Thursday 27 September 2012

How Can You Call Him A Hero? By Stuart Rodgers

Recently I have seen a blog about the man more commonly referred to as 'Canadian Wrestler X' - This writer who has appeared on the pages of WLH but not for a few weeks and they put across their thoughts on this wrestler and the whys and wherefores of the whole case. The writer does state how they feel, like us all and quite rightly so, when what happened came to light on the fateful night in 2007 was a dark day not just in wrestling but in life itself.

What promted me to write this blog myself was when all said and done, the writer doesn't think the wrestlers career should be forgotten about as WWE have erased all mentions of the person in question on their websites etc and they make sure on any DVD's that come out he is not mentioned or shown. And what really got me was the writer stands by the fact this wrestler was a 'wrestling legend' and a 'hero' to them. This for me is just awful, as a father myself the thoughts of that day remain one of the worst times I mean even if I wasn't a wrestling fan I'd still find this appalling and I'm sure the world outside of wrestling did just that.

In short, this wrestler had numerous tests and was said to have been in a bad state of mind through various concussions and head trauma but still, this person being wiped from the history books is the RIGHT thing to do in my eyes and for someone to state this person is a 'hero' to them I find disturbing.

Here are some of the responses on the article itself the first one below is the one I said I totally agree with:-

His accomplishments in this business will forever be overshadowed by his heinous crimes.

The writer responded with:-

They will always be overshadowed by it. Benoit at the end was an animal, but his skills and achievements are rarely matched. It’s about time we can enjoy his in ring abilities without being judged for it. He is still my wrestling hero to the day, and will always remain so.

Elsewhere in the response the writer would go on to say that due to what happened WWE changed it's welfare policies and to quote "Perhaps he saved some lives and didn’t just destroy them."

I agree in the fact WWE changed a number of things in their company following the tragic incident and that is all good and I only applaud them for that and I applaud them for erasing any trace of this wrestler on their product.

In closing, I just want to say how anyone can say about this man "He is still my wrestling hero to the day, and will always remain so" is beyond me.

Any comments are welcome below.

Thanks, Stu @WLHSTU

2 comments:

  1. Everyone is entitled to their opinion when it comes to hero worship. While what he did was heinous, some people can separate the man from the wrestler and there is nothing wrong with that.

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  2. Ever since the dreadful events of 2007 there as been a clear divide between those who can still watch Chris Benoit the wrestler and those that cannot.
    Do I enjoy watching Chris Benoit matches? Yes
    Do I think about what he did to his family, when I watch his matches? No
    Was he fantastic wrestler that had a lot of really great matches? Yes
    Was he a hero? No
    But then again I wouldn't class any wrestler as a hero to me, they simply provide a form of entertainment that I enjoy watching. Some wrestlers are better than this than others. I obviously have no real insight how Benoit or anyone else feels personally and nor should I.
    As a wrestling fan I judge Chris Benoit on his ability purely as a professional wrestler. This is not to make light on what he did, we all agree it was dreadful and for many including yourself it means that everything he did before counts for very little.
    You are entitled to your opinion as we all are, in closing I do think that the comment 'Wrestling hero' was based on Benoit's wrestling ability and is completely separate from thinking that he was a 'hero' for what he did. No one could think that. I think that if they stated that Benoit was a 'fantastic wrestler' you would have accepted it or at least found it a less controversial statement.

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