Thursday, June 28, 2007

how i'm pretty sure this will be the end of professional wrestling

i haven't written anything about the whole chris benoit tragedy, so here goes it.

for people who don't really know wrestling, i'll give you an analogy: if you heard that axl rose murdered his wife and child and then killed himself, you would shrug your head and say, "well, that's axl".

this wasn't axl. in the world of pro wrestling, chris benoit was bono.

so imagine bono doing all that, and you've got why this is even more shocking.

there's going to be tons of coverage about steroids in wrestling and how the wwe's wellness program is really just a weak first step in cleaning it up. and once the ignorant claims of roid rage (which happens over five minutes and doesn't prolong over an entire weekend), the dark and creepy underside of the world of wrestling - the unfettered drug use, the psychological and physical demands of being on the road, the injuries, the strain of keeping in superhuman shape - will be uncovered. and these performers will be lumped together, deserved or not.

and now, beyond the limits of reality and taste that wrestling goes, everything they will do from now on will be even more tainted, as the one guy who nobody questioned, the one guy who seemed like the paragon of what was prideful, was a guy who did the unspeakable. and if he was capable of that, then how could you look at the ones you can't stomach?

i don't think this is a tidal wave that professional wrestling will be able to wade through, especially with ultimate fighting gaining popularity by the minute.

still, it was a good ride.

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