chicagolawbulletin.com tuesday, march 11, 2014 …

Volume 160, No. 49

BY JAMIE LOOLaw Bulletin staff writer

It’s judgment day for “TheStrangler” Diego Corleone.Strutting around the wrestling

ring like a shirtless Alice Cooperacross a concert stage, he flour-ishes his long, black leatherjacket like a cape and wrings arope between his hands. OnlyCorleone’s eyes and teeth flashthrough his black face paint ashe scowls and yells insults at thecrowd.As Corleone continues to

threaten the jeering audience,the first notes of the “ImperialMarch” from “Star Wars” slowlyblare via an electric organ on thesound system.The masked hero is here.“And his opponent, from some

unknown part of the planet,weighing 230 pounds. He is thechosen closer of eternity — forpositivity and justice! Here is,”the announcer pauses dramati-cally, “Apocalypto!”At the top of the ramp, a

hooded man appears with hisface still veiled in darkness. Theorgan gives way to an electricguitar as Darth Vader’s themegoes heavy metal. The figureslowly raises his right arm andpoints directly at Corleone. Without saying a word,

Apocalypto menacingly marchesto the edge of the ring, thenstops.He flings back his hood,

revealing a dark-black metalliccheckered mask with a wide,sparkly red, black and silversmile. His eyes are rimmed withred lightning and gleam withsilver stars.

The audience of about 100erupts into wild cheers. It’s the kind of reception that

would be inappropriate fromjurors in a courtroom.But on Saturday afternoons,

this ring is Thomas V. Benno’scourt. And he is the ultimateadjudicator.Benno, 60, is an attorney on

weekdays and Apocalypto onweekends.Few wrestlers Benno’s age can

say they started wrestling in theirlate 50s. And while other attorneysplay golf, Benno spends hours inthe gym training, weaving story-lines for Apocalypto and workingto develop a local wrestling federa-tion.

In fighting shapeIt started about four years ago

when Benno attended a local

lucha libre fight — Mexican-stylewrestling — at the suggestion ofa friend.Benno’s daughter, Emma,

loved the 2006 comedy “NachoLibre” starring Jack Black as aluchador wrestler, so it seemedlike a fun thing to do together.Benno was hooked.He started going to more

lucha libre matches and becamefriends with Carlos Robles, theowner of the Gladiator AztecsLucha Libre International(GALLI) league. A few meetingslater, Benno became an investorin GALLI, and in late 2012, thebusiness partners created aspinoff league called FusionWrestling, a combination ofMexican- and American-stylewrestling.Fusion offers family-friendly

wrestling shows that lack blood,extreme violence, obscenities orgratuitous sexual overtones. Itsarena is inside a former J.C.Penney outlet in a mall in VillaPark. The shows include localwrestlers and former profes-sional wrestlers such Steve Boz,who once wrestled at the highestlevel in the WWE. In this theatrical, body-

destroying sport, most wrestlersare in retirement by their mid-to-late 30s.Benno initially thought he

would stay on the sidelines. Butthe temptation was just toostrong.“My midlife crisis was to make

a return to the wrestling ring,”he said. “Everybody thought Iwas crazy.”Before his first fight, Benno

Copyright © 2014 Law Bulletin Publishing Company. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission from Law Bulletin Publishing Company.

Out of the courtroomand in the wrestlingring, lawyer ‘metes outjustice’ with a mask

CHICAGOLAWBULLETIN.COM TUESDAY, MARCH 11, 2014

®

Apocalypto, Esq.

Attorney Thomas V. Benno, known in the wrestling ring as Apocalypto, stalks “The Strangler” DiegoCorleone during their bout Feb. 22. Benno, 60, is co-owner of Fusion Wrestling, which offers family-friendly events that lack blood, extreme violence, obscenities or gratuitous sexual overtones at itsarena inside a former J.C. Penney outlet in Villa Park. Chandler West

changed his diet and spent morethan a year in intensive trainingwith fellow wrestler and personaltrainer Doug Simmons. A doctormonitored his health, and he lostnearly 50 pounds. Now, Benno goes to the gym

four days a week at 5 a.m. for a2½-hour workout. Three after-noons a week, he meetsSimmons at the ring to go overold moves, develop new ones andwork on timing.Benno does a combination of

core and weight training, cardioand training exercises similar todancers or competitive pairfigure skaters. Today, Benno will tell you that

he feels better than he did at 30.He hopes his wrestling willencourage others over age 50 topush themselves physically andtry something new.“I think this shows if you have

the proper diet, you have theproper genes and really work atsomething, that you can do it,” hesaid. “And I’m having a greattime.”

The jock philosopher As a kid growing up in Boston

during the golden age ofwrestling, Benno became fasci-nated with the sport. His fatherwas a construction generalcontractor and often hiredwrestlers who also worked astradesmen.It was through those connec-

tions that Benno met the famouswrestler Walter “Killer”Kowalski, who had an engi-neering degree and regularlyreached out to youth toencourage them to stay in school.Benno wrestled in high school

and later became president ofKowalski’s fan club. He followedhis mentor’s advice and went tocollege, where he joined ColgateUniversity’s wrestling team andplayed on the third-string devel-opmental squad for the footballteam.“I was the jock philosophy

major,” he said.After college, Benno started a

doctoral degree in politicalphilosophy but didn’t finish it. Hereturned to Boston to train withKowalski and wrestled in anindependent league in theNortheast for a few years in theearly 1980s. When Benno moved to

Chicago, he worked as a federalofficer for the TreasuryDepartment handling investiga-tions. He later worked as aprivate investigator specializingin personal-injury cases and didsome investigations with JosephA. Power Jr. of Power, Rogers &

Smith P.C.Benno was one of the investi-

gators for Power in a caseinvolving the deaths of six ofScott and Janet Willis’ children,who were killed after a taillightassembly fell off a semitrailerand damaged the family’s van,igniting it into flames.The case led to a $100 million

settlement, and the truck driverwas later connected to thelicense-for-bribes scandalinvolving former Gov. GeorgeRyan, who previously served assecretary of state.

Seeking justice Wearing a brown tweed suit

jacket, Benno walks across thecourtroom and leans over to talkto his opposing counsel. As heputs on a deep red tie speckledwith muted gold fleurs-de-lis,Benno, who still has a Bostonaccent, asks the attorney to “beeasy with him on cross,”referring to his client, Mike Neri,whose second language isEnglish.Benno, a 1998 graduate of The

John Marshall Law School, nowhandles personal-injury, criminaldefense, family law, immigration,contract and tax issues. On thisday, he’s representing Neri in abreach-of-contract dispute atCook County Circuit Court’sRolling Meadows courthouse.Once the trial begins, Benno

slowly strides across thecourtroom.He raises his arm and motions

back and forth between thejudge, plaintiff and Neri, turning

his head and making eye contactwith each person as if they weremusicians in an invisibleorchestra he’s conducting. Heuses his arms to illustrate thelength of plumbing pipes, thedepth of pipes underground andinspection reports.The case ends with Cook

County Circuit Judge SandraTristano ruling against Neri, butshe cuts about $2,000 from the$10,800 judgment because shedetermined the plaintiff boresome responsibility. Benno plansto appeal. In the courtroom, each step and

gesture is deliberate as Bennomakes his case to the judge.It’s no different than the calcu-

lated moves Apocalypto makesin the wrestling ring. “It really is about getting

justice and protecting the littleguy. That’s what Apocalyptodoes, and that’s what I try to doin court,” Benno said. “It’s likeShakespeare said, ‘Life is but astage and men mere actors.’That’s a lot more true thanpeople realize.” Prior to a match, Benno goes

over the flow of the fight with hisopponent. There’s initialshouting and shoving, then agradual progression that sets upvarious moves in a complicatedchoreography.Benno’s finishing move is a

choke slam he calls “laid to rest,”where he picks up his opponentby the throat with one hand,holds him in the air for a fewseconds, then slams him down on

his back.It is preceded by Apocalypto

pointing to the sky to draw“powers from up above” andputting on a gray glove with ared letter “A” stitched on it.When the audience sees the“eternity glove” and the lifthappening, Apocalypto shouts“laid,” and fans respond with “torest!”Just like a professional stunt

artist’s work, all the wrestlingmoves are choreographed. Butthe physical impact and risk forserious injury is still real.Wrestlers are trained in how totake hits, give hits and landproperly so they don’t injureopponents or themselves.“It’s not like memorizing a

series of moves and then doingthem. That’s not it,” Benno said.“It’s fluid, and you respond to thecrowd. And then in most goodmatches, both opponentsimprovise as they go.”Apocalypto is a dark, myste-

rious character who rarelyspeaks. He is neither good norbad and is a “protector” akin toBatman, Benno said. He drewinspiration for the characterfrom a variety of sources,including WWE star TheUndertaker, the Bible and DarthVader from “Star Wars.” “I read the Bible a lot, and I’ve

always been fascinated byRevelation and the FourHorsemen of the Apocalypse,” hesaid. Since a large portion of their

audience is children ages 6 to 13,


Benno’s 11-year-old daughter,Emma, has become his “creativeassistant” and “mini-consultant,”Benno said.She provides feedback on the

characters and has helped someof the other wrestlers too, tellingthem when something is tooscary, not scary enough and, inother cases, downright hokey.“I helped him pick the (theme)

song and design the outfit. Mymom made it,” she said. “He didthe rest.”The attorney side of Benno

also inspired Apocalypto. Hebecame a lawyer because hewanted to help people, coincidingwith Apocalypto’s goal to “meteout justice.” Benno takes on many pro bono

cases, including immigration anddeportation cases for theConsulate General of Mexico inChicago. Bryan J. O’Connor of

O’Connor Law Group LLC, whichhandles plaintiff personal-injuryand workers’ compensationcases, has known Benno for 30years. O’Connor said he has aunique, outgoing personality thatdraws people in.Benno is of counsel to the law

firm and often assists during theinvestigation stages of cases.He “is not embarrassed to take

chances,” O’Connor said. When they work on cases

together, Benno usually handlescontact with clients becausepeople love talking to him. Even with his big personality

and a persona like Apocalypto,O’Connor said, Benno is humble,down to earth and goes out of hisway to help people. When O’Connor’s wife was ill

with cancer in 2011 and the officewas shorthanded, Benno steppedin and covered some cases.“He took phone calls, did all of

this work and never asked for adime,” O’Connor said.Simmons, the trainer, said

Benno has a “big heart.” WhenSimmons didn’t have a car,Benno would pick him up anddrop him off after workouts.Benno has also financially

helped one wrestler who wasabout to be evicted from hishome, and he is known to take awrestler out for a meal if he hasno money for food.It’s rare to meet an owner of a

wrestling company thatgenuinely cares about eachwrestler the way Benno does,Simmons said.“In the wrestling business, a

lot of guys are living off a dream.They’ll put all of their money intoit,” Simmons said. “Tom hashelped many of them with theirneeds.”Mentoring young wrestlers

and providing them with advice

and support like a father is one ofBenno’s favorite things about hisextracurricular activity.“God has a reason for me to be

here,” Benno said. Back in the ring“Send him to eternity,

Apocalypto,” someone in thecrowd yells.The audience that attends

Fusion wrestling matches is aneclectic mix of blue- and white-collar adults and families withchildren. It’s as diverse as the wrestlers

themselves, whose day jobsrange from a doctor, critical-carenurse, logistics and computersystems operator to a restaura-teur, detective and federal agent.Among the local leagues, Bennodoesn’t know of any otherattorneys who wrestle. Benno’s wife, Terri, who is a

CPA, is still in disbelief about herhusband’s fan base, whichincludes some of her clients.Though not a fan of wrestling

— she called it “stupid” — shesaid it’s good for Benno physi-cally and mentally. He andEmma have also developed acamaraderie thanks to the sport. Just when the crowd thinks

Corleone is done, the villainsurprises Apocalypto bysmacking him in the face with hisrope. Using foreign objects in thering is cheating, and Corleoneknows it. So does the crowd,which boos him as Apocalyptolays on the ground.He doesn’t get up — and the

referee reluctantly gives the winto Corleone, who does a victorylap and runs backstage.Apocalypto rises to his feet.“Strangler! Where is he?”

Apocalypto says in a deep,gravely growl.“You think you’re the man?

Next time. March 29. No disqual-ifications, no stipulations — orthe loser is carried out on astretcher.” With that, Apocalypto hops

over the ring ropes, grabs hiscloak and heads up the ramp.The grudge match resumes

another day.


Thomas V. Benno (left) psyches himself up backstage before his wrestling match Feb. 22 as he sitswith referee Doug Simmons, who also doubles as Benno’s trainer, and wrestler Nick Cutler. Benno isa lawyer who handles personal-injury, criminal defense, family law, immigration, contract and taxissues. Chandler West

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