| FEUD PROFILE "The Living Legend" vs. "The Missile" "Come on, the man's almost 50 years old. He doesn't belong in the ring. Please, he's been on his back more times than Heidi Fleiss. He belongs in a nice old folks home with the rest of America's favorite old farts." "I've been around since that kid was in diapers. I've seen more time in the ring than that psycho ever will."
"The Missile" Mickey Benedict: multi-time CSWA Presidential Champion, retired, and now wheelchair-bound. Not two men that you'd normally think have a history. Unless you know the rest of the story. Below is a look back into the archives. We've taken, modified and added to a special feud profile from 1996. We hope it will help give you some insight into the feud between these two men.
Benedict's first bad run-in with Windham happened during one of Benedict's interviews. "I was talking to Buckley, and the psycho just came out and popped me in the had with a chair. No rhyme or reason, he just tried to split my head open." When asked for his reasons behind the attack, Windham simply responded, "Why not?" That first attack was early in 1992, when Windham came back from his retirement. But he wasn't done with Mickey so quickly. In June 1992, Windham would get a match against Benedict for the National championship. Mark handily defeated the older man, leaving the two-time National Champ in the ring humiliated as well as defeated. "You know, I guess MIckey believes in that old addage, "Everything gets better with age." But he should know that when your flab starts hanging down to your knees, it's time to hang up the tights. Speaking of tights, for goodness sakes, doesn't he know that spandex just isn't for him?" After that, Windham had some real competition to worry about by the name of Steven Flair. But Benedict, haunted by the terrible loss, took a sabbatical from the CSWA for a while. Two two wouldn't cross paths again for a long time. But as 1994 rolled around, so did their feud. Benedict had defeated P. Vicious in a loser-leaves-town match, and promised that no one could retire him from the CSWA. Insiders say that Windham vowed to be the one to do the job, and said he could do it with one arm tied behind his back. It was around that time Windham was suspended from the CSWA for his savage attack on Jack Roiter. After the suspension, Benedict was the only wrestler to openly comment that Windham should shut up and pay the fine issued by CSWA officials. Again, sources close to Hornet and Windham say this was when Mark made Mickey number one on his famous "Hit List." Hornet was unable to convince Windham to move on and fry bigger fish, but Mark wouldn't listen. It may have been the worst decision in his career. The two met in the Unified World Tournament, with, once again, Windham easily defeating Benedict. Windham, under the guise of "Mr. Magnificent", would go on to win the Unified Title, even while suspended from the CSWA. Even then, the feud continued. In what was billed at "DREAM MATCH III" at ELVIS LIVES VIII, Windham faced the number one challenger to the title, Hornet, in the rematch of the decade. Benedict had been asked to act as a commentator during the match with Bill Buckley. In the ring, each man had won one fall apiece. Near the end of the third fall, Windham had Hornet sprawled out on the mat after a DDT. He began to go for a cover, when at the commentator's table, Benedict used the nickname "The Living Psycho" to refer to Mark. Windham forgot the pin and headed straight over to the ropes. He grabbed Mickey by the hair, pulled him to the apron, and then lifted him by his shirt and tie. Windham yelled at Mickey never to call him that name again. Mickey replied simply, popping Mark in the head with he microphone in his hand. Hornet, unaware of what had gone on, rolled Windham up and got the three-count, as well as the Unified Title. Both men were furious at Benedict for interfering in the match. A couple of months later, Benedict sold his Board of Directors position to a "Japanese businessman" who turned out to be Ray S. Cornette. Both Hornet and Mark condemned Benedict for his actions. Mickey would disappear from the scene for a while. Mark did the same, leaving the CSWA for two weeks in search of some kind of direction. In the end, Mark found his father, who he thought had been killed years earlier. Mark's father, Alan, had also been a wrestler. Mickey Benedict, then a rookie and a heel, had attacked Alan Windham in order to get some notoriety. In the end, they had a retirement match, with Mickey cheating to win. When Mark returned, he tracked Benedict down at a press conference. Benedict was presiding over the signing of the Hornet/Randalls matches for the Unified Title. Windham busted up the press conference, yelling at Mickey from across the room. Mickey rushed Mark, but Windham sidestepped him, sending Benedict crashing into one of the cameras. Mark finished off the job with another steel chair, and Mickey ended up in the hospital. Following his recovery, Benedict helped send Windham out of the 1996 ULTRATITLE Tournament early by attacking him in two of his matches, injuring Mark's back. That set up a meeting between the two at Winter's Warriors VI. An electrified steel cage match with Mickey's career versus Windham's nickname, "The Living Legend." Windham thought nothing of the match, or the consequence of a loss. Blinded by his obsession of ending Benedict's career, Windham headed into the "Trial By Fire" too confident. Proof came in the added stipulation, Windham had to pin Mickey in under ten minutes....with one arm tied behind his back. The match was all Windham. But Mickey held on just past the ten minute mark, thus getting the win. While Mickey may have won the match and the nickname, he lost his career. Mark Windham whipped Benedict across the ring and into the electrified steel cage, where Mickey was electrocuted. After that match, Windham hardly wrestled except in tag team matches, and Benedict was, for the most part, silent. Three months passed before Mickey, now out of the hospital but confined to a wheelchair, called a press conference to challenge Windham to one final match at FISH FUND X: Mine Eyes Have Seen The Glory. Benedict put the one thing he had to offer on the table, the title of "The Living Legend." Windham couldn't refuse the challenge, and Mickey knew it. Since Mickey couldn't wrestle, he devised the "Mickey's Challenge" match. Benedict had been authorized by the CSWA to choose ANY wrestler under its purview. Mark Windham had to wrestle whoever Mickey chose if he wanted to get his nickname back. And for Windham, his nickname truly WAS his career... signifying the years it took him to establish his dominance and become known as "The Living Legend." "Timmy, forgive me, but a man's gotta do..... " In no shape to best his rival, Mickey restorted to a new tactic. He engaged Windham in mind games. Games which would eventually destroy Windham and send him on a three year search to find a lost part of himself. At FISH FUND X, Mickey shocked Windham and the world when he revealed his mystery choice to be Mark's younger brother, Timmy. At the time, Timmy "Muppet Kid" Windham was recovering from a neck injury suffered at the hands of El Nino. Timmy, forced by the rules of the match to come out, pleaded with Mark to let him take a cheap pin. Windham resisted, refusing at first to wrestle. Then, in what can only be described as the most horrible act in CSWA history, Mark chose his nickname over his owm brother by piledriving Timmy into the cement floor. Windham, who so deeply wanted to beat Benedict by any means necessary, forged a rift with Timmy that still exists to this day. Benedict sat at home and watched as the months went by with the Windham brothers beating each other senseless. In the spring of 1996, Mickey decided the story called for a new twist. He sought out long time rival, Alan Windham, presumed dead. Alan was thought to have died in a fire years ago when Mark and Timmy were kids. As Benedict retold the story, Alan was an FBI agent who saved his family by going on the run. Alan's introduction into the mix fanned the flames of the already explosive Timmy/Mark feud. Upon Alan's reappearance, Timmy welcomed his father back in his life with open arms, while Mark hated him with every ounce of his being. Mark accused Alan of abandoning his family, and forcing him to grow up too quickly. In the months that followed, Mark began to doubt that Alan was really his father. Since 1997 Mark Windham has lost virtually everything he has ever held dear in his life. The battle with Timmy, and Alan's reappearance proved too much for one man to take. Mickey had revenge at last, having driven Windham from the sport. In a cruel twist of fate, it was not Windham who finished Benedict but Mickey who all but 'retired' Mark. The game over in his eyes, Benedict slipped out of sight...no doubt watching the Windham brothers continue to self-destruct from afar. Mark, as has been well documented, began a search. For the past two and a half years, he hasn't been seen at his Sweetwater home. Instead he has been seen roaming the country like a man looking for something he's lost. The bizarre twist of Windham's fate, led to a divorce from his wife Jewels. Occasionally appearing for CSWA events, Windham has been increasingly hard to find. Those once close to him swear he has lost his mind, and even rivals have begun to pity the man once called "The Living Legend". In late 1998, in an attempt to end the feud with Timmy, Mark made headlines when he invited his younger brother to the Sweetwater cemetary where his parents were 'thought' to be buried. Windham dug up his father's grave, in an attempt to prove to Timmy that Mickey had cast a web of lies, that their father had been dead for years, and was not the man tormenting him at CSWA events for the past year. With DNA tests in hand, Mark dropped the bombshell to Timmy that their father, Alan Windham, had in fact died all those years ago. Timmy couldn't handle the truth, and sped away in Mark's car. Hours later, it was learned Timmy had been in an accident. Mark blamed himself. Even in a moment of truth, Mickey's lies still inflicted pain. Those close to Mark begged him to end the search and seek help. Windham simply grew more determined to find the light at the end of the tunnel. He drove deeper into the heart of the search, deeper into what he referred to as his "Lost Soul." His feud with his brother Timmy continued. At FISH FUND XI, Mark refused to go look for Timmy as a fire began in the FISH FUND Park Arena, eventually leading to an explosion which killed Timmy and severely injured Hornet. The revelation that Alan was a hoax seems to have brought Benedict back into the fray. Earlier this year, he began to appear at CSWA events. Windham, forced to wrestle to keep his CSWA contract alive, often left matches to chase after a mysterious man. The games had begun anew. Benedict toyed with Mark yet again just when sanity seemed to be around the corner. Windham could never 'find' Benedict. He often wondered out loud if the mystery man was nothing but his imagination....if the latest form of torment from Mickey, only lived in his head. At ELVIS LIVES XI, Hornet and Windham faced off in a Texas Death Match. During the match, Windham learned the images were real. Timmy Windham, thought to have been killed in the explosion at FISH FUND XI, wheeled Mickey Benedict halfway down the aisle. Enraged, Windham chased after them, only to be blindsided in the back by both men. Benedict continues to mock Windham. Allowing himself to come within arms reach, then he vanishes. Where does the feud go from here? What trick does Mickey have up his sleeve to further drive Windham into the realm of insanity? The basis of their feud has been the drive for each man to finish the other off. Windham failed in the beginning, and Benedict lived to destroy his life. Many have said that Mickey has in fact finished the job. Taking away all Windham had to his name, and playing him to the point where he threw it away. "The Awakening of the truths is upon us..... " For the past year, Windham has warned that the Awakening is near. To speculate what that means would be foolish. The search that has cost Mark his wife and child, career and countless friends is drawing to a close in his own words. Is it possible that Windham who has walked through the gates of hell, has found the path to heaven? He has spoken of truths that make up the man... light he has found on the path of his search, and a God that he had no idea existed before. When life was at its worst, is it possible that Windham has become his best? The truth he claims to have found, what does it represent? What lies may it uncover, what wrongs will it right? Many still argue he has lost his mind. And the awakening is nothing more than the final chapter in a sad, lonely life. The Time he says, is near. Heads, in his words, will roll. And somewhere Mickey Benedict sits, with Timmy Windham at his side. What power does Mickey have over the youngest Windham? How does he continue to fuel the fire of hatred within Mark's younger brother? Mickey lurks, perhaps terrified that the man he broke is at last whole and ready to settle the score. This time for good. |
The CS Tribune SPOTLIGHT shines the light on CSWA wrestlers, their careers, and their feuds, giving you an in-depth look at what makes and breaks the best in the sport. Don't miss the previous Hornet/GUNS Spotlight! Windham/Benedict Timeline While much of the action takes place before 1994, our computerized archives only pick up beginning then. Be sure to read the Spotlight in detail to fill in the gaps. ELVIS LIVES VIII:
Thanksgiving
Weekend Spectacular '94
Super Bowl Blast '95 1/31/95 Windham fights in the WHEEL OF DEATH to save the CSWA
WINTER'S WARRIORS VI: Trial By Fire 3/95 Mickey def. Windham in Electrified Steel Cage match FISH FUND X:
ELVIS LIVES IX 9/23/95 Crazy Like A Windham vs. Hornet/Timmy
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