Submitted by OneMadClown, Jun 28, 2007 13:43

...a belief so self-evidently simplistic and ridiculous that it allows WWE to point to its pathetic drug policy and ignore the real issues at play, which involve not only Benoit's own private demons, but a brutal, dehumanizing schedule, work that requires a level of physical punishment the body just can't handle, drug abuse as a near condition of employment, and a string of dozens and dozens of deaths about which no one has cared.

Thank you Tim, for making some of the most incisive points I've yet seen in the commentary on this tragedy. The wrestling industry, especially as promulgated by Vince McMahon, has become an absolute meat-grinder. By the time Benoit appears to have finally lost his mind, he'd seen best friends and training partners die, his persoanl wrestling idol crippled, and himself had to undergo the neck surgery/vertebrae fusion that seems to be fast becoming standard maintenance for any wrestler with a career over 10 years. He was likely living in constant pain, and like many wrestlers I've seen interviewed, probably living off of prescription painkillers. Those of us who appreciate the performance art and spectacle that is pro wrestling need to take a step back and seriously consider these issues...how can we continue to support a system that is literally destroying the lives of the performers that we admire and respect, along with those of their families and loved ones? And more importantly, how can we change it?

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