Chris Benoit found dead....

[Bee]

Originally Posted by MikeVic

I think news places are skeptical because of the McMahon death thing that made a few of them look stupid for reporting an obviously fake death. But yeah, I still don't kno what to believe. And I'm still devasated as if he was really gone.

One would think most local news agencies would have pretty strong connections in the Police Department to quickly verify something like this and not rely on any of these wrestling sites.

[Karlifornia]

So some kind of poisioning, maybe? The whole family dying from eating bad food without even a trip to the hospital would be kind of a far reach?

[panerd]

I am confused also. This has to be major news in whatever city it is from (Atlanta?) so how it is only on the internet is beyond understanding. Even if he wasn't famous at all a triple homicide would be huge local news.

[Ben E Lou]

Confused? Really???

[Coffee Warlord]

Gotta say, unless it shows up on the news sites within the next couple hours, it gets real questionable.

[Karlifornia]

His wikipedia has already been changed....of course we all know how much that means.

[panerd]

Originally Posted by SkyDog

Confused? Really???

Yes.

[DeToxRox]

I honestly could see this being a Serial Killer angle the more I think about it. WWE promised changes in the direction of the Vince angle. I know I am probably being absurd but it is Vince McMahon.

[Maple Leafs]

Originally Posted by Coffee Warlord

Gotta say, unless it shows up on the news sites within the next couple hours, it gets real questionable.

Zero chance this is fake.

[JonInMiddleGA]

There's a part of me that wants to hold on to hope that this is just the worst storyline plot device ever, as much as anything because of the absence of mainstream Atlanta media coverage.

There's another part of me that has queasy feeling it's real, that it hasn't hit the media here because either they're cooperating with a police request to hold off for a while for some reason or because they're just afraid of being burned by a hoax, or maybe Benoit actually lived out in one of the exurbs (where getting any information at all can be a challenge, Open Records Acts and Sunshine Laws be damned).

The thing that makes me most uneasy at this point I think is that TNA has offered their condolences on their website. Assuming that control of their online content isn't extremely lax (i.e. strictly 3rd party) I have to think that a competitor would be the last place on earth that would mention something if they weren't convinced it were true.

[Karlifornia]

Originally Posted by LoneStarGirl

How am I a hillbilly? I am from Houston, Tx... thanks

Whatever..I regret stooping to the name-calling, and for that I apologize.

[DaddyTorgo]

WTF! really???

HOLY FUCKING SHIT!!!

I <3 Benoit. In terms of great "wrestlers" he was hands-down one of the top-10 left in the world.

[bulletsponge]

Originally Posted by LoneStarGirl

How am I a hillbilly? I am from Houston, Tx... thanks

ooooohhh a fellow redneck

[miami_fan]

http://www.caller.com/news/2007/jun/...n-bank-center/

CORPUS CHRISTI — World Wrestling Entertainment canceled Monday night's live show from the American Bank Center after wrestler Chris Benoit and his family were found dead in their home.

According to the WWE web site "There are no further details at this time, other than the Benoit family residence is currently being investigated by local authorities."

Benoit, originally from Edmonton, had a home in the Atlanta area, where he had wrestled in the now-defunct World Championship Wrestling before joining the WWE.

[TLK]

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/13567642/d...s=atl&psp=news

Link from Atlanta media

[saldana]

i cant find anything about it on any calgary news pages either....listening to calgary sports radio now to see if they say anything about it.

[saldana]

Originally Posted by TheLionKing

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/13567642/d...s=atl&psp=news

Link from Atlanta media

i was on that page no more than 15 minutes ago, so they are apparently just a bit slow

[bulletsponge]

i still feel sick

[Eaglesfan27]

Unbelievable that there was a fake death in wrestling so recently to be followed by this terrible tragedy.

[Lathum]

nothing on MSN as of right now

[MikeVic]

http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Alberta/...5/4289689.html

[LoneStarGirl]

Originally Posted by bulletsponge

ooooohhh a fellow redneck

yes... but not a hillbilly

[BYU 14]

Totally in shock reading this, very, very sad. Especially for his two younger Children.

[JonInMiddleGA]

http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metr...625benoit.html
Pro wrestler, family found dead in Fayetteville home

By Saeed Ahmed, Kathy Jefcoats
The Atlanta-Journal Constitution
Published on: 06/25/07

A professional wrestler and his family were found dead inside their house in Fayette County Monday afternoon.

Authorities confirmed that Chris Benoit, his wife, Nancy and their 7-year-old son were found dead at the home on Quarters and Redwine roads in Fayetteville about 4 p.m.

Officials would not say how the family died, other than to say they weren't shot to death.

Benoit, 30, was a Canadian wrestler who most recently fought as part of the World Wrestling Entertainment.

The organization said on its Web site said that Monday night's broadcast of "Raw" on the USA Network will "serve as a tribute to Chris Benoit and his family."

[MikeVic]

I'm sure Benoit is 40, in case people don't know.

[ThunderingHERD]

It seems all of the news outlets that are reporting the story are just using the WWE statement as their source. Still, I can't imagine that they would fake something like this.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Yeah MikeVic, I'm sure the reference in the ajc.com story is a typo.

[ThunderingHERD]

Originally Posted by ThunderingHERD

It seems all of the news outlets that are reporting the story are just using the WWE statement as their source. Still, I can't imagine that they would fake something like this.

Ok, nevermind. Looks like the AJC has actually checked the story out.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Grr ... USA didn't have time to pull the promo for the McMahon angle before Raw .

[BYU 14]

PW Headlines stated that Benoit called in to WWE Sunday and said he would be unable to make it back as his family was ill and they were spitting up blood.

From PW, very strange circumstances, on top of the fact that it was indicated they were not shot.

[Neuqua]

Oh no, Benoit was my favorite wrestler back in the day. This is disheartening.

[saldana]

Originally Posted by molson

This awful on so many levels.

Nightmare scenerio for the WWE in the middle of the Vince stuff. Vince better be front and center tonight so everyone knows this isn't part of the angle.

exactly what happened

[DaddyTorgo]

just missed the first couple minutes, but this is what i'll be watching tonight.

God...this is just...so horrible.

and weird.

[General Mike]

This death is really upsetting to me. Benoit was my favorite wrestler and I just don't know what to say about his passing.

R.I.P. Benoit family

[Ryche]

Originally Posted by saldana

exactly what happened

Good to see...well, relatively speaking of course.

[SnDvls]

Originally Posted by SkyDog

Except for the "fact" that a family of four was found dead in their home in Atlanta, yet there's no mention of it anywhere on any of the Atlanta news sites, or on either of the news stations I just logged in to.

{shurg}

they're just a little slow down there

http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metr...625benoit.html

[molson]

Not shot?

What's left? Carbon Monoxide, I suppose.

[digamma]

So, what did McMahon say? "I'm not dead but Chris Benoit really is."

When I watched wrestling ten or so years ago, I really liked Benoit.

[molson]

What are they doing on RAW? Just highlights?

[Maple Leafs]

Sad to say, but this has the potential to be a huge story. Benoit isn't Anna Nicole famous, but he's at least as famous right now as Robert Blake or Phil Spector. This isn't really a busy time for cable news right now, and it being in Atlanta won't help.

You can bet that, if this turns out to be related to a violent incident, the media is going to want to know about steroids or other drug use. They won't necessarily find a ton of dirt on Benoit, but the worst case for the WWE has always been for the mainstream media to actually ask some hard questions about the business.

[nilodor]

Originally Posted by saldana

i cant find anything about it on any calgary news pages either....listening to calgary sports radio now to see if they say anything about it.

It was just on the news here, nothing that hasn't already been said, but on the news none the less.

[DeToxRox]

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

Sad to say, but this has the potential to be a huge story. Benoit isn't Anna Nicole famous, but he's at least as famous right now as Robert Blake or Phil Spector. This isn't really a busy time for cable news right now, and it being in Atlanta won't help.

You can bet that, if this turns out to be related to a violent incident, the media is going to want to know about steroids or other drug use. They won't necessarily find a ton of dirt on Benoit, but the worst case for the WWE has always been for the mainstream media to actually ask some hard questions about the business.

If Benoit did do this, I wouldn't be shocked for it to be linked to concussions. I suggest everyone read Chris Nowinskis book on concussions, as he was a former WWE wrestler who lost his wrestling career to them and is now the foremost expert on concussions in relation to athletes.

[DaddyTorgo]

"if benoit did this"

what?? are people now speculating that he tweaked and killed his family?? I refuse to believe that

[DeToxRox]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

"if benoit did this"

what?? are people now speculating that he tweaked and killed his family?? I refuse to believe that

Not something I wanna think but right now with the info that is out there, it's the only thing I can think of.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

what?? are people now speculating that he tweaked and killed his family?? I refuse to believe that

I'll be honest, my wife & I have talked about at least a half dozen scenarios already, from various domestic situations to random violence to plots more sinister. I'm sure that speculation will run rampant until more details are known. Hell DT, even my 9 year asked me whether I thought it was going to be a robbery or a suicide or something out of "a CSI episode".

I guess in some ways that a statement on what we've all seen, heard, experienced on a daily basis for years now. Still, the shock & the grief, the selfish sense of loss for those of us who simply enjoyed what he did to entertain us, and the empathy that spouses & parents or really anyone with a brother or a loved one are feeling ... well, all of that seems to override any of the speculation that seems to come naturally these days.

[molson]

Anything's possible. I just wonder what the conversation was like in the back, who knows what, and who's heard what. Nobody's leaking anything yet, but obviously the news sites are going to be careful with their speculation.

[DaddyTorgo]

I don't mean this to come off sounding bad (hell I enjoyed Benoit more than I enjoyed Owen Hart), but none of the tribute shows since Hart have IMO really come close to rousing the same degree of emotion in me. That one for example, almost had me in tears.

[saldana]

Originally Posted by digamma

So, what did McMahon say? "I'm not dead but Chris Benoit really is."

When I watched wrestling ten or so years ago, I really liked Benoit.

essentially, yeah...the show opened with a ceiling shot of the empty arena, and vince standing alone in the middle of the ring so when he started talking, you couldnt see him..he said tonight was supposed to be a continuation of the story of my death, but instead we are here to mourn the reality of the death of chris benoit (not exact quote)

Originally Posted by molson

What are they doing on RAW? Just highlights?

highlights of his matches, clips of friends and families from the DVD that came out last year, and different wrestlers talking to the camera about him, like they did for owen

[molson]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

I don't mean this to come off sounding bad (hell I enjoyed Benoit more than I enjoyed Owen Hart), but none of the tribute shows since Hart have IMO really come close to rousing the same degree of emotion in me. That one for example, almost had me in tears.

We've gotten so used to them since then. I agree, the Hart one was the most brutal, because it was the first high profile death of the live RAW era, and the death was just so bizare and incomprehensible. All of the other recent wrestling deaths that I can recall were of the "normal", wrestler variety. This is back to feeling like the Hart deal to me, because I don't know WTF happened.

[saldana]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

I don't mean this to come off sounding bad (hell I enjoyed Benoit more than I enjoyed Owen Hart), but none of the tribute shows since Hart have IMO really come close to rousing the same degree of emotion in me. That one for example, almost had me in tears.

eddie.

owen was horrible, and this is almost as bad.

i cant think of anyone else they did this for other than those 2.