Georgia May Regulate Wrestling as a Sport In Response to Chris Benoit Murder-Suicide

There was actually a time, not all that long ago, when the organizers and promoters of pro wrestling claimed with a straight face that the matches weren't staged and that pro wrestling was a legitimate sport.

Eventually the WWE and other organizations admitted that it was all scripted, in large part to avoid the regulations that many states put on sporting events.

Now the state of Georgia is considering going back to regulating pro wrestling as a sport, in part because of talk that steroid use or concussions suffered in the wrestling ring may have contributed in some way to pro wrestler Chris Benoit killing his wife, his son and himself in his Georgia home. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports:

"I'm going to fight like a dog to make sure that exemption is pulled from the law," [a lawyer for Benoit's father] said Tuesday. "I want to make sure we have a way to protect folks in Georgia from the shenanigans of the WWE."

Should state lawmakers opt to rescind the exemption, WWE wrestlers could be subject to drug testing and other regulations just like performers from other sports that compete in Georgia.

"When you look at all the health issues of professional wrestlers and how many of them have died, it's clear they've been abused," Ichter said.

The WWE resists the move and thinks Benoit's father is motivated by an attempt to get money from the WWE in a lawsuit.