The deaths of both these gentlemen is not only heartbreaking because families have lost loved ones, friends have lost comrades and wrestling fans have lost heroes, entertainers and mentors but because the passing of these two wrestling legends exemplifies the end of an era in professional wrestling. Both Benoit and Guerrero were part of a now dying legacy that encapsulated superstars such as Bret and Owen Hart, Chris Jericho, Lex Luger, Scott Hall, Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash, Dean Malenko, Mick Foley, Sean Waltman, The Undertaker and Sting – a legacy of wrestling traditionalists exercising their craft in the modern era. When Benoit and Guerrero were fighting to be counted in the professional wrestling business their concern was not whether they were deemed ‘marketable’ or if their ‘image’ was ok, it was about raw talent, raw passion and raw intensity when they stepped through the ropes. They busted their behinds getting to the elite level in the business and staying there… they were wrestlers, professionals, experts. They didn’t reduce themselves to eating worms or acting like retards to make it in the business, they just relied on how damn good they were between bell rings.

Instead of being like John Cena and using in-ring intensity as a gimmick, maybe some of the modern day superstars should take a page out of the Benoit book and start really making an impact INSIDE the ring as well as entertaining outside of it (yes, I’m looking straight at you MVP). The new punk kids holding gold in this business should be forced to work for it, bleed for it, sweat for it and sacrifice for it like these legends have and then they might deserve the same respect I believe that Benoit and Guerrero (among others of their kind), as wrestlers, are entitled.