Tuesday, June 26, 2007

RIP Chris Benoit

So I wake up this morning, log on to WWE.com to check out the latest craziness is with Vince and his exploding limo and I am confronted with this. I see the words 'Murder', 'Suicide' and 'Chris Benoit' and think WWE have crossed the last line of good taste with this limo angle, but no, and it is real.

FUCKING HELL!!!

I'm still in shock, I cannot believe what has happened. Perhaps more than any wrestling tragedy this has yet to sink in. With Eddie it was a shock, but this is just mind-blowing. Not only have we lost one of the best wrestlers of all-time, but his children have lost their father, mother and brother in the worst possible circumstances. Whatever the reasons, this is a tragedy of the highest order and we can only imagine the worst about what led these tragic circumstances to occur. With all the silliness that WWE has put on TV over the last few weeks, this puts everything into context and I hope as a result they never do anything like that again. I look back at posts I wrote on web forums about 'what if Vince or someone on the roster actually died' and a chill runs down my spine. This was not what anyone wanted to read on a Tuesday morning after an episode of Raw.

The first-time I ever saw Chris Benoit wrestle was in 2000. He was feuding wiht Kurt Angle and Chirs Jericho. Jericho would call him Chris Ben-oit and Me Robotto and they had some of the best matches I have ever seen. At first I thought this was because of Jericho, but as I grew to get into wrestling I started to realize it was Benoit a much as Jericho. Their ladder match at the Rumble in 2001 is still one of my favourite matches of all-time and it amazes me to think what those 2 did in the ring despite being an after-though by WWE at the time.

I can still remember where I was when I saw Benoit win the title. Perhaps more than any moment in the time I have watched WWE TV I was on the edge of my seat. I didn't genuinely believe that he would win and was shouting at the TV for HHH to tap (even though I was watching on tape delay the next day). Seeing him in the ring with Eddie at the end brought a tear to my eye and the fact that both men are no longer with us makes this moment even more heartfelt.

Despite having written this out, I still cannot comprehend what has happened. Forget matches, tributes or anything else like that right now. Forget wrestling, this is a true and genuine tragedy.

RIP Chris Benoit. But also Nancy and Daniel.

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