HHH & 'Taker Fined by WWE

he WWE announced on their corporate website at corporate.wwe.com that Triple H and The Undertaker were fined for a chair shot to the head in their match this past Sunday at WrestleMania XXVII. Here is the announcement from their site:

Pursuant to WWE's Concussion policy, the stunt of using a folded metal chair shot to the head is prohibited. Triple H and The Undertaker have both been fined for violating this policy at WrestleMania XXVII. WWE penalizes through fine and/or suspension for violation of this policy, which is unchanged and still in effect.

I wonder if this is just a work like when John Cena was fined for using 'ass'?

I don't know if it will be a work or they will just get $5 took off their WrestleMania fee, something like that, they can't suspend either of them because they don't do much anyway and I doubt they would fine them too much either, both would be well in the know beforehand about the outcome

I reckon both knew and both were told beforehand not to have a chair shot to the head, but with both being Old School they probably thought "We'll do it anyway, it'll make the match look better".

Probably decided on it and knew they would get a nominal fine. WWE would have to as a result of negative publicity surrounding head injuries to Benoit and Test.

Then again how much is the boss going to fine his son in law??

Maybe it was a work in the sense that they allowed it to happen and then agreed to announce the fine so it shows the WWE in a good light?

King Beer wrote:Maybe it was a work in the sense that they allowed it to happen and then agreed to announce the fine so it shows the WWE in a good light?

I would imagine so. It is right that things like head shots don't happen anymore, but as a one off I think it really added to the match.

I admit when i saw it i was like wait? I thought chairshots to the head were banned. I thought it was unprotected chairshots though?

It was a beautiful chairshot though wasn't it! It made me do a doubletake as I haven't seen one in a while obviously!

To be quite frank, Im getting a bit tired of this Health & Safety version of the WWE. I think a chairshot to the head adds a bit of "Woah!" factor to a match. I mean, lately we've seen the Rock using the likes of "Candy Ass" and I was hoping that maybe it'd be going back to what it used to be. But now this? They're taught how to take chair shots. I mean, ones to the back or arms can be just as dangerous (ok, they dont cause brain damage) but they can still tear muscles or break bones.
I mean, it's even got so pathetic that they blank out the swear word in the Raw theme?!

(Sorry about the mini rant!)

Jammy31 wrote:To be quite frank, Im getting a bit tired of this Health & Safety version of the WWE. I think a chairshot to the head adds a bit of "Woah!" factor to a match. I mean, lately we've seen the Rock using the likes of "Candy Ass" and I was hoping that maybe it'd be going back to what it used to be. But now this? They're taught how to take chair shots. I mean, ones to the back or arms can be just as dangerous (ok, they dont cause brain damage) but they can still tear muscles or break bones.
I mean, it's even got so pathetic that they blank out the swear word in the Raw theme?!

(Sorry about the mini rant!)

While I will agree with you in terms of much of the PC nonsense that goes on in the WWE now I do not about head shots. There is no way to learn how to take a chair shot to the head.

The biggest evidence for why they should be outlawed (or at least used in only exceptional situations) is that during the autopsy of Test they discovered that he had the brain or a 85 year old with Alzheimers.

Yes it is about entertainment today, but as an organisation it is right that they try to protect the long term health of people who work for them. Plus, from a $ POV I am sure that people would have cases for suing them as an organisation if people did develop brain injuries etc.

Worth noting on the replay you can see 'Taker get his hands up. As Miky said it's unprotected shots that are dangerous; I think in one of Foley's books he said how important it was to get hands up to protect yourself - and seeing some of the brutal shots between him and the Rock around 2000 you can see why!

In this case I have to agree that this would have been agreed and the fine is to present a shiny public face for WWE

'taker got his hands up. There is no right way to take a chairshot to the head, but if there was to be one, 'takers @ WM was how it should be done.

Anyway, how does fining the Undertaker sit with kayfabe exactly? He gets fined for getting clobbered with a steel chair does he? A bit odd if you ask me.

JoshSansom wrote:While I will agree with you in terms of much of the PC nonsense that goes on in the WWE now I do not about head shots. There is no way to learn how to take a chair shot to the head.

The biggest evidence for why they should be outlawed (or at least used in only exceptional situations) is that during the autopsy of Test they discovered that he had the brain or a 85 year old with Alzheimers.

Yes it is about entertainment today, but as an organisation it is right that they try to protect the long term health of people who work for them. Plus, from a $ POV I am sure that people would have cases for suing them as an organisation if people did develop brain injuries etc.

Oh! My apologies. I never knew about the Test autopsy. Well, I take back what I said about the chairshots to the head. Again, I apologise.

Wasn't that Benoit's autopsy?

Can remember the sight of Austin nailing the Rock when Mankind first won the title - scary to watch these days. And of course the famous I Quit match with Rock and Mankind, even harder to watch if you've seen Beyond the Mat. You can't deny seeing a chairshot at Wrestlemania after so long gave it huge gravitas. Though I have to admit though I winced more at the repeated chair beatdown on Taker's back during this match.

Have to agree headshots needed to be banned, or at least used more sparingly - when you think back to the late 90's when you'd see them in midcard matches on non-PPV matches, and the Benoit/Test facts, it's no surprise they've been outlawed.

Some of the chair shots back in the day were ridiculous! Even if the chairs were made from material similar to that of a baking tray, which I don't believe they were, that would hurt alot. It's like getting chopped, I imagine that must be the most painful move to take.

I personally think the worst chair shot I've seen in recent was on TNA.

The chair shot that Homicide delivered to Rob Terry was insane.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rT1kI1h_oW4

this 1 by any chance dt ?

If only people could take them like Taker i doubt they would be banned completely

Can't check it right now Nando...but I'll have a look later.

I thought this chairshot was pretty bad:

Kane Knocks Out Justin Gabriel

It's a complete sham and proof of how dishonest a company WWE is.

Anyone who thinks that a chairshot to the head and a swear word in Cena's promo weren't approved by the boss beforehand is naive, to be honest.

King Beer wrote:Wasn't that Benoit's autopsy?

Benoit's too, but when they did the one on Test they found very similar things.

Jammy31 wrote:Oh! My apologies. I never knew about the Test autopsy. Well, I take back what I said about the chairshots to the head. Again, I apologise.

No worries mate - it is quite scary to think actually! Imagine what Mick Foley's brain must be like by now....

JoshSansom wrote:No worries mate - it is quite scary to think actually! Imagine what Mick Foley's brain must be like by now....

I think the Rock's must be quite muddled after the chair shot he took from the ropes when he went to hit mankind and it rebounded of the ropes !!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AItQ8uknmcE&feature=related

A couple of my favourites. The hardys vs Brock Lesnar.

Some of these chair shot posted are nuts. That one on Rob Terry, I'd probably be dead from that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BM35nCdVdEs&feature=related

beat that

I would hate to think how bad their score would be on Brain Training....

fernando wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rT1kI1h_oW4

this 1 by any chance dt ?

That's the one Nando. I love the way the blood starts trickling down. That was when they were really pushing him as "The Freak"...played so well in to that persona. Taking a shot like that and still standing is impressive.

How about the one that Maven took from 'Taker at the Royal Rumble a few years back? I can't find a link to it as yet but I have many tiny gremlins searching for it as we speak!

Here are another couple that are pretty bad: -
Taker Vs. Mr Kennedy

The next one doesn't look as brutal, but because he doesn't catch it right, the damage is bad: -
Jeff Hardy Vs. Mr Anderson

Cymru1991 wrote:How about the one that Maven took from 'Taker at the Royal Rumble a few years back? I can't find a link to it as yet but I have many tiny gremlins searching for it as we speak!

Think it might be this one: -
Maven Vs. Undertaker It's at 1:26ish

David Tails wrote:

Cymru1991 wrote:How about the one that Maven took from 'Taker at the Royal Rumble a few years back? I can't find a link to it as yet but I have many tiny gremlins searching for it as we speak!

Think it might be this one: -
Maven Vs. Undertaker It's at 1:26ish

That's the one! Cheers DT!

That Jeff Hardy one is a horrible botch. I know we are talking about Hardy who was probably off his face on meth but how difficult is it to hit someone on the head with the "right" part of the chair? Mental gash to the back of his head. The one he takes from Taker is pretty insane too. The crowds reaction makes that shot what it is.

AberdeenSteve wrote:That Jeff Hardy one is a horrible botch. I know we are talking about Hardy who was probably off his face on meth but how difficult is it to hit someone on the head with the "right" part of the chair? Mental gash to the back of his head. The one he takes from Taker is pretty insane too. The crowds reaction makes that shot what it is.

Yeah the one from Jeff was the one that led to the "concussion" thing. Not sure if it was an angle or not, but to be honest...seeing the shot and the damage done, I'm willing to believe it was real.

This is the reason I don't watch wwe anymore PGTV

prettyboy1304 wrote:This is the reason I don't watch wwe anymore PGTV

Because people aren't destroying other people's brains for your entertainment?

When a thread goes from "Benoit had the brain of an 85 year old Alzheimers patient" to "look at this chairshot! this is sick lol!" I've got to say I'm pretty disgusted.

Davieswasacrippledtart wrote:

prettyboy1304 wrote:This is the reason I don't watch wwe anymore PGTV

Because people aren't destroying other people's brains for your entertainment?

When a thread goes from "Benoit had the brain of an 85 year old Alzheimers patient" to "look at this chairshot! this is sick lol!" I've got to say I'm pretty disgusted.

It wasn't an unprotected chair shot Taker had his hands up. Chair shots as such isn't the reason I don't watch as much anymore it's the PGTV stuff. Poor tag team division and a lack of high flyers and unpredictable fighters who do moves you don't expect.

Davieswasacrippledtart wrote:

prettyboy1304 wrote:This is the reason I don't watch wwe anymore PGTV

Because people aren't destroying other people's brains for your entertainment?

When a thread goes from "Benoit had the brain of an 85 year old Alzheimers patient" to "look at this chairshot! this is sick lol!" I've got to say I'm pretty disgusted.

To be fair Crips, the thread was about chair shots, so placing video clips to some of the more brutal ones was relevant.

Did you even consider that the people posting the links were doing it to provide evidence AGAINST chair shots? I agree that chair shots should have no place in the industry...they only do damage...but you can't honestly expect me to accept that chair shots are the sole reason for that. You don't think the drug use or the numerous moves that drop them on their head play a part?

To tar everyone that posted a link with that same brush seems fairly reactive.

In that case David, I will say that I'm pretty disgusted with anyone who posted a video of a chair shot because they enjoyed that chairshot. Anyone who posted a video to show that they are against chairshots, that's different.

I think you are using some broad strokes of your own. On one hand saying that the thread is about chairshots so it's fine, and on the other seemingly taking me to task for not addressing the problem of drugs or moves that drop wrestlers on their heads. Is it about chairshots or not?

By the way, how many people posted their video saying "look how foolish and dangerous this is, I'm glad WWE has come to its senses and banned it"?!

David Tails wrote:

Davieswasacrippledtart wrote:

prettyboy1304 wrote:This is the reason I don't watch wwe anymore PGTV

Because people aren't destroying other people's brains for your entertainment?

When a thread goes from "Benoit had the brain of an 85 year old Alzheimers patient" to "look at this chairshot! this is sick lol!" I've got to say I'm pretty disgusted.

To be fair Crips, the thread was about chair shots, so placing video clips to some of the more brutal ones was relevant.

Did you even consider that the people posting the links were doing it to provide evidence AGAINST chair shots? I agree that chair shots should have no place in the industry...they only do damage...but you can't honestly expect me to accept that chair shots are the sole reason for that. You don't think the drug use or the numerous moves that drop them on their head play a part?

To tar everyone that posted a link with that same brush seems fairly reactive.

Completely agree.

Mick Foley has taken hundreds of shots to the head, he's never killed his family, or struck out at his wife or violated a wellness policy.

Chair Shots damage brain cells but in my opinion no more than heading a football repeatedly throughout a 20 year career. It's about the chemicals these guys put in their bodies and the toxic reactions that cause tissue damage within the brain and therefore disrupt the bloodflow, cause psychotic tendancies and an unhinged mental state.

How does it compare to a career of a boxer? Surely the multitude of blows to a boxer’s skull must be at least on a par?

Got to agree with KB.

MMA and Boxing should ban punching and any form of headshots if that is the way that your arguement is going Crips. Look at the state of Muhammad Ali. The majority of the guys that have died or killed themselves in recent years have all been drug related. It isn't just headshots that are doing them damage, being repeatedly slammed on your back or taking heavy falls is just as dangerous in the long term.

Hero wrote:How does it compare to a career of a boxer? Surely the multitude of blows to a boxer’s skull must be at least on a par?

It's different, Boxers fight once, twice a year? In sparring they are protected, it isn't constant raining blows to the head, boxers work all over the upper body.

Blow's to the top of the head are prohibited in boxing and generally result in a deduction of a point.

Davieswasacrippledtart wrote:In that case David, I will say that I'm pretty disgusted with anyone who posted a video of a chair shot because they enjoyed that chairshot. Anyone who posted a video to show that they are against chairshots, that's different.

I think you are using some broad strokes of your own. On one hand saying that the thread is about chairshots so it's fine, and on the other seemingly taking me to task for not addressing the problem of drugs or moves that drop wrestlers on their heads. Is it about chairshots or not?

By the way, how many people posted their video saying "look how foolish and dangerous this is, I'm glad WWE has come to its senses and banned it"?!

I'm using broad strokes? So you don't think this is a natural progression of the conversation? Head shots lead the discussion on to brain damage which leads on to drug abuse. That is a natural flow. It's not like I jumped in and completely changed the conversation is it? I also wasn't the first one to bring up the brain damage issue.

You are right...people did not post their links saying that they are glad they were banned...but you mentioned previously that they had been posted as "this is sick lol!" I don't remember anyone posting a link in that manner too.

In fact I think when I posted the Jeff Hardy Vs. Anderson one I explained that the chair shot didn't look so bad, but the angle at which it caught made it brutal.

Quite often though it’s the case that the losing boxer is either properly knocked out or due to the shot they cannot stand up and the ref stops the fight. That cannot be good long term surely?
And what are the rules in MMA regarding headshots?

Hero wrote:Quite often though it’s the case that the losing boxer is either properly knocked out or due to the shot they cannot stand up and the ref stops the fight. That cannot be good long term surely?
And what are the rules in MMA regarding headshots?

Doubtful Hero, but still, the recovery time in Boxing is alot longer.

In MMA anyone is TKO'd it's an instant 6 month ban on competing.

I could only find these MMA Rules regards any form of head contact:

Fouls
Butting with the head
Hair pulling
Striking to the spine or the back of the head
Kicking the head of a grounded opponent
Kneeing the head of a grounded opponent
Spiking an opponent to the canvas on his head or neck. (see Piledriver)

EDIT: I dont watch MMA or anything like that, so I can only go on what I found.

Mick Foley is not the best example of a wrestler who took repeated chair shots to the head and "it never harmed him". It has done great damage to his brain and he freely admits that.

As for boxing and MMA, yes they are brutal sports but a) the competitors have very few matches and only when they have been medically cleared (as opposed to wrestlers who work hurt and sometimes with concussions) and b) wrestling is scripted. Wrestling doesn't need chairshots to the head to make it work.

I think it's overly-defensive to suggest for a second that anyone posted any of those videos with the main priority of highlighting the dangers of chair shots to the head. We all know that. If I watch World's Most Amazing Videos it's so that I can say "wow look at that!". It's not so I can make myself more aware of the dangers of drag racing and motorbike jumps. At least admit that the reason those videos were posted were so everyone could say "that was sick lol!" or something similar. If not all of them then the majority of them.

I applaud WWE for banning chairshots to the head, but the chairshot in the Triple H vs Undertaker match proved that they aren't genuinely invested in stopping it. The same way we know they aren't genuinely invested in stopping wrestlers dying (hence why the Wellness Policy was only introduced after the bad PR of the Guerrero death, years after wrestlers started dying young, and only tightened when the Benoit incident showed what a sham it was). The same way we know they aren't genuinely invested in tackling homophobia.

I can't believe that with all the deaths in wrestling there are still people who will defend a chair shot to the head. Of course not all of those deaths can be attributed to that, but they are part of a culture, of "manning up", of "paying your dues", of wrestling companies looking down on anyone who has an injury and asks for time off. Of wrestlers feeling so much pressure to look and act the part every night that they take artificial muscle enhancements and ridiculous risks to prove to management they are over with the audience. The same culture that causes so many to turn to pain pills, the number one cause of deaths among wrestlers. Another difference to boxing and MMA: Professional fighters don't take big bumps, don't have to have a certain look to get to the top, don't "pay dues" in the same way. In addition they are encouraged to take time off to heal; boxing and MMA promoters want their competitors to be fully healthy so that they will win matches and be more marketable and valuable.

Obviously, the individuals involved are as culpable as the companies they work for. If they don't like it they can quit. You could say if I don't like it I can stop watching wrestling. But that doesn't mean the company should be allowed to get away with setting those standards. And the fact that so many people enjoy those standards, and enjoy watching people risk serious damage, the bigger the risk the better, well like I said, that does disgust me. Sorry if anyone is offended by that, but I hope it at least makes one person think about it (even if they decide I'm wrong!).

Davieswasacrippledtart wrote:I think it's overly-defensive to suggest for a second that anyone posted any of those videos with the main priority of highlighting the dangers of chair shots to the head.

I at no point claimed that everyone posted it for that reason.

I myself made a comment about the Rob Terry chair shot being impressive. But the context in which it was said it was intended as a simple statement of fact. I wasn't saying that I took any pleasure from the chair shot. Just that to take such a shot and still remain standing was impressive. I don't think you can deny that.

I personally posted my links as evidence. Nothing more.