Chris Benoit: In Memoriam

[Arnold 76]

Upon learning of the double-murder suicide involving internationally acclaimed wrestling superstar Chris Benoit, I was both shocked and saddened. First of all, Benoit came from the same wrestling school as myself – the Hart Bros. Wrestling Academy in Calgary, Canada – and in this facet, I feel that we are of the same ilk to some degree. We both were passed down a professional wrestling tradition made famous by the Hart family, whose most famous son Bret Hart went on to become a 5-time World Champion. We both were brought up respecting the art and trade of professional wrestling, learned as a sport and not as a charade. Above all, we both are Canadians, and this alone makes me feel a kinship to my fallen brother in arms.

Chris Benoit has been a massive inspiration to countless Canadian – and international – professional wrestlers who have come down the pike over the last 15 years. Benoit carved out a work-ethic and a physical style that was envied worldwide. He quite literally became the measuring stick by which anyone wrestler measure his worth in this business. I am not saying this out of vanity or hindsight, I am stating this because it is true. Any professional in our business could underscore my words without a second thought.

I studied Benoit's crispness and fervor on countless occasions, to learn how a master performs his craft. I studied his ring psychology, how he followed up on move after move, what he did at any certain time during a match and why, to perceive just why Chris Benoit was as good as he was.

Benoit was a wrestler who had conviction. He made you a believer, no matter how skeptical the world around him might have been. Benoit had guts, grit and fortitude. He was quite literally among the elite in the professional wrestling business, regardless of time period or decade.

Benoit was a student of the game, one who took this great sport very seriously. Coming from the same school of thought and trade as Benoit, I can easily see the influence of Great Britian's legendary junior heavyweight The Dynamite Kid and his philosophy of ”do one move at a time and do it as well as you can – full out” pressed indelibly in this late-great's style. Indeed, Benoit took the teachings of Dynamite and perfected them, in the process becoming arguably greater as an overall athlete and ring general than his idol.

Benoit broke the mold of the super heavyweight as Champion. He was smaller and shorter than the Hulk Hogans, Batistas and Undertakers of the World, yet he was so much more superior in skills and intensity alone that size became an obsolete factor in the viability of such a professional wrestler. Benoit struck like greased lightning in the ring, oftentimes running his opponents ragged through his superior conditioning. One story tells of a young rookie wrestler who failed to show respect to one of the legends of the game, so Benoit made the beligerent young man perform 1000 free squats . . . with Benoit leading by example with each and every repetition.

The bottom line is that we have lost an irreplaceable talent in Chris Benoit. Men like him only come around once in a lifetime. Even now, I cannot seem to find a mental place for the double-murder suicide that took the lives of Benoit, his wife Nancy and his 7-year old son Daniel this past weekend in Atlanta. As soft-spoken as Chris Benoit was, as much of a professional that he was, this tragic part of his life – and death – is something that I am having great troubles coming to grips with.

All I can say is that I am thankful for the road that Benoit paved for countless Canadian athletes in the professional wrestling business, men such as myself, who have been able to go on and make a name for themselves as normal-sized athletes in our profession. Thank you for the standard of excellence you set, Chris. You will be missed, beyond what words can ever describe. We salute your life, and hold you as one of the all-time greats.

"The Canadian Rebel" StarBuck

www.buckorama.net

www.myspace.com/canadianrebel

www.fightclubfinland.com

[dirty scorpion 0]

Kuulsin sellest uudisest eile ja väga kurb uudis, veel kurvemaks teeb asjaolu kuidas ta lahkus.

[Raivo Piiber 21]

Postimees Online näitab aga juhtumit uues valguses :

Politsei teatel tappis profimaadleja Chris Benoit ise oma naise ja lapse ning seejärel iseenda, vahendab AP videolõik.

Võimude teatel kägistas 40-aastane Benoit reedel surnuks oma naise, lämmatas järgmisel päeval oma 7-aastase poja ning poos ennast päev hiljem ise keldris asunud jõumasina külge. Nii Benoit´ abikaasa kui poja surnukehade peale olid asetatud piiblid.

Benoit´ abikaasa, Nancy Benoit soovis temast ametiisikute teatel 2003. aastal lahutada mehe vägivaldsuse tõttu, kuid võttis hiljem oma avalduse tagasi.

Lisaks majast avastatud surnukehadele leidsid politseinikud naabrite sõnul alati heatujulise naabrimehe kappidest steroide, millede võimalikku seost toimunud jõhkra mõrvatööga aitavad leida mõne aja pärast selguvad toksikoloogiatestide tulemused.

[jrx 142]

Teatud allikate väitel näitas kohtuekspertiis tema 7-aastase poja Davidi laibal süstlajälgi ning jälgi keelatud ainete kasutamisest.

[dirty scorpion 0]

Räägitakse et Benoit oli viimasel ajal kahtlaselt käituma hakand, selle põhjusteks arvatavasti paranemata peapõrutused ning ta poeg olevat arengupeetusega olnud mis omakorda sõi tal närve.