Like many of you guys, I was shocked to hear the news that the Rabbid-Wolverine, former WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Chris Benoit had passed away. I will admit, publicly, that before I read news reports, I assumed that he had suffered from a body failure or as a result of a drug overdose, the same fate of his good friend Eddy Guerrero. I was quite touched by the tribute on Monday Night Raw, with little thought to the implications of broadcasting the piece
When I learned that his wife and son had also died, I immediately thought it was a murder-suicide *side note:(It is amazing what watching American Justice and Cold Case Files do to your immediate perceptions). As a former fan of the WWE, I understood Chris Benoit to be the courageous underdog, with a character that revolved around Chris's heart and passion for wrestling, so I really could not add two and two together.
The media reacted in different ways, leaving me, subsequently, with mixed reactions. I was glad to see that CNN did not spend the hour that they usually spend when covering sadistic, heavily publicized stories. However, many others, such as Glen Beck and Bill O'Reilly were quick to demonize Benoit, blame steroids, and paint this picture of a man troubled by internal and maritial problems.
At the same time, I was disgusted by the way the WWE flopped immediately once this news came out. Although pulling the tribute from TV was probably appropriate, the subsequent release of details and comments, such as taking Benoit off the self, the release of the timeline and the steriod defense, was done with the sole purpose of dissociating their company from the "product" of Chris Benoit.
Science does not lie. Chris Benoit killed his wife and child. But, Chris Benoit was a member of the WWE family. He needs to be mourned as such. Society, especially the media, has a bad habit of discounting the lives of those who take lives, as worthless. The truth is, we cannot erase the fact that Chris was a hero to many fans and wrestlers, no matter how many products are removed and details released.
Yet this question still bugs me. Why are we so quick to make judgments before we even have all the details?
Even from the District Attorney, Scott Ballard, made what I thought were completely inappropriate comments, in way too much circumstantial detail. Law Enforcement and investigators need to act much more professionally in cases like this. Before releasing information such as "needle marks were on his son" and "Chris Benoit was injecting Human Growth Hormone to his kid" and that "steroids were found", they need to look into the background of Chris, his family, and his profession. His son had "Fragile X disease", suffering from dwarfism and mental retardation. Yet, the mainstream media has barely mentioned this. Chris was a professional wrestler with the WWE, an entertainment company with no real drug policy, and with the constant need of wrestlers to gain a competetive edge to increase their salary.
I am in no way defending Chris Benoit. He is a murderer. But, let us wait until we receive toxicology reports and find more clues about the mental state of Benoit's in the days leading up the murders, before we rush to lynch him and remove his name from historical records. We may never know whether it started off as an accident or was a well-thought out calculated plan. This should not matter. Benoit's wife, Woman, has been barely mentioned and will go down in history as just another victim. Let us use this event to gain a better understanding of Fragile X disease.
Time and time again, we judge actions at face value and don't bother to understand. Our Humanity is better than that.
