Posted on 06/25/2007 3:53:58 PM PDT by HitmanLV
We are still awaiting further details, but PWInsider.com is extremely saddened to report that former WWE and WCW World champion Chris Benoit and his wife, former WCW and ECW personality Nancy "Woman" Benoit were both found dead today in Atlanta, Georgia. Obviously this will be a huge developing story in the days to come but at this point, we'd like to express our deepest condolences to the Benoits' family, friends, and fans at this time.
A meeting is currently ongoing at WWE TV and it is expected that tonight's three hour Raw will now be dedicated to Benoit's memory.
6:09 Update: WWE.com issued the following statement this afternoon:
"WWE is sad to report that Chris Benoit and his family have been found dead in their home. Police are currently investigating the circumstances surrounding the deaths. Tonight's Raw will be a tribute to Chris and his family."
I can dig it - for me, wrestling was never better than it was in the 70s and early 80s!
I was at home watching on PPV. In fact, for a while me and my brothers argued whether it was real or not, and we concluded that since they didn't show the fall on the PPV feed, it was likely real. Sadly, we were right.
I met Owen at the WWE HoF ceremony in NYC and he was great - big, broad smile, surrounded by fans, signing autographs, staying far later than any other superstar just hanging around and being with the fans. He was continuing the feud with his brother Bret and we hollered that he was 10x better than his good-for-nothing brother, and he turned, smiled and winked. What a guy! What a loss.
This is hard to believe for all of us. Who knows?
Thanks. I am still in shock over this.
It was better before the Federations merged, the Four Horseman, Flair, the 2 Anderson Bros. and I forget that other guy’s name and of course, the Mouth of the South livened those shows up.
Watching it in more recent years, the only one I liked was that Jake the Snake, because he seemed to be a more classic wrestler.
I’m oldschool when it comes to wrestling, too.
You’re probably talking about Tully Blanchard (the other member of the Horsemen).
From “Ontario Now”:
While updating their coverage of the Benoit family tragedy, the Atlanta-Journal Constitution has posted a report that Nancy Benoit filed for divorce and an order of protection from Chris Benoit in May 2003.
Nancy Benoit alleged in the divorce petition that Chris, “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 that of the minor child.”
http://www.eontarionow.com/sports/2007/06/26/wife-filed-restraining-order-against-benoit-in-2003/
That’s the ultimate smackdown!
Thanks you are absolutely correct;
Their may have been some rotation in the Horsemen during that spell they were together; I may have been thinking of Michael Hayes; I look him up in wikipedia and pertinent to the discussion here;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Hayes_%28wrestler%29 Wikipedia, cut and past, I could not get the link to work.
(excerpt)
"In October 2006, Hayes became the head creative writer for the SmackDown! brand after Alex Greenfield's departure from the company. As of recently, Hayes has become a target of a lot of scrutiny, because as a writer of SmackDown!, he managed to keep Chris Benoit from wrestling on the main program, not seeing him as a main-eventer, despite overwhelming feelings of otherwise by everyone else backstage."
Except the 2003 restraining order his wife, Nancy, took out against him citing that she feared for her life and the life of their child.
And the onion starts to get peeled.
Don't know much about restraining orders but I guess at some time this one must have been rescinded? I guess the wife would have had to ask a judge to remove the order?
Arghhh.....I am not sure at this point if I want to know any more.
"He was a quiet man."
Yes, she later had the order get rescinded. Lot’s of details here:
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/fayette/stories/2007/06/25/0625benoit.html
This is a common story. “Wife takes out a restraining order then changes her mind. Get’s killed”. Shades of Nicole Simpson who did the same thing.
FYI: Press conference scheduled for 3pm Eastern, noon Pacific will start shortly. It will be on Fox News.
If you could let those of us who are cubicle bound know what is going on, it would be greatly appreciated.
What a sad, sick waste.
Wife died sometime Friday, son died sometime Saturday, Benoit sometime later on Saturday, wife's hands/feet bound showing signs of struggle, no signs of struggle on son. Prescription steroids found in home.
That's all they have for now.
The DA expressed the most regret that a 7-year-old boy was among the victims.
Sorry I type really slow, but that's all I heard for now.
Some telling revelations include that his wife Nancy’s hands & feet were bound, and that Nancy and their son died of asphyxiation.
Benoit evidently placed a bible next to each of his killed family members. They were each found in bed.
Benoit later hung himself to end his own life. No bible in that room.
The media on scene seems obsessed with the steroid angle.
Thanks for the update, although I really was hoping for some different news. Thoughts and prayers for his family and surviving children. I cannot imagine what they are going through now.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.