Wow. Nothing like reality to snap me out of the whines.
WWE wrestler Chris Benoit, his son and his wife Nancy were found dead today.
Chris was a great guy. Just someone you’d want to be when you grew up. He was humble. I met him briefly at the first ever Extreme Championship Wrestling internet convention. It’s a story you’ll hear a lot, but the guy was just amazed that people gathered from around the world to come to this little bingo hall in South Philly just to see ECW wrestling. You could see it in his eyes and his voice when he spoke to us just how amazed he was and how touched he was by it.
You just can’t find a bad thing to say about him.
Nancy, my god, Nancy Sullivan. They just don’t make them like her any more. Long before she married Chris, she was a pinup queen of the wrestling world. Her Bettie Page-esque looks and her attitude were just pitch perfect for the character she played in ECW (”Woman”). I actually got to interview her once. I was working for AOL and volunteering my services for ECW (I created their first official website) and it was Jim Thorpe, PA. We got a ton of their guys to come in to a tiny AOL chat room and the highlight for everyone was Nancy taking questions with the Sandman. She was just amazing in person and being the shy geek, I had to force myself to talk (and you know I don’t tend to shut up). She just had this presence about her that made you go “wow.”
I don’t know what else to say, other than the world lost some really great people today. This is probably the worst thing to happen to wrestling in years. Chris especially was such a great guy and such a role model that he’ll never be replaced or forgotten.
I just hope the best for their friends and family.
Jim
Updated: The news is everywhere now that police are investigating the case as a murder/suicide since the bodies were found in different rooms. I really have no words for this. The guy was so genuine and so nice in real life that this would be so out of character for him. I hope and I pray that it’s not the case. Just shocking.