Last Words on Benoit

Monday I praised him, Tuesday I despised him and today I’m moving on. While Chris Benoit was my favorite in ring performer of all time I can no longer stomach watching his matches. Maybe that will change someday but I doubt it. Many people still cringe when highlights are shown of OJ Simpson or Rae Carruth. Last night I packed away my Benoit DVD along with the rest of my wrestling DVDs. I’ll not throw them out but speaking as someone who has become much more of a causal wrestling fan these last couple of years, this tragedy might have turned me off for good. Between the WWE airing a tribute show to a murderer Monday night (given the news at the time I don’t blame them for doing it however it still leaves a bad taste in my mouth because I actually enjoyed it), to them returning to business as usual on their ECW broadcast last night (having two men choke each other in the ring days after one of their stars choked his son to death shows amazingly poor judgment even for Vince McMahon), WWE and wrestling itself has lost themselves a fan, at least for now and I’m guessing I’m not alone. I’m sure the industry will endure like it did through the steroid scandal in the early 90’s, and the deaths of Owen Hart and Eddie Guerrero, and there’s a chance I might pull out the DVDs or catch a show down the line but in the meantime this unthinkable crime has taken any joy that pro wrestling gave me and twisted it into something horrible.