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.

Chris Benoit was inspired by The Dynamite Kid, Tom Billington, and he emulated Tom, thus following in his footsteps. Benoit took a lot of moves from Kid’s arsenal, and soon, just like Dynamite, Chris became a top notch wrestler, in a world where the performers would rather become ‘superstars’.

Chris Benoit was all about respect, for himself and for the business. He was liked by everyone, and he became hugely popular among the wrestling fans due to his technical prowess and expertise. Soon, he was billed as a wrestling protégé, and was labelled as the greatest professional wrestler in the history of the industry. Benoit travelled all over the world, honing his craft and showcasing his talents to the wrestling fans. But in ’07, all of that didn’t matter, as Benoit became the real ‘He who should not be named’ in professional wrestling. Although the fans and his peers talk about him under their breath, a celebrated wrestler became a monster.

Chris Benoit was one of the few ‘stiff’ workers in the business, those who’d rather take blows than to make professional wrestling look ‘fake’. Benoit respected the business more than anyone else, and hence, put his body on the line every day, working his way through pain and heavy schedule. When his closest friend, Eddie Guerrero passed away in ’05, Benoit took some time off to reflect on his career and himself. Chris suffered many injuries in his career, and due to the Swandive headbutt he copied from Dynamite Kid, he suffered head trauma, but he still kept going. Little did he know the impact it would have on his brain, as an autopsy after his death proved that his brain resembled that of an 85-year-old Alzheimer patient’s, which is a disturbing insight into a man’s suffering for the sake of the audience. Many people have broken ‘kayfabe’, amusing themselves and the fans, but Benoit was an old-school performer who believed in making it look real. In the end, that cost him his life, his career and his family.

Benoit’s 2004 post WrestleMania celebration with Eddie Guerrero is etched in the minds of those who were fortunate enough to see it live. After 3 years, Benoit took his own life, as well as his wife’s and his son’s, and although we will never know what actually happened, the 24th of June will always be remembered in a dark light by the wrestling fans and the performers.

I remember waking up to the horrific news, and to this day, I still can’t get over what had happened. Chris Benoit was one of my all time favourite wrestlers, and although he isn’t remembered by the wrestling fraternity any more, I choose to remember his accomplishments inside the ring, which made him the best in the world, and as a genuine, good human being that all of us knew, loved and respected. Daniel Benoit was known to be a quiet, polite child, while Nancy was liked by everyone. Today, like every year, will be a hard pill to swallow for me and every other wrestling fan, who ever grew up watching Benoit idolizing him.