Dark Side of the Ring (TV Series) Benoit - Part Two (2020) User Reviews

Scary stuff, but very interesting

[EasternZZ · 10/10 · 22 September 2020]

Part 2 deals with the murders committed by Benoit, and they are disturbing. We get some never before seen pictures, as well as first person descriptions from the cop who actually found them. This is some great stuff here, especially if you are very interested in the Benoit murders. You get reactions from his son and his sister-in-law, his friends, as well as those in the industry.

They do try to come up with an explanation for his murders but ultimately nobody knows what happened, he just literally went crazy. The WWE obviously doesn't ever want to mention Benoit's name again, but you can't pretend he never existed.

10/10

Great conclusion

[gwwhsgwwhs · 9/10 · 7 January 2022]

The show bought it together fantastically, anyone that liked wrestling from the early 90s to the mid 00s should watch this and the last episode, you'll appreciate what the real people behind the ring went through. Horrible thing that happened but a really good documentary.

Amazing summary of a terrible tragedy.

[fruitsofeveonline · 10/10 · 19 May 2024]

This two partner about Chris and Nancy Benoit, is one of the most devastating and heavy hitting stories in Entertainment.

A terrible affair that could easily be treated wrongly by a documentary if not handled well. But the production team did a tremendous job highlighting the various aspects that influenced this case while treating it with the utmost respect, while maintaining the necessary distance.

There's some aspects I wanted a bit more info on, like Christopher Nowinski's CTE research and how it affected wrestling, and obviously WWE's inside handling of the matter. But working within 45min episodes, which this 2-parter already breaks, makes it understandable that some parts have to be kept to the necessary bits.

I disagree with two of the reviews saying that the documentary missed interviewing Regal, because he "knew more". Regal was (probably) aware of the domestic violence issues due to proximity, therefore had a sense of what might have occurred, hence choosing his words more carefully at WWEs tribute. But apart from that there's absolutely no indication from anything, including Regal himself that he "knew more", as in an "actual motive", as some conspiracy theorists claim to this day.

I think Dark Side of the Ring has it's fair share of episodes leaving you with more questions than answers, but this two parter is as focused and well done as you could want, from a summary of this terrible and tragic event.

Nearly great

[JurijFedorov · 8/10 · 8 February 2024]

Good but leaves out a ton of details and stories. This is a basic overview. We get a few emotional dramatic interviews and lots of tears. We don't hear too many stories or get that many details about who Benoit was as a personality or how he went crazy. Most people here say stuff like "he did something to his wife and she moved away from him then they got back together". So what did he do? Apparently that's a secret. And then they point out that one guy who lived in the same town as Benoit refused to say anything positive about the person while everyone else who did interviews praised his personality when he died. Then it was uncovered it was a murder/suicide and this one guy was the only person in the wrestling industry who made sure to not sound crazy as he clearly knew what had happened while everyone else was clueless. Yet we get no extra info about this. It's just that some knew something more. We don't know what they knew or how they knew it. Or why the wrestling company Benoit worked for went out and created a giant show praising him before even looking into how they died. They knew all 3 were dead and right from the start it was rumored what happened yet somehow a billion dollar company didn't have any clue? That's impossible. Yet the documentary never digs into this. We have plenty of interviews where people go into who knew what at what point that reveal much more so it's a shame this documentary avoids this. Of course most of this stuff is still not talked about openly as most wrestlers avoid the topic. But there is much more info on it.

It feels like an overly dramatic tear-fest. Yet it's still very enticing and well-made. I would say it lacks crucial info and skips most of the story and drama to focus on the personal feelings of the people interviewed in 2020. It works for sure, but it should have been a tad better. Maybe create a step by step story telling us everything.

Benoit - Part Two

[Prismark10 · 6/10 · 26 August 2020]

The second part on Chris Benoit focuses more on the murder-suicide aspect and what could had led to such behaviour.

The program both looks at substance abuse and brain damage. Although wrestling is fixed, I noted that the promoters did not seem to have ever realized that constantly hitting people in the head with steel chairs would not cause permanent damage. I did like Matthew Randazzo's contribution.

The program alleges that wrestler William Regal might have known more as to what Benoit really was like. Both men lived in the same town. It would had been nice if Regal would had been interviewed so the audience could have learned more. I presume he declined.

The Regal footage was from a tribute show that WWE put out straight after his death. Unlike others he was less fawning. Vince McMahon and the WWE were not aware of the full circumstances of the deaths of the Benoit family. A few days later, the show stood as an embarrassment.

Unlike the first episode, here Sandra Toffoloni the sister of Nancy Benoit does tell of past abusive behaviour that Chris Benoit had displayed. They had a volatile relationship.

Also I did not realise that some of the interviews had taken place at the same time, so others would had been present. When David Benoit breaks down, Chavo Guerrero Jr is on hand to support him. David also is seen with Sandra. They had not seen each other for some years, the Benoit family had him kept distant from Nancy's family.