Wide Grip Bench Press

[craigmeister]

Is there anything inherently bad about benching with a wide grip? Internet wisdom seems to be of the opinion that it will destroy your shoulders. Is there any basis to this?
I understand that there are impingement problems if you try to bench with your arms at 90 degrees to your body, but there is obviously a smaller angle that makes this a non-issue. Are there any other potential problems with using a wide grip?
Thanks.

[Mark Rippetoe]

It's very hard to use that better angle with a wide grip, as you should have found out by now. Other than that, the problem is not that it is inherently bad -- it just doesn't accomplish anything in particular besides training a shorter ROM, and that is not an accomplishment.