Shock and sadness has turned to revulsion and anger in the story of dead WWE wrestler Chris Benoit. Benoit, 40, was found dead along with his wife Nancy and son Daniel in his Atlanta home yesterday. In the wake of his death, the WWE held a three-hour tribute to Benoit during its Monday Night Raw telecast, including several emotional interviews from those who knew Benoit.
With news now coming out that Benoit murdered his wife and son, the WWE is left with unwanted mainstream attention — the story was fifth on The Today Show, after coverage of Paris Hilton and wildfires — and, in some respects, an unwarranted black eye. “[P]eople are angry. Angry at the McMahons for airing the Death Angle the past two weeks. Angry at Benoit for possibly being a murderer. Angry at WWE for airing a tribute show to a possible murder.” At the time the tribute to Benoit was conducted, there had been no confirmation that he had committed murder.
Obviously, the WWE could not have known that a well-known wrestler would die in the course of the now infamous “Death Angle”, in which the death of Vince McMahon was faked. Yesterday’s edition of Monday Night Raw was to be a three-hour ‘memorial’ service to McMahon. Additionally, the WWE found itself in an awkward position yesterday; had they not conducted a tribute to Benoit, it would have seemed in bad taste. Now with the news that Benoit indeed murdered his family, the WWE looks much worse, as the organization spent three hours paying homage to a murderer.
Even had the WWE not conducted the ill-fated tribute to Benoit, and even if there had never been a storyline surrounding Vince McMahon’s supposed death, one expects that backlash against the organization would have been substantial nonetheless. The specter of steroid use hangs over WWE wrestling, and already several outlets, including the AP and New York Post, are speculating that the deaths are a result of “‘roid-rage”.
The speculation surrounding steroid use may be the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the negative press surrounding the WWE from mainstream outlets. “Many of you probably aren?t familiar with Benoit, but that won?t stop talking heads from casting stones at professional wrestling. (Look for Calvin Cowherd to be especially indignant about it.) … People will look down their noses at wrestling for having another tragedy, maybe even calling for the end of the industry. Yet, nobody has any particular concern that Saturday Night Live kills off a bunch of people, too. The Benoit tragedy (which looks like a murder suicide) is reminiscent of the Phil Hartman shooting. And lest we forget the drug overdoses of Chris Farley and John Belushi, or Charles Rocket killing himself, but it?s wrestling that has a drug problems and other issues.”
Whether or not there is any parallel between the WWE and other forms of scripted entertainment is highly debatable — and certainly, SNL does not have a culture of violence that makes it vulnerable to the same criticisms leveled at pro wrestling.
No matter what, the WWE finds itself in an unenviable position. Its drug policies may come under scrutiny, and more ominously, the violent nature of the organization may become a new lightning rod for those in the media who would like to link the Benoit double murder/suicide to the violence in the ring.
