News: Pro Wrestling Tragedies

It's been almost a decade since I've watched pro wrestling. That's probably for the best, since I think the whole thing jumped the shark when they were forced to change "WWF" to "WWE." Whereas the storylines used to be funny or even dramatic, and the scripted gymnastics were high-flying, now we have "Divas" who probably shouldn't be in the ring in the first place, as well as tragedy all around as the consequences of a pro wrestling career start emerging.

The latest sad occurrence is a grisly murder-suicide committed by Chris Benoit, perhaps partially driven by steroidal rage. Benoit strangled his wife, his son, and then committed suicide over the course of a single weekend. I can't imagine what could drive a father to do violence to his own son - and I'm not sure I want to know.

Steroid use has been cited in a number of other deaths, including Eddie Guerrero, Mr. Perfect, the British Bulldog...the list goes on and on. I can't believe the guys I was watching in 8th grade are falling over dead. It's a subtly ironic thing. My Dad, an aging, out of shape engineer, is probably more healthy than some of these heavily-muscled wrestlers and athletes, if we're looking at long-term survival as our goal.

There have to be other, healthier ways to build stronger muscles. I'm inspired by the training regimen posted up by Porta's Cat. Currently I do 3x12 of a bunch of different exercises 3 times a week - maybe I should go for a more spread out approach.