RKMBs Forums .::Robegories::. Sports and Wrestling Chris Benoit and family found dead

Barry Bonds made Chris Benoit kill his family and then hang himself.

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That's the logical conclusion, right?

After all, Benoit used steroids. He must have killed his family in a fit of 'roid rage. We blame steroids for everything, and we blame Bonds for steroids. It's only a matter of time before we connect the dots, arrest Barry for coercing Benoit into committing his unspeakable atrocities, and then Babe Ruth rules.

I knew Benoit. I worked with him for six years during my time with now-defunct World Championship Wrestling. I considered Benoit a friend, and I have many fond memories of him. I can't fathom what drove him to this heinous act.
But it wasn't just steroids.

'Roid rage comes and goes in seconds. Benoit went on a weekend-long killing spree. Given emerging evidence that Benoit recently sent hundreds of thousands of dollars to two children by a prior marriage, his murderous actions seem at least previously considered, if not outright premeditated.

Steroids, however, likely combined with painkillers and personal pressures - his son's autism and the death of his best friend, colleague Eddy Guerrero - put Benoit in a state of depression and paranoia that formed a context for what he did.

Benoit is responsible for his own actions.

But the wrestling lifestyle didn't help. The wrestling lifestyle is literally a killer. Over 60 wrestlers under age 45 have died over the last 10 years.

Maybe Congress should investigate that. Steroid abusers aren't dying in baseball. Wrestling, meanwhile, is one continuous 10-bell salute.

Steroids to get big. Painkillers to overcome the profession's collisional aspects. Uppers to get started again. Given the demands of wrestling - most World Wrestling Entertainment performers spend 300 or more days per year on the road - it's what most performers need to stay functional.

The mental burden of being away from home and family weighs heavy. The scriptwriters gleefully indulge in psychological human cockfighting, with position on the card - and big money - at stake. Benoit, because he was only 5-foot-10, almost always hovered between stardom and mid-card.

You go through all that, and sometimes you drop dead.

And then Vince McMahon just hires somebody else.

Watching the McMahon family weep crocodile tears after yet another WWE tragedy evokes equal parts laughter and disgust. God only knows what McMahon is thinking when he eulogizes an employee, but once the body is buried, the killing machine churns on, with no real changes made.

McMahon is quick to point out that only five wrestlers have died while under contract to WWE. Maybe that speaks positively of his company's wellness program. Or maybe McMahon just knows when to fold losing hands.

McMahon is quick to praise WWE's drug-testing policy. Benoit passed his last steroid test, he crows. Well, so did Bonds. But if Benoit wasn't - and Bonds isn't - packing massive amounts of artificially manufactured muscle and bulk, I'll eat Barry's oversized hat. The chemists are always ahead of the police.

Every time somebody in WWE shrinks - as per cooperation with the "wellness program" - his role and paycheck shrink, too. Ask Chris Masters. When "The Masterpiece" got smaller, so did his TV time.

It's time for the United States government to put aside the holiness of baseball's record book and investigate wrestling. Instead of Mark McGwire stammering in front of Congress, it's time for McMahon to testify. Triple H. Batista. Undertaker.

If a Congressional panel can try to save the overwrought dignity of a home-run record, one can certainly be convened to try and save lives. Limiting the number of dates a wrestler can work per year would be a good start.

I love wrestling. I treasured every moment I spent in WCW. It would break my heart if wrestling ceased to exist.

But right now, no one's personal feelings should enter the equation.

The body count is just too high.