Chris Benoit found dead....

[SnDvls]

Originally Posted by EagleFan

Damn, this is the first I heard the rest oif the story. Now I'm pissed off for actually watching the tribute and feeling sad for him. I hope there's a special place in hell set aside for him now.

I still haven't watched it...probally won't... it's on my DVR right now at home

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by SnDvls

I still haven't watched it...probally won't... it's on my DVR right now at home

hit delete.

there isn't anything on it that in light of this knowledge won't make you want to just throw shit at your TV in anger and frustration.

[Butter]

Originally Posted by Radii

That's my bet. This is a bizarre case, and a horrible crime, and its a sensational story, but there's nothing here to drag it out for months to keep it in the media, or to keep it coming back. There will be a toxicology report in a little under 2 weeks that will make a headline, and maybe a couple reports after that about the violent, dangerous, destructive world of professional wrestling, and that will be it. If there was a murder trial, I'd suggest differently, but with this being a murder/suicide, it makes for a *very* sensational story right now but nothing to keep it in the spotlight for a long enough term to make a difference.

Not to be morbid, but if Benoit had lived, this story would have much greater legs, and the chances of a full-blown wrestling expose would have increased enormously.

But with the media focus on steroids in sports lately, (and I use sport in reference to wrestling very loosely,) a thorough investigation would not be surprising.

[CamEdwards]

Originally Posted by BrianD

It would go well with the special place in hell he was probably in to get himself to this point...

I realize this probably wasn't your intention, but this comes off an awful lot like trying to justify or excuse what he did.

[BrianD]

Originally Posted by CamEdwards

I realize this probably wasn't your intention, but this comes off an awful lot like trying to justify or excuse what he did.

Now that's just silly. There is no justification for what he did which I have said before in this thread. I'm just not willing to take what I know about this situation (which is limited) and decide that he was an evil SOB who deserves to be in the lowest circle of hell. He was a troubled man (either through natural means or because of the drugs) who did a VERY bad thing.

Like others have said, I don't see this situation in terms of black and white. The situation is certainly on the darker half of gray, but it is gray nonetheless.

[CamEdwards]

Originally Posted by BrianD

Now that's just silly. There is no justification for what he did which I have said before in this thread. I'm just not willing to take what I know about this situation (which is limited) and decide that he was an evil SOB who deserves to be in the lowest circle of hell. He was a troubled man (either through natural means or because of the drugs) who did a VERY bad thing.

Like others have said, I don't see this situation in terms of black and white. The situation is certainly on the darker half of gray, but it is gray nonetheless.

Fair enough. I just think you're dead wrong. There is nothing that could be said or learned about this situation that makes this a "gray area" for me. I don't care if who you are or what you've done in your life to that point, choking your wife to death, then smothering your son a day later sends you to the lowest circle of hell in my book.

And while you might not be trying to justify it, I stand by the use of my word "excuse".

[molson]

Originally Posted by CamEdwards

Fair enough. I just think you're dead wrong. There is nothing that could be said or learned about this situation that makes this a "gray area" for me. I don't care if who you are or what you've done in your life to that point, choking your wife to death, then smothering your son a day later sends you to the lowest circle of hell in my book.

And while you might not be trying to justify it, I stand by the use of my word "excuse".

As I posted above, NOBODY who isn't "troubled" commits acts like that. Not a single person. That doesn't mean that any of them deserve my sympathy or even the benefit of a "grey area" discussion (IMO). I don't care if it's drugs, mental, whatever, I just hope his hanging death was excruciating (and it sound like it might of been - it appears to have been a strangulation, rather then a neck breaking).

[Joe Canadian]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Not so much that he was a jobber, mostly it was just a shot at how far down the ladder a show went to find a wrestler to put on camera. I mean, he's not Erik Watts, but he's closer to that than not.

My comment on Christopher had more to do with the multiple times he was fired from WWE over drug problems, then it had to do with his status on a wrestling card.

[BrianD]

Originally Posted by CamEdwards

Fair enough. I just think you're dead wrong. There is nothing that could be said or learned about this situation that makes this a "gray area" for me. I don't care if who you are or what you've done in your life to that point, choking your wife to death, then smothering your son a day later sends you to the lowest circle of hell in my book.

And while you might not be trying to justify it, I stand by the use of my word "excuse".

You can stand by whatever word you want. It doesn't make your depiction of my position any less wrong. There is nothing that makes this situation sympathetic. There is nothing that makes it even a little bit OK. I just view someone who suffers a psychotic break and kills his family without realizing what is happening (not saying that happened here) slightly less harshly than someone who kills his family because he doesn't want them around anymore.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Joe Canadian

My comment on Christopher had more to do with the multiple times he was fired from WWE over drug problems, then it had to do with his status on a wrestling card.

In either case, it's probably still better than CNN rounding up Del Wilkes for their morning show today.

[molson]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

In either case, it's probably still better than CNN rounding up Del Wilkes for their morning show today.

Awseome.

The following shouldn't be leaving their phone at this point:

Tom Zenk
The Honkytonk Man
Zeus
Brutus Beefcake
"Hard Working" Bobby Walker
That Japaneese manager that sued WCW for racism
The widows of Brian Pillman and Eddie Gilbert
Marcus Bagwell

We should be hearing from Kevin Von Erich and Bruno Sammartino at some point too, though both those would actually be worthwhile interviews.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by molson

That Japaneese manager that sued WCW for racism

Sonny Ono.

Also add to the list "Hardbody" Harrison ... although it might be tough to take him away from his pimping chores to get him to the phone.

[molson]

I'm not done my list of interview candidates.

For their consideration:

Wendy Richter
Mel Phillips
Diana Hart
Terry Garvin
Ken Patera
The Iron Shiek (youtube should have something up shortly)
"Rock & Roll" Buck Zumoff
Nailz

[Swaggs]

Found this link in a Sports Guy Chat: hxxp://prowrestling.about.com/od/whatsrealwhatsfake/a/wrestlersdeaths.htm

Check out all the deaths that occurred before the age of 65 in the last 20-years or so.

Famous Wrestlers That Have Died Since 1985 Before the Age of 65
Chris Von Erich - 21
Mike Von Erich - 23
Louie Spiccoli - 27
Art Barr - 28
Gino Hernandez - 29
Jay Youngblood - 30
Rick McGraw - 30
Joey Marella - 30
Ed Gatner - 31
Buzz Sawyer - 32
Crash Holly - 32
Kerry Von Erich - 33
D.J. Peterson - 33
Eddie Gilbert - 33
The Renegade - 33
Owen Hart - 33
Chris Candido - 33
Adrian Adonis - 34
Gary Albright - 34
Bobby Duncum Jr. - 34
Yokozuna - 34
Big Dick Dudley - 34
Brian Pillman - 35
Marianna Komlos - 35
Pitbull #2 - 36
The Wall/Malice - 36
Leroy Brown - 38
Mark Curtis - 38
Eddie Guerrero - 38
Davey Boy Smith - 39
Johnny Grunge - 39
Vivian Vachon - 40
Jeep Swenson - 40
Brady Boone - 40
Terry Gordy - 40
Bertha Faye - 40
Billy Joe Travis - 40
Chris Benoit - 40
Larry Cameron - 41
Rick Rude - 41
Randy Anderson - 41
Bruiser Brody - 42
Miss Elizabeth - 42
Big Boss Man - 42
Earthquake - 42
Mike Awesome - 42
Ray Candy - 43
Nancy Benoit (Woman) - 43
Dino Bravo - 44
Curt Hennig - 44
Bam Bam Bigelow - 45
Jerry Blackwell - 45
Junkyard Dog - 45
Hercules - 45
Andre the Giant - 46
Big John Studd - 46
Chris Adams - 46
Mike Davis - 46
Hawk - 46
Dick Murdoch - 49
Jumbo Tsuruta - 49
Rocco Rock - 49
Sherri Martel - 49
Moondog Spot - 51
Ken Timbs - 53
Uncle Elmer - 54
Pez Whatley - 54
Eddie Graham - 55
Tarzan Tyler - 55
Haystacks Calhoun- 55
Giant Haystacks - 55
The Spoiler - 56
Kurt Von Hess - 56
Moondog King - 56
Gene Anderson - 58
Dr. Jerry Graham - 58
Bulldog Brown - 58
Tony Parisi - 58
Rufus R. Jones - 60
Ray Stevens - 60
Stan Stasiak - 60
Terry Garvin - 60
Boris Malenko - 61
Little Beaver - 61
Sapphire - 61
Shohei Baba - 61
Dick the Bruiser - 62
Wilbur Snyder - 62
George Cannon - 62
Karl Krupp - 62
Dale Lewis - 62
Gorilla Monsoon - 62
Hiro Matsuda - 62
Bad News Brown - 63
Bulldog Brower - 63
Wahoo McDaniel - 63

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Wow. I had no idea a lot of those people are already dead. I remember watching a lot of them as a kid in the 80s.

[Swaggs]

I didn't know that Sensational Sherri had recently died until seeing it on this list.

From wiki:

On June 15, 2007, WWE.com announced that "Sensational" Sherri Martel had died that morning at her mother's residence in Birmingham, Alabama.[8]. Dave Meltzer stated on his Wrestling Observer Live radio show that Martel's passing was not a result of natural causes, and that the case is still under investigation by law enforcement. On June 19, 2007, police confirmed that Martel did not die of natural causes, but no foul play is suspected. A cause of death for Martel will not be determined until her autopsy and toxicology reports have been completed. Based on what is known, Martel had gone to bed at her mother's home (where she was living recently) because she wasn't feeling well. Her husband found her unresponsive later that afternoon.

[st.cronin]

That list is insane.

[MikeVic]

When did Wall/Malice die?? I follow wrestling and that's like the only name on the list that I have never heard of before.

[molson]

Originally Posted by MikeVic

When did Wall/Malice die?? I follow wrestling and that's like the only name on the list that I have never heard of before.

2003, via heart attack in Japan, where he was still wresting.

[SnDvls]

Originally Posted by MikeVic

When did Wall/Malice die?? I follow wrestling and that's like the only name on the list that I have never heard of before.

In the last 5 years I believe...he worked for WCW 1st with Alex Wright when he went by the Berlyn name...then jumped with Hugh Morrus as Sgt. A-Wol then went to TNA as Malice and finally Japan where he died.

[Maple Leafs]

Re Wilkes and Christopher: if the media went out and interviewed a bigger name star and/or someone still at the top of the business, wouldn't you have some concerns over whether that person would really want to shed much light on the situation?

[MikeVic]

Ok yeah, I remember who he was, just didn't know he died. And it was four years ago. Wow. Haven't heard a mention of him before.

[Joe Canadian]

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

Re Wilkes and Christopher: if the media went out and interviewed a bigger name star and/or someone still at the top of the business, wouldn't you have some concerns over whether that person would really want to shed much light on the situation?

No, but the could have easily found someone more credible to talk about the business then Brian Christopher. Despite that long list of dead wrestlers, there are retired wrestlers around, and one's that don't have the shady history Christopher has. Plus, there are current wrestlers out there that are openly honest about the steroid problem in wrestling and their use of them, who would come off a lot more profesional and well-spoken then Christopher, Edge comes to mind off the top of my head.

There's no doubt in my mind that either CNN intentionally went after Christopher, or that Christopher made himself avalible and CNN never bothered to check out the guys past before they interviewed, or just chose to ignore it.

[Eaglesfan27]

What did Miss Elizabeth die from? Lots of those names that I remember from when I watched wrestling as a teenager. I had no idea that some of them were dead.

[Maple Leafs]

Very long article from Bryan Alvarez, but lots of interesting stuff...

This will be the most horrifying story I hopefully will ever have to write.

Chris Benoit killed his wife Nancy and seven year old son Daniel this week.

I knew Chris Benoit. I first met him in the mid 90s and talked to him every now and then, usually about once every few months, but sometimes, like after Eddy Guerrero died, pretty regularly.

When you read in the paper that someone went and killed their wife and their seven year old child, or they shot up a school or raped and defiled someone, you usually hear folks say one of two things; either that everyone should have seen this coming or that this is utterly impossible, because the guy was the nicest guy you could ever hope to meet.

I always thought Chris Benoit was the nicest guy you could ever hope to meet.

Chris Benoit always finished conversations by saying, "Take care!" He was devastated by Eddy Guerrero's death. He used to keep a journal. He'd write to Eddy in it. He said he knew Eddy couldn't read it, but it helped him get through everything. He wrote every day.

I talked to him just a few months ago, before WrestleMania. He wanted the address of a guy that made wrestling belts. He sat there and talked about what an awesome person Booker T was, and how he wanted to buy an expensive WCW replica title and give it to him as a gift.

One day he asked for my address. He ended up sending me a chair from the PPV where Eddy Guerrero won the WWE Title. There was also a really nice note in there. I showed it to my buddy Vinny, and I remember at the time we thought, "How could a man so great be so nice?" It seemed impossible.

So apparently it was.

I first heard about this at approximately 3:30 PM or so Monday afternoon. Admin Tony had seen the initial WWE.com story, which only said that Benoit and his family were dead. I immediately knew it was not a work, but prayed that the site had been hacked. After about ten minutes, it was clear that was not the case. I got official confirmation from WWE about an hour later.

Benoit, prior to this incident, was among the most respected members of the WWE locker room. He grew up idolizing Dynamite Kid, and in the end he had a whole generation of young wrestlers that grew up idolizing him. Everyone wanted to work with him, everyone wanted to work like him, and thus when it was discovered that the entire family was dead, everyone immediately tried to figure out a "best case scenario".

Perhaps someone broke in and killed them.

Perhaps there was a gas leak.

Perhaps his wife and son had suffered some sort of horrible accident, and Benoit, despondent, killed himself.

As it turns out, what really happened was probably a worse case scenario than anyone could have possibly imagined. Benoit missed a house show this weekend and told WWE that there was a family emergency that he needed to tend to. Over the next few days, he sent a number of text messages to different people, including Chavo Guerrero, who he was very close to and had recently spent time at his home. One of the texts alerted the individuals that his doors were open and his two dogs were outside.

On Monday afternoon, the individuals who had received the text messages alerted WWE. Nobody had spoken to him personally since Saturday. Local investigators were called and asked to please do a welfare check on Benoit's home, due to the fact that he had missed some out of state work. Police entered the premises and found the three bodies in various states of decomposition. Based on the states, they were able to determine with a fair degree of certainty who died when.

Benoit's last television match took place at the ECW TV tapings on June 19th. He beat Elijah Burke to gain the opportunity to face CM Punk for the vacant title at Vengeance on Sunday. The plan was for him to win the belt. There were people concerned Sunday about the fact that he hadn't shown up, and the voice messages earlier in the weekend were considered weird, but because the Chris Benoit everyone thought they knew was not the kind of guy who could do any harm to himself or his family it was not considered an emergency situation. Joey Styles made the announcement that he was out due to a family issue and sounded concerned, but then the show moved on.

After police found the bodies, WWE immediately put the news up on their website. That night's Raw was scheduled to be a three-hour "Tribute to Mr. McMahon", built around his storyline death and including a number of wacky segments. Apparently the company had learned the week prior that trying to handle the storyline death seriously was not what anyone wanted, and they were moving in a different direction. I believe the plan was that at the end of the show, Inspector Beck or whatever his name was would come out and arrest Linda McMahon on suspicion of planting the car bomb.

As noted last week, WWE had strongly considered dropping the angle after Sherri Martel died. In the end, they decided to continue it, but once Benoit and his family were found dead all plans were thrown right out the window. Vince called a meeting in the afternoon and told everyone that police had discovered the family dead. Either he had no other details or he chose not to announce them at the moment. Most likely he was aware that the belief was that Benoit had killed them all, but, like everyone else, was holding out hope that something less awful had occurred.

The wrestlers were devastated. The decision was quickly made to cancel the live Raw show and reschedule it for sometime in July. Many of the wrestlers were sequestered to tape quick tributes.

I'll be honest. I did not watch the show. I really have no plans to. I know that Vince McMahon came out and explained that the idea was to continue his death storyline, but that was now all over. I believe they played most of Benoit's DVD, and that the wrestlers were largely devastated in their tributes. I'm told that William Regal made no comments about Benoit as a person, only talking about his in-ring performances. My feeling is that a few guys figured something really bad had happened, and everyone else was holding out hope for "the best". The two individuals who received text messages were identified as "C" (Chavo) and "S". Benoit and Regal, who many in the business still call "Steve Regal" (his WCW moniker), were very close, and it is believe at this point that "S" was Regal, that he had a gut feeling Benoit had done it, and that this is why his tribute came out the way it did.

It was during the live show that word started leaking out that this was an unimaginable tragedy. The show still aired on the West Coast, though it was pretty clear by the time it was over what had happened.

What had happened, according to the lead investigator at the Tuesday noon EST press conference, was that Chris Benoit pinned wife Nancy face-down on the ground with his knee in her back and choked her to death with a cord. Blood on her head and bruises on her torso indicated a struggle, and her hands and feet were bound. Benoit at some point afterwards, perhaps even the next day, suffocated Daniel in his bedroom. There were no signs of struggle found. He left Bibles near both bodies. At some point after that, he went into his weight room and hung himself with cables from a pulldown machine. The timeline is not one hundred percent set in stone as of press time. Right now it is believed that he killed Nancy Friday, Daniel Saturday, and himself early Sunday morning. They are awaiting toxicology reports, which could take up to two weeks. No note was found at the scene of the crime. Legal pill prescriptions were found at the residence, as were steroids and steroid prescriptions.

The DA noted that Benoit had been arrested for a DUI in the county, but not for domestic abuse. He said he could not confirm reports that Benoit had abused Nancy or that she had filed for divorce several years back (which was reported elsewhere). He said with the evidence they had, no motive could be determined.

Once the steroid part of the story came out, the mainstream jumped all over it. I did an interview for CBS Evening News that ended up being cut out (it was taped prior to the press conference so everything was pretty much immediately outdated), and that was the angle they were most interested in. Over the course of the afternoon, many outlets had stories suggesting that ROID RAGE had been responsible.

Here's the reality as I know it. Chris Benoit had probably taken steroids for almost his entire career. He broke in during a period where you couldn't be a star at 5-8, and his idol was Dynamite Kid, who was juiced to the gills and ultimately paid a heavy price for it (he's currently wheelchair-bound and destitute). Benoit was gigantic for most of his career, and I can only remember one time, in the late 90s in WCW, that for whatever reason he shrunk down. He was the first guy to call me after WWE had the locker room meeting announcing the institution of a Wellness Policy after the death of Eddy Guerrero, wondering if I knew what the hell was going on. I said he probably should have known more than I did, but apparently all he knew was what we all saw on WWE.com. I was told that when he went down for neck surgery and was going to be off TV for a full year, he refused to come off the steroids for fear of shrinking up. I was also told that he and Nancy had fought over the steroid issue many times in the past. In 2007, he was a 40-year-old man who was 5-9 and 220 pounds (though legal documents claimed as high as 250) with less than 10% bodyfat, and he was built like that despite being on the road 200 days a year. Physiologically, that's impossible.

But the reality is also that steroids have been a part of this business for decades. Wrestlers have been on steroids since at least the 1960s, and probably earlier, and you don't hear about them going nuts and killing their wives and children. You hear about them dying early of enlarged organs, but not double homicide/suicides. To place the blame on steroids is horribly simplistic. My personal belief, and I've been asked this question a million times as always happens when something seemingly senseless happens, is that Chris Benoit was a guy who for whatever reason had it in him to kill two human beings. Period. Steroids probably didn't help. It probably also didn't help that he worked a very hard style over a period of many years and may have developed some sort of brain trauma. I remember shortly after the Virginia Tech massacre I listened to a radio show that interviewed a guy who had dealt with the bodies of many serial killers and mass murderers. He said almost without exception, every single one of them had some sort of brain issue, whether it be damage from an accident, a lesion, etc. Benoit's trademark move was the diving headbutt, he did multiple German suplexes night after night for years, and he took hard bumps in hard rings. I would not be in the least bit surprised to learn that something in his brain was [censored] up, and that, combined with steroids and the psychological profile, lead to this disaster.

WWE immediately went on the offensive:
(Press release, already quoted in this thread)

They also announced that Vince McMahon was going to apologize for the three-hour Raw tribute show at the beginning of ECW. This was also the source of much controversy Tuesday, as news reporters learned that WWE had produced this show for a double murderer. To me, I cannot fault WWE for this, because I was following the situation very closely and talking with people in WWE, and when Raw went on the air live there were still tons of questions. To WWE's credit, they did pull the show from international broadcast on Tuesday. They also removed all of the video tributes from WWE.com. In fact, aside from the news stories about the tragedies, the company proceeded to remove everything about Benoit from the entire website. All of his pages were deleted, everything involving him vanished, and they even scratched his name off line-ups for DVDs that they're selling. In WWE, as of Tuesday night June 26, he no longer exists.

Nancy Benoit, formerly Nancy Sullivan and Nancy Daus, performed under the stage name Woman for years. In a very famous story, her husband and WCW booker at the time Kevin Sullivan put Benoit and Nancy together in storyline. In order to convince people that the two were really a couple, he booked them together on the road and in hotel rooms. As is often the case in this business, storyline became reality, and Nancy separated from Sullivan and married Benoit in 2000 after living together for three years. Earlier that year, during a whirlwind weekend when Sullivan ended up back in power, Benoit, feeling he would never get a fair shake, quit the company. He, along with Eddy Guerrero, Dean Malenko and Perry Saturn, were shockingly given releases and headed to WWE. This effectively tore the heart out of WCW and was one of the many nails in the coffin.

According to a legal filing, Nancy filed for a separation and protection order (which is issued by a judge and enforceable by cops and gives you more rights than a typical restraining order) on May 12, 2003. She received temporary custody of Daniel and Chris was told to pay $5,000 per month in child support. She said she feared for her personal safety and for the safety of her child. Benoit was ordered to take a "batterer's intervention program" and undergo an evaluation for drug and alcohol abuse and follow the treatment recommendations.

"The defendant is a professional wrestler and considerably larger and stronger than the petitioner," the filing stated. "The respondent lost his temper and threatened to strike the petitioner and cause extensive damage to the home and personal belongings of the parties, including furniture and furnishings. Petitioner is in reasonable fear for Petitioner's own safety and/or the safety of the minor children. At other times the respondent has committed other such acts, including, but not limited to (approximate dates and what happened) threatening the petitioner and destroying the furniture and furnishings at the home of the parties. There is substantial likelihood that the Respondent will commit such acts of violence against the petitioner and minor children in the immediate future if relief is not granted as provided pursuant to OCGA 19-3-4."

She filed to dismiss everything on August 19, 2003.

On Tuesday I was misquoted in an article. A reporter asked me if anyone knew what had happened. This was around 4:45 PM. I said no. I don't know if we were talking about marital issues earlier, but he ended up quoting me as saying that nobody really knew anything about any marital issues. Someone in WWE quickly contacted me through a third party outraged that I could have started any rumors of that nature. This person said he knew Chris very well dating back to his WCW debut and that the couple was very happy and not having any issues. As it turns out, he was wrong. But the point is that even Benoit's close friends knew nothing about what was going on at home. Over the last few days, I've heard a lot of stories, most of them horrible, as it pertains to what happened in the last year or so, but I'd rather wait until those details came out elsewhere before reporting them.

No one knows where to go from here or what is going on. As noted several times over the past several weeks, everyone in the company is utterly burned out. The schedule this past month was too much for them. Two live PPVs, all of the usual TV, a Saturday Night's Main Event, and two three-hour Raws. It's impossible to create quality programming with that much quantity, but they tried. Something like this never happens at a "good time", but I can't even think of a worse time for everyone in the company. The only plan on Tuesday prior to the announcement that Vince was going to apologize was that Raw and Smackdown were going to be basic wrestling shows this week, no angles, and that TV would return as usual on Monday with Raw.

It should be noted that the apology announcement was caused in part by USA Network's insistence. They were deluged with complaints Tuesday from fans who couldn't believe the company had paid tribute to a child killer. This brings to mind a possibility that has been discussed in the past few days, that being the potential if this really explodes for USA Network or the CW to cancel the show.

The possibility is remarkably slim and I don't expect it to happen. However, PRIDE was the biggest MMA company in the world for years, and one major scandal caused them to lose their Fuji TV slot, and in less than a year they were dead. It's not unheard of in America for a TV or radio station to cancel a show or fire a major name host due to a public outcry. It probably won't happen in this case, but we've also never seen anything like this before and it's impossible to predict what will happen.

They key is that the last major mainstream story was the death of Eddy Guerrero. This was a great tragedy, and of course there was much talk about steroids and growth hormone. WWE at the time had an out -- they instituted a Wellness Policy. Now when I say "an out", I don't want people to misinterpret that. Unlike Benoit, who was a very private person, Eddy Guerrero was outgoing and honest and beloved by everyone in the company. When he died, you had wrestlers questioning their own mortality, noting that this guy had taken stuff that they had either taken in the past or were currently taking, and they could very well be next. You also had management which honestly did not ever want to see anyone die again. When it was announced, the company was deadly serious about it. Deadly serious. If you watched the TV, you could see guys shrinking week by week before your eyes. But the reality is that the only reason it lasted as long as it did was because Eddy was so beloved. The wrestling business has seen so many deaths of major name stars that it has become desensitized to death. For as long as I have been doing this newsletter people have called me and only half-jokingly asked, "Did anyone die today?" That's the sad reality of this business. Within three months, thoughts of mortality gave way to thoughts of physical pain (steroids help the joints feel better and such) and the psychological issues related to not being a larger than life character anymore, and having to work even harder in the gym and on your diet to look half as good as you used to.

The Wellness Policy still exists, believe it or not. The rules have just changed. No longer are guys taken off TV or house shows. They're merely fined or docked pay and they continue to work so that nobody has to know who failed. When you think about it, if your body is worth a $1 million per year contract, and nobody is ever going to know whether you pass or fail a test, it may be a situation where guys are willing to lose a month's pay or whatever because they may feel that in the end, eleven months of main event pay is better than twelve months of mid-card or lower pay. There is also the loophole that you are OK if the steroids are prescribed for legitimate medical reasons (though many guys seem to be on things that doctors are not legally allowed to prescribe for any reason), and that testosterone to epitestosterone levels can be as high as 10:1 before a person automatically fails. A normal human is at 1:1, and an Olympic failure is 6:1. Basically, as is the case in all sports today, drug tests are basically IQ tests. If you have a brain, you can find a way around the system, especially if it's a system set up to curb "abuse", but hopefully allow guys to not completely shrink down to the point where they look like someone in the crowd.

So as mentioned, WWE had an "out", when Eddy died, the institution of the Wellness Policy. Now, they have nothing. Chris Benoit was found with steroids in his house and it's almost certain that his toxicology reports will reveal not only steroids in his system, but the classic wrestler issues, morbidly enlarged organs. When Benoit died, it took hours for any mainstream news outlets to jump on the story. Likely, they saw the graphic up on WWE.com and figured it was all a storyline due to WWE.com doing the exact same thing two weeks prior when Vince's limo supposedly blew up. It was the boy who cried wolf. And ironically, they are once again the boy who cried wolf if their defense to steroid allegations is that they have a Wellness Policy and that Benoit tested "negative", whatever that means, in April. Basically, they will be claiming that he was on steroids but still "negative", which sure makes the Wellness Policy look like a joke.

Smackdown was not an angle-free show, but no mention was made live of Benoit. I cannot confirm at this point whether anything was said in commentary. I do know that when people started arriving at the building, there were Benoit signs everywhere. By the time the show ended and they set up for ECW, nearly every single sign had been confiscated.

McMahon opened the show with the following statement: "Last night on Monday Night Raw, the WWE presented a special tribute show, recognizing the career of Chris Benoit. However, now some 26 hours later, the facts of this horrific tragedy are now apparent. Therefore, other than my comments, there will be no mention of Mr. Benoit tonight. On the contrary, tonight's show will be dedicated to everyone who has been affected by this terrible incident. This evening marks the first step of the healing process. Tonight, the WWE performers will do what they do better than anyone else in the world--entertain you."

Everyone always asks the question after someone dies. Will anything change? The answer is always no, because this is the wrestling business and people always die, and even when guys like Eddy Guerrero die, and he hit everyone harder than anyone else outside of Owen Hart, the wrestling world ultimately just keeps turning the way it always has. In this situation though, I think things are going to change. I don't know how. I'm not even saying they will change for the better. But this is far and away the biggest mainstream wrestling story of all time, and I suspect it is going to blow open doors. Every hardcore fans knows that this is a [censored] up business that sometimes turns out [censored] up people, and is such based on schedule and other factors that it chews many people up and spits out their bodies. The under-50 deaths are staggering. And the mainstream has always sort of known, at least in the past few years. But now they're going to know a whole hell of a lot more, and I have no idea what the long-term affect is going to be. I don't know if the government will pursue regulation, I don't know how WWE will react, I don't know how networks will react and I don't know how fans will react. Nothing like this has ever happened before and it's only been one day, and I have no idea how much bigger it will get. If a world war breaks out tomorrow, sure, this will probably quickly be forgotten or pushed aside. But Paris Hilton got out of jail, and no matter what you think about the coverage of that story the reality is that the coverage was absurdly large, and her getting released ultimately took a back seat Tuesday to the pro wrestler who killed his family. Plus, the more details that come out, the more shocking the story gets, and the more shocking it gets the more the media is going to jump all over it. And I'm afraid there are still some very shocking details yet to be released.

I've covered this business for over a decade and I can barely bring myself to type that this death might cause some sort of change. It's seemingly absurd. Quite frankly, the reason it's absurd, the reason it's so unlikely is because unless there is a strong movement from the outside, unless the government forces change, we will have to rely on Vince McMahon, and he's not changing. This is not necessarily a knock on Vince, because he is taking some undeserved shots these past few days and has been praised internally for the way he's been dealing with a very stressful situation. But this is a man whose father and grandfather were promoters, and he's been brought up to believe that big bodies equal big money. People have suggested a wrestling off-season, which would give wrestlers time to recharge their batteries, heal up, perhaps come off any drug cycles they might happen to be on, etc. Unfortunately, there has never been an off-season in WWWF, WWF or WWE, so convincing McMahon to make that change would be tough. Another scenario is to institute personal off-seasons for talent, so that they can be rotated out in periods where other wrestlers would be rotated in. This would also greatly freshen up booking. But again, this is not how it's ever been done, and even if it were instituted, I can't fathom Vince shelving a few stars if it's time for their off-season but they happen to be super hot. Shawn Michaels is out until the fall because he kept putting off surgeries, not wanting to desert the company when he was hot and they needed them. You could suggest drug testing, but that's clearly a joke, or would, like with Guerrero, become a joke after a few months. There absolutely needs to be EKG and MRI work done regularly, and if guys fail, their careers need to end. Perhaps WWE could start some sort of pension, not in the six figures, but enough for a normal human being to live comfortably. Of course, that's asking WWE to pay guys to not work, and that's expecting guys to accept not only being taken off TV and the road, but to accept that along with a huge pay cut. Unions have been talked about for years, and that's never come close to fruition. The reality is that there are many potential solutions, but all solutions require major changes to be instituted by Vince McMahon. The problem is that he's a 61 year old man, and asking him to change a way of thinking that has been instilled in him since likely the day he was born is going to be a virtually impossible task. The only way things will change is via some sort of outside force. Never before has there been much of a chance of that happening with WWWF/WWF/WWE, but things have hit a new level with this story and that makes even tomorrow's developments impossible to predict.

Late breaking news just before going to press. Benoit was listed as a former customer of MedXLife, an internet company based in south Florida that was implicated in a New York investigation of illegal steroid sales. The DA confirmed that he'd been a customer "as recently as last year", and that the co-owners plead guilty to charges of helping get prescriptions drugs for individuals who had no medical need for them.

WWE.com also released a Chris Benoit timeline. It claimed that on Saturday, Benoit was scheduled to appear at the WWE house show in Beaumont, TX, but that afternoon he told the company that his wife and child were ill and that he would be late to the event. He was said to have sounded tired and groggy. He claimed he overslept. He called another person, and at the end of the call said, "I love you," which the person said was out of context. This person was concerned and called Benoit, who did not answer. Benoit called back a few minutes later and said he had been rebooking his flight and was stressed because his wife and child were ill. Another co-worker said Benoit told him that Nancy was throwing up blood and Daniel was sick, and he suspected food poisoning. At 6:10 PM Saturday night, Benoit spoke to a member of Talent Relations about the flight to Beaumont. It was determined that he couldn’t make it to the show on time, and he apologized, saying he was having a family emergency. About a half hour earlier he'd talked to I believe the same person and stated that he was in the hospital with Nancy and Daniel and Daniel was throwing up. Benoit was told not to worry about the show that night, but to rest up and be ready for the PPV the next day in Houston. This was apparently the last voice communication he had with anyone. Early Sunday morning, between 3:51 and 3:58 AM, Benoit sent the following text messages. From his phone to two co-workers at 3:53 AM: “My physical address is 130 Green Meadow Lane, Fayetteville Georgia. 30215”. From his phone to two co-workers at 3:53 AM: “The dogs are in the enclosed pool area. Garage side door is open”. From Nancy's phone to two co-workers: “My physical address is 130 Green Meadow Lane. Fayetteville Georgia. 30215”. I should note that this is a different physical address than I had for him on file for Figure Four Weekly. From Nancy's phone to two co-workers at 3:55 AM: “My physical address is 130 Green Meadow Lane. Fayetteville Georgia. 30215." And from Nancy's phone to one co-worker at 3:58 AM: “My address is 130 Green Meadow Lane. Fayetteville Georgia. 30215”. It is very likely that Benoit was basically telling people to check the house, and that he killed himself moments after sending these texts. WWE.com said that throughout the day Sunday WWE attempted to get hold of him both at home and at Atlanta hospitals, but heard nothing. At 12:30 PM on Monday, "WWE officials were notified of the text messages sent to the co-workers the previous day." I cannot confirm this, but the belief was that it was a problem with the cell phone provider delivering the messages late. Within fifteen minutes, WWE had contacted police in Fayetteville, asking them to check the residence. "Fayetteville County Sheriffs office made contact with WWE at approximately 4:00 p.m. advising that they had entered the house of Chris Benoit and found three deceased bodies – an adult male, adult female and a male child. WWE was told that Benoit’s home was now considered a major crime scene. The decision to cancel the live event scheduled in Corpus Christi that night was made between 4:00 and 5:00 p.m. In keeping with company policy, and with limited knowledge regarding facts of the case, WWE choose to air a memorial dedicated to the career of Chris Benoit. As facts emerged surrounding the case, all tributes to Chris Benoit were removed both on-air and on WWE.com."

ESPN.com reported: "In an interview with ESPN.com on Tuesday, [District Attorney Scott] Ballard indicated that the boy had needle marks in his arms. The district attorney said he believed that the boy had been given growth hormones for some time because the family considered him undersized." This horrifying detail reminded me of a story from another ill-fated family, the Von Erich's. Chris Von Erich, the smallest member of the family, was according to one source diagnosed with some form of dwarfism or related disease, and told he would likely not end up taller than five and a half feet or so. Fritz, the wrestling patriarch, used his connections to get a doctor to provide Chris human growth hormone. Kerry, who was jacked to the gills, wanted the GH for bodybuilding purposes and traded with Chris for prescription pills and other drugs. Both Kerry and Chris, along with brother Mike, ultimately committed suicide. At press time, we do not know whether Daniel had been prescribed GH or whether Benoit and/or Nancy procured the drugs on their own. Ballard did say, "The boy was very small, even dwarfed", which indicates the drugs were prescribed for legitimate medical usage. There was also an article that quote Pam Winthrope of Delta, Vancouver, who claimed she knew the Benoit family through a support group for victims of Fragile X syndrome, an inherited mental impairment. She claimed Daniel had Fragile X, and that she had also seen first-hand how the disease could tear families apart. None of this information was confirmed at press time.

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

What did Miss Elizabeth die from? Lots of those names that I remember from when I watched wrestling as a teenager. I had no idea that some of them were dead.

Prescription drug overdose, IIRC. At Lex Lugar's house I believe.

[Karlifornia]

Originally Posted by Joe Canadian

No, but the could have easily found someone more credible to talk about the business then Brian Christopher. Despite that long list of dead wrestlers, there are retired wrestlers around, and one's that don't have the shady history Christopher has. Plus, there are current wrestlers out there that are openly honest about the steroid problem in wrestling and their use of them, who would come off a lot more profesional and well-spoken then Christopher, Edge comes to mind off the top of my head.

There's no doubt in my mind that either CNN intentionally went after Christopher, or that Christopher made himself avalible and CNN never bothered to check out the guys past before they interviewed, or just chose to ignore it.

I don't see why him doing drugs makes him less than credible, and doesn't he still have a father in the industry?

[molson]

Originally Posted by Karlifornia

I don't see why him doing drugs makes him less than credible, and doesn't he still have a father in the industry?

It's not just the drug thing, and yes, his father is Jerry Lawler.

I'm trying to think of a comparison but coming up blank. But wrestling is filled with veteran, respected guys who have been around a long time, and have a lot of opinions about going on today. Brian Christopher is not respected, he could never hold a job, and he's a wretling footnote. Del Wilkes is your typical "old bitter wrestler" guy with an axe to grind about the business he can no longer compete in. He's also a guy that ALWAYS ends up being interviewed when wrestling news goes mainstream, which can ONLY be because he actively pursues that role, since he's just not noteworthy or relevant otherwise. My joke list had a bunch of similar guys but most of those references are pretty obscure.

[molson]

I'm not going to criticize the WWE for every little thing - they're going to have to make hundreds/thousands of decisions regarding this whole mess, and all of them aren't going to be right.

But it was definitely a mistake to film those wrestler tribute vignettes Monday. I realize they didn't have all the facts yet, but they knew more than us, and knew what was possible. They should have just run the Benoit DVD without those segments. I feel bad for guys like CM Punk, who will have their glowing, thoughtful comments about a child murderer forever immortalized

[Toddzilla]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Sonny Ono.

Also add to the list "Hardbody" Harrison ... although it might be tough to take him away from his pimping chores to get him to the phone.

I read the Bill O'RlY is going to have the Ding-Dongs in the zone tonight.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Toddzilla

I read the Bill O'RlY is going to have the Ding-Dongs in the zone tonight.

The Mulkeys must have been unavailable.

[JeeberD]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Wow. I had no idea a lot of those people are already dead. I remember watching a lot of them as a kid in the 80s.

Just about my exact reaction. I had NO clue that some of those folks were gone...

[TLK]

Wrestler and Wife Argued Over Child Care
Wednesday June 27, 5:45 pm ET
By Greg Bluestein, Associated Press Writer

Wrestler and Wife Argued Over Care of Retarded 7-Year-Old Son

ATLANTA (AP) -- In the days before pro wrestler Chris Benoit killed his wife and child and hanged himself, the couple argued over whether he should stay home more to take care of their mentally retarded 7-year-old son, an attorney for the wrestling league said Wednesday.

"I think it's fair to say that the subject of caring for that child was part of what made their relationship complicated and difficult, and it's something they were both constantly struggling with," said Jerry McDevitt, an attorney for World Wrestling Entertainment. "We do know it was a source of stress and consternation."

McDevitt said the wrestling organization learned from the couple's friends and relatives that the Benoits were struggling with where to send the boy to school since he had recently finished kindergarten.

He also said Benoit's wife didn't want him to quit wrestling, but she "wanted him to be at home more to care for the kid. She'd say she can't take care of him by herself when he was on the road."

The child suffered from a rare medical condition called Fragile X Syndrome, an inherited form of mental retardation often accompanied by autism, McDevitt said.

Over the past weekend, authorities said, Benoit strangled his wife, suffocated his son and placed a Bible next to their bodies before hanging himself with a weight-machine cable in the couple's suburban home. No motive was offered for the killings, which were discovered Monday.

.

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

Prescription drug overdose, IIRC. At Lex Lugar's house I believe.

Oxycotin

[Scoobz0202]

Miss Elizabeth's wiki site says she died from a mixture of Xanax, Hydrocodone, and anabolic steroids (testosterone and saizen), and vodka.

[Desmond]

That'll do it.

[Groundhog]

Put me down as another guy who watched a lot of those wrestlers in the 80s and had no clue they were dead.

Absolutely shocking.

[Toddzilla]

FWIW, wasn't Bruiser Brody killed by being stabbed to death backstage after an event?

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by Scoobz0202

Miss Elizabeth's wiki site says she died from a mixture of Xanax, Hydrocodone, and anabolic steroids (testosterone and saizen), and vodka.

Tough business when even the valets are roiding

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by Toddzilla

FWIW, wasn't Bruiser Brody killed by being stabbed to death backstage after an event?

Yeah, by another wrestler.

[Senator]

I think the list is missing the third youngest to die, and just to keep it in the family, David Von Erich.

[Senator]

Oh, he died in 83. He just missed the list.

[Rizon]

I'm not familiar with wrestling, but what is with all the deaths in the Von Erich family?

[Ksyrup]

I think there were several deaths within the Von Erich family that were suicides. I believe the family was into wrestling passed down from generations, and they were into roids early on. I remember a couple of them just because I was living in Texas in the early 80s and was familiar with the name.

[Tigercat]

Three or four of the wrestlers in that family committed suicide, including those listed on that list. That family is full of wrestling history, and full of sad stories.

[Groundhog]

I'd never even heard of the Von Erichs before reading all their profiles on wiki. Makes me want to track down a book about them. Very tragic stuff.

[molson]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

I'd never even heard of the Von Erichs before reading all their profiles on wiki. Makes me want to track down a book about them. Very tragic stuff.

There's a great documentary, Heroes of World Class, that covers the rise and fall of WCCW (The Von Erichs' wrestling promotion in Dallas). WCCW, was unfortunately, something of a precursor to the problems the WWE has faced the last few years (drugs, premature deaths). It's on Netflix.

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by molson

There's a great documentary, Heroes of World Class, that covers the rise and fall of WCCW (The Von Erichs' wrestling promotion in Dallas). WCCW, was unfortunately, something of a precursor to the problems the WWE has faced the last few years (drugs, premature deaths). It's on Netflix.

Hey buddy, too many posts in this thread, and not enough in the Dynasty Forum. Get back to your hole, and get me some more WCCW Dynasty!

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by molson

There's a great documentary, Heroes of World Class, that covers the rise and fall of WCCW (The Von Erichs' wrestling promotion in Dallas). WCCW, was unfortunately, something of a precursor to the problems the WWE has faced the last few years (drugs, premature deaths). It's on Netflix.

Just watched this, an awesome documentary...........Now obey Pilotman and get back to your dynasty.

[Neon_Chaos]

Short blurb from the New York Times with some comments from Kevin Sullivan (Nancy's ex) and Chris Nowinski.

hxxp://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/27/us/27wrestler.html?_r=2&ref=us&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

With all the wrestlers and friends of Benoit now coming out, speaking to the media, writing blogs, and such, everyone seems to be truly shocked and that they never saw this coming, they never saw this side of Benoit before.