Sorting things out, part 2

Will wonders ever cease? I'm actually fulfilling my promise!

I guess this is as good a time as any to write about the Benoit family murder/suicide. People who know me in the real world will tell you that I've been a wrasslin' fan for over 30 years. I saw my first live show at Madison Square Garden in 1975 (George "The Animal" Steele v. Bruno Sammartino main event) and my most recent house show was a few months ago at the Lowell Auditorium. Truth be told, I had started losing interest a couple of years ago, until last summer. We were on vacation in NH, and G decided she wanted to watch some of the Raw show one night. And got hooked. Big time. So she had a million questions about the matches, the personalities and the business, so I started watching the shows again.

Two weeks ago I was home, while G and L were down on the Cape for a dance competition. G called and wanted to know if I had heard any news about Chris Benoit. I checked online and saw the awful news about his being found dead with his wife and son. I wish I could say differently, but I had read he had missed a PPV the night before, and I thought "murder-suicide". And unfortunately, I was right. G has tried to come to terms with why someone who was described as a good husband and father could commit such a horrible crime. I wish I had a simple answer - other than the fact we can work and travel with people and never realize the darkness that exists within them.

My own feeling is that this tragedy is just the latest example that the wrestling industry is built on human wreckage, and it's getting harder for me to reconcile the "turn your brain off" entertainment value with the addictions and physical destruction that follows in its wake. When ECW was breaking over a decade ago, I'd watch Mick Foley and KNOW that he was suffering a physical toll during his matches. Ten years later and Foley talks about forgetting the route home from the airport, along with a multitude of physical problems.

It gets harder and harder to reconcile.