ProWrestlingViews.com

Archive for June 25th, 2007

A couple unfortunate weeks ago, WWE decided to spice up its storyline with a murder mystery. In out-of-character fashion, Vince McMahon acted a bit goofy after losing the ECW title, and at the end of a Raw broadcast, walked out into the parking lot and got into his limo, which immediately blew up.

The storyline, intended to call to mind the “Who Shot JR?” cliffhanger of the classic TV show Dallas, started out with a bang, but soon grew disturbing and tacky as the WWE played out the concept, because rather than playing it for humor, the company played the storyline straight, airing clips of somber, apparently-grieving wrestlers spilling tears over an owner who, within the storylines, never made any friends.

Pro Wrestling Views was among the first to call for the storyline tone to change or be dumped because it cheapened how the WWE had treated real deaths, like those of Eddie Guerrero and Owen Hart. That call seemed further justified as last week it was learned that classic WWE Diva Sensational Sherri Martel, who died at age 49; Martel passed away in her sleep, with circumstances still under investigation. No foul play is suspected in Martel’s death, though toxicology tests are being run as part of the autopsy to determine if drugs or alcohol were involved.

Now, with a current WWE superstar involved in a possible double murder-suicide, there can be no further justification for continuing the “Who Killed Vince?” storyline. It’s simply too disturbing and too close to real life events. Forget the marketing, forget the T-shirts, forget the engraved pens. The storyline must be dropped immediately to make room for wrestlers and fans to deal with their mixture of grief and anger on a deserving target: a real-life tragedy.

Let’s hope the WWE didn’t know the whole story when they decided to replace a live Raw broadcast with a tribute to Chris Benoit’s 22-year wrestling career on Monday. No doubt if the evidence proves, as local police allege, that Chris Benoit took the lives of his wife and son, then took his own life 24- to 48-hours later, the company is certain to come under fire for celebrating the life of an alleged double-murderer.

Whatever dark thoughts and demonic influences possibly drove Benoit to such evil actions, no amount of “this was about his wrestling career, the good parts of his life” excuse-making can justify the miscalculation it would be if the WWE knew he was possibly a murderer and ran the tribute show anyway. Talk about getting your network cables crossed? It would be bad taste in the extreme.

Fox 5 out of Atlanta is reporting that wrestler Chris Benoit is the main suspect in the death of his wife, his son, making his death an apparent suicide. What seemed like a tragedy until moments ago, when this story broke, is now looking somewhat darker and more sinister.

Although final determinations won’t be made until Tuesday, when autopsy results are expected in, “Detective Bo Turner told television station WAGA that the case was being treated as a murder-suicide, but said that couldn’t be confirmed until evidence was examined by a crime lab,” according to the Fox 5 report.

Earlier today, rumors of the nature of the deaths were flying around the Web, alleging everything from a gas leak that took Benoit and his family as they slept overnight, even to the extreme of some sources suggesting Benoit’s wife, Nancy Sullivan-Benoit, had been responsible for the double murder-suicide.

Yet the local police paint a starker picture of Benoit taking the lives of his wife and 7-year-old son sometime over the weekend, canceling his appearance on a WWE PPV, Vengeance: A Night of Champions, in which he was expected to compete against wrestler C.M. Punk for the ECW World Championship title, and finally taking his own life sometime on Monday.

The news, even before the nature of the deaths was known publicly, sent shockwaves through WWE, and caused the company to cancel Monday Night’s live RAW event, replacing it with a three-hour tribute show to Chris Benoit’s 22-year wrestling career. It was nearly a case of power supply repair, as the company sought a way to “keep the lights on” even as they struggled with the tragic news.

It may seem insensitive to say it at the moment, but Chris Benoit was never quite my favorite wrestler. Sure, I appreciated him. In fact, on that memorable night in WCW where he wrestled three matches in one night, including a match against Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka, I was more than impressed with his abilities in the ring.

Yet for all his technical skill, he just never quite “got over” on the microphone or found an image that made him seem like the top guy in any promotion of which he was a part. He didn’t bring the electric personality of a Stone Cold Steve Austin or John Cena; he didn’t sparkle on the microphone as brightly as a Chris Jericho or The Rock. He was just solid in the ring and projected a tough, tough image. A first-rate mid-carder who could hold a championship for a while, but never really “lead” a promotion.

That’s OK; a lot of wrestlers have made great livings and left fond memories in the hearts of fans while not even reaching the level that Benoit achieved. Heck, some wrestlers have been reduced to acting like household pets and eating organic dog food on national TV; Benoit was blessed, by comparison.

Circumstances of his death and the deaths of his family aside for the moment, it must be acknowledged that no matter whether he was my favorite wrestler or not, the “Rabid Wolverine” will be missed in WWE.