Throughout my WWE career, I worked with a lot of Superstars! In this video, I'm going to share if they were cool or if they were jerks and what they were like backstage.
Benoit is innocent. Eddie had to be murdered first in order to get Benoit and his son and his wife. Had those two not been there when the murder happened. Those two would be murdered on a different day.
Best I've seen anyone handle it by far. People like to either bury Chris or bury the whole thing under the rug and neither should be done. I get it but Maven has the right attitude about it in my opinion
🙏🏽 I just hate the thought of forgetting out of convenience. Chris was a damn good wrestler. One of the best. But that should never be the point. Nancy & Daniel deserve more….. and they deserve to NEVER be forgotten.
I enjoyed in his second Max Lethal diss how Tom MacDonald utilized. After some DX/Austin references in the jam...uttered the Benoit line... ~They're gonna need a whole family of coffins When you Chris Benoit 'em to solve all your problems.
@@MavenKHuffman Your emotions made me 😢 too, Mave. I agree with you, I refuse to forget about the memories of Nancy and especially, Daniel. That little boy or Woman didn't deserved to be forgotten.
I thought I'd tell my Torrie Wilson story. In 2003, I was watching the Royal Rumble in a bar. There was an important NFL playoff game going on at the same time as the Rumble. One TV was set to the Rumble, but all the other TV sets were showing the NFL game. A few wrestling fans were watching the Rumble TV set, but 80% of the bar was watching the NFL game. Then Torrie Wilson took on Dawn Marie. All of a sudden I noticed that every single NFL fan had decided they wanted to watch the Royal Rumble. The crowd around the one TV set showing Torrie Wilson was so deep that people were standing on chairs to get a better look. As soon as the match ended, the other patrons went back to the NFL game. Congratulations Torrie. You may not have been the greatest female wrestler of all time, but one night in 2003, you made 120 men give up the NFL.
And that's exactly why it has become a laughingstock and an absolute tiny niche product. Because they despise what made the business popular in the first place.
@@ironlift2275I was just about to comment this. Idk why it’s seen as so bad when everyone loved it at the time and it was that kind of product that had over 5/6 million viewers a week regularly tuning in (amongst other things ofc). And let’s be real those matches are far more entertaining than what they do now.
Mave's pretty good at mimicking...i can tell cause so am i and i can see the efforts he puts in to imitating one of his acquaintances. It looks like he's just doing a minor impression, but then you notice it's really good impression
Maven, I enjoyed you as a wrestler. However, believe your greatest gift to others will be your ability to connect with others through this medium. You, my friend, are an excellent speaker!! I look forward to seeing how you will continue to use your voice and positively impact others along the way. Rooting for your continued success, Phil
That ending was powerful. I know it’s hard to separate the man from the monster, but I don’t think it’s fair to people who actually got to know him like you and other wrestlers did that you have to forget he existed, Daniel existed, or Nancy did.
I agree whole heartedly with maven. What happened sucks, but mental illness is a real thing and causes amazing people to do stupid things (robin williams). Talking and learning about it is the best way to help learn more. Doesn’t mean it should erase his accomplishments and who he was. Sometimes we do and say stupid things because of how we are feeling, but when normal even we realize how bad it is, which can trigger another cycle.
Benoit is innocent. Eddie had to be murdered first in order to get Benoit and his son and his wife. Had those two not been there when the murder happened. Those two would be murdered on a different day.
He wasn‘t a monster stop the bs. What he did was Disgraceful yet we need to understand WHY and WHAT made him do this unspeakable thing. You guys are probably supporting Politicians that are like 100000000x worse than him
I gotta be honest. I am a fan from Italy. I have cancer, and I am subscribed to the website only to see the wwe of that period. Watching now your 2002 matches. Thank you for still entertaining me! I hope i will be "though enough" too in my battle. Jack
Holy shit that ending. Maven, you have a rare talent for presenting, and did an incredible job of tackling a very difficult subject with sensitivity, heart, tact, and whole lot of insight. I've been loving watching through your channel in general, but that piece was on a whole other level. Much respect.
Absolute mad respect for you talking about Chris. I could see how difficult it was for you to talk and give your thoughts about the whole situation, but as a fan, I genuinely appreciate you man. You’re absolutely right about not forgetting Nancy and Daniel too, their lives tragically ended, and they should not be forgotten 🙏
CHRIS DIDNT KILL HIS FAMILY HE LOVED HIS SON MORE THAN LIFE ITSELF. THIS WAS A MURDER THERES NO PROOF CHRIS DID THIS TO THIS DAY. HE WAS CLOSER TO HIS SON THAN ALMOST ANY FATHER WAS. I REFUSE TO BELIEVE CHRIS DID THIS.
I can absolutely relate to the mentality he described in Chris, comming from being told "you aren't good enough" over and over and over again. It makes you bitter, no matter how much of an empath you actually are. It's tragic he "snapped" but as Maven said himself, he can not imagine, and noone can, except you're going through the same. I'm not trying to relativate what happened, just saying that I know exactly what it feels like and at some point it might just become to much for someone to handle, especially when noone's taking you serious. Just because you are "strong" and still go your way doesn't mean you have the power to handle some things, especially not if you are a man. We aren't supposed to show emotions in this world...
Damn that ending to this video. Just the seriousness that Maven displayed is wow. No music, no laughing, and at the end he just puts the picture down and walks away. No clever comments or linking a video on screen. Gives me a good perspective on the gravity that was the Chris Benoit tragedy and how much it affected a lot of people. "2 families were gutted" is no other way to describe this.
Yeah the ending was perfect, no more needed to be said really. I feel much the same, phenomenal talent but terrible person. I can see why people don't want him in the hall of fame, it would be very hard for it to not come up and you should not celebrate that. There is absolutely no excuse for what he did, however I do feel that he was never the same after Eddie died. Something in him died that day too. Also CTE of course.
One of the classiest ways of approaching the Chris Benoit situation I’ve probably ever heard from a fellow wrestler and former peer of his. Great stuff, Maven.
@@ants5449 who says he likes wwe indie wrestling exists new jack did the classiest take and that was insulting him even new jack sees chris as unforgivable and new jack tried to kill a wrestler by stabbing him in the ring just cause they were stiff
Thank you for handling the subject of Daniel, Nancy, and Chris gracefully. My heart broke when I found out as a kid what happened. I stopped watching Pro-Wrestling for 14 years since he did those unspeakable acts, because I idolized him. He was a hero of mine, especially as a Canadian. It's hard to separate someone's monstrous acts from the person that you thought you always knew. I've known people who have been nothing but the kindest of individuals to me and given me nothing by respect and care, only for them to do something unforgivable that turns all of that on its head. It's uncomfortable because a part of you will always see them for how they treated you, and a part of you will always see them for what they did to others. You see them in two different ways, and those ways are somehow completely blurred together, and yet they couldn't be further apart. Worlds apart from what you knew. So, sincerely, thank you for sharing your memories and thoughts on Benoit, but more importantly, thank you for showing Daniel and Nancy the respect that they and their memories deserve. I cannot begin to imagine how hard it must be to talk about it, let alone share to the public. But Maven, good on you for doing so. The world needs more people like you who are open with their emotions and can carry painful memories with them, but still keep the happy ones the closest to their heart. You're a good man.
Same here… Benoit was one of my top 5 fav wrestlers. I was inspired to start working out because of him (and Brock later) and eventually got the same frame as he. We’re both short and the big traps I envied and I eventually got them. I loved his passion and that fire he had. I do my best to separate the talent and art from the acts. A tragedy all around. Hope you’re doing well.
I understand you perfectly. Chris Benoit was by far my favorite wrestler at the time. I used to enjoy every single one of his fights. I heard about what he did anecdotally. I was heartbroken, it took me a lot of time to accept that my hero was such a monster.
From the moment you said Chris name, we all knew you would approach this with compassion, consideration, and fairness. So unbelievably well handled, a topic that as you say MANY would worry is too much of a minefield to even touch on. Hat off to you brother ❤
Hi Maven! You’re one of my heroes. You inspired me to get back on my feet after heart surgery. I had a hole in my heart. It’s part titanium now and I’m not giving up. Thanks for showing me how to overcome odds and keep going. Much respect all the way from Manila. You rock!
I met Jeff outside of a live event in 2018 and he was the nicest guy ever and made time to talk to everyone I was with and took pictures with us and signed my shirt. Was so polite and gracious to talk to fans didn't have an air of "celebrity" to him just a humble kind soul.
Outside of Smackdown in like 2005 maybe there was like 50 of us standing there where the wrestlers all drive out of the garage. Only one car actually stopped and got out and took pictures and signed for everybody. Even asked “everybody good?” Before he got back into his car. It was Jeff Hardy. 🙏🏼🙏🏼
I never had the opportunity to meet Jeff but while on my honeymoon in LA wife knew RVD owned 5 star comics and went on a limb to go there see if we could buy merch. We were inside for about 10 min girl behind counter said he was coming in shortly so we waited he was awesome took pics with us autographed his dvd we bought showed us his scar from his knee surgery and just made time for us as his fans
i met Jeff outside of a house show in 2018 and i can vouch that he is every bit as kind and humble as you said. took time to talk to everybody, and i dont mean just a two second hi and handshake and photo, i mean like a minute at least per person talking to everybody outside. i still have my picture with him on my facebook.
The way you handled Chris at the end was beautiful! He was one of my all time favs. If there was one positive that came out of the horrible incident, it's that athletes and organisations started to take concussions and CTE alot more seriously. As well as the potential repercussions of it down the road and later in life. Well handled Maven.
I don't believe that it was the CTE that caused Chris to do what he did, killing one person in a bout of un-controlled anger due to brain damage/CTE could be argued but to kill one person then wait a whole day and kill another person there has to be a level of cognitive thinking and premeditation. Along with the fact Chris had the cognitive ability to try and form a alibi/cover his tracks and showed remorse doesn't add up to him being out of control. Also tie in the fact just days prior he could remember his travel schedule and spots in a match among other things doesn't allow me to believe he was suffering from Alzheimer's or another form of dementia.
@@Nclchitchat there was.. NO THINKING. Chris lost his mind. What you describe as being in control was not even close to be in control. It was chaos that controlled Benoit. That alibi thing was part of the chaos. He was not thinking straight for sure. He was thinking a lot of things in the last few days, he clearly wasn't sane. As someone who dealt with depression and other mental health issues I know that sometimes you just can't control yourself. Fuck... when I was in depression I was planning something similar to what Benoit did... I didn't want it to happen, I was just doing things uncontrollably. But somehow I managed to stop myself from that. Mental health issues isn't a joke. It can turn a good person into a monster in a matter of days. And if I remember correctly, Elijah Burke (the last opponent of Benoit) said that Chris asked him to memorize the spots as Chris wasn't sure if he would remember them. So dementia was forming for sure. About travel schedule... you know that he had phones and computer with internet? He could just use it, he had enough brain power to do that.
@@Nclchitchatyou really don't understand CTE, and your comment proves that. His brain was changed. His mind was changed. Yes, what he did was premeditated but it came from a very damaged brain, and one that wasn't the same as it was before all the damage.
@@Nclchitchat I also believe in what you said, brain damage rarely leads to aggressive behavior but rather it more often leads to depression and suicidal behavior, benoit didn't seem like he was depressed but rather it seems like he had anger issues probably since his youth, his mannerisms while portraying his in ring character were so realistic that it seems like he wasn't acting at all and I am guessing he wasn't acting, those anger issues often leads to such violent actions, it doesn't help when benoit was working in a job which promoted his anger issues, he needed psychiatric help and meditative techniques to resolve his issues long before he got the brain damage, its very much possible that he had a dissociative identity disorder which is common among people who are struggling with anger issues.
@@vik24oct1991 let's just say that Benoit might've depression for a LONG time. And it multiplies the aggression... I know that for sure. Sometimes I was just crazy mad for no apparent reason.
I've written this about 4 times. Thanks for talking about Chris. Honestly he was my favourite wrestler on the planet when he died. I was shocked, horrified when Vince announced it live. I watched that Raw with tears in my eyes. Devastated. As the story fleshed out my hurt turned to true horror and hatred of what he did. Nancy was one of my favourites from WCW managing Doom etc. I didn't know Daniel but I can't help but think of what that boy went through and also my thoughts spin around those who knew him and what you and people like Jericho went through. Just awful. Thanks for going over this, the more we reflect the more we heal.
Only recently discovered The Channel but the descriptions, the respect but most importantly the honesty is brilliant. Genuinely could listen to Maven talk forever. Underrated talker on this evidence! 💪🏻
The ending to this video was perhaps the most tactful way I've seen anyone approach the Benoit subject, especially considering how hard it mustve been to talk about. I give you all the kudos in the world. Even if later information that came out about happenings prior to that horrific weekend further jaded my view on Chris and ontop of that aforementioned weekend, I do very much agree that just sweeping him under the rug would be as if to pretend what happened to Daniel and Nancy didn't happen at all. They both deserved better and they both should still be here. Tragic doesn't even begin to describe it. I hope Nancy and Daniel are at peace wherever they may be.
That was the perfect ending for this series. They way you closed this out was done very, very well and respectfully to all involved. That was beautiful Maven.
I think that would be amazing. Always a fan and would love to see reactions of you watching a show. I know you don't watch the product much but maybe that would bring some gaming towards that bro
Chris will forever be one of the best wrestlers to have ever lived, but as a man he was disturbed long before he committed his unspeakable acts against his family. Eddie Guerrero seemingly was the only person that knew how bad it was for Chris personally and in turn, I believe Chris felt that only Eddie could understand him. When Eddie died, essentially, Chris died too. I believe Chris felt he lost his connection to the world when Eddie passed and Chris lost whatever sanity he had left. Thank you for speaking about him so elegantly and cherishing the memories of his wife and son.
So glad you spoke of Jeff. It’s true, I met him and he was the nicest dude. Went to an impact taping in 2013 with my kids as we rocked our Jeff hardy face paint. After the show was over he went around outside the ring and gave everyone high fives. When he got to me and my kids he asked if we wanted to take a picture and complemented our face paint. Gave us the bro hug and took his time with us. Such a great moment as he was/is my favorite wrestler of all time and he was asking for a picture. Never would have imagined that would happen. Thank you Jeff!
Chris Benoit will forever be in my top 5 wrestlers of all time, his intensity, his technical mastery, the way he told the stories in the ring. This not excusing what he did, but I can not forget the wrestler from my teenage years to my early adulthood.
Maven, I must say, during your WWE run I (like many others) put you in that lower midcard category, but I'm SO glad you've taken to CZcams the way you have. It reminds us that, in that business, you're only perceived the way the show runner allows you the chance to be perceived. You're an incredibly articulate and smart guy. A joy to listen to. I appreciate your honesty on all the things you talk about. It makes me wonder how many other guys who were stuck in similar spots on the card could also be wonderful entertaining speakers with your work ethic. Let's hope a few more guys see your videos and give it a shot. Great work buddy, keep it up
Great video in a run of great videos. You have a gift for this Mav. I agree about Benoit as well. It has to be talked about. My son had brain injuries from playing football that completely changed his personality toward extreme anger and bouts of violence. This happened after Benoit's story and I used the lesson to get my son the help he needed. Sometimes the best decision is to walk away from something you love in order to live a normal life and this is extremely hard to see at the time. I paid the price for this both physically and mentally for many years while we worked through it, but eventually things got better for us and he's doing very well today. One of Jericho's old interviews discussing this probably saved my son's life.
Only so many guys that A. He worked with B. People care about hearing As much as I love Scotty 2 Hotty (for example) no one cares about maven’s opinion of him
The Stacy waitress story was heart touching, and I was always a fan. My mom as a waitress has a similar story where she happily served a couple that no one else wanted because they were profiling ethnicity and clothing, and she left with a $80 tip on a $70 check. Being professional and bringing your smile pays off.
You are so respectful Maven. Not just to Chris but also to Jeff. His problems with substance abuse effecting his attitude has jaded alot people (including me) But you see Jeff for who he really is, not just as what he presents to the world. And that's really cool and a skill most people don't have.
The thing I always realised with Jeff was his effort to meet and greet the fans on his entrance… there are “baby faces” who put no effort in to greeting the fans however Jeff without fail would always go and hi five/shake hands, greet kids. Apart from maybe Rey Mysterio you don’t really see that I think it speaks a lot about them and how they view the fans
Mav you did a great job handling the Chris Benoit part. It’s hard for us to separate at times Benoit the great technical wrestler from what he did when it came to himself and his family. I know it’s hard and it still is on many of us. Thank you so much for how you honored them all. Especially Nancy and their son. Class act
Jeff Hardy is definitely the antithesis of "Don't meet your heroes". Very kind, very appreciative and just an all around good guy. Being the biggest fan of his, I'm glad that I got to meet him, had a few autographs signed and took some cool photos. He even chuckled at my joke.
Thank you for accepting Chris Benoit in your list. He was my hero growing up and I idolized him, bought every action figure of his and at one point dreamed of becoming a wrestler because of him. Sadly because of what happened it changed everything in my life and I had to move on. I will never forget the tragedy of losing my hero. Thank you for remembering him and his family ❤
It doesn’t forgive what he did but from my perspective he more than likely had CTE. The monster he became wasn’t what he always was. Again that’s just my opinion but I understand if someone disagrees for sure.
CTE does not make people do this. Depression does though… depression makes you do the absolute vile of actions. Even things you wouldn’t believe you were capable of
@@Earthrealmchampion22the WWE destroyed his brain, almost definitely had him on steroids like so many other stars, and you expect him to have impulse control and good decision making? Add onto that all the stresses and emotional struggles of the problems of his marriage, and you don't think that maybe the WWE completely messing up Benoit's head might've made a bad situation into the extreme one it became?
@@Steven-cf1ty look more into it, wwe is not what you think it is. It’s entertainment aimed at children primarily. The truth is always more darker than you realize. He was forced to kill his family by the much darker entity in the entertainment industry. Mavin didn’t go that deep in the industry but Benoit did and they killed him for it. All because of dreams.
I was training to wrestle around 2007. Chris Benoit was/is my all-time favorite wrestler. I wanted to be like him and when that happened, I lost all interest into pursuing wrestling as a career. Also, I quit watching wrestling gradually afterwards as well. I just couldn't let myself get that invested into someone like that again.
You made the smart decision, whether you love wrestling or not, it's terrible for your body and overall health. People should have the right and freedom to do it, and I won't bash someone that does, but if you think pro wrestling doesn't come without a major price to your overall health, you're an idiot.
Thank you for talking about Chris and his family. I know it can be hard to talk about something horrible like that, but they need to find their peace. Also thank you for keeping it on a positive note for the little boy. :)
As a Cornette fan I'm glad you brought him up, that man deserves way more credit for what he's done for the business imo. Glad you included that photo of him on OVW with JR too as I know having him announce was one of the things Jim is most proud of.
Mav I am so happy for you and what you are doing on YT so happy to see you having fun and getting your flowers I can't wait to see the next video brother!
@@apk4381I understand disliking certain people and choosing to even go so far to hate them, and that's your opinion and you're free to have it, but why do you choose to spend your time writing these comments instead of staying away from his content? The last thing a person would do is to always be on the comments of someone they don't like
I love what you're doing with this channel and how open you are with your experiences. The Chris segment was extremely respectful. He was my favorite as a kid, and I couldn't openly be a wrestling for a while after the tragedy. I agree with your points, and I feel you're finally being given your flowers with this current CZcams run. All praise to you, brother.
Thank you sir, I was all in when you were active, my favorite bit was also the super market fight. I love your honesty and I could watch all day. Keep on keeping on Mavin!
I think that's the reason Jeff's stayed so over and people still love him despite doing some fucked up shit. You can tell he's the most genuine, sweet dude who just like everyone, has his problems. Unfortunately he has to deal with them in front of everybody seeing as he's in the public eye. Another top class video Mave, you're killing it brother 🤘
Hey Mav. Just wanted to say you did a fantastic job of talking around the Chris B incident. Truly one of the worst things to have happened in Wrestling in recent years. A true tragedy in all sense of the word. I agree with you completely. If these things aren't talked about then we don't learn from them and then we miss the opportunity to spot warning signs in others.
Damn, Maven. You entertained me for almost an hour with this, then made me feel teary eyed. You pulled emotion of of a person better with this video than any Hollywood production. You articulated things so well .
Honestly man thanks for being so eloquent and respectful around the Chris Benoit stuff. That was the most in touch and genuine take I have heard. I hope the wwe picks you up and you can help them become relevant again.. if that’s something you want.
Damn, man feels like 2007 again he was a legit hero, mostly because he loved his son so much and you could tell- as well as such an incredible wrestler. when i heard what happened i was in shock.
Powerful ending to this one. Benoit was a machine in the ring and I always wonder how people would regard him if it had not ended the way it did. May be a top 5, top 10 worker of all time. It’s tough to go back and watch though
Not for me. Or... maybe it is, but not for the same reason as for others. I understand that Chris lost his mind. I understand why he lost his mind. And I understand that WWE did a lot of things to minimize the risk of Benoit-esque things to happen. Benoit inadvertently taught WWE a serious lesson... WWE still doesn't got it fully though. But things are changing for better. And when I see indy wrestlers doing the stuff that is banned in WWE for health-safety reasons the only question I ask is "Is it worth?". And the answer is ALWAYS NO. Wrestling shouldn't be the way to destroy your health beyond repair. Benoit destroyed himself beyond repair and he took others with himself because of the side effects of that destruction.
Benoit is innocent. Eddie had to be murdered first in order to get Benoit and his son and his wife. Had those two not been there when the murder happened. Those two would be murdered on a different day.
When I first saw Maven on screen, I wouldn’t have thought in a million years he would be such a great storyteller with a great outlet for those stories. Also, Cornette was always the best heel in the business for decades and, his stories are great, too. Thanks for giving this old guy a walk down memory lane, my friend.
1st, THANK YOU… honestly I think I may have uncovered a skill not even I knew I had. 2nd, Cornette is SUCH A good heel. Him managing the Midnight Express is some of the best work EVER!
I just binged all three episodes of this series. I loved it! I grew up watching this era of wrestling. Thank you so much for your videos. I hope you see as much growth and success as possible in 2024! Your positivity and honesty with such high levels of respect to your co workers and their families is truly a sight to behold.
Damn you're good at this. I had the pleasure of meeting you at a bar in Doylestown, PA, back in 2008 or 2009. You immediately stopped what you're doing and gave all your attention to me and my friends, who were all WWE fans. You are one of two wrestlers I have met out in the world and not at an event. The other was Ricky Steamboat. I consider myself extremely fortunate to have met two genuinely nice, kind, and classy professionals like yourselves. Keep up the great work.
Spot on with Jeff Hardy being an awesome guy to meet, he had time for EVERYONE at a regular house show. You handled the Chris Benoit segment very well & that is something I’ve said before, by erasing him, you do make Nancy and Daniel become a footnote when you hear his name. Really great point about talking about him to possibly help a future family avoid that happening if possible. 👊🏾
About Benoit, Couldnt have said all that better myself... Your right about needing to keep dialogue open about what happened, because when the talking stops, history tends to repeat itself... You dealt with the subject with dignity, grace and respect...Keep up the good work, we absolutely love what your doing... In future could you go in depth about subjects like Tough Enough and winning and how some of your biggest moments came about
Dude this is an awesome channel to find! In 2002 my parents saw you wrestle and obviously loved your name! Had your action figure all throughout my childhood, happy to see that you're still doing awesome
You mentioned in one video about the fears of rising in the WWE and selfdoubts like not having the mic skills or charisma for it and seeing how well spoken, funny, and animated you are when speaking on CZcams, you most definitely have so much charisma and a great speaking voice. I enjoy your videos very much my dude! Really glad I found your channel ❤
I don’t know how you ended up on my feed, I don’t even watch wrestling but I’ve binged these videos for the past week. This guy is charisma personified
I've always felt that keeping Chris Benoit's name swept under the rug was a bad move. You've said it...not talking about it takes away from the lives that were taken and the memories people had with them. We should always talk about those we've lost, no "forget" they ever existed. This was a great segment and I can't wait to see more videos in the future!
Stacy Keibler was on a different brand, she's on Raw but she's always been travelling with Maven and Orton. When Stacy was introduced this year in the Hall of Fame, there were videos of her interacting with Rey Mysterio and HHH and she seems to be very nice and very missed by people. Aside from being close friends with Torrie and Mick Foley too. Victoria said her and Molly always give a beating to Stacy every single match but she never complained nor said no. She's just my favorite Diva ever
Much respect, especially for how you handled the Chris Benoit conversation. I can't even think about that situation without getting emotional. I had been a huge fan of Benoit, went to a number of house shows where Benoit & Angle were the main event, neither one of them even acknowledging the audience, they just wanted to have a freaking intense pro wrestling match of the type that you didn't see anyone having at that time. So, yeah, Benoit deserves all the kudos for how great a pro wrestler he was as well as all the horror at what he did with the end of his life and what he did to two other human beings. RIP, Nancy & Daniel.
Hi Maven, I don't usually comment on YT videos but I just discovered your channel and enjoy your content immensely. I am older now, but growing up as a kid in the 90s I was a huge wrestling fan. It's great to hear about your experience in the industry. Never a boring video!
Hey Maven. Just wanted to say thanks for this channel. Your content, presentation and persona are really great. I mostly stopped watching the WWE shows around 2006 but I'm still interested about stuff related to the business.
I think people do talk about Benoit and the events in 2007. I do think the big issue with WWE not mentioning it partially stems from the idea that they may be marketing it by discussing it, which would be seen as in poor taste. But I deffo agree on the importance of it being a learning experience to prevent it from happening again.
Which is why WWE should talk about it. What happened to him was years of physical and/or substance abuse which was common practice in the industry at the time. His death made the industry serious about CTEs and other head trauma related injuries, probably saved Edge and Bryan's lives too. Still, what he did was unforgivable, objectively. But life is hardly ever black and white. And just deleting him from history is a great disservice to what he and others went through for the industry.
17:20 I’m listening to this as I go to sleep and when you said “Work on yo game” I swear to the big man Ik exactly who you were talking about 😂😂 that impression was immaculate
Man by the time you wrestled, I did not watch Pro Wrestling, but what you archived there, or the fact that you even made it there, definitely deserves respect! 💪😎
"The monster" snapped in him for the little care they gave it to his serious problems that he had in his head and what happen unfortunately happened and should not have ever happened . I'm sure he wasn't the friendliest man in the world but probably before when he was a little more healthier he wasn't a bad person and a bad father at all , the brain problems he had made him change completely until he became a psycho sociopath , a shame for him and obviously much more by Nancy and Daniel . I loved your position with your opinion towards Chris, you have to respect his great career, his professionalism because as a wrestler he was one of the best even though he has done what he has done which was a such a sad tragedy . Great video Mave and I hope next year is much better than this year was for you .
Loving this run. Great seeing bro adding a new chapter to his story by debriefing his career and sharing knowledge with positivity, humility and authenticity.
Everytime someone who knew Chris talks about him, they always talk about the kind person he was and how in disbalief they were when the incident happened. It's tough being reminded of this today, as an adult, with a child about Daniel's age. But you are right and I have the outmost respect for you and love how you talked about it. Mental illness awareness cause by years of abused to the brain due to concussions, need to be spread to prevent this from happening again. RIP Daniel, Nancy and Chris.
Maven, that was a fantastic video and loved your thoughts on Benoit. You are, by far, the most charismatic and engaging wrestling personality in recent memory here. Keep up the great work man and thank you.
I hadn't begun watching wrestling during this era, I never got to experience Chris Benoit while he lived. What a complete tragedy, the way you handled it and presented it gave me chills and left me in tears. I cannot even fathom what it must have been like to know the guy, or worse yet, his family. Thank you for sharing, I hope we get to see you on TV one day, I am sure you would receive a wonderful pop, especially as this channel grows more and more.
Almost 17 years on and it’s certainly no easier to talk about what happened.I can respect the thoughts and memories you have since you actually knew him but I think for most it will remain an unforgiven act.100% agree there should always be open discussion with ppl you trust if your going through some shit so that never happens again.I gotta admit when you put the picture’s of Daniel up I had a few tears rolling,such a sad event and just thank you for talking about it you might help someone else out there for doing so.Your the best mate👍🇦🇺
Thank you Maven for making these videos. I feel like I get to live my childhood dream of walking into a WWE locker room and getting to know how each superstar is really like and not just what we see on camera. You make me feel like I know which guys I can be friends with, can trust and which guys I should stay away from. Things I would never know had you not made these videos. So thank you and keep up the great work!
Nice to see Benoit is finally being talked about. That's a shoot from Heyman which shows you can separate the man from the work, a Mt Rushmore from Taker which shows likewise, and now you've also confirmed it. I hope this prompts fans to take their heads out of the sand a little, and face the elephant in the room when it comes to this business.
"separate the man from the work" bro no way y'all nuts. This dude is a monster. A parasite, he deserves nothing. Wont make me feel bad for him. I'm glad he's gone.
Chris Benoit was/is one of my top wrestlers of all time, having watched him from WCW to the WWF. His and Eddie's passings really killed the wrestling fanboy in me, esp. Chris's with its surprising, grim, and insane details. I really appreciate the tact you took with his segment, and the significant acknowledgment of Woman/Nancy and Daniel.
Totally appreciate the way you discussed The Rabid Wolverine Chris Benoit, he was one of the few reasons I kept watching wrestling after Hulk Hogan broke my heart and became Hollywood, I would only watch WWE occasionally untill the Radicals became a part of WWE and then I seldom missed a show, he was my favorite wrestler for a long time and after the tragedy I didn't watch wrestling until 2018. You are amazing Maven I didn't actually get to see you often when you were still in WWE, I have been rewatching the attitude era and ruthless aggression eras a lot and I loved the fact that a school teacher became a WWE superstar, and you are still impacting and teaching people without trying is awesome. Keep up the great work. You are awesome
What a way to end the video, a total switch up from your normal outros and it was totally appropriate and respectful while also being mindful of the gravity of the truth. Great stuff Maven.
You kept the Chris segment as classy as anyone could have. Appreciate you being able to see both sides of him.
Benoit is innocent. Eddie had to be murdered first in order to get Benoit and his son and his wife. Had those two not been there when the murder happened. Those two would be murdered on a different day.
Best I've seen anyone handle it by far. People like to either bury Chris or bury the whole thing under the rug and neither should be done. I get it but Maven has the right attitude about it in my opinion
🙏🏽 I just hate the thought of forgetting out of convenience. Chris was a damn good wrestler. One of the best. But that should never be the point. Nancy & Daniel deserve more….. and they deserve to NEVER be forgotten.
I enjoyed in his second Max Lethal diss how Tom MacDonald utilized. After some DX/Austin references in the jam...uttered the Benoit line...
~They're gonna need a whole family of coffins
When you Chris Benoit 'em to solve all your problems.
@@MavenKHuffman Your emotions made me 😢 too, Mave.
I agree with you, I refuse to forget about the memories of Nancy and especially, Daniel.
That little boy or Woman didn't deserved to be forgotten.
I thought I'd tell my Torrie Wilson story.
In 2003, I was watching the Royal Rumble in a bar. There was an important NFL playoff game going on at the same time as the Rumble. One TV was set to the Rumble, but all the other TV sets were showing the NFL game. A few wrestling fans were watching the Rumble TV set, but 80% of the bar was watching the NFL game. Then Torrie Wilson took on Dawn Marie. All of a sudden I noticed that every single NFL fan had decided they wanted to watch the Royal Rumble. The crowd around the one TV set showing Torrie Wilson was so deep that people were standing on chairs to get a better look. As soon as the match ended, the other patrons went back to the NFL game. Congratulations Torrie. You may not have been the greatest female wrestler of all time, but one night in 2003, you made 120 men give up the NFL.
🤣
HAHAHAHA… thank you for sharing. I can picture every head turning and gazing at that tv!!!
@@MavenKHuffman I'd watch a video of Maven reading and commenting all of these subscriber's stories
And that's exactly why it has become a laughingstock and an absolute tiny niche product. Because they despise what made the business popular in the first place.
@@ironlift2275I was just about to comment this. Idk why it’s seen as so bad when everyone loved it at the time and it was that kind of product that had over 5/6 million viewers a week regularly tuning in (amongst other things ofc). And let’s be real those matches are far more entertaining than what they do now.
Maven does a damn near perfect Booker T impression! That killed me 😂😂!
Mave's pretty good at mimicking...i can tell cause so am i and i can see the efforts he puts in to imitating one of his acquaintances. It looks like he's just doing a minor impression, but then you notice it's really good impression
I've never heard anyone do Booker like that. Amazing!
Maven, I enjoyed you as a wrestler. However, believe your greatest gift to others will be your ability to connect with others through this medium. You, my friend, are an excellent speaker!! I look forward to seeing how you will continue to use your voice and positively impact others along the way. Rooting for your continued success, Phil
🙏🏽 thank you Phil.
I like that you chose the V1 theme for Matt. That gimmick was criminally underrated.
Matt was ahead of his time!
He had a good Mattitude
I miss the Matt Facts
@@HeHateMe1He doesn't like mustard
Matt himself is underrated, love that guy
That ending was powerful.
I know it’s hard to separate the man from the monster, but I don’t think it’s fair to people who actually got to know him like you and other wrestlers did that you have to forget he existed, Daniel existed, or Nancy did.
I agree whole heartedly with maven. What happened sucks, but mental illness is a real thing and causes amazing people to do stupid things (robin williams). Talking and learning about it is the best way to help learn more. Doesn’t mean it should erase his accomplishments and who he was. Sometimes we do and say stupid things because of how we are feeling, but when normal even we realize how bad it is, which can trigger another cycle.
Benoit is innocent. Eddie had to be murdered first in order to get Benoit and his son and his wife. Had those two not been there when the murder happened. Those two would be murdered on a different day.
Well I’ll be a mother fucker I found you on CZcams from Twitter
He wasn‘t a monster stop the bs. What he did was Disgraceful yet we need to understand WHY and WHAT made him do this unspeakable thing.
You guys are probably supporting Politicians that are like 100000000x worse than him
@@kimpapkimpaha7698yup. Their dirt just hardly gets exposed
I gotta be honest.
I am a fan from Italy.
I have cancer, and I am subscribed to the website only to see the wwe of that period. Watching now your 2002 matches.
Thank you for still entertaining me!
I hope i will be "though enough" too in my battle.
Jack
Keep up a strong fight and beat it brother💪
Let’s run this man’s likes up and try and get his attention.. bless up brother.. I will be praying to the lord for you man.. you got this brother.. 🙏🏽
You will get through it brother.. I have faith in u brother
Never give up
Keep being strong 🙏
Holy shit that ending. Maven, you have a rare talent for presenting, and did an incredible job of tackling a very difficult subject with sensitivity, heart, tact, and whole lot of insight. I've been loving watching through your channel in general, but that piece was on a whole other level. Much respect.
00:22 Jeff Hardy
03:21 Mark Henry
05:50 Michael Cole
07:04 Torrie Wilson
09:29 Kevin Nash
10:45 Scott Hall
12:11 Rey Mysterio
13:54 Jim Cornette
15:30 Lita
17:02 Booker T
19:10 Tony Schiavone and Jim Ross
21:40 Jerry Lawler
22:54 William Regal
25:46 Shelton Benjamin
27:34 Riikishi
28:44 Eric Bischoff
29:55 Stacy Kiebler
32:11 Mick Foley
34:04 Chris Benoit
Thank you for the time stamps! Awesome I’m sure others will use this. 👍🏽
He forgot to put Matt after Jeff
2:11 Matt Hardy ... Don't ever disrespect the sensei of Mattitude again! We MFers can forgive you this once.
@@WhyHighCI was looking for this lol. Peeps still treat matt like Jeff's shadow, and it's unacceptable
Edit this and put some respek on Matt Hardy’s name lol
Absolute mad respect for you talking about Chris. I could see how difficult it was for you to talk and give your thoughts about the whole situation, but as a fan, I genuinely appreciate you man. You’re absolutely right about not forgetting Nancy and Daniel too, their lives tragically ended, and they should not be forgotten 🙏
Yea I agree
CHRIS DIDNT KILL HIS FAMILY HE LOVED HIS SON MORE THAN LIFE ITSELF. THIS WAS A MURDER THERES NO PROOF CHRIS DID THIS TO THIS DAY. HE WAS CLOSER TO HIS SON THAN ALMOST ANY FATHER WAS. I REFUSE TO BELIEVE CHRIS DID THIS.
I can absolutely relate to the mentality he described in Chris, comming from being told "you aren't good enough" over and over and over again.
It makes you bitter, no matter how much of an empath you actually are.
It's tragic he "snapped" but as Maven said himself, he can not imagine, and noone can, except you're going through the same.
I'm not trying to relativate what happened, just saying that I know exactly what it feels like and at some point it might just become to much for someone to handle, especially when noone's taking you serious. Just because you are "strong" and still go your way doesn't mean you have the power to handle some things, especially not if you are a man. We aren't supposed to show emotions in this world...
@@dezpotizmOFheaven i agree
Thank you MAVEN for respectfully talking about BENOIT……this video was awesome thank you 🙏
🙏🏽🙏🏽
Damn bro..that Chris Beniot segment was moving. What a shame...thank you for your videos Maven. Wild..
Damn that ending to this video. Just the seriousness that Maven displayed is wow. No music, no laughing, and at the end he just puts the picture down and walks away. No clever comments or linking a video on screen.
Gives me a good perspective on the gravity that was the Chris Benoit tragedy and how much it affected a lot of people. "2 families were gutted" is no other way to describe this.
Yeah the ending was perfect, no more needed to be said really. I feel much the same, phenomenal talent but terrible person. I can see why people don't want him in the hall of fame, it would be very hard for it to not come up and you should not celebrate that. There is absolutely no excuse for what he did, however I do feel that he was never the same after Eddie died. Something in him died that day too. Also CTE of course.
gutted**
@@HaleStorm1998 thank you for the correction. Just edited it in.
I Still Don't Think Benoit Did It
I Think He Was Framed
@@MarkBannonCAW *sacrificed
One of the classiest ways of approaching the Chris Benoit situation I’ve probably ever heard from a fellow wrestler and former peer of his. Great stuff, Maven.
Benoit murdered his family lol
@@dylanryan8241 No shit.
@dylanryan8241 yeah and plenty of wwe superstars you use to and still idolize abuse woman go figure
@@ants5449 who says he likes wwe indie wrestling exists new jack did the classiest take and that was insulting him even new jack sees chris as unforgivable and new jack tried to kill a wrestler by stabbing him in the ring just cause they were stiff
@@ants5449 well abusing women is one thing, not great, but killing your own kid.... like common, he's twice as evil as the next wrestler in line.
Thank you for handling the subject of Daniel, Nancy, and Chris gracefully. My heart broke when I found out as a kid what happened. I stopped watching Pro-Wrestling for 14 years since he did those unspeakable acts, because I idolized him. He was a hero of mine, especially as a Canadian.
It's hard to separate someone's monstrous acts from the person that you thought you always knew. I've known people who have been nothing but the kindest of individuals to me and given me nothing by respect and care, only for them to do something unforgivable that turns all of that on its head. It's uncomfortable because a part of you will always see them for how they treated you, and a part of you will always see them for what they did to others. You see them in two different ways, and those ways are somehow completely blurred together, and yet they couldn't be further apart. Worlds apart from what you knew.
So, sincerely, thank you for sharing your memories and thoughts on Benoit, but more importantly, thank you for showing Daniel and Nancy the respect that they and their memories deserve. I cannot begin to imagine how hard it must be to talk about it, let alone share to the public.
But Maven, good on you for doing so. The world needs more people like you who are open with their emotions and can carry painful memories with them, but still keep the happy ones the closest to their heart.
You're a good man.
Same here… Benoit was one of my top 5 fav wrestlers. I was inspired to start working out because of him (and Brock later) and eventually got the same frame as he. We’re both short and the big traps I envied and I eventually got them. I loved his passion and that fire he had. I do my best to separate the talent and art from the acts. A tragedy all around. Hope you’re doing well.
Nancy and Daniel are in hell lil bro get over it
I understand you perfectly. Chris Benoit was by far my favorite wrestler at the time. I used to enjoy every single one of his fights.
I heard about what he did anecdotally. I was heartbroken, it took me a lot of time to accept that my hero was such a monster.
@@jamesAGarfield608 Children aren't sinners. You have no common sense
From the moment you said Chris name, we all knew you would approach this with compassion, consideration, and fairness. So unbelievably well handled, a topic that as you say MANY would worry is too much of a minefield to even touch on. Hat off to you brother ❤
Hi Maven! You’re one of my heroes. You inspired me to get back on my feet after heart surgery. I had a hole in my heart. It’s part titanium now and I’m not giving up. Thanks for showing me how to overcome odds and keep going. Much respect all the way from Manila. You rock!
🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽 WOW! I’m honored! And thank you so much. I’m glad I can help you face something so serious.
I met Jeff outside of a live event in 2018 and he was the nicest guy ever and made time to talk to everyone I was with and took pictures with us and signed my shirt. Was so polite and gracious to talk to fans didn't have an air of "celebrity" to him just a humble kind soul.
Bro same! I met him back in 2021 and he was so kind and chill with his fans. Didn’t get vibes from him at all just nothing but good vibes.
Outside of Smackdown in like 2005 maybe there was like 50 of us standing there where the wrestlers all drive out of the garage. Only one car actually stopped and got out and took pictures and signed for everybody. Even asked “everybody good?” Before he got back into his car.
It was Jeff Hardy. 🙏🏼🙏🏼
I never had the opportunity to meet Jeff but while on my honeymoon in LA wife knew RVD owned 5 star comics and went on a limb to go there see if we could buy merch. We were inside for about 10 min girl behind counter said he was coming in shortly so we waited he was awesome took pics with us autographed his dvd we bought showed us his scar from his knee surgery and just made time for us as his fans
yeah, drug addicts are pretty nice when you talk to them
i met Jeff outside of a house show in 2018 and i can vouch that he is every bit as kind and humble as you said. took time to talk to everybody, and i dont mean just a two second hi and handshake and photo, i mean like a minute at least per person talking to everybody outside. i still have my picture with him on my facebook.
He does great impressions. You can't help but like Maven. He seems like a really nice guy.
Is this the most grown-up pleasant man on the Internet?
Yes. I just love hear him talking and presenting.
Yeah it’s called being respectful. Something this generation is unfamiliar with.
@@DrSlick Everyone has said that about every generation ever
The way you handled Chris at the end was beautiful!
He was one of my all time favs. If there was one positive that came out of the horrible incident, it's that athletes and organisations started to take concussions and CTE alot more seriously. As well as the potential repercussions of it down the road and later in life.
Well handled Maven.
I don't believe that it was the CTE that caused Chris to do what he did, killing one person in a bout of un-controlled anger due to brain damage/CTE could be argued but to kill one person then wait a whole day and kill another person there has to be a level of cognitive thinking and premeditation. Along with the fact Chris had the cognitive ability to try and form a alibi/cover his tracks and showed remorse doesn't add up to him being out of control. Also tie in the fact just days prior he could remember his travel schedule and spots in a match among other things doesn't allow me to believe he was suffering from Alzheimer's or another form of dementia.
@@Nclchitchat there was.. NO THINKING. Chris lost his mind. What you describe as being in control was not even close to be in control. It was chaos that controlled Benoit. That alibi thing was part of the chaos. He was not thinking straight for sure. He was thinking a lot of things in the last few days, he clearly wasn't sane. As someone who dealt with depression and other mental health issues I know that sometimes you just can't control yourself. Fuck... when I was in depression I was planning something similar to what Benoit did... I didn't want it to happen, I was just doing things uncontrollably. But somehow I managed to stop myself from that. Mental health issues isn't a joke. It can turn a good person into a monster in a matter of days.
And if I remember correctly, Elijah Burke (the last opponent of Benoit) said that Chris asked him to memorize the spots as Chris wasn't sure if he would remember them.
So dementia was forming for sure. About travel schedule... you know that he had phones and computer with internet? He could just use it, he had enough brain power to do that.
@@Nclchitchatyou really don't understand CTE, and your comment proves that. His brain was changed. His mind was changed. Yes, what he did was premeditated but it came from a very damaged brain, and one that wasn't the same as it was before all the damage.
@@Nclchitchat I also believe in what you said, brain damage rarely leads to aggressive behavior but rather it more often leads to depression and suicidal behavior, benoit didn't seem like he was depressed but rather it seems like he had anger issues probably since his youth, his mannerisms while portraying his in ring character were so realistic that it seems like he wasn't acting at all and I am guessing he wasn't acting, those anger issues often leads to such violent actions, it doesn't help when benoit was working in a job which promoted his anger issues, he needed psychiatric help and meditative techniques to resolve his issues long before he got the brain damage, its very much possible that he had a dissociative identity disorder which is common among people who are struggling with anger issues.
@@vik24oct1991 let's just say that Benoit might've depression for a LONG time. And it multiplies the aggression... I know that for sure. Sometimes I was just crazy mad for no apparent reason.
I've written this about 4 times. Thanks for talking about Chris. Honestly he was my favourite wrestler on the planet when he died. I was shocked, horrified when Vince announced it live. I watched that Raw with tears in my eyes. Devastated. As the story fleshed out my hurt turned to true horror and hatred of what he did. Nancy was one of my favourites from WCW managing Doom etc. I didn't know Daniel but I can't help but think of what that boy went through and also my thoughts spin around those who knew him and what you and people like Jericho went through. Just awful. Thanks for going over this, the more we reflect the more we heal.
“The more we reflect the more heel” 🙏🏽
Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle are the best and most intense technical wrestlers of all time
@@leviticustharpe4959 I can't disagree. He was at the top of the game.
Only recently discovered The Channel but the descriptions, the respect but most importantly the honesty is brilliant. Genuinely could listen to Maven talk forever.
Underrated talker on this evidence! 💪🏻
🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
The ending to this video was perhaps the most tactful way I've seen anyone approach the Benoit subject, especially considering how hard it mustve been to talk about. I give you all the kudos in the world. Even if later information that came out about happenings prior to that horrific weekend further jaded my view on Chris and ontop of that aforementioned weekend, I do very much agree that just sweeping him under the rug would be as if to pretend what happened to Daniel and Nancy didn't happen at all. They both deserved better and they both should still be here. Tragic doesn't even begin to describe it. I hope Nancy and Daniel are at peace wherever they may be.
That was the perfect ending for this series. They way you closed this out was done very, very well and respectfully to all involved. That was beautiful Maven.
Maven - The guy who is only remembered for being destroyed by the first ever F5 live on TV.
Way to take a bump, jobber.
@@apk4381so do you practice being a douche or does it just come naturally?
@@apk4381Alright, day drunk guy.
I’d love to see Maven make a video of him attending a WWE event and see everyone’s reactions to him being there.
Hahahaha… actually not a bad video idea. 🤔
I think that would be amazing. Always a fan and would love to see reactions of you watching a show. I know you don't watch the product much but maybe that would bring some gaming towards that bro
@@MavenKHuffmando it Mave. I really enjoy your videos and so do many of your fans. Your channel is exploding. 200k very soon.
What? He was a jobber, no one would recognise him.
Make a sign with his name on it and an arrow ⬇️ pointing down at him in the crowd. 😂 ...Just be a fan in the crowd again lol.
Yo Appreciate the way you talk about Chris. One day we gotta be able to accept his wrestling side🗣️
Chris will forever be one of the best wrestlers to have ever lived, but as a man he was disturbed long before he committed his unspeakable acts against his family. Eddie Guerrero seemingly was the only person that knew how bad it was for Chris personally and in turn, I believe Chris felt that only Eddie could understand him. When Eddie died, essentially, Chris died too. I believe Chris felt he lost his connection to the world when Eddie passed and Chris lost whatever sanity he had left. Thank you for speaking about him so elegantly and cherishing the memories of his wife and son.
Chris who?
@@adamirishconundrum851Chris Benoit
@@adamirishconundrum851 idiot
@@adamirishconundrum851Chris Benoit
Man, losing them both is what started my love for watching pro wrestling to trickle away and eventually fully stopped after Punk left.
This is my favorite series of yours. They need to bring you back for another run as a manager or something
Maven in the Judgement day
@@octaviousrex6894Judgement Day would be unstoppable then 😤
@@LordYuriX heel maven would be lit
🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽 means a lot that you (and others) would like to see me back!
Maven needs to be back on TV in WWE. Every other company is unworthy of his presence! 🙌
So glad you spoke of Jeff.
It’s true, I met him and he was the nicest dude.
Went to an impact taping in 2013 with my kids as we rocked our Jeff hardy face paint.
After the show was over he went around outside the ring and gave everyone high fives. When he got to me and my kids he asked if we wanted to take a picture and complemented our face paint. Gave us the bro hug and took his time with us. Such a great moment as he was/is my favorite wrestler of all time and he was asking for a picture. Never would have imagined that would happen. Thank you Jeff!
Chris Benoit will forever be in my top 5 wrestlers of all time, his intensity, his technical mastery, the way he told the stories in the ring. This not excusing what he did, but I can not forget the wrestler from my teenage years to my early adulthood.
Maven, I must say, during your WWE run I (like many others) put you in that lower midcard category, but I'm SO glad you've taken to CZcams the way you have. It reminds us that, in that business, you're only perceived the way the show runner allows you the chance to be perceived. You're an incredibly articulate and smart guy. A joy to listen to. I appreciate your honesty on all the things you talk about. It makes me wonder how many other guys who were stuck in similar spots on the card could also be wonderful entertaining speakers with your work ethic. Let's hope a few more guys see your videos and give it a shot.
Great work buddy, keep it up
Great video in a run of great videos. You have a gift for this Mav. I agree about Benoit as well. It has to be talked about. My son had brain injuries from playing football that completely changed his personality toward extreme anger and bouts of violence. This happened after Benoit's story and I used the lesson to get my son the help he needed. Sometimes the best decision is to walk away from something you love in order to live a normal life and this is extremely hard to see at the time. I paid the price for this both physically and mentally for many years while we worked through it, but eventually things got better for us and he's doing very well today. One of Jericho's old interviews discussing this probably saved my son's life.
Thank you for sharing something so personal. I am glad he is better these days. 🙏🏽
OH NO!!! Please don't let this be the final video you make of rating wrestlers!!!!
It has to be
Only so many guys that
A. He worked with
B. People care about hearing
As much as I love Scotty 2 Hotty (for example) no one cares about maven’s opinion of him
:'(
he was only there one season! 😜
@@DAcheekO Watch your mouth
The Stacy waitress story was heart touching, and I was always a fan. My mom as a waitress has a similar story where she happily served a couple that no one else wanted because they were profiling ethnicity and clothing, and she left with a $80 tip on a $70 check. Being professional and bringing your smile pays off.
You are so respectful Maven. Not just to Chris but also to Jeff. His problems with substance abuse effecting his attitude has jaded alot people (including me) But you see Jeff for who he really is, not just as what he presents to the world. And that's really cool and a skill most people don't have.
The thing I always realised with Jeff was his effort to meet and greet the fans on his entrance… there are “baby faces” who put no effort in to greeting the fans however Jeff without fail would always go and hi five/shake hands, greet kids. Apart from maybe Rey Mysterio you don’t really see that I think it speaks a lot about them and how they view the fans
Mav you did a great job handling the Chris Benoit part. It’s hard for us to separate at times Benoit the great technical wrestler from what he did when it came to himself and his family. I know it’s hard and it still is on many of us. Thank you so much for how you honored them all. Especially Nancy and their son.
Class act
Jeff Hardy is definitely the antithesis of "Don't meet your heroes". Very kind, very appreciative and just an all around good guy. Being the biggest fan of his, I'm glad that I got to meet him, had a few autographs signed and took some cool photos. He even chuckled at my joke.
Jeff is unique and talented, creative and artistic
One thing about the hardys, they know how to show love and appreciation to their fans
Jeff is a awesome guy I lived near them for years and hung out with them. Super super down to earth. Shannon Moore and Gregory helms also
"The greatest night of Torrie Wilson's life" 😂
Gotta love Maven.
Thank you for accepting Chris Benoit in your list. He was my hero growing up and I idolized him, bought every action figure of his and at one point dreamed of becoming a wrestler because of him. Sadly because of what happened it changed everything in my life and I had to move on. I will never forget the tragedy of losing my hero. Thank you for remembering him and his family ❤
It doesn’t forgive what he did but from my perspective he more than likely had CTE. The monster he became wasn’t what he always was. Again that’s just my opinion but I understand if someone disagrees for sure.
CTE does not make people do this. Depression does though… depression makes you do the absolute vile of actions. Even things you wouldn’t believe you were capable of
@@SuperSuperswag101agreed. He had some sort of psychosis in my opinion. There's no way he was in his right state of mind
@@Earthrealmchampion22the WWE destroyed his brain, almost definitely had him on steroids like so many other stars, and you expect him to have impulse control and good decision making? Add onto that all the stresses and emotional struggles of the problems of his marriage, and you don't think that maybe the WWE completely messing up Benoit's head might've made a bad situation into the extreme one it became?
@@Steven-cf1ty look more into it, wwe is not what you think it is. It’s entertainment aimed at children primarily. The truth is always more darker than you realize. He was forced to kill his family by the much darker entity in the entertainment industry. Mavin didn’t go that deep in the industry but Benoit did and they killed him for it. All because of dreams.
I was training to wrestle around 2007. Chris Benoit was/is my all-time favorite wrestler. I wanted to be like him and when that happened, I lost all interest into pursuing wrestling as a career.
Also, I quit watching wrestling gradually afterwards as well. I just couldn't let myself get that invested into someone like that again.
Kind of sad if you think bout it
You made the smart decision, whether you love wrestling or not, it's terrible for your body and overall health. People should have the right and freedom to do it, and I won't bash someone that does, but if you think pro wrestling doesn't come without a major price to your overall health, you're an idiot.
Didn't expect to almost in tears by the end of a Maven video... RIP Daniel and Nancy Benoit 🙏
Thank you for talking about Chris and his family. I know it can be hard to talk about something horrible like that, but they need to find their peace. Also thank you for keeping it on a positive note for the little boy. :)
As a Cornette fan I'm glad you brought him up, that man deserves way more credit for what he's done for the business imo. Glad you included that photo of him on OVW with JR too as I know having him announce was one of the things Jim is most proud of.
Mav I am so happy for you and what you are doing on YT so happy to see you having fun and getting your flowers I can't wait to see the next video brother!
Yo wassup Vegeta
Maven - The guy who is only remembered for being destroyed by the first ever F5 live on TV.
Way to take a bump, jobber.
@@apk4381Why are you on this man's channel if you think he was just a jobber? You sound like a straight hater.
@@apk4381I understand disliking certain people and choosing to even go so far to hate them, and that's your opinion and you're free to have it, but why do you choose to spend your time writing these comments instead of staying away from his content? The last thing a person would do is to always be on the comments of someone they don't like
@@apk4381 Yeah... Undertaker's elimination? Nah, nobody cares.
Whenever Maven drops a new video my day gets a little bit better. Keep'em coming sir
Glad I can help!
I love what you're doing with this channel and how open you are with your experiences. The Chris segment was extremely respectful. He was my favorite as a kid, and I couldn't openly be a wrestling for a while after the tragedy. I agree with your points, and I feel you're finally being given your flowers with this current CZcams run. All praise to you, brother.
Thank you sir, I was all in when you were active, my favorite bit was also the super market fight. I love your honesty and I could watch all day. Keep on keeping on Mavin!
I think that's the reason Jeff's stayed so over and people still love him despite doing some fucked up shit. You can tell he's the most genuine, sweet dude who just like everyone, has his problems. Unfortunately he has to deal with them in front of everybody seeing as he's in the public eye. Another top class video Mave, you're killing it brother 🤘
Hey Mav.
Just wanted to say you did a fantastic job of talking around the Chris B incident.
Truly one of the worst things to have happened in Wrestling in recent years.
A true tragedy in all sense of the word.
I agree with you completely. If these things aren't talked about then we don't learn from them and then we miss the opportunity to spot warning signs in others.
Damn, Maven. You entertained me for almost an hour with this, then made me feel teary eyed. You pulled emotion of of a person better with this video than any Hollywood production. You articulated things so well .
Honestly man thanks for being so eloquent and respectful around the Chris Benoit stuff. That was the most in touch and genuine take I have heard. I hope the wwe picks you up and you can help them become relevant again.. if that’s something you want.
Damn, man feels like 2007 again
he was a legit hero, mostly because he loved his son so much and you could tell- as well as such an incredible wrestler.
when i heard what happened i was in shock.
Powerful ending to this one. Benoit was a machine in the ring and I always wonder how people would regard him if it had not ended the way it did. May be a top 5, top 10 worker of all time. It’s tough to go back and watch though
People would regard him as one of the best workers of all time and he'd a hall of fame for sure.
Not for me. Or... maybe it is, but not for the same reason as for others. I understand that Chris lost his mind. I understand why he lost his mind. And I understand that WWE did a lot of things to minimize the risk of Benoit-esque things to happen. Benoit inadvertently taught WWE a serious lesson... WWE still doesn't got it fully though. But things are changing for better. And when I see indy wrestlers doing the stuff that is banned in WWE for health-safety reasons the only question I ask is "Is it worth?". And the answer is ALWAYS NO. Wrestling shouldn't be the way to destroy your health beyond repair. Benoit destroyed himself beyond repair and he took others with himself because of the side effects of that destruction.
Benoit is innocent. Eddie had to be murdered first in order to get Benoit and his son and his wife. Had those two not been there when the murder happened. Those two would be murdered on a different day.
The Cripppler was a BEAST in the ring.
Without a shadow of a doubt he would be in the Hall of Fame had this tragedy never happened
When I first saw Maven on screen, I wouldn’t have thought in a million years he would be such a great storyteller with a great outlet for those stories. Also, Cornette was always the best heel in the business for decades and, his stories are great, too. Thanks for giving this old guy a walk down memory lane, my friend.
1st, THANK YOU… honestly I think I may have uncovered a skill not even I knew I had.
2nd, Cornette is SUCH A good heel. Him managing the Midnight Express is some of the best work EVER!
I just binged all three episodes of this series. I loved it! I grew up watching this era of wrestling. Thank you so much for your videos. I hope you see as much growth and success as possible in 2024! Your positivity and honesty with such high levels of respect to your co workers and their families is truly a sight to behold.
Damn you're good at this.
I had the pleasure of meeting you at a bar in Doylestown, PA, back in 2008 or 2009. You immediately stopped what you're doing and gave all your attention to me and my friends, who were all WWE fans. You are one of two wrestlers I have met out in the world and not at an event. The other was Ricky Steamboat. I consider myself extremely fortunate to have met two genuinely nice, kind, and classy professionals like yourselves.
Keep up the great work.
kiss me pretty
@@fgcpeak9591 I'LL DO IT LATER!
Woah, my hometown
Spot on with Jeff Hardy being an awesome guy to meet, he had time for EVERYONE at a regular house show.
You handled the Chris Benoit segment very well & that is something I’ve said before, by erasing him, you do make Nancy and Daniel become a footnote when you hear his name. Really great point about talking about him to possibly help a future family avoid that happening if possible.
👊🏾
Just watching these videos really lets me relive everything! Thank you for burning that line between us and the legends. You are awesome Maven!. .
Shelton is an amazing guy. Has been and always will be
Cool Regal impression, lad! 😂 Thank you Maven for this series. Really cool hearing stories of other wrestlers. Didn't expect Benoit at the end.
About Benoit, Couldnt have said all that better myself...
Your right about needing to keep dialogue open about what happened, because when the talking stops, history tends to repeat itself...
You dealt with the subject with dignity, grace and respect...Keep up the good work, we absolutely love what your doing...
In future could you go in depth about subjects like Tough Enough and winning and how some of your biggest moments came about
Dude this is an awesome channel to find! In 2002 my parents saw you wrestle and obviously loved your name! Had your action figure all throughout my childhood, happy to see that you're still doing awesome
THE best ex-wrestler channel on youtube hands down. Theres zero bitterness or agenda, and all professionalism.
That Booker impersonation was spot on. We need to see more of that lmaoooo
40 min?! Holy cow Maven spoilings us out here
You mentioned in one video about the fears of rising in the WWE and selfdoubts like not having the mic skills or charisma for it and seeing how well spoken, funny, and animated you are when speaking on CZcams, you most definitely have so much charisma and a great speaking voice. I enjoy your videos very much my dude! Really glad I found your channel ❤
I don’t know how you ended up on my feed, I don’t even watch wrestling but I’ve binged these videos for the past week. This guy is charisma personified
I've always felt that keeping Chris Benoit's name swept under the rug was a bad move. You've said it...not talking about it takes away from the lives that were taken and the memories people had with them. We should always talk about those we've lost, no "forget" they ever existed. This was a great segment and I can't wait to see more videos in the future!
Stacy Keibler was on a different brand, she's on Raw but she's always been travelling with Maven and Orton. When Stacy was introduced this year in the Hall of Fame, there were videos of her interacting with Rey Mysterio and HHH and she seems to be very nice and very missed by people. Aside from being close friends with Torrie and Mick Foley too. Victoria said her and Molly always give a beating to Stacy every single match but she never complained nor said no. She's just my favorite Diva ever
Much respect, especially for how you handled the Chris Benoit conversation. I can't even think about that situation without getting emotional. I had been a huge fan of Benoit, went to a number of house shows where Benoit & Angle were the main event, neither one of them even acknowledging the audience, they just wanted to have a freaking intense pro wrestling match of the type that you didn't see anyone having at that time. So, yeah, Benoit deserves all the kudos for how great a pro wrestler he was as well as all the horror at what he did with the end of his life and what he did to two other human beings. RIP, Nancy & Daniel.
I found your channel!! I remember you from the WWE!!
I really enjoy your videos and love hearing your stories 😊
Keep them coming!! ☮️
One of the best wrestling channels on YT!!! Keep up the good work Maven.
"Jeff was one of those guys that didn't say NO to anything that was presented to him"! "I mean that in a good way" 😂😂 This gave me a little chuckle!
Hi Maven, I don't usually comment on YT videos but I just discovered your channel and enjoy your content immensely. I am older now, but growing up as a kid in the 90s I was a huge wrestling fan. It's great to hear about your experience in the industry. Never a boring video!
Hey Maven. Just wanted to say thanks for this channel. Your content, presentation and persona are really great. I mostly stopped watching the WWE shows around 2006 but I'm still interested about stuff related to the business.
I think people do talk about Benoit and the events in 2007. I do think the big issue with WWE not mentioning it partially stems from the idea that they may be marketing it by discussing it, which would be seen as in poor taste. But I deffo agree on the importance of it being a learning experience to prevent it from happening again.
Which is why WWE should talk about it. What happened to him was years of physical and/or substance abuse which was common practice in the industry at the time. His death made the industry serious about CTEs and other head trauma related injuries, probably saved Edge and Bryan's lives too.
Still, what he did was unforgivable, objectively. But life is hardly ever black and white. And just deleting him from history is a great disservice to what he and others went through for the industry.
17:20 I’m listening to this as I go to sleep and when you said “Work on yo game” I swear to the big man Ik exactly who you were talking about 😂😂 that impression was immaculate
You’re a class act, Maven. You’re a very humble, down to earth guy… really enjoyed this video.
Man by the time you wrestled, I did not watch Pro Wrestling, but what you archived there, or the fact that you even made it there, definitely deserves respect! 💪😎
“The greatest night of Tori Wilson’s life”😂😂
"The monster" snapped in him for the little care they gave it to his serious problems that he had in his head and what happen unfortunately happened and should not have ever happened .
I'm sure he wasn't the friendliest man in the world but probably before when he was a little more healthier he wasn't a bad person and a bad father at all , the brain problems he had made him change completely until he became a psycho sociopath , a shame for him and obviously much more by Nancy and Daniel .
I loved your position with your opinion towards Chris, you have to respect his great career, his professionalism because as a wrestler he was one of the best even though he has done what he has done which was a such a sad tragedy .
Great video Mave and I hope next year is much better than this year was for you .
Loving this run. Great seeing bro adding a new chapter to his story by debriefing his career and sharing knowledge with positivity, humility and authenticity.
Everytime someone who knew Chris talks about him, they always talk about the kind person he was and how in disbalief they were when the incident happened. It's tough being reminded of this today, as an adult, with a child about Daniel's age. But you are right and I have the outmost respect for you and love how you talked about it. Mental illness awareness cause by years of abused to the brain due to concussions, need to be spread to prevent this from happening again. RIP Daniel, Nancy and Chris.
Maven, that was a fantastic video and loved your thoughts on Benoit. You are, by far, the most charismatic and engaging wrestling personality in recent memory here. Keep up the great work man and thank you.
I hadn't begun watching wrestling during this era, I never got to experience Chris Benoit while he lived. What a complete tragedy, the way you handled it and presented it gave me chills and left me in tears. I cannot even fathom what it must have been like to know the guy, or worse yet, his family. Thank you for sharing, I hope we get to see you on TV one day, I am sure you would receive a wonderful pop, especially as this channel grows more and more.
Honestly, I can't even call myself a wrestling fan but I truly enjoy your videos. Keep them coming!!
Almost 17 years on and it’s certainly no easier to talk about what happened.I can respect the thoughts and memories you have since you actually knew him but I think for most it will remain an unforgiven act.100% agree there should always be open discussion with ppl you trust if your going through some shit so that never happens again.I gotta admit when you put the picture’s of Daniel up I had a few tears rolling,such a sad event and just thank you for talking about it you might help someone else out there for doing so.Your the best mate👍🇦🇺
The Booker T impression was incredible
Warms my heart hearing you talk so nice about Jeff, especially w the discourse around him rn. He’ll always be my alltime favorite
He’s one of my all time favorites too! One of the nicest guys I have ever known
Amazing as always man. It’s always an honor to listen to you talk about the business. We need more like you in wrestling.
This man has such class. Love the videos Mav. Keep up the fantastic work
Thank you Maven for making these videos. I feel like I get to live my childhood dream of walking into a WWE locker room and getting to know how each superstar is really like and not just what we see on camera. You make me feel like I know which guys I can be friends with, can trust and which guys I should stay away from. Things I would never know had you not made these videos. So thank you and keep up the great work!
Brilliantly spoken as always, particularly the last few minutes. Love the videos Maven!
Nice to see Benoit is finally being talked about. That's a shoot from Heyman which shows you can separate the man from the work, a Mt Rushmore from Taker which shows likewise, and now you've also confirmed it. I hope this prompts fans to take their heads out of the sand a little, and face the elephant in the room when it comes to this business.
Undertaker mentioned him on his podcast about his favorite little guys to wrestle.
"separate the man from the work" bro no way y'all nuts. This dude is a monster. A parasite, he deserves nothing. Wont make me feel bad for him. I'm glad he's gone.
Exactly been plenty of accused killer associated killers and woman abusers go through wwe and most of them never got the same treatment from the fans
@ants5449 did they murder a 7 year old? JFC. Benoit simps are the cringiest of cringe.
@@cl5470 murd3ring kids is trendy now so.....
Great insight Maven, thanks for the uploads. Always look forward to listening to your stories and time in the WWE! Keep it up and hope you're well!
Chris Benoit was/is one of my top wrestlers of all time, having watched him from WCW to the WWF. His and Eddie's passings really killed the wrestling fanboy in me, esp. Chris's with its surprising, grim, and insane details. I really appreciate the tact you took with his segment, and the significant acknowledgment of Woman/Nancy and Daniel.
Totally appreciate the way you discussed The Rabid Wolverine Chris Benoit, he was one of the few reasons I kept watching wrestling after Hulk Hogan broke my heart and became Hollywood, I would only watch WWE occasionally untill the Radicals became a part of WWE and then I seldom missed a show, he was my favorite wrestler for a long time and after the tragedy I didn't watch wrestling until 2018. You are amazing Maven I didn't actually get to see you often when you were still in WWE, I have been rewatching the attitude era and ruthless aggression eras a lot and I loved the fact that a school teacher became a WWE superstar, and you are still impacting and teaching people without trying is awesome. Keep up the great work. You are awesome
Maven, your channel is great. I just recently discovered it, and I've been binge watching the episodes ever since.
What a way to end the video, a total switch up from your normal outros and it was totally appropriate and respectful while also being mindful of the gravity of the truth. Great stuff Maven.