Pro Wrestling Chronicle

The plan for me last night was to sit down at 8 pm to watch Monday Night Raw and report on the site about the fake funeral service for the demise of the Mr. McMahon character. Those plans changed around 6 pm last night though. It was then that I got the call saying Chris Benoit and his family were found dead. Initially I was sad but I didn’t know the storm that was brewing up ahead.

I sat down and started to watch last night with Vince in the center of the ring explaining why the arena was empty and saying what they planned on doing for the next three hours. We then moved through a retrospective of the career of Chris Benoit that culiminated wth a replaying of the excellent triple threat match from Wrestlemania XX.

It was about an hour into the show that reports started circulating that the belief was Benoit himself had killed wife Nancy and son Daniel before taking his own life. As reports filtered in and I poured through them last night and this morning a reality started to form about what had happened.

In any form of entertainment we get attached to certain performers. Be it a singer, actor, sports star, etc we all latch on to one as being our person- the one we point to as saying “That is the way to do it.” For lots of wrestling fans Chris Benoit was that guy. He wasn’t flashy, he couldn’t talk well on the microphone, but between the ropes he could tell one hell of a story and draw you into a match. The aforementioned Wrestlemania XX match was about as great a story as you will see- it’s my favorite Wrestlemania match of all time based on what it represented. Even though we feel close to them as performers- we never really get to know them as people although we feel like we do. Sadly this was a reminder of that. The guy who so many said was quiet, and introverted in many ways is seen in a different context now based on those characteristics.

The events of the past 24 hours have left wrestling fans confused, sad, hurt, and angry. There are many questions being floated around as well. What drove Benoit to do this? What was the final snapping point? Was it steroid related? Was it something being planned for a while or something done on an impulse? Plenty of questions and unfortunately not all will be answered.

None of this changes the fact that this is a sad day.

Sad for the lives that were lost. There are few things more heartbreaking than a young kid losing their life prematurely. That might be the most tragic thing in all this.

Sad for the families that lost loved ones.

Sad for friends of Chris, Nancy, and Daniel. During Raw last night wrestlers offered thoughts on Chris Benoit. Rumor is one of them received some alarming text messages from Benoit in the hours leading up to all of this. When anything happens to a friend our natural human reaction is to think, “I could’ve prevented it.” Imagine living with that feeling. Chavo Guerrero spoke about being invited into the home of Chris and staying with him days before this all happened. He possibly was the last one outside of the Benoit family to see any of them alive. Imagine the load he has to now carry.

The big question is: where do people go from here- especially the WWE? If it is found that steroids were to be blamed then they will face that storm. They might face it anyway, but it will be worse if there is a causal link.

There is still the possibility that with the advent of depression and other problems related to concussions being researched this is a product of years of physical abuse of his head. That would open up a huge new batch of problems for the WWE.

I think the most important thing they need to do is expand the Wellness Policy to include psychiatric exams for their wrestlers. Maybe if they can get to the root of some of these issues they can help head them off.

There has been a lot of talk recently about how this affects the legacy of Chris Benoit. I was a huge WCW fan back in the day so I have many fond memories of watching Chris Benoit matches. Nothing to me changes the fact that he was one of the best wrestlers to ever step foot in the ring. If the story holds true about him being behind this though- Benoit the man takes a major hit in my mind. Some may not be able to seperate the two so they will bleed together. That’s fine too.

As I spent last night thinking that the worst, knowing in my heart what the reports would probably say, and hoping they wouldn’t I had all these questions running through my mind. Questions that we don’t have answers to yet. Questions we might never have answers to. All that I can say with certianty is I feel a deep sadness for the families of Chris, Nancy, and Daniel. And I hope for once a wrestler’s death and actions leads to some kind of change for the better.