WWE: The tragedy of Chris Benoit 8 years later
In professional wrestling, you often hear about how a performer gets injured, and how it halts his run with a company, and thereby, affects his livelihood. Professional wrestling industry is very demanding, and is nothing like other sports. Often, you need to do something that would invoke response from the live crowds; after all, they pay to see these guys perform. That was the reason why the wrestling business was called a ‘circus’ back in the old days. And since the fans are the ones who make or break their lives and their careers, most often, the performers are tempted to do something that not only risks their health, but their lives as well inside the squared circle.
Professional wrestling business has claimed more lives than any other sport, whether it was due to the injuries suffered while performing, or because of the substitutions resulting from the pain the performers endure. Although it has always been ‘scripted’, professional wrestling is more real than you can ever imagine.
“A normal working day for me was: Speed to wake me up in the morning to catch an early flight, Valium to make me sleep on the plane, Percoset just before the match, then we’d wrestle, hit the beer, and the Cocaine, until the early hours, before taking another Valium to sleep at night.” – Dynamite Kid
We’ve heard stories about how these guys try to subdue the pain by getting addicted to pain killers, mixing them with a cocktail of other drugs, alcohol and everything they can get their hands on just so that they can wake up the next morning, and do it all over again! And this is the lifestyle that the athletes got used to back from the mid 80s, all the way to the mid 2000s, till the biggest global organization in the world, the WWE introduced the Wellness Policy, though after one of the biggest tragedies in professional wrestling had occurred.
8 years ago, something happened that changed the landscape of professional wrestling, something that left the fans and the performers in disbelief. It was on this day, that one of the greatest wrestlers became one of the most hated, heinous names. In a span of a couple of days, Chris Benoit went from being the greatest wrestler to a murderer.
“Another one of those horrible anniversaries. Chris was a great friend and I miss him.” – Perry Saturn
To all of those who knew Chris Benoit, he was the nicest man they could have ever met. Chris Benoit was a soft spoken, normal guy who never got mad at anyone. He would always bring his son, Daniel, whenever he could to the back so that the other performers could meet his son and his wife, Nancy Benoit. Perhaps, this is what made the incident all the more surreal. To his peers, Chris Benoit was the best technical wrestler, a great human being and a great father. To his fans, Benoit will always remain the very best professional wrestler to have graced the wrestling ring.
Chris Benoit and Nancy Benoit
As a huge fan of Chris Benoit, I remember him for what he has accomplished inside the ring, always giving the fans 110%, no matter if it was non-taped or on RAW, or a PPV. Chris Benoit always put the fans before his own comfort, often taking high risk spots even if he was wrestling in front of a relatively small crowd. Chris Benoit’s fairytale journey to the top of the wrestling world ended as a catastrophe.