The coverage of the story about Chris Benoit, the professional wrestler who murdered his wife and defenseless child before hanging himself, is troubling in that too many media outlets have treated wrestling as if it were a real sport. ESPN.com - the Worldwide Leader in Sports - has covered the Benoit murder/suicide as if Benoit was a legit athlete from a real professional sport league, when he was clearly just one of the most freakish members of a form of entertainment that is nothing more than a high-profile sideshow act.
Granted that some fans of real sports also follow pro wrestling, and as a result sports media outlets may feel that they need to provide some coverage of this issue to keep their audience “in-house.” However, given the fact that wrestling is fake – there’s a predetermined outcome – you would think that sports editors and journalists would be loath to cover this scripted violence, and cover it with the same tone and manner that’s used for the real sports.
In a bizarre way, it’s funny to read the news accounts of Benoit’s career that refer to him as a “world champion wrestler” and that recount the story when he “won” his championship belt, when everybody knows that the Benoit “won” his matches as a result of a writer's meeting that was held in an office, and not as a result of actual competition.
The coverage veers into even more ludicrous territory when this quote was included in one of the news accounts. "You always rooted for him (Benoit), because he was a good guy and he overcame the odds," said Dave Meltzer, editor of the Wrestling Observer, a weekly newsletter. "It's like if you watched Rocky, and in the end it comes out that Rocky killed his wife and his son."
Actually, the more you read this quote, the sadder it gets. The fact that any adult is involved with a newsletter that is dedicated to covering fake wrestling matches is bad enough. But the fact that this guy expresses the belief that Benoit was “a good guy who overcame the odds,” and then compares him to the fictional Rocky Balboa character indicates that many fans of pro wrestling live in an alternative universe where reality and fantasy are blurred.
A professional journalist from Duluth, Minnesota, actually wrote a piece in which he says he will miss Benoit and would have wanted the wrestler to watch his back. I'll bet Benoit's dead wife thought he was watching her back and the back of their dead son. Instead he murdered them.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - El Bicho
Very good piece. The reaction by some fans is amazing and scary. I too saw someone posit that Benoit could have been set up to look like it was a murder-suicide.
2 - BENOITSGHOST
1.a REAL SPORT IS DEFINED AS A SHOW OF ATHLETICISM, YES, THESE SHOWS ARE SCRIPTED.... BUT MOST WRESTLERS, GO OUT 3-7 NIGHTS OF EVERY WEEK OF EVERY YEAR, AND PERFORM FAR MORE ATHLETIC FEATS THAN ANY FOOTBALL, BASEBALL, OR HOCKEY PLAYER.(WHO ONLY PLAY IN SEASONS)
2.IF DRIVING IN CIRCLES TO THE LEFT (AKA NASCAR) IS A SPORT.....SO IS PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING.
MAKE ALL THE ARGUEMENTS YOU WISH....THERE IS NO WAY TO DISCREDIT THE TRUTH IN THIS
PERIOD
3 - Nik
Thank you for making this point! I could care less about pro wrestling, but have been truly disgusted by some of the pieces and blog posts I've seen lionizing this creep as if he didn't murder his wife and son with his bare hands.
4 - sal m
ghost:
your assertion that pro wrestlers who perform scripted routines that result in a pre-determined outcomes are more athletic than real athletes reveal you to be foolish and ignorant.
you also probably think that since benoit used strength to kill his wife and child, that those murders were examples of benoit's athleticism. pro wrestlers are just guys who can't hack it in real sports where competition is genuine.
5 - Debra Kelley
I agree with what 'BENOITSGHOST' wrote-wrestling is scripted, but these wrestlers get hurt big time! I'm a 51-year-old grandma and I love what these guys do-it's very entertaining. That's why it's called World Wrestling Entertainment I guess.
These guys are tremendously athletic, in my humble opinion. I've never seen anything like it.
Your article is excellent! I will have to say, though, that I met Chris Benoit in April of 2006 and he spent some time with my 2 grandnephews-Chris was a perfect gentleman! Very, very nice. He did NOT have to talk with us, but he did.The facts of what he did to his own family is weighing tremendously on me-I am absolutely shocked and hope the investigators find some answers as to why Chris murdered his beautiful family.
P.S. any wrestling fans out there who are really missing the Undertaker???
Debbie K.
Joliet, IL.
6 - your newest fan!
SAL...YOU ARE MY HERO...GREAT ARTICLE! EVERY WORD!
7 - CB
What? Wrestling is fake! Get a life, loser!
8 - Tom
Reading your drivel made me think you are suffering from roid rage yourself.
9 - Mr. O. O!!!!!!!!!!!!
First of all, who are you enlightening by telling us it's scripted? Pre-determined? The it was decided he'd "win" by a writer's meeting.
It's on ESPN and other places because it's news. As you mentioned, some sports fans are wrestling fans and vice versa. So why would it suprise you for them to run w/ it?
You're sort of in the media doing this blog. Haven't you heard, "if it bleeds, it leads."
And as someone put it, these guys are out working 300 days a year. More than any professional athlete in any league. Their bodies take abuse daily.
Yes, what this coward did was horrible, but don't blast the media for running w/ the story. If you don't understand why they're doing it; then YOU shouldn't be doing this.
10 - Debra Kelley
CB, just because some of us are wrestling fans does not make us losers. This tragedy is affecting Benoit's fans in many ways, and to call people names just because you don't like this form of entertainment is cruel and insensitive. No offense to you personally, just my humble observation.
Debbie K.
11 - sal m
just as it's understood that wrestling is rigged, we all know that random, anonymous internet commenters have a problem with reading comprehension, and yet we still must remind everyone of this reality.
but for the edification of these types, it's also worth repeating that the problem isn't that the story is being covered, it's the manner in which it's being covered.
12 - Tom
Your I'm smarter and better than everyone attitude is so pathetic. Stick to the gym Sal.
13 - Debra Kelley
Agreed, Sal. You're right.
14 - Baronius
Sal, it is a weird news story, because it's a real story in a fake sport. We shouldn't be shocked that the average tv station doesn't know how to handle that.
These guys are amazing gymnasts and stunt-men, and they sell out arenas, but most sports guys would never cover a wrestling story. It's not a wrestling story though. It took the news outlets a little while to figure that out.
15 - Debra Kelley
Yes, it's a story about steroid use in pro wrestling and how prevalent it is. It's a huge problem.
16 - OC
It was his ex-wife that filed for divorce not his current wife...I agree that wrestling is scripted and that we shouldn't be promoting a career from a murderer...but I would beg to differ that there isn't a physical toll when you jump from two stories on to barbed wire or the such...the fact that these guys have to guts to do it is amazing in itself...not much difference than a man running full speed at another man and try and tackle him...again don't critize unless I drive by your house and try to see you dive off the roof onto cardboard.
17 - Mike
What Benoit has done is indefensible, and since details have emerged about what he did, most reports that I have read have backed off from the praise and tribute and are judging him correctly.
Those of you using this as an occasion to take shots at wrestling (and its fans) - probably the biggest, easiest target for mockery in the entertainment world - should be very proud of yourselves. Way to take the high road.
Also...I'm assuming that if you bash wrestling because of its predetermined outcomes, you also hate television, movies, and plays, because hey, it's all FAKE! (Wait a minute, you mean Bruce Willis didn't really launch that car off a ramp and blow up a helicopter in the new Die Hard movie? It was FAKE?! Inconceivable!) Give me a break here. The finishes are scripted, but there's no denying that a lot of what happens in that ring requires huge amounts of athleticism (if you disagree, please feel free to post a video of yourself performing a moonsault or a hurricanrana). Also, to simply blame wrestling as a whole for what Benoit did is a rush to judgment - wait until the toxicology report comes back, that will tell us if steroids had anything to do with this.
18 - Tom
AMEN, Mike. Well said.
19 - john Hamilton
i have not watched wrestling in many years now, however how can you say that "as if Benoit was a legit athlete from a real professional sport league, when he was clearly just one of the most freakish members of a form of entertainment that is nothing more than a high-profile sideshow act" benoit and all wrestlers are athletes, have you not ever seen the moves they do? wrestling is a sport that can also be a form of entertainment. Its a shame that some people can not see that the likes of wwe have some gifted atheletes that are also great actors.
20 - Shine
I think you have some valid points, but disagree with your flip flop approach on whether he should be treated as an athlete or not. If you were to tell me that my business needs to do drug testing because someone else does is to me, a matter of following the sheep. If you want WWE to do drug testing like the NFL or NBA then you must first admit that these actors are athletes as well.
21 - BENOITSGHOST
FOOLISH AND IGNORANT....NO SIR, THAT WOULD BE YOU, AND TO PROVE IT, HERE IS A CHALLENEGE
YOU ARE A GYM RAT/BODYBUILDER/WHATEVER....CORRECT?
HERE IS WHAT I WANT YOU TO DO.
PLAY FOOT BALL WITH SOME OF THE BADDEST DUDES YOU KNOW.....3 GAMES IN ONE WEEK.
THEN, I WANT YOU TO FIND A GYM WITH A WRESTLING/BOXING/SPARRING RING....RUN THE ROPES FOR 3 MINUTES (RUN ACCROSS THE RING BACK AND FORTH), DO A FEW HIGH FLYIN MOVES OFF THE TOP ROPE, THEN FIND A SPARRING PARTENER (WHO IS HEAVY) TO BODY SLAM, PRESS OVER YOUR HEAD, SUPLEX, SUPLEX GERMAN STYLE, HAVE HIM PUT YOU IN A PINNING POSITION AND BRIDGE OUT OF IT.
THEN TELL ME, YOU WOULD RATHER PUT YOUR BODY THROUGH THAT 3-7 NIGHTS A WEEK, ALMOST EVERY WEEK OF THE YEAR (DEPENDING ON IF YOU FEEL LIKE TAKIN A VACATION) OR PLAY FOOT BALL FOR ONE SEASON EVERY YEAR.
FOOTBALL = RUN, TACKLE, TAKE A BREAK, REPEAT, OVER AND OVER AND OVER
WRESTLING = A STRENUOUS SHOW OF ATHLETIC PROWESS, STRENGTH AND STAMINA (SOMETIMES ENOUGH STRENGTH TO TOSS/LIFT/SLAM MEN TWICE YOUR SIZE - SEE CENA VS. THE BIG SHOW, BENOIT VS. KANE ETC).
NOT ONLY DO YOU NEED THE STRENGTH, STAMINA AND ATHLETICISM TO PULL THESE MOVES OFF.
YOU NEED THE TRAINING, AND PRACTICE TO MAKE THE SCRIPTED MATCH LOOK REAL, AND BE A GOOD ENOUGH ATHLETE TO PULL OFF THESE MOVES WITHOUT BADLY HURTING YOURSELF, OR THE PERFORMER YOU ARE WORKING WITH.
ALL FOOTBALL PLAYERS HAVE TO DO IS PAD THE HELL OUT OF THEMSELVES, RUN WITH A BALL AND KNOCK PEOPLE OVER.....AND (WHENEVER ON CAMERA) DRINK ALOT OF WHATEVER "ENERGY DRINK" OR "THRIST QUENCHER" IS SPONSORING THE LEAGUE.
I'M NOT SAYING FOOTBALL IS NOT ATHLETIC, I'M JUST SAYING, IT TAKES MORE STRENGTH, TALENT, PROWESS, STAMINA, ETC. TO BE AN ACTOR IN THE PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING BUSINESS, THAN IT DOES TO PLAY FOOTBALL.
TRUST ME, I HAVE PLAYED FOOTBALL WITH SOME ROUGH DUDES, AND I HAVE WORKED FOR SOME INDEPENDENT WRESLTING CIRCUITS....THE SCRIPTED WRESTLING TAKES ALOT MORE OUT OF ME....SO I AM SPEAKING FROM EXPERIENCE, NOT BEING "AN IGNORANT FOOL"
AND NO, I DO NOT SUPPORT THE MAN KILLING HIS WIFE AND KID, NICE ATTEMPT AT WITTY HUMOUR YOU WITLESS MEATHEAD.
AS FAR AS WRESTLERS NOT BEING ABLE TO HACK IT IN REAL SPORTS.... DO SOME RESEARCH GENIOUS
BROCK LESNAR, AND BILL GOLDBERG
GREAT FOOTBALL PLAYERS
LESNAR NOW FIGHTS IN MIXED MARTIAL ARTS MATCHES (AND WHOOPS SOME ASS I MIGHT ADD)
KURT ANGLE
OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST
MARK HENRY
WON MANY AWARDS IN STRONGMAN COMPETITIONS
CHRIS BENOIT, EDDIE GUERRERO, AND TAZZ
WERE ALL VERY TALENTED WRESTLERS (GRECO-ROMAN STYLE "REAL" WRESTLING THAT IS.)
THEY AREN'T HACK'S WHO CAN'T CUT IT IN REAL SPORTS....THEY ARE GREAT ATHLETES WHO CAN GET MORE MONEY OUT OF VINCE MCMAHON THAN ANY OTHER ATHLETIC PROMOTER
SO....IN SUMMARY....YOU ARE WRONG, IN EVERY WAY IMAGINABLE
NICE TRY THOUGH...KEEP EM COMIN
22 - MGDathlete
Man, you might as well classify wrestling fans as booger eaters and mouth breathers. Fans are reacting to this as a football fan would if Peyton Manning did it, or Tom Hanks for a movie fan. It's a kick to the gut, a total 180. The man -was- a class act. He's now a child killer. I can never watch a match of his again. You make a lot of good points, but demeaning wrestling fans is just a personal attack. See this from our POV. Thank you.
23 - Ray Ellis
~Ahem~ Thanks, Sal, for calling a spade a spade.
Some of the comments I'm seeing here are disturbing. I don't follow "pro wrestling", but I see almost daily some account of a guy who didn't have balls enough to do himself without taking innocents with him. This Benoit guy is no different--I could give a rat;s ass about the pressures of his profession, the rampant use of steroids in the "sport", his marital difficulties, any other excuse his fans might make for him. The fact remains that he was just another loser who went out in the most cowardly, twisted way imaginable.
24 - G-Unit
Thank you for making this point. And ghost NASCAR should not be considered a sport either. Any idiot out there can drive around in circles wasting gas. Benoit messed up and is probably burning in hell as we speak.
25 - BJ
Sal,
I am a wrestling fan, and I know that MOST of the outcomes are fake, and that the moves are scripted, BUT I also acknowledge that the performers are genuinely gifted physically. They go out every day and perform their job as athletes and entertainers. To say that they are just a "freak show" is like commenting that a cashier at the grocery store isn't a worker because she doesn't hold a high ranking position in a major consumerative company. These guys (and gals) are just as much of an athlete as any football, basketball, or baseball player, and even more so than any nascar racer out there, and people call that a sport.
Now as to the other comments on Benoit's personality. I actually watched the RAW tribute to Benoit, and, if you had, you would have seen quite a few people who commented on how much of an honorable person Benoit was. I am not saying that he couldn't have done what is being presumed that he did, I am just saying that, from what the people who spent almost every day with him for the past 20+ years are saying he doesn't seem the type. Just my 2 cents