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WRESTLER’S EYE VIEW LOOKS AT THE CHRIS BENOIT TRAGEDY

By Les Thatcher on 2007-06-30 11:47:00
From the moment I heard the terrible news at about 6:10 PM this past Monday evening till now; I have been overwhelmed with every emotion imaginable from angry to tears.

I have labored over what I feel, what I should write, and still am not sure that I am emotionally equipped at this point to make any sense of any of this. So this week in the column I will keep it short and try to get straight to the point.

I have lost three people who were dear to me, and have been a part of my life for quite sometime. The deaths of Chris, Nancy, and Daniel Benoit have slammed me as hard as anything I have ever felt.

Nancy and I have been friends for over twenty years as we did a television show together when she first started in the business, and that friendship had grown and remained till her passing.

I became a fan of Chris when I first saw him wrestle, and we became friends almost ten years ago when he headlined the first “Pillman Memorial Event” we promoted. 

I can’t even begin to understand what could have triggered the series of horrible events that took place over the weekend of June 22nd through 24th and the only person that can answer that is gone. The person I called friend showed me compassion, love, and so much more over the years for his family and friends. However I will never be able to fathom his reasons for what happened in suburban Atlanta last weekend. What I will do is treat him as he treated me. That would be as a friend, brother, son, or father to tell him that although I can not forgive him for taking the lives of his family or himself, I will continue to love him as I was fortunate enough to have seen the caring and love he shared that so many will never see or understand.

I pray most for little Daniel who I never got to know well, but I was lucky enough to be tagged as one of his honorary uncles, and his birthday was marked and celebrated on my calendar each year. As I write this his picture sits a top our television and every time I see it I see both his mother and father so clearly.

The shame is that Daniel’s life was cut so short for no reason that makes sense.

I guess to sum this up I have lost three friends, people that I love and I hope that they find peace with God. I will continue to remember and care for them, and try my best to not judge what I have no way of understanding, and finally hope to find some peace with this within myself. God bless the three of you, and know that you are truly missed. I’ll close this as we have closed so many of our conversations over the years. “I love all of you”.

Until Next Time,
Les

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