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Submitted by eldandy on Friday, June 29, 2007 at 12:39 PM EST
Welcome everyone to another edition of Sittin’ Pretty with eldandy. It’s truly a sad week in the world of professional wrestling, as we mourn the loss of one of the greatest in ring wrestlers of all time. It is not my place to speculate on the details surrounding the death of Chris Benoit and his family, so I will not vilify, or will I victimize Chris Benoit. At this point, the only thing I can do is offer my condolences to Benoit’s family and friends, and try to celebrate the great career of the man that some here in Canada believe to be the second greatest wrestler to ever come out of this country. It seems ironic that the column that you are about to read, “Family Ties”, is one that I have been working on for over a week now, and with the breaking of the death of Chris Benoit, and the circumstances surrounding his death, the column itself seems more appropriate than ever. There is little denying that the life of a professional wrestler is a tough one. With so many people competing for so few top spots, even the most talented of workers can still be left behind, wondering what he has to do to succeed in the business. It becomes particularly frustrating when one considers the physical toll that wrestlers put on their bodies. Working 200 nights per year, with little to no time off, in a “sport” that many athletes consider to be more physically taxing than professional football, can take its toll on the body. Finally, the travel that these men keeps them away from their families, and can put a lot of strain on their relationships. The strain on their families is perhaps the most taxing part of being a professional wrestler because it encompasses all other issues that wrestlers have. For starters, let’s get one thing straight. People don’t get into a business like professional wrestling unless they’re passionate about it. You don’t hear many guys say “Well, as a kid, I really wanted to be a doctor, but then I thought I’d give wrestling a try, and here I am.” Many wrestlers start right out of high school, and are firmly established in the business before they have families of hteir own. That being said, a lot of guys feel a great deal of responsibility towards their families, and at the end of the day, they’ll be the first to say that they stick with the business to create a greater life for their kids, their wife, or the people they love. The likes of Mick Foley, Shawn Michaels, and even Hulk Hogan have talked about how much wrestling has put a strain on their family life. Few can forget the images of Foley’s children in tears as they watched him repeatedly get hit over the head with a chair. The likes of Hogan and Michaels have decided to take on lighter wrestling schedules because of the time they miss with their families. Mick Foley retired before the age of forty because he was unable to play with his children on account of the nagging injuries that wrestling had given him. With that being said, many wrestlers have a difficult time juggling their loved ones with their work. Jake Roberts’ problems with the “code of the road” put a serious strain on his family life, and resulted in the break up of his marriage, and the estrangement from his children, and his father. Steve Austin’s frequent marital problems have come up in the news, with incidents of spousal abuse, resulting in a year’s probation, and community service. The truth is, being on the road 200 days a year can put a strain on any relationship, and with the vices of drugs, alcohol, and women all around these wrestlers, it’s only natural for their wives or girlfriends to be jealous. In addition, the physical strain, and time away from children, can create serious strain on the father/child relationship. When a father can’t go outside and play with his son, or when he misses important moments in his daughter’s life, it’s only natural for the child to harbor some sort of resentment for their father. It’s important for wrestlers to examine their priorities when they get into the business. While one’s heart and mind may feel that a “family first” approach is the only way, others know that they simply aren’t in a position to put a lot of time aside for their families. For every Mick Foley, there is a 32 year old wrestler with three kids and a mortgage that needs to work five nights a week to pay the bills. For every Hulk Hogan, there’s a guy doing 6 week trips to Japan because he can’t get enough work in North America. It’s probably for that very reason that many wrestlers marry inside the business. While men far outnumber women in professional wrestling, those with girlfriends or wives in the business tend to have more stable relationships. Is it because their spouses understand the business, and the physical and emotional toll it takes on them, or is it simply a matter of them being around each other more often? It’s hard to say. I can only speak from my own personal point of view on this. My wife and I both work shift work, and as such, we don’t always get to see each other very often. Last week, I worked four 12 hour days, and she worked two days, and three nights. We would mostly see each other in passing, as we handed off the car to each other in between shifts. I can say that it does put a strain on our relationship from time to time because it often feels as though we are on our own a lot, and with responsibilities like a house and bills to pay, having only one person around can be very taxing. In addition, having no one to talk to about our problems only makes things more difficult for us. Last week, we found out that my wife was pregnant, and we would be expecting our first child some time next winter. While we are both very excited about the baby, there is a lingering feeling of how are we going to handle this kind of responsibility with both of us working such insane hours. Being hospital workers, we understand that it’s not simply a matter of switching to a nine-to-five job, and going from there either. One thing that we have established is that our family will come first, and we will find a way to work it out. That being said, it’s impossible to compare what I do to the life of a professional wrestler. For every 12 hour shift I work, a wrestler is on the road for an entire day. Add in flying from city to city, it’s any wonder that wrestlers have any time at all to see their families. I commend those wrestlers that are able to balance their professional lives with their personal lives. The balance that they maintain from day to day, month to month, and year to year, is beyond anything I could possibly imagine, and they deserve everything they get simply because of that. I can’t put any sort of spin on the situation of Chris Benoit because I simply don’t know what his family life was like. Police reports have suggested that there was an altercation between Benoit and his wife, and he strangled he to death. The following morning, he suffocated his son, and hung himself that evening. Some reports even suggest that the act was the result of “’roid rage” on the part of Benoit. I can’t condone the actions of Chris Benoit. I have a wife, and a child on the way, and simply put, I can’t imagine that there would be any reason for me to ever want to harm either one of them. That being said, I don’t live the life of a professional wrestler, and for me to vilify Chris Benoit would be wrong. At the same time, I can’t condone the actions of Chris Benoit. I can understand the problems that I’m sure he was facing both professionally and personally, but for him to act in the way that he did is simply inexcusable. There are other means of dealing with one’s problems than using violence, and for him to take the approach that he did is not only sad, but confusing as well. I don’t understand why Chris Benoit did what he did, and frankly, I’m not sure I’d be satisfied with the answer if I did know. With this in mind, I am still a fan of Chris Benoit’s work. I think that there were very few wrestlers that could match Chris Benoit’s work in the ring, and there won’t be many that ever will. I also think that Benoit’s passion for professional wrestling is second to none, and he deserves all the accolades that he would have received had this terrible tragedy never taken place. The acts committed in Benoit’s moment of vulnerability should not reflect our overall impression of one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time. I mourn the passing of one of wrestling’s greatest athletes, and hope that we continue to see him as one of it’s greatest. If this tragedy has taught wrestling anything, it’s that wrestlers should take the time to appreciate the people that love them, and maybe to re-examine their priorities when it comes to business and family. At the end of the day, family is all that one has, and it’s ultimately the tie that binds. And now for the rest of the story… I’ve decided to forgo the usual “Rest of the story” section out of respect to the Benoit family, and also because nothing else that’s going on in wrestling seems very relevant right now. It’s sad when we think about how much we examine and scrutinize wrestling, especially when we are forced to step back and look at real life. I think that tragedies like this week’s allow us to truly appreciate the escape that wrestling allows us to have. I was glad to see that the WWE chose not to parade it’s wrestlers out for another tribute show this time around. While the tributes to both Owen Hart and Eddy Guerrero were both special in their own right, they didn’t seem proper. With the gravity of the Benoit death, to have the wrestlers come out one more time would have been the wrong decision. That’s it for this edition of Sittin’ Pretty with eldandy. Before I go, I’d like to congratulate Leviathan on his main page call up. Of all the recent promotions from the CF, I felt that Levi’s was truly the most deserving, and you should all check this Column Forum legend out if you haven’t already done so. If you guys have any feedback you wanted to leave me, you can send me an email at el_dandy@hotmail.com. or you can check out my feedback thread in the LOP Forums. Thank you once again for reading, this is eldandy, sittin’ pretty until next time. *NEW GALLERY* Must See Hot Shots of the TNA Knockouts CROSSING THE LINE!
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