Chris Benoit (1967--2007)

Just an observation---about the next stage being anger and what's I've witnessed as this grisly story unfolds over the internet, among fans pros, the media, etc. The observation has to do with smarks, and for the moment let's include those in the business as another class of smarks.

If there's one thing a smark hates, it's being fooled. Being worked. That's what sets us smarks apart from the common rabble after all. From the evidence at hand, Chris Benoit worked us. He worked 99.99% of planet Earth into thinking he was a pro, a stand-up guy, a respectable man who loved his family.

And that's the part that ____ing stings for us. That's the anger we thought we saw peeking through on tv Monday night. Damn it, man, we trusted you. You were the honest one, the hero, the underdog we rooted for, the...babyface. We all got swerved, and two innocent people paid for it with their lives. Did Nancy or Daniel see this coming? Were they fooled too? The rumor sheets are starting to say they may have known there was something wrong. We may never know, or then again we may find out one day.

There's a sense of betrayal running through those standing inside and outside "the sport" this week. And part of that is never going to go away.