I’ve always been a fan of pro-wrestling. I can still remember the mid-1980s glory days of Hulk Hogan, and the very first Wrestlemania. I can recall my sister and I staying up late to watch Saturday Night’s Main Event on NBC, and renting the latest pay-per-view events on VHS (shows how old I am). Some people are surprised by this revelation (you’d think people believe me to be some stuffy intellectual, lost in a dusty library), but I challenge anyone to deny that not only are today’s pro-wrestlers some of the most talented athletes, performers & show people in the world, but the WWE creates the ultimate male soap opera for television and live-event consumption. You might not enjoy it, personally…but it truly is the ultimate expression of sports entertainment…and there are days when it’s the perfect antidote to some of the more pretentious and irritating aspects of of the real world. It’s far more fun and palatable than any of the reality-gobshite that currently masquerades as entertaining television! American Idol has nothing on the WWE. 
Yesterday, it was announced that one of the best pro-wrestlers Canada has ever produced — former champion Chris Benoit — apparently murdered his wife and young son, then took his own life. There are indications that steroids might have been involved…and this grisly incident has thrown many people for a loop. Not only was Benoit one of the most technically proficient wrestlers in the WWE, but by all accounts he was an honest, stand-up man who lived for the business & seemed to be a good husband, father, and mentor to younger wrestlers. He was also very proud of his Canadian heritage, including his training at the famous Hart Family wrestling facility in Alberta.
Benoit was a hard knocks performer…and watching his matches should be avoided by the squeamish. But they were never less than exciting & breathtaking, with a brilliant array of holds on display between the moments of brutal stamina; you can visit YouTube to watch many of his outstanding matches. He seemed to be a rock of stability in a sea of very loud, glitzy, hard-playing entertainers, and it’s sad & tragic to see that human frailties can make victims of even those of us who appear olympian in strength of body and will.
I can’t begin to imagine what demons led to this bizzare tragedy, but Chris Benoit and his family deserve all the prayers and thoughts we can spare…and I won’t stand for disparaging comments from anyone who thinks pro-wrestling is beneath them. It’s a sad, brutal reminder that life is exceptionally transient…and, on occasion, very unfair.
