Back in the Day
June 27, 2007
While driving home from grocery shopping on Monday night. I was pretty stunned to hear the news of WWE wrestler Chris Benoit's death. I became more disturbed when I sat down to watch "Monday Night Raw" on the USA Network for the first time since...well, when another wrestler Eddie Guerrero died young, and found out that not only did Benoit die, but so did his wife and kid. Right away my mind jumped to the conclusion that Benoit killed his family, then himself.
Tuesday that was confirmed by local investigators in Fayetteville, GA.
Early, tragic deaths of pro-wrestlers have become a disturbing trend. These real-life cartoon characters that I grew up watching now seem to be leaving us at an alarming rate, and with their unfortunate and sudden losses comes the reality that I'm all growns up now. I was big into wrestling as far back as when I was in 2nd grade. I remember going to my first live event with my dad, his friend and his friend's son DT who I want on to grow up with. Hulk Hogan faced off against Jesse "The Body" Ventura. Hulk got busted open, and won the match by "disqualification." He concluded the night doing his famous pose-down, which now a days seems pretty gay for a male fan to be hooping and hollering like a chick because a wrestler flashed his guns and his pecs.
In any event, just about my entire circle of friends got into wrestling in the mid to late 1980's and into the late 90's. I dare say it is probably what made us join the high school wrestling team when we were freshman. My interest in it had died down a bit when I got to college, however it was revitalized in Summer 1997 when Hulk Hogan turned "heel" (aka became a bad guy). My senior year of college actually culminated with an attendance to my first ever WCW event to see Monday Nitro just before Senior Week. After graduating and going into the real world to live in a New Jersey studio apartment with no cable, my interest died down again for a few years until "Hollywood" Hogan made his return to the WWF/WWE. Notice a trend here? Yeah, I'm a Hulkamaniac for life...BROTHER!
Anyway, one of my pals sent out a group email with the latest link to the Benoit story Tuesday morning. One of the boys made the observation during the discussion thread that it now seems like "all the guys (wrestlers) we grew up with aren't going to make it". When I think back about it, he may be right. Off the top of my head I can come up with over a dozen more superstar wrestlers from the 80's and 90's who helped build it into the megadollar business that it's become (moment of silence please):
"Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig (one of my all-time favorites)
Rick Rude
Adrian Adonis
Junkyard Dog
Andre The Giant
Hawk (from the Road Warriors/Legion of Doom)
Bam Bam Bigelow
Big Bossman
Miss Elizabeth (first famous chick who made me discover a boner)
British Bulldog Davey Boy Smith
Owen Hart
Big John Studd
Just about anyone with the last name Von Erich
That's a pretty lengthy list, and a lot of them occurred this decade before they hit the age of 50.
Yeah, you could call this lame, but wrestling was a big part of teenage and pre-teen years, with a part of me that tried not to let go in my mid twenties. Now I could care less, except for when those entertainers who were a part of my youth suddenly pass on, and take a part of my childhood with them.
posted by That 30's Guy @ 12:00 AM,
