chris and nancy benoit

I was gonna mock Tank Johnson in this space this morning, but then I found out about the horrific details of the Benoit family murder-suicide and I don't really have it in me.

His ECW stint was a little before my time (before I followed ECW, really) but when I started watching Chris Benoit in WCW (his second stint) he quickly became one of my favorites. Here was a guy that was ready to take Bret Hart's mantle as the best technical guy in the game, with a wicked mean streak to boot, and the whole Kevin Sullivan / Woman angle was a classic as well (and makes yesterday's events all the sadder).

To have one of your favorite wrestlers of all time die young is sad, though unfortunately, all too common (as fans of Eddie Guerrero, Bam Bam Bigelow, Brian Pillman, Owen Hart et al. will attest). But to have him go out in a way that's just so heinous, killing his wife and kid as his last acts on earth... I just don't know what to think. In a way, I almost wish he had ODed.

Just very, very sad... from a huge fan, all my condolences to Benoit's family and friends.

(Mixed feelings aside, this is after Benoit's title win at Wrestlemania 20, still one of my favorite moments in wrestling. A little over three years later, both these guys are dead. Sad business.)