particularly effective weapon in Benoit’s arsenal. Instead of putting all his energy into the initial contact, like Bradshaw would, Benoit actually hooks his opponent with his left arm and drives them into the canvas in one incredibly swift, effective motion. By using his whole body in a whip-like motion, Benoit effectively counteracts his lack of size to deliver one of the best clotheslines in the business. As an added bonus, the move effectively strings together with the crossface to work over the neck and add a high impact blow to the often slower paced business of wearing an opponent down.

Grade: A+

 

The Knee off the Ropes

Of all the things Benoit does in the ring, nothing really bothers me as much as when he drives a knee into his opponent’s midsection as they come flying off the ropes. I certainly understand why it’s there since Benoit almost always uses it to cut off a face opponent’s rally. I even appreciate the way Benoit’s body sells the strike by turning sharply after “hitting” the knee. The trouble comes from the quotation marks I stuck around a certain word in the last sentence. The knee never really seems to swing up and catch the opponent in the gut with any sort of force. I think the best course of action for Benoit would be, instead of just bringing the knee strait up, swing the knee in a wider angle. This way it would appear as though the opponent is actually getting flipped by the knee instead of just doing a summersault for no reason.

Grade: C+

 

The Rolling German Suplexes

One of the Benoit big time moves, the rolling German suplexes are commonly busted out in the final few minutes of a match. Each suplex builds a rising response from the crowd to a lovely crescendo when the hold is either finally countered or Benoit hits the final crunching suplex. By adding so many suplexes in a row, Benoit’s rolling Germans seems far more devastating than simply doing the move three times during a match since the guy taking the move doesn’t have as much time to brace himself after getting knocked silly by the first suplex. The German suplex is also perfectly suited for the rolling treatment since the roll can go easily in either direction without a problem and the waist grip used is easy to hold onto. This is quite unlike a rolling vertical suplex, which often looks awkward since the people in the move can only roll in one direction and since the arms of the person doing the move have to maintain a relatively strange position while doing the move. Working the neck is also, of course, a good way to prepare for the crossface.

The fact of the matter though, is that Benoit isn’t really hitting very good German suplexes when he goes into the roll. In a good German suplex, the opponent’s neck and shoulders are just about the only thing that hits the mat and the guy doing the hold bridges on his head. In the rolling German’s Benoit seems to just send his opponent backwards and fall back onto his own back. Without bridging, the move loses a great deal of the impact that it normally punches and hurts how effective it looks.

Grade: B+

 

The Snap Suplex

A favorite of Dynamite Kid, Benoit has also managed to emulate this move to an almost picture perfect degree. Now, normally when someone hits a snap suplex, they simply suplex their opponent without straitening out their backs or pausing at the apex of the move. But Benoit always makes a point of adding a little hop to the move, by lifting his right leg, and bringing it down hard as he snaps his opponent over. This adds a great explosive element to the snap suplex that other proponents of the move don’t seem to add to the equation.

Although the snap suplex really doesn’t add into the psychological build of the crossface, it could play a nice transitional role to getting an opponent into position for Benoit’s finish. Say an opponent blocks an attempt at the snap suplex, it would be extremely easy for Benoit to snap off his fujiwara armbar takedown and move into the crossface. It would certainly serve accentuate the “out of nowhere” feel to the crossface. But that’s just some minor griping on my part.

Grade: A+

 

The Swan Dive Head BUTT

The great thing about the flying head BUTT is that Benoit does it exactly the correct way. The bad thing about the flying head BUTT is that Benoit does it exactly the correct way. When Benoit comes off the top rope, his head is always the first thing to make contact with his opponent. Way too many people, whether they are dropping an elbow or a fist, have their bodies hit the mat first and then actually hit their opponent. Watch Randy Savage come off the top rope for his elbow, and you’ll see his legs hit the mat before the elbow makes contact. This obviously lessens the amount of impact the leap off the top rope generates. Benoit does not have this problem. The problem is that Benoit is ramming his own head into someone’s shoulder. That hurts Benoit too you know? And the thing is, he even sells that he’s hurting himself at the same time! So why doesn’t he drop a knee or something? Well-executed, but poorly reasoned move.

Grade: B

 

In Conclusion

I think everyone knows that Benoit has used other moves in his career. And quite frankly, his northern lights suplex, German suplex, dragon suplex, and powerbombs are all topnotch moves. I just haven’t seen him pull them out in so long, I wouldn’t have anything to say about their execution. Let’s just say, they’re all in the range of pretty good to unbelievably outstanding and leave it at that, huh? Anyway, Benoit is a master of execution (with the exception of the knee to the stomach), but could stand to make sure and sell that the crossface also damages the neck since most of his offence seems to be targeted there and not on the shoulder.

Grade: A

 

So once again we have reached the close of another episode of Moving Right Along, and boy what a long strange trip it has been. But before we go, let’s go to Thesmartmarks.com message board for that world famous segment that the legends have cataloged as the …

 

Post … of … The Week

 

This week’s post comes from a fine young man by the name of GameCop.

 

GameCop: By combining the elements of King of the Ring, the Survivor Series (elimination rules), and the brutal Wargames, you have a concept that is destined to be a hit!!!

 

Here's what I think should happen on Nov. 17 (Survivor Series)

 

The winning teams from the [previous] round will square off in the ultimate battle: WARGAMES.

 

If put to use by WWE, this concept will accentuate the importance of 'team chemistry' and bring new life back to the jaded, hackneyed Survivor Series concept.

 

Questions, comments ?!

 

Me Again: You see folks, ole GameCop has made a rather common mistake here that I would like to discuss a little bit. Basically he’s using wrestlers to make a gimmick important instead of using a gimmick to make the wrestlers important… Damn, I hate it when I sound like some new age psychologist. Anyway, Wargames honestly should not be brought out simply in order to end a tournament with a bunch of guys that have no issue with each other. It should be the final blow off to a long feud where the people in the cage are all itching at the chance to tear each other into tiny little pieces of chum. Bookers need to learn that putting on gimmick matches simply to have gimmick matches is a huge mistake. It leads to the devaluation of the match and eventually would cause the same phenomena that severely weakened the appeal of the ladder match. See, back in the day, a ladder match meant that there was a serious issue between the guys involved. But now, it gets thrown onto free TV as an excuse to have Jeff Hardy fall off something high. It kills the match’s ability to draw when it really truly matters, when it being used to settle an issue and provide the final blow off.

 

That’s all I really have to say this week, other that I’ll be heading off to California for about a week and a half to spend time with my special lady and meet her father… so yes, I’m scared out of my pants. To add to my anxiety disorder, I’m getting on a plane for the first time, and I don’t even have Mom around hold my hand **sniff**. So much panic in Goodhart Central for a few days. Wish me luck. This has been Mark “Goodear” Goodhart reminding everyone that, “Win if you can, lose if you must, but always cheat.”

 

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