Chris Jericho

Normal. I had it once, or at least something that resembled normal in my life. Now that it was gone, I really longed for it. How I wished I could turn back the clock in my life to just a few weeks prior and keep the knowledge that I have now. Everyone wishes that at least once in their life, I'm sure.

Right now my life is so abnormal that I'm guessing it's going to stay that way for now. I barely have time to think, and still have yet to grieve fully for the man I had lost in my life. I've just been too busy right now.

It all goes back to about a week ago, when I had the brief chance to come home and visit my wife and kids before hitting the road again. Fozzy was keeping my busy as was the tour for promoting my new book that was coming out. Suffice it to say, I was pretty well booked.

Well, this Monday night, I was home and the kids had just gone off to bed. I was looking forward to a night of relaxation with my wife, and on a whim we decided to check in with the latest RAW show.

Now normally, I don't watch the show. I don't have time for it and the storylines had been getting pretty outlandish. I had heard of the most recent one where Vince blows himself up in a limo. Unless you lived under a rock, you had to know about it. I may have been busy, but I wasn't living under any rocks.

So, I'm in the kitchen while my wife Jessica is on the couch, flipping the TV to the RAW show. She wanted something to drink and I was a bit thirsty too. Figuring that the start of the show would just a be a recap of the previous week, I had gotten up to get the sodas.

Before the cans are even fully in my hands I hear my wife calling out my name frantically. There is her normal calling and then there is the type of call that makes you rush into the room, thinking the worst. This was the latter of the two that I heard from the kitchen.

I race into the living room, and there in the screen is Vince. The arena is empty and on the Titantron behind him is a rather large picture of Chris Benoit with the numbers 1967-2007. I stare at the TV as my wife does the same.

"This is not funny anymore, Jess." I speak softly and put the sodas down on the coffee table. "If this is Vince's idea of a joke, it's a sick one."

She gets up and comes over to touch my arm. "I don't think it is one." She states as pictures of Nancy and Daniel get added to the graphic on the screen.

My legs buckle and I have to sit down before I fall over. "My God." It's the only two words I can utter as the tribute show now starts. We watch as our friends start giving their memories of Chris.

"Tell me I'm dreaming, Jess." I speak quietly, feeling tears prick at my eyes.

"You're not." She says quietly and hold out her arms.

I fall into them and get a small measure of comfort as the show plays on behind us. By the time it ends I'm already on the phone with as many people as I could get to talk to me. I don't even recall making it to bed that night.

The next day everything bad hits the fan and then some. Normal is now gone from my life as I watch people start to rip Chris' memory to shreds. Every detail that came out was even more mystifying for me. Chris couldn't do these things! He just couldn't. He was accused, tried and convicted by the media in less than a day.

I wanted to scream. I wanted to vent. I wanted people to realize that if Chris did these things then it wasn't the Chris that everyone knew and loved. Was it just me that saw something wrong in all the details being released and not adding up? I knew Chris and I knew he loved his wife and son very much.

I begin to make the necessary phone calls and my wife understood that this was something I needed to do. I booked appearances on as many shows as I could to get the word out. People were misreading facts and twisting things out of control. I had to get out there and straighten out the misconceptions being thrown out in Chris' name.

Now it's a week later and I'm not sure how much good it has done. People still won't listen to facts and are quick to judge. I wasn't surprised to see Vince turn his back on Chris, almost to the point of erasing him from existence. This was loyalty? I'm confused as well as hurting now.

The investigation continues and I follow it as much as I'm able. It seems like they keep looking in the wrong directions as they have yet to find a motive for what has happened. My sleeping schedule is thrown off and my whole attitude has changed.

I really feel for Chris' two surviving kids as they now have to deal with this insanity. If nothing else I would continue to plug away at this mystery myself when I can. I owed it to them to find the truth. If no one else was going to be the voice of reason, then I had to be. There were facts and truths that needed to be spoken. It was the least I could do for the man I had once called friend.