[CaptainCrunch]

This story is such a tragedy and a damning indictment of the wrestling business.

Owen Hart died because he felt like he couldn't say no to doing a dangerous stunt, his brother Bret Hart had severe concussions bought on by fighting a relatively untrained opponent in Bill Goldberg, and these brain injuries probably led to his stroke. Dynamite Kid sits in a wheel chair due to a combination of drugs and a high risk wrestling style. Then there are the wrestlers who have died due to current or past drug abuse.

I don't want to belittle Benoit's actions but cumulative brain damage can lead to depression, mood swings and uncontrollable emotions, I've heard multiple times from people who knew Benoit that his actions were so far out of character that they can't comprehend his actions.

Its obvious that the WWE wellness policy is not doing its job, we've just seen the suspension of up to 14 wrestlers announced, but a wrestler like Randy Orton who is a star and was named in the online pharmacy indictment continues to wrestle, while minor wrestlers like Nick Dinsmore, the tag team of Cryme Tyme and others are being terminated.

A athletic wellness program has to go beyond the drug testing, to the physical well being, Mick Foley in his book talks about wrestling with injuries and in pain with the WWE taking a blind eye to them, to the mental, if Benoit was brain damaged and suffering from mood swings or emotional issues its up to his employee's to monitor it and pull him off of the road.

My gut feeling is that the WWE is about to get hit on multiple sides by big money law suits. Benoit's family has enough evidence to go to the courts, the wrestlers that were just fired are going to go forward, and there is a possiblity that long time WWE wrestlers that died due to drug use whether it was encouraged or winked at are owed something.

Here's hoping that Mcmahon finally see's the light and starts working towards a safer work environment for his wrestlers. while its doubtful that the wrestlers will ever get a union, they're going to have to start to find the courage to say no to the high risk moves and the need for performance enhancing drugs.

the other end of the spectrum is that the fans have to take some of the blame as well. Again Mick Foley talks about the insatiable demand by the fans for more high risk, high impact wrestling. As he stated getting thrown off of a steel cage to crash through a table 15 feet below might be a holy sh%t move one day, but the next day they want it from 25 feet onto a bed of nails.

Its a sad situation for me as a former fan of both Stampede Wrestling and the WWE. Its especially sad when you watch today and your first thought is on who's on juice and who's going to die next.