Chris Benoit
What is there to write about this?
Sherri Martel died a little more than a week ago. It was sad, but not shocking.
That's just the way it has become in pro wrestling. It's a never-ending thing.
So when Martel died (at 49), it was sad, but not shocking. How could it be? So many wrestlers are gone that it's difficult to be surprised.
Then Chris Benoit, one of the best wrestlers in the world, is found dead in his home. Not only that, but his wife and young son are found as well.
I didn't know Chris Benoit. But he seemed well-liked by his peers, and in interviews, seemed like a decent, modest guy.
So as the day went on yesterday, and the information continued to come out, it was shocking.
The guy I saw on TV ( and in person a few times) didn't seem capable of such a horrible thing. And yet, reports indicate Benoit killed his wife, his son, and then himself in a three-day span.
All this occurs with the backdrop of wrestling. World Wrestling Entertainment had just embarked on a storyline where chairman Vince McMahon was blown up. It was a storyline which caused me to swear off WWE for good.
Too many people have died. In the back of my mind, I wondered how WWE could do a mock death when so many of its former employees had passed away young. I also wondered how Benoit felt about it, since he had lost so many friends in the industry.
Eddy Guerrero was Benoit's best friend. Owen Hart and Brian Pillman came from the same training ground, and were friends as well.
Now Benoit is gone, under the most tragic of circumstances.
We'll know more in a few days.
I can't help but think that as we write in sadness about the wrestler, the true victims were his wife, Nancy, and his son, Daniel. If this were anything else, that's what I would have said a lot earlier.
Sometimes you end up with more questions than answers.

Update
The Associated Press is reporting Benoit strangled his wife, smothered his son, then hanged himself. CNN has a reporter outside the Benoit home. Forget wrestling as a context. This is a story that is going to be reported like few others.