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WRESTLING COLUMNS

Three Lives and all Respect, Gone Forever
July 2, 2007 by Joe W.


Editor's Note: The author of this column can be contacted via the OWW Forums, where this submission was first posted. Feedback can be posted automatically by clicking here - but remember you must sign up for the forums to post feedback on a column. Thanks you!


And this is how it ends. One of the greatest superstars ever take pull on a pair of tights is gone. Also gone is his dignity and all of my respect for the man.

That is because I can no longer call him a man. Anybody who would kill his son and his wife loses that distinction in my book. Call it mental illness or some sort of defection in his head, but in no way shape or form can he be glorified.

Upon seeing the graphic appear on the screen Monday night, my friend and I turned to one another in shock. Our eyes wide and our mouths even more agape, we were in shock. Just hours earlier we were discussing how the show would probably be poor. Vengeance was a disappointment and three hours of McMahon slurping would only make it worse.

And then there was the empty arena. Vince's voice came over the PA, and I knew that I was witnessing one of the most important moments in the industry's history. Vince broke character and the storyline. He delivered a solemn news report on the day's happening, and I couldn't figure out what to think. For the first few minutes I tried to think, "Who would kill him and his family?" and "Why would he fly back to Georgia, was someone waiting for him?"

And then it hit me. The murder-suicide possibility popped into my mind and I prayed it would be his wife's doing for my own sanity's sake. Him returning home because his wife was off her rocker, she goes postal before taking her own life. It would disturb me, but I could live with it. This, I'm having trouble with.

Sitting on my laptop in front of the television, I surfed from site to site trying to find more information only to find the same three paragraphs or crashing servers. I searched his name on Google Images and found the shot of him with Eddie Guerrero after the title victory at Wrestlemania XX. Right clicking, I made it by wallpaper. After hearing the news of what actually occurred, I opened my laptop when I arrived at my internship this morning and saw his face. I replaced it with CM Punk's because I felt like my McGriddle may make a surprise reappearance if I looked at his face any longer. Still, my stomach turns as I sit in the newsroom with CNN on televisions on the wall and see his face and reporters outside his home. My utter disgust is difficult to put into words.

For the last 10 years I have followed his career. I have been one of the biggest supporters of his. He was doing great things for the future of this industry, preparing the young stars like MVP, Burke and Punk. He touched the lives of so many, and now he ends it like this.

WWE must do what they can to disassociate themselves with him, even though the event will be forever linked. Continuing to make profits off the sale of his DVDs or merchandise would be in terrible taste. The possibility of him being inducted into the Hall of Fame has gone out the window. The backlash the company would receive for putting a murderer who killed his son and wife in with the greatest of all time would be terrible.

His name, which I refuse to put into this article, will stand in infamy instead of glory. He will be remembered for his worst moments instead of his greatest successes.

Forget anything that says Rest in Peace. Serenity is the last thing he deserves.

By Joe W. (View/Submit your feedback here




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