Scott Keith Q&A

[Guest]

Here's the other part of the interview. The rest of the questions were either stuff where there was no real answer or stuff where it was baiting me too much, so hopefully this gives you enough to finish the column.

 

The Chris Benoit Questions

 

dubq asks: Here's one I can't believe no one's posted yet: Are 100% of the proceeds from this upcoming book on Benoit going to be donated to charity or to his other children or Nancy's family?

 

Uh, no. They're doing fine without the relative pittance that my book would bring in for them, anyway.

 

alkeiper asks: What ground can you add to the Benoit story that has not already been covered?

 

It's not all about Benoit, he was just the catalyst for it. It's really about drugs and death in wrestling and my small way of paying tribute to the heroes of my youth while asking what the business can do to prevent any further tragedies.

 

bob barron asks: When did you find about Benoit? What was your reaction when you found out he murdered his family?

 

I think about the same as everyone else – shock and disbelief more than anything. I found out while watching the "tribute" show, but I had heard rumblings beforehand and I desperately wanted them to be wrong. I had initially heard about Benoit's death while I was at work and my wife called me to tell me, which led me to think that she had confused him with Shane "Biff Wellington" Bauer, who I had been telling her about the night previous to Benoit's death. I think that, to date, I still haven't fully reconciled what he was with what he died as.

 

bob barron asks: Do you feel embarassed by all the glowing praise you used to write about him? Did you know about his dark past or did you think he was this great guy?

 

Considering that the WWE themselves thought he was "this great guy" all the way up until the moment when they discovered that he was a murderer, I'd have to say I also thought he was a pretty good guy. And I'm not sure why I'd be embarrassed for praising him when he was a good guy -- it's not like we're privy to wrestlers' private lives most of the time, so retroactively basing judgments on stuff that only his closest friends knew about it is pretty silly. There seems to be a split between pre-murder Chris Benoit fans. Some people think that his wrestling career should still be enjoyed despite how his life ended, while others think that the murders should wipe out anything Benoit did in the ring, and he should be remembered as nothing more than a murderer.

 

Ripper's Gimmick asks: Being a (former)Benoit fan, what is your opinion on the matter, and why?

 

People are free to mourn him, remember him or vilify him in whatever way helps them sleep at night. Personally, I'm still not at the point where I can even watch his matches again, so I can see where people would want to wipe out his memory. I think someday I might be able to appreciate his matches from a technical standpoint again, but I'll no longer count myself as a fan or enjoy them from an emotional standpoint.

 

cabbageboy asks: Here's a question regarding Benoit. What do you think of WWE 24/7's edits of Benoit's matches, yet not editing him out of a Horseman beatdown segment or interview? At this point isn't all this a bit petty?

 

While, as I noted, I'm still not ready to watch him on 24/7 yet, so I can't fault them for continuing to cut him out. Initially I sided with those who thought they were overreacting, but given a year of perspective I'm glad they left his stuff on the editing room floor. I'd rather go a lifetime without Benoit matches than be comfortable watching someone who murdered his family in an "entertainment" setting.

 

General Writing Questions

 

Smues asks: Roughly how much money have you made just from writing on websites over the years. Wrestlemaniacs/Wrestleline/411/Inside Pulse/wherever else, did you actually get paid for all the work you put in?

 

Let's just say that if you're dreaming of being a writer for the money, you're in the wrong profession. I occasionally had a PPV or two reimbursed by the websites I was writing for and I've gotten a ton of free DVDs and wrestling tickets over the years, but there's no real money in it, sorry.

 

Smues asks: If you don't mind telling, how much have you made as a writer with the four books, and which book sold the most copies?

 

I only get sales numbers in the context of my publisher occasionally laughing at me for asking for more money, but I'm fairly certain "Wrestling's One Ring Circus" was the best selling one thus far.

 

Smues asks: How come you haven't released a new book in a while? Was it a lack of interest on your side, or could you not get someone to print one?

 

Couldn't think of anything I wanted to spend three months writing about. I was going to branch out and do a book on comics or movies for fun, but The Man just wants me to write about wrestling.

 

Smues asks: You sold a PDF of all your WWE rants a few months ago. When can we expect the NWA/WCW version to be available?

 

Perhaps when I have a week of vacation and little else to do with my day. It's really a very dull job to convert the text files.

 

King Kamala Classic asks: I hope this question doesn't come off as insulting but I'm wondering why he decided to write about wrestling in the first place? It's a fairly odd thing to do for a living (assuming that he makes most of his living off his books).

 

I don't. I have a full-time day job in retail that pays far more than my writing ever would. No matter my passion for our-so-called sport, selling people stuff pays the bills much easier. I started writing about wrestling because I love to write and I love wrestling, so it was a fairly easy combination. It's also much easier for me to recap wrestling shows than it is to come up with my own story ideas.

 

Steve J. Rogers asks: Do you part of what soured you on pro wrestling through the years come from doing rants and articles as part of a job rather than a hobby? Meaning did you lose some of the passion because you HAD to do it rather than something that was fun to do on the side?

 

It was never a job, it was always a hobby. However, once it started to FEEL like a job (which it did when I dropped RAW for good in 2006), then yes, it sucked the passion out of the sport for me. 24/7 has worked miracles as far as giving me the spring back in my step, because now I realize what I wanted all along was to be able to watch the shows I grew up with again. Besides, at this point I have no desire to get emotionally attached to someone just so they can die or hang on past retirement or otherwise let me down like everyone else has. Besides the Rock.

 

Czech asks: Though we're at a new address, we're still basically a continuation of Rantsylvania, which you founded. Do you keep in touch with your colleagues from Rantsylvania and TheSmarks? What have some of your understudies, like Don Becker, Sean Shannon, Jeremy Botter, Eric S., Scotsman, and other long-lost names gone on to do with their lives? Are they still writing about wrestling? Writing professionally? Still males? Still alive?

 

Well, Jeremy Botter and Eric S. both write for Insidepulse.com along with myself, and Jeremy's on my Facebook list so I'm definitely still in touch with him. Scotsman has been the provider of my blog's web host since it went dot.com in 2006, so of course I keep in touch with him. Sean Shannon, no idea, but I hear he's doing well on the speech circuit and he's tenured and everything.

 

Smues asks: Sean Shannon. What was your reaction when he/she left you high and dry with the website and related bills, and what was your reaction when he replaced the old site with a page of rape? Also, have you ever read his blog at Seanshannon.org? Dear lord does that man/woman/thing have issues.

 

Never read his blog, and the day he bailed on me my apartment burned down, so I had other things on my mind at the time. I've always kind of wanted to buy rantsylvania.com back, but last I checked some shithead holding company had it and I'm not gonna send good money their way when rspwfaq.com is where everyone knows me from these days anyway.

 

Ok, that's it for SK's answers. On the first of May, I'll post the question thread for our next Q&A session. I'm pretty sure you guys will like this one, but I'll keep it a surprise until then.

[BUTT 0]

Shithead holding company? Our own MrRant once owned Rantsylvania! I think he only paid like 2 bucks for it too.

[JimmyHendricks 0]

Hey! He didn't answer my questions, which I thought were perfectly legit:

 

http://forums.thesmartmarks.com/index.php?...p;#entry2660595

 

Oh well.

[Craig Th 0]

Shithead holding company? Our own MrRant once owned Rantsylvania! I think he only paid like 2 bucks for it too.

HA, I was just about to say that. 909, tell him!