RIP

I'm not much of a wrestling fan these days, but I was sad to hear about Chris Benoit and his family. I used to watch wrestling every Saturday morning (after cartoons were over, of course) and idolized Elizabeth, the glamorous ball gown-clad girlfriend of Randy Macho Man Savage. The WWF was a lot different back then. I won't go so far as to say "classy", but at least the ladies of wrestling looked more like they were walking the red carpet than the red light district.

One of my most exciting childhood memories was getting to see Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant and Jake the Snake at a live match when I was a kid. I couldn't believe that these huge stars would come all the way to Canada to my little town! My dad was not a wrestling fan at all, but he bought us tickets and we had a great time. I'm sure if any other adults asked him about it he would've rolled his eyes and assured them that yes, he knew that wrestling was fake. But secretly I think he was at least a little excited to do some boy stuff, being a father of all girls.

It's sad to see so many of these hometown heroes ending up the subject of tragic news headlines. My heart goes out to Chris Benoit and his family. And Elizabeth. And Jake Roberts.