As I talked about in my last prequel entry – Prowrestling has been in my life for almost as long as I could remember. It was a dream of mine ever since I watched Stone Cold live in Vancouver to become a Professional Wrestler, and travel the world.
This dream never faded throughout my youth, no matter how much times changed. In fact after attending the WWF show, I joined the amateur wrestling team at my school and vividly remembering asking when we would learn a German Suplex (Bitch).
During the late Attitude Era (aka the late 99/00’s), there was almost a stigma around prowrestling. Many people would criticize wrestling for being “fake”. Being a young, and frankly, insecure man, I was worried about what people would think of me being a fan, so I kept my fandom underwraps.
No matter how closeted of a fan I was, I would still play the video games, watch every episode of raw/smackdown, read the rumours online, and even started doing mini-workouts while watching events in my teens (The Royal Rumble was my first introduction to interval training, and I didn’t even know it).
As the years went on, and I hit puberty, my attention was dragged into… other directions.
I started having more interest in girls (apparently cooties aren’t so scary after 13) and I began taking my athletics more seriously in Basketball (bad choice for someone who capped out at 5’7).
There was also another player in town, when the UFC released the Ultimate Fighter in 2005. I had watched a few UFC events when I was young because I was a big Ken Shamrock fan, but it didn’t quite match the entertainment and action that the WWF offered. However, this behind the scenes look into the life of these athletes was really unique and exciting for me as someone who aspired to be in that position. I was hooked instantly and it wasn’t long before dreams of doing MMA started dancing in my head like sugar plums at christmas… still with the end goal of becoming a prowrestler in the end.
Around the same time, the WWF, now WWE, had shifted as well. Guys like Steve Austin and The Rock were gone, and while I was still loved watching guys like Brock Lesnar, Kurt Angle, John Cena, Batista, and Randy Orton – they never could replace my childhood favourites.
But, there was still one person in wrestling who drew me in and gave me hope that I could make it to the big leagues one day.
This was a guy who was also considered undersized like me, he had to travel all over the world to make a name for himself, and he was even from the same place my uncle was living at the time, Edmonton, Alberta.
My wrestling idol was Chris Benoit.
(It’s still hard to admit and write about to this day – bare with me)
When Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero hugged to end Wrestlemania 20, it gave me all hope that I could make this my career. These were two guys that were around my size, who worked hard, perfected their craft, and made it to the top of the mountain.
So while my attention was being pulled away towards girls, sports, and the UFC, all roads still lead to prowrestling in 2007 as I finished my grade 11 year in school. I was starting to look at colleges where I could also train for prowrestling on the side.
It was only a few weeks into the summer when a bomb hit me like no other.
I want to preface this in saying nothing I experienced would ever come close to what the people involved or close to the situation experienced
But on June 25th I woke up to the news that my hero, Chris Benoit, had died.
I was heartbroken and devastated. I can’t tell you how many times I had watched his documentary DVD Hard Knocks for motivation, and dreamed of one day having a prowrestling match against the man. But, the worst was yet to come.
The following day, the full, horrific story was released. I couldn’t believe it when I read it. My wrestling hero, Chris Benoit had not only taken his own life, but the life of his wife and child. The man I idolized, had become a monster in the matter of seconds. Of course, I tried to deny it, but the truth was proven time and time again.
At that moment, my dream to ever step foot in a wrestling ring died.
As I write this, I wonder how many other people out there were in the same shoes as me.
Sure, I still watched wrestling and followed it to a degree, but never like I had before. Now and then, something would draw my interest, but nothing would get me excited about it quite like I had been before.
The dream was over…
(To Be Continued)
Rich,
Owner, RK Athletics
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