Guest Goodear Report post Posted February 3, 2004 Ok, I can't be the only one that is noticing that Chris Benoit isn't exactly lighting it on fire as far as crowd reactions the last two weeks. Now you could say a couple of things about it, like that WWE is putting him in bad spots where he has to talk, but the entrance reactions he's getting aren't even all that great to be honest. Now, I'm not one to give two falcon farts about how much heat someone gets since it doesn't always translate into PPV buys ... but is anyone else concerned that Benoit is going to be going into a main event at Mania with substandard crowd support despite getting a main event push? I want the guy to succeed but it just isn't gelling at the moment. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Coffey Report post Posted February 3, 2004 He's not a superstar. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
eirejmcmahon 0 Report post Posted February 3, 2004 Book him as a violent machine, that's what he does best, if he doesn't get over doing that then you might as well give up on him. He's been on two shows now and wrestled for under three minutes. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
2GOLD 0 Report post Posted February 3, 2004 They haven't explained why he is on RAW and they have stepped him into a match even the crowd knows he can't win. No one in that crowd believes Benoit could beat HBK or Triple H. Simply put, he's really screwed on RAW. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest BionicRedneck Report post Posted February 3, 2004 He's been getting "Benoit" chants, hasn't he? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Coffey Report post Posted February 3, 2004 He did get a little one towards the end of Raw last night. The problem is, it felt like a pity chant. Like the crowd started to get behind him because they wanted to see something happen. They just don't like Triple H. At least that's how it came off to me. Benoit just doesn't scream main eventer. He's been so close yet so far away for so long that it has become expected for him to remain there by the crowd. I assume that's why Jericho gave him the "you can't win the big one" speech. The problem is, when Jericho "won the big one" it didn't matter. The fans are probably thinking the same thing will happen with Benoit, so there is no reason to care. The fans are probably correct. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
haVoc 0 Report post Posted February 3, 2004 That crowd was quiet most of the night anyway. Besides, you can't make a superstar over night. Takes time to build someone up and Benoit needs time because of his history. It's been a slow build so far and I kind of like it. The stand off and stare downs between Benoit, HHH and HBK work for me and in the next few weeks they should start mixing it up in the ring. As long as Benoit gets booked strong and owns those two in the ring the fans should start to catch on. Will WWE book Benoit strong? Hell if I know, but hopefully. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Corino 1000 Report post Posted February 3, 2004 Im thinking to get the fans on his side a bit more he probally pic up a big win against HHH on RAW(Non Title). A Street fight like the one at Summerslam '02 HHH vs Shawn. There can be some great spots like headbutt off the ladder throw the table. Im mean a real intence match. At the end crowd gives Chris a huge pop. Gets him more over to be main eventer. I think that would be pretty good. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
haVoc 0 Report post Posted February 3, 2004 BTW, I just wanna say Triple H & Shawn Michaels have been trying to get Benoit over so far. The look of concern and the way Triple H watches his steps around Benoit has been great and HBK's hand shake of respect is a nice touch. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cherry Blossom Viscount 0 Report post Posted February 3, 2004 Wait wait wait, wait, WAIT! Hold up, I thought that Benoit was ALREADY over? I mean, everyone was talking about the huge pops he'd get on SD! just weeks ago. Oh well, I guess WWE Canned Heat just isn't for hosses anymore. I'm sure since Benoit and HHH will collaberate on a great match, HHH will put some heat on him too. He should be over enough by WM20. Besides, isn't RAW the place for stars whose heat does not match their push? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Spaceman Spiff 0 Report post Posted February 3, 2004 There can be some great spots like headbutt off the ladder throw the table. Yeah, have the guy who had neck surgery do exactly that. Great idea. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Austin3164life 0 Report post Posted February 3, 2004 Benoit's heat has gotten sucked in by the "HHH is Raw" vacuum. In all seriousness, I think fans have no clue why Benoit is on Raw, and the WWE have not helped in explaining his defection from Smackdown. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Mosaicv2 Report post Posted February 3, 2004 heres how... LESS talkin... MORE wrestlin Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PLAGIARISM! 0 Report post Posted February 3, 2004 His matches are ALWAYS over. In fact, he's probably one of the few to get over enough to warrant a main event push based solely on his wrestling performances. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Damaramu 0 Report post Posted February 3, 2004 Yeah Benoit doesn't get huge entrance pops but he gets big pops in his matches and after his matches. Plus I will admit that they are doing there damndest to get him huge pops everytime he appears. I mean.....Jim Ross and Ric Flair both gave him verbal blowjobs last night and HHH acted like he was going to shit himself when Benoit came to the ring. Plus he beat the MONSTER~! Mark Henry in like 3 minutes.....so yeah......he's getting a push. Plus that Benoit chant was not small nor was it a pity chant. They were chanting because he just scared HHH off......the fans eat that shit up. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jack_Bauer 0 Report post Posted February 3, 2004 Ya know, speaking to some marks, I got the distinct impression that they didn't want Benoit on the top of the show. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Damaramu 0 Report post Posted February 3, 2004 Ya know, speaking to some marks, I got the distinct impression that they didn't want Benoit on the top of the show. And who are these marks? EVERYONE I know that watches wrestling loves the guy....and I know a lot of wrestling fans. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NYU 0 Report post Posted February 3, 2004 Well, I'm a smark and I have absolutely zero interest in seeing Chris Benoit in the Main Event of WrestleMania. Depending on crowd reactions with faces, I would say marks would rather see: Shawn Michaels, Rob Van Dam, Booker T, Goldberg, John Cena, Kurt Angle, or Eddie Guerrero Main-Eventing Mania than Benoit. They all get more crowd support coming out to the ring than he does, get more crowd reaction during the match than he does, and get a louder cheer if they win (barring the Benoit Rumble win and the OCCASIONAL [not constant, like some TSMers pretend] standing ovation) Guys, please, stop sticking your fingers in your ears and just take the reaction for what it's worth. The crowd support for him just ISN'T all that loud. He doesn't have Cade/Jindrak negative heat or anything, but he doesn't have Main-Event overness either. How could someone here say, with a straight face, that HHH isn't over enough to have the Heavyweight title but Benoit is? I'm not a HHH fan AT ALL, but he gets tons more crowd reaction than Benoit does. Everyone can say that the crowd stays silent for Benoit during his interviews because they're listening. But, as cliched as this sounds, we know that this case is never applied for ANY other wrestler along these forums. If they speak and get no reaction, it's because the crowd doesn't care. Benoit speaks and gets no reaction, the crowd is listening. Personally, I think the silence is because they have no URGE to respond. No reason to care about Benoit, which is why they sit on their hands. He doesn't have that intangible superstar ability to get fans on his side. And that's probably going to be his downfall when it comes to the Main-Event sprint he has right now. Not to sound callous or anything but the delusions that Benoit fans have been having about the lack of crowd reaction the past 2 weeks is pretty sad. Stop making excuses and accept it for what it is. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Repo Man Reborn Report post Posted February 3, 2004 Maybe they can do some kind of angle ala Steamboat-Savage where Triple H injures Benoit's voicebox and he can't talk for a few months. There. Problem solved. Now go make me turkey pot pie. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
notJames 0 Report post Posted February 3, 2004 If they really wanted to put him over, Benoit should not have just stared at HHH when he came down for his match with Mark Henry. He should have pointed to Henry, saying, "This is you, Trips", and then cranked the Crossface on him until the braids popped out of his head. Truth be told, though, Mark Henry shouldn't have been his first match on RAW. He should have been thrown in with someone who he could just maul effortlessly. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Michrome 0 Report post Posted February 3, 2004 Oh, I don't know, treating him like a low card jobbed since late 2000 hasn't really helped much, now has it? There's only so many times you can make the guy out to be a loser before fans believe it. He needs to pin Hunter in a tag pronto, because the guy is just a loser who never wins to the fans. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest wildpegasus Report post Posted February 3, 2004 Remember the insane heat Benoit got when he went up against Lesnar on Smackdown? To tell you the truth, I think we're starting to see to a little degree fans of Raw and fans of Smackdown. The pops even when figuring out canned heat on Smackdown were bigger for Benoit on Smackdown than Raw. For the record, last night the fans were dead for everyone. Booker comes out -- no pop. Michaels comes out -- no real pop. Look at everyone last night. The crowd was pathetic as far as popping for anything. Not that I really blame them. For the record, Benoit did get a chant going for him against Henry too. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RavishingRickRudo 0 Report post Posted February 3, 2004 There's no legitimate reason for Benoit to be on RAW. There's no reason why he should be wanting to beat HHH. It doesn't make sense and now the fans have to adjust to it. They reacted better to him in the last match of the show when he and HHH went face to face - and I wouldn't call the "Benoit" chant a "pity" chant either, as they were saying it quickly like "EC-dub". It wasn't the whole arena, though. I wonder if HHH will spin it in his favour... not that he has to. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HVilleThugg 0 Report post Posted February 3, 2004 Aren't the smarks the same people who were complaining non-stop about how the WWE won't give Benoit a push...Benoit is a god...Benoit, Benoit, Benoit...? I could have sworn that all I ever saw from smarks were how Benoit was being held down...and now, you're complaining and saying he shouldn't ME? Sheesh...smarks are so fickle. Also, the reason he's not getting the pops is because of poor booking by WWE. They bring him to Raw, not so much as the huge babyface that is going to topple the giant that is HHH...but instead as the Smackdown guy that is getting in the super-duper-over babyface Shawn Michaels's, way. He's preventing Michaels from getting a title shot, and on Raw, Michaels is WAY more over than Benoit. If they hadn't booked that segment where he came down with HHH and Michaels, Benoit would be getting a better pop...but instead of being the hero, he's beeing booked as the annoying guy from the other team that's getting in the hero's way. I hope WWE fixes that, cause not only does Benoit deserve the chance, but I think he'd be a breath of fresh air at the top of Raw. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Ghettoman Report post Posted February 3, 2004 Considering how he's been used I think he's got amazing heat. Good initial reaction, loud chants, pops for his moves. Last week his heat was gone when he walked up and had to confront a babyface just cause. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
humongous2002 0 Report post Posted February 3, 2004 He did get a little one towards the end of Raw last night. The problem is, it felt like a pity chant. Like the crowd started to get behind him because they wanted to see something happen. They just don't like Triple H. At least that's how it came off to me. Benoit just doesn't scream main eventer. He's been so close yet so far away for so long that it has become expected for him to remain there by the crowd. I assume that's why Jericho gave him the "you can't win the big one" speech. The problem is, when Jericho "won the big one" it didn't matter. The fans are probably thinking the same thing will happen with Benoit, so there is no reason to care. The fans are probably correct. That's why HHHerpes picked Benoit, b/c he is not that much of a threat to his main event spot, if anything how come he didn't pick Eddy or Cena??Those 2 are more over compared to Chris, and as much as i want to see Benoit get the belt if he doesn't have that much crowd reaction behind him, he will look just like Jericho did in 2002, a midcarder with a world title belt. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Michrome 0 Report post Posted February 3, 2004 He's not going to get over being the # 2 babyface to Shawn. Shawn needs to turn heel at the contract signing next week. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Damaramu 0 Report post Posted February 3, 2004 Aren't the smarks the same people who were complaining non-stop about how the WWE won't give Benoit a push...Benoit is a god...Benoit, Benoit, Benoit...? I could have sworn that all I ever saw from smarks were how Benoit was being held down...and now, you're complaining and saying he shouldn't ME? Sheesh...smarks are so fickle. Also, the reason he's not getting the pops is because of poor booking by WWE. They bring him to Raw, not so much as the huge babyface that is going to topple the giant that is HHH...but instead as the Smackdown guy that is getting in the super-duper-over babyface Shawn Michaels's, way. He's preventing Michaels from getting a title shot, and on Raw, Michaels is WAY more over than Benoit. If they hadn't booked that segment where he came down with HHH and Michaels, Benoit would be getting a better pop...but instead of being the hero, he's beeing booked as the annoying guy from the other team that's getting in the hero's way. I hope WWE fixes that, cause not only does Benoit deserve the chance, but I think he'd be a breath of fresh air at the top of Raw. Well I'm a smark and I'm not complaining.......surely you aren't generalizing and lumping us all into one mass opinion are you? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RavishingRickRudo 0 Report post Posted February 3, 2004 I'm a smark and I've been complaining ever since it was rumoured that Benoit would go to RAW. I, of course, wanted the WWE to give Benoit a good push; rather than one that has him play 6th fiddle. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Downhome 0 Report post Posted February 3, 2004 I don't know a single "mark" that doesn't LOVE Chris Benoit. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
