Chris Benoit should go down in wrestling history as one of the greatest men to lace up their boots in the ring.

Should.

For years he had put on performances that earned him more standing ovations then any other wrestler I’ve known. He was respected by his peers, he was loved round the world, his intensity was amazing and his dedication was admirable. From everything the man showed outside the ring and how he seemed to conduct himself he was a class act.

He should be remembered in the records books. But should went out the window the week he apparently canceled plans to work to go home and murder his wife and son.I don’t know what personal demons, as so often is batted around the pro wrestling business as the term of choice when wrestlers fall from grace, that Benoit may have had, but the murder of his family was inexcusable. I wanted to pity this guy. I wanted to hear any reason he took his life besides he himself had killed his family first then committed suicide. Any reason to remember him in my memory the way he was and not the way it ended.

And now? Now I think like many wrestling fans we wish we could separate our fond feelings of him and pretend he never existed at all. The life of a wrestler is hard. On the road nearly the whole year, away from family, forced to perform night after night to gain success for yourself. The pain that you put your body through and the numerous painkillers you are bound to take to relieve it. The steroids you take to make yourself bigger and stronger and better looking then the next guy and knowing that in 15 years you may look worse then the next guy the same age as you who never touched the stuff.

Knowing you have marriage problems at home with your spouse due to your youngest suffering from a little known genetic disorder that very few or none know about. That could cause a bit of stress.

But instead of ending his own life alone, he made them unwitting and more then likely unwilling participants in his sick logic and fantasy world. A lone suicide we could understand, we could feel sorry for, we could forgive. But this was murder.

Benoit may have needed help, he may have believed he was doing the right thing in the end, but sadly he has blackened his memory in the minds of others, so much so that his name is practically taboo on TV.

And for a would be legend as Benoit was on his way to becoming, that is sad.

Posted in Editorial, WWE, Wrestling |