Counterfeit Pennies: The Wrestling Hours, Part 3: Radicalz Moment

Columns, Top Story

I have watched pro wrestling since I was 6 years old. Unbelievably, it’s been 25 years since my first embedded memories of Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant, and in that time I couldn’t even calculate how many hours I have spent watching the different TV shows, PPV programs, and live events.

What I have come to learn is that anything really can and will happen in The Wrestling Hours…

The Wrestling Hours, Parts 1 and 2, can be found here.

The Wrestling Hours, Part 3: Radicalz Moment

When Triple H tapped out, we erupted. Not only did The Game lose, Chris Benoit finally won the Big One in WWE.

The noise in the live crowd was deafening, and when newly minted WWE Champion Eddie Guerrero came out to celebrate with just crowned World Heavyweight Champion Chris, it was just one of those scenes that simply washed over me and gave me chills.

Now, it’s chilling.

The Wrestling Hours have not been kind to my favorite wrestling moment of all-time, and the celebration I once cherished now numbs me to my core as a wrestling fan and as a human being.

Chris Benoit changed everything when he killed himself, his wife, and his son. He hijacked his family’s lives and turned his once-proud wrestling legacy into the most catastrophic of tragedies.

“You tapped out! You tapped out! You tapped out!”

I was one of the thousands of fans in attendance that chanted those words when Triple H lost the Big Gold Belt on the Biggest Stage of Them All in The World’s Most Famous Arena at WrestleMania XX.

I teared up when Chris and Eddie hugged.

It was simply a Radicalz Moment that I thought would stay with me forever, and to this day it still does stick, as the scar that makes my memory bank sore if I press too hard on it.

Press even harder, and I can feel his tightening grip rush through me…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFaY2LysFDE&feature=related

I tap out! I tap out! I tap out!

The Wrestling Hours take their toll…

CB is an Editor for Pulse Wrestling and an original member of the Inside Pulse writing team covering the spectrum of pop culture including pro wrestling, sports, movies, music, radio and television.