As those of you who know me personally are aware, every Monday evening I head over to my sister's house and we all watch WWE Monday Night Raw. Tonight's show was supposed to be a special installment in the current storyline revolving around the "death" of Mr. McMahon, the onscreen heel WWE owner Vince McMahon portrays. Instead, as the show opened, a photo of gifted grappler Chris Benoit filled the screen, with the caption "1967-2007." My jaw literally dropped, and my heart sank. Chris Benoit is one of my very favorite wrestlers, I love the guy. In less than two weeks, I'm even attending a live event at which he was going to appear, and that's one of the main reasons I bought my ticket.
Then Vince McMahon stood in the ring in the completely empty arena in which tonight's Raw was to take place. Vince was clearly upset, and informed the viewers that tonight's show would instead be a three-hour tribute to the life and career of Benoit. I literally sat there unaware that my mouth was hanging open until the commercial break began. I made a couple of calls to friends of mine who are wrestling fans, to break the news to them. It was almost as if a friend had died.
Honestly, even with all the wrestler deaths of the past few years, there have been few that have really affected me. I'm always sad to hear about another death, but this one really got to me. The only other wrestler's death who affected me this much was the Junkyard Dog, my all-time favorite wrestler. Even worse, Benoit was found dead with his wife and seven year-old son. Worse still, the deaths appear to have been a double murder-suicide.
What could possibly have driven a man who, by all accounts, was a devoted family man with a successful career and skill that was undeniably stellar to such an act is unfathomable to me. I almost wish this news had been supressed, as it pains me to know that a man I had such respect for has apparently commited such an act. Call me naive, but I'm still holding out hope that further investigation will refute this quickly-drawn conclusion.
As for the tribute show, it was pretty well-done, especially considering that it had to be put together in just a few hours. There were some truly great matches shown, including the Wrestlemania 20 title match in which Benoit finally reached his career-long goal of gaining the most prestigious championship title in the industry, on the grandest stage of them all. The finale, in which Benoit's buddy the late, great Eddie Guerrero runs into the ring to embrace Benoit and share in his tearful celebration is one of my favorite wrestling moments of all time. There were also some segments in which Benoit's friends and coworkers mourned his loss and reflected on their memories of the man they were proud to call their friend. Particularly moving were the reminiscences of Chavo Guerrerro, Edge, and Triple H.
This is an incredibly sad day for wrestling fans. Chris Benoit was an immensely talented wrestler and an excellent performer. Out of all the wrestlers who were currently active in the industry, he was probably my favorite. He's also pretty damn high on my list of all-time favorites. I'll miss seeing him perform and cheering him on, and I'll miss seeing that great gap-toothed smile he would flash during interviews. His was a stellar career that ended far too soon, and altogether too tragically. My heart goes out to his friends and family. It's rare that the death of someone I've never even met has any true effect on me, but I am truly heartbroken over this.
im deeply saddend by this. as some of you know, i dont watch wrestling anymore but i seen ''RIP Chris Benoit'' in someones sig ovr at SHH, and i litterally said this. ''WTF? Ya right, you gotta be ing kidding me.''(excuse my language),so i headed over to wwe.com and there it was, in bold white letters,''Benoit Family found dead.'' i was in awe, in shock. i couldnt believe this. if it was just chris who died from steroids or something, it would have still been sad, but almost all wrestlers die in their 40's over steroids, but this was bigger. him, his wife and 7 year old? they cant all be on steroids and die at the same time! than the reports came in saying it was a homicide. then another saying they were not infact shot to death. than i got a bit suspicious, do they already know what happened to them but are just making up a bunch of BS? this morning, i read 2 things, one saying that benoit was indead a coward and killed his wife, his son and himself and another saying that a heartless mother killed her only child putting a garbage bag over his head and calling chris over for an 'emergency'. then he killed her out of anger, wrote a suicide note and then viciously hung himself.
It seems almost an absolute certainty at this point that Chris Benoit murdered his wife and son, then took his own life over the course of the weekend. More and more, it's looking as if Benoit had an undiagnosed mental illness. Although anabolic steroids were found in the house, a 'roid rage does not span 48 hours. There were gaps of time between the two murders, as well as Benoit's suicide.
From 1Wrestling.com, a reliable source for wrestling news:
WARNING SIGNS THAT SOMETHING WAS WRONG WITH CHRIS BENOIT
By: Bob Ryder
6/26/2007 5:08:55 PM
In speaking with close friends and confidants of Chris Benoit contacted this afternoon, apparently there were some warning signs that something was wrong with Benoit.
Some of the information learned by 1Wrestling.com by colleagues and friends that did not want to be quoted:
"This wasn't roid rage, this was insanity. Roid rage doesn't last for 48 hours. There were signs that something was wrong. Stories have emerged that a year ago he became paranoid and believed he was being followed. He wouldn't let Nancy leave the house because he believed someone was out to get them."
"Chris hated religion. He didn't believe in it. I cannot comprehend him putting bibles by the bodies. I am shocked."
In addition, 1Wrestling has learned that sources close to Nancy are reporting that she had a safety deposit box with evidence of past rages and that authorities should check the box if anything ever happened to her.
And, from ESPN.com:
ESPN.com reports that D.A. Scott Ballard said Daniel Benoit, Chris and Nancy Benoit's seven year old son, had needle marks on his arm. They believe he had been given growth hormone because one or both of them believed he was undersized.
ESPN.com also reports that Ballard said:
-Benoit hanged himself from the pulley of a piece of exercise equipment. Benoit used weights, the pulley, and a cable to choke himself to death.
-The decomposition of the bodies was staggered enough for them to determine the staggered times of death.
-Regarding the text message Benoit sent, he said: "And our assumption is that that was an effort to try to get somebody to come find the bodies after the suicide. That is our assumption."
Much of that sounds downright bizarre. More and more, this is looking like a case of mental illness that went undiagnosed and untreated. That doesn't excuse the murders at all, but it does at least offer a sound explanation for what happened. I'm still sick over the whole damn thing.
Finally, some very interesting information from WWE.com:
On Saturday, June 23, Chris Benoit was slated to appear at a WWE live event in Beaumont, Texas. That afternoon, Benoit contacted WWE to inform them that his wife and child were ill, and that he would not be able to attend the show.
WWE executives rebooked Benoit's flight for the following morning, allowing Benoit to miss the Beaumont event making alternate arrangements for him to attend the pay-per-view event in Houston on Sunday.
WWE employees attempted to confirm with Benoit his travel plans but were unable to contact him.
Early Sunday morning, between 3:51 and 3:58 a.m., Benoit sent five text messages to co-workers:
Text Message 1 to two co-workers (sent 6/24 at 3:53am)- Chris Benoit's cell phone
"My physical address is 130 Green Meadow Lane, Fayetteville Georgia. 30215"
Text Message 2 to two co-workers (sent 6/24 at 3:53am)- Chris Benoit's cell phone
"The dogs are in the enclosed pool area. Garage side door is open"
Text Message 3 to two co-workers (sent 6/24 at 3:54am)- Nancy Benoit's cell phone
"My physical address is 130 Green Meadow Lane.
Fayetteville Georgia. 30215"
Text Message 4 to two co-workers (sent 6/24 at 3:55am)- Nancy Benoit's cell phone
"My physical address is 130 Green Meadow Lane.
Fayetteville Georgia. 30215"
Text Message 5 to one co-worker (sent 6/24 at 3:58am)- Nancy Benoit's cell phone
"My address is 130 Green Meadow Lane. Fayetteville Georgia. 30215"
Throughout the day on Sunday, WWE made numerous attempts to contact Benoit both at home and at local hospitals in the Atlanta area. As of 11:00 p.m., WWE officials were unable to establish contact with Chris Benoit.
At 12:30 p.m. on Monday, June 25, WWE officials were notified of the text messages sent to the co-workers the previous day. By 12:45 p.m., WWE had contacted Fayetteville County Sheriff's office requesting they check on the Benoit family.
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.
so its been a week and i havent commented until now because i just dont know what to say, and honestly i still dont. like most others i was taken aback by the news when it first broke and have felt a bunch of mixed emotions ever since. i just pray for the entire family, may God Bless them thru these troubled times.
-bdg
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