Thumb Across the Throat

No matter what your interest is, there are performers that are your favourite. More often than not, they are people you’ll never meet in real life but you read their work, listen to their music, watch them act or whatever it is they do on a regular basis. You’re a fan. You feel a connection to these people that, really, you don’t know. At the same time, you do know them but you don’t. What happens to them in real life shouldn’t matter to you that much. Sometimes it does.

Chris Benoit, his wife and one of their young sons is dead. Chris had just turned 40 about a month ago. I can’t ever remember meeting him. I know I had the opportunity to cheer him in person more than once. I even have a faint memory of being excited to see him perform live the first time. When was that? A WCW house show in 1997, 1998? Can’t remember. It’s probably not important.

Benoit was one of the performers I became specially fond of when my interest in wrestling revived in the mid-90’s. He was one of a crew of relatively smaller sized performers that displayed a unique talent in the ring. They were truly fascinating to watch and many still are: Rey Mysterio Jr, Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho and I would be remiss if I didn’t include the Chairman, La Parka. Rey’s half a step away from crippled, Jericho is currently retired, Parka’s still wrestling in Mexico, Eddie died a couple years ago and now Benoit’s gone.

When Eddie died it was a surprise and yet it wasn’t. Eddie had a history of problems and injuries. While he’d been good for so long, it wasn’t that much of a surprise to have it catch up with him. Benoit didn’t really have that history. He had neck problems but what little information there is currently doesn’t point to his passing being related to his wrestling history and the injuries that accumulate from that.

Chris wasn’t a flashy wrestler. He didn’t talk well. He was hard nosed, technically minded and just gave off this feeling that he had no quit in him. His first nickname was the Crippler, earned after ‘breaking’ Sabu’s neck. Being Canadian he was later called the Wolverine, a name I could certainly get behind from my comic book perspective. He was a member of the Four Horsemen for years. He was a guy that I always thought should succeed based on his skill and was afraid he never would. A few years ago, at Wrestlemania XX, we all cheered as he won the Heavyweight Title. Eddie Guerrero, also a champion at the time, came out to celebrate with him. For a moment, all was right with the world.

Tonight’s RAW is the first I’ve watched since, well, since Eddie died. It’s all about Benoit, moments from his career, his friends speaking well of him and it fills me with joy and sadness all at the same time. A few matches ago I verbalized a Benoit cheer and it almost made me cry.

Chest chops. The Diving Headbutt. The Sharpshooter. The Thumb across the Throat taunt. The Crippler Crossface finisher.

Like I said, I remember met Chris Benoit. I can’t claim to have spent time with him or called him family or any of the things that would make his passing that much more real. I am a fan of his. And I miss him already.

Rest in peace Chris Benoit.