Several months ago I wrote a column that discussed how professional wrestling is the closest thing we have to the classics of ancient Greece. I spoke about how the storylines mimic the tragic and heroic aspects of that time. Months before that, a column on the Unreality of Comic Books. Both of those discussions today are in the foreground of my mind.
A few days ago, WWE superstar Chris Benoit was reported to have been found dead with his wife and son in their home in Georgia. My first thought was: tragic. And it is. Yesterday the news broke as a national story that it appears that Benoit killed both his wife and child and then ended his own life. A few haunting thoughts instantly entered my mind.
The first was that, sadly, sometimes life imitates art. Not to belittle the tragic events for the victim’s family and friends, but it could not have happened at a stranger time. Just a few weeks ago, the WWE had a storyline going where Mr. McMahon, the CEO of the WWE walked out to his limo after a live event, got in, and then the car exploded, assumingly ending the life of Vince McMahon’s character. Who knows where the storyline would have gone from there. I’m sure in weeks to come we would have found out that the character was still alive and it was just a ploy. Last Monday night was supposed to be a memorial service for McMahon’s character during a 3 hour special on USA networks show RAW. This was not to happen.
In a world where irony and tragedy seem intertwined often, the start of RAW had Vince McMahon, not the character, standing alone in a wrestling ring in Texas, where there should have been thousands of fans. McMahon had cancelled the event. He spoke to the television audience, distraught and almost in tears and explained that the current storyline of his alleged death would no longer continue due to the real death of Benoit and that the evening would instead be a celebration of the WWE fallen hero. It was a heartfelt speech and a very nice show, showcasing the best moments of Benoit’s career and some interviews with his co-workers.
But it was an eerie situation. What made things even stranger is that the show was aired BEFORE the news broke that police believed Benoit committed the murders and then his own suicide. All I kept thinking was, McMahon was a bit too quick to pull the trigger. In effect, they had given a worldwide audience a three hour tribute to a guy who might have smothered his seven year old son and strangled his wife. At that moment, I also felt bad for McMahon, whom I am sure thought he was doing the right thing.
Tuesday night’s WWE show, ECW, again began with McMahon on the screen. This time the CEO was telling the television audience that in lieu of the recent developments, that Benoit’s name would not be mentioned on the program and that they were going back to doing what they do best: entertaining.
What a bizarre few days. It also made me think about the real and “real” story of how Benoit and his wife’s relationship began. Supposedly, she was married to a wrestler named Kevin Sulliven who was also a promoter. From what I recall, Sulliven and Benoit had an on-screen feud going where she was supposed to leave Sulliven for Benoit. I believe she even asked for a divorce on the air and then got a divorce in real life and married Benoit.
Life does imitate art. It is true because art is trying to discover Truths and that in the heart of all fiction lays conflict. Each one of us is but just one of many in this crazy world trying to discover our own Truth and find our own way through conflict. It’s a shame that all of the lessons we learn can’t come from the television or books or paintings or theatre or dance. Sadly, we are products of the real thing.