Post by Meng Lao on Jul 18, 2007 21:15:23 GMT -5
On June 25 2007 my love of professional wrestling was shaken to its core. That evening I went to a local concert. I had it timed perfectly or so I thought. The concert was 2 hours long which gave me a half hour to get home to catch WWE Raw. I forgot to take in account how long it would take me to get out of the parking lot and as a result I missed the first 20 minutes of Raw that night. I turned on Raw all set to find out who pray tell was responsible for blowing up Vince’s Limo. Instead I found the 2004 Royal Rumble match which Benoit won…I was confused. Why were they showing this? Then a graphic appeared at the bottom corner of the screen…A picture of Chris Benoit with the words: Remembering Chris Benoit. Remembering Chris Benoit? Again I was confused. Then another graphic of the entire Benoit Family with the words: Remembering the Benoit Family. It finally dawned on me that something was very wrong here and I ran to my computer. I checked the Dynasty board and that was the first I had learned that Chris Benoit, His wife Nancy and their 7 year old son Daniel were all dead. To say I was in shock is an understatement. I tried to check the Pro wrestling torch but the site was overwhelmed with fans trying to find out what happened. I continued to search other places trying to find some information and finally I found something, an article on the CNN website that said the authorities were investigating the deaths as a double homicide/suicide.
By all accounts Chris Benoit was a nice guy. He was well respected by his peers and the fans. So what could have made Benoit snap? I’ve read it all. Steroids, Drugs, Depression, life on the road, Raising a special needs child, etc. Let’s see..Steroids..While Benoit apparently had a stock pile of steroids in his house, no anabolic steroids were found in his body. Benoit, however, did have elevated testosterone levels in his body. Depression…We will never know if he suffered from depression nor will we ever know if Daniel had any special needs. Life on the road…I simply can’t see that being the cause. Benoit wrestled for over 20 years so why would the pressures of being on the road get to him now?
I did read some reports that Benoit wasn’t the same after Eddie Guerrero died. Maybe Eddie’s death was a big factor in this. By all accounts Benoit was a very private man. Maybe Eddie was the one person he let in. The one person he could open up to and vent to, to get things off his chest. Maybe with Eddie gone he just kept everything bottled up inside until he exploded.
We will likely never know why exactly this tragedy happened..We will never know what was going through Chris Benoit mind on that terrible weekend. Maybe all of the factors listed above played a part in this tragedy. We just simply never know.
I agree with a lot of reports that I have read that changes should be made in the wrestling business to prevent something like this from happening again. The way I see it wrestling needs to be run more like a legitimate sports organization and here’s what I mean…
1. Down time/ off season. Every legitimate sport has an off season. Wrestling should be no different. Either 2 six week breaks or just an off season. In the case of the WWE Wrestlemania is without a doubt their biggest event. So why not have a break directly after Mania that lasts until the beginning of August. During the break time the WWE can air some classic WWE wrestling moments. A series of “Best of” shows if you will. Then in the final 2 week before the off season ends they can air a recap of the last month or so before the break right up to an including Mania. The break would serve 2 purposes 1. It would give the wrestlers a much needed break to recharge their batteries and heal nagging injuries and more importantly the break would give the wrestlers a chance to spend time with their families. 2. The break would also give the creative teams a chance to recharge their batteries as well so they can come up with some fresh new storyline ideas.
2. A disabled list. Again every sport has one. Wrestling does not. Wrestlers will get in the ring and work with injuries that in any other sport they would be on the DL for a month or more. As a result many of these wrestlers will turn to prescription pain killers to get through the pain and often times they become addicted to these pills.
3. Physical/Mental well being. The WWE should have a Physician and a Psychologist on staff that travels with wrestlers. It should be mandatory that each wrestler meet with the psychologist once a month and if the psychologist feels a wrestler would benefit from further sessions. Then the wrestler should be encouraged to see the Psychologist for the additional sessions. The Wrestlers should be examined before, after and during, if necessary, each run of shows. If the physician diagnoses an injury then wrestler should be shut down for however long the physician deems necessary for a full recovery. If a wrestler tries to hide an injury he should be reprimanded for doing so. Also the Physician and the Psychologist would not be permitted to write prescriptions without the permission of the company.
4. Stricter drug testing. No amount of a banned substance should acceptable. Nor should a doctor’s note be a free pass. If a wrestler tests positive for banned substances and he produces a doctor’s note saying that the wrestler in question needs the banned substance for a medical condition. The wrestler should be examined by an independent doctor and if that doctor agrees with the wrestler’s doctor’s diagnosis then fine. The wrestler will not be suspended, however, he would be monitored closely to make sure the wrestler isn’t abusing his prescription. If the independent doctor disagrees with the Wrestler’s doctor then the wrestler should be suspended or fired and the name of the wrestler’s doctor should be forwarded to the police. Personally I would rather have a company full of healthy guys with physiques like Mick Foley and Trevor Murdoch than a company full of steroid inflated guys with physiques like Batista and Big Poppa Pump.
In closing let me say this. I recently bought the “Ladder Matches” DVD. The last match on the first DVD is Chris Jericho VS Chris Benoit for the IC title. I tentatively watched the match, the first Benoit match I have watched since the tragedy, and guess what! I still liked it! So am I still a fan of wrestling? You’re damned right I am! Am I still a fan of Chris Benoit? The human being ? No, what Chris Benoit did was unforgivable. The Wrestler? Hell yes! Chris Benoit probably will never be inducted in to the WWE Hall of Fame because of what he did but regardless Chris Benoit is still one of the best wrestlers to ever lace a pair of boots.
As always feel free to respond to anything you read here.
Meng F’N Lao
