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."
Yeah...I remember Dusty Rhodes...he was cool...at least until he started doing that “Gold Dust” crap...that was lame. “Rowdy” Roddy Piper was awesome...he was funny as hell. Ric Flair, well, what can you say about him...I don’t think the business would have ever gotten as big as it did without Flair stylin’ and profilin’ his way into our living rooms...before Triple-H and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and The Rock, before Sting and Savage and Hogan, there was “The Naaaaature Boy” Ric Flair.
Rasslin’ was fun back in the day...it’s just stupid now...I won’t miss WWE one bit if it disappears tomorrow...
“Good career, good talent, very lovely wife - turning it around is to his credit, and all some people could do was dig up a 20 year old incident. Rotten.”
I seem to remember some RATS doing something similar to W back in 2000...successful people will always have haters...such is life...
Flair is apparently still very active in the Charlotte area--I read recently that one of his sons got into some sort of a fight at a wrestling (real wrestling, not rasslin') tournament. I actually heard a rumor last year that people were pushing Flair to run for some sort of political office, but I couldn't figure out where, or for what party. Governor Nature Boy, maybe? Why not, Minnesota did it, and besides, he couldn't be much worse than Mike Weasley.
}:-)4
The Wellness policy was instituted after Eddie Guerrero passed away, and it does have some teeth. Wellness issues is what led to Kurt Angle’s dismissal, and he was a bigger star than Benoit.
Steroids are a weird thing. Clearly any use of them for aesthetic reasons is an abuse, in my judgment. That’s not to say there isn’t a smart way of using the drugs for that reason, though.
If an optimal dosage of the drugs is 2 pills every 5 days, for example (just a reference point), the problem isn’t the wise use of those drugs, but the misuse of them. There is a mentality that if 2 pills every 5 days is good, 5 pills every 5 days is better. And it gets worse from there. That’s where the problem is.
Benoit wasn’t pushed for his physique, but for his talent. There’s no reason to think a more stringent policy would have averted this atrocity.
He wasn't pushed for his freakish physique, but he had one, complete with a disproportionately large upper body compared to his legs. As do Bob Holly, Rene Dupree, Sylvan Grenier, and countless other wrestlers that would be the largest men in any gym they walked into even if their bodies weren't central to their characters.
Wrestlers use steroids even more than lawyers drink (something I know about...personally). No secret there. Cops use steroids too, by the way, when they work out, so while Booker T's post is right on target, he could have used a better example than the wife-killing cop. It's just that Benoit's actions seem way too premeditated and coordinated for simple 'roid rage. Something else must have been going on in his mind (insanity, evil, who knows), but once the media hears "steroids," that's it, end of story. Steroids have magical powers to hit home runs, score perfect 10s on the balance beam, and murder their families, as if no human being is involved.
“Whether you like it, or you don’t like it, you better learn to love it, because it’s the best thing going today! WHOOOOOOOOOO!!!”
Benoit was about 5’9, 215lbs or so. Big for his size, yes. Not freakish, though.
I agree that something else was at work here and steroids didn’t ‘cause’ this kookout. Maybe decades of abuse contributed to a strange mindset or something, I can’t say. Contributing and causing are two different things, though.
The difference is in culpability. In case of TRUE insanity, any damage (including to human life) would be akin to an accident since the taker of life literally had no control of his actions through no fault of his own. I may be a lawyer, but I'm no fan of the insanity defense when it comes to actions that appear just a bit too coordinated for a truly insane mind. In Benoit's case, I'm leaning more towards evil...although perhaps the two aren't mutually exclusive.
I mention the nickname because yesterday I read another wrestler, shocked over the deaths, describing the Benoit we saw on television as similar to Benoit in real life. Shocked? Really? The Benoit I remember on television was brutal, never smiling, jacked-up large (5'9" 215 is freakish for a 40-year-old when none of that is fat), missing a tooth, and went by "Canadian crippler" and "rabid wolverine."
People that never smile have an annoying/worrisome effect on me. If there was ANY non-cartoon-like wrestler who I hoped was nothing like his TV persona, it was Benoit.
Not only is the Ultimate Warrior still alive, he’s on a speaking tour insulting queers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxZWjJyw3rg
I don’t remember the exact time in this clip (I believe around the 55 minute mark), he makes some anti-homo remarks, and some members of the audience turn on him.
It has been reported that the Bibles were closed and not opened to any page or verse... the question was asked...
I saw some old pix of McMahon himself; and Fox Radio saying, I mean one wonders, is he even on the juice!
And for the record, working out and eating proteins like whey, can do a lot to bulk up.
I saw someone referring to some local wrestling they still witnessed though sensationalized as well not the big circus of I don’t even know what alphabet letters federation they all use now.
I use to watch this local troupe come through and wrestle in an old airplane hanger.
Which is similar to that ol’ studio used on WTBS.
I think it use to be cliche to go watch wrestling at the National Guard Armory.
I think, as many opinions expressed on Free Republic are largely “pro-life”, it hasn’t been said yet, I feel for the kid, maybe even more if he was suffering from fragile X or whatever and may well end up being physically or mentally challenged because many parents in this world will love their kids no matter what, will still see them through birth even if they know how they will be born.
This part smacks of downright evil.
Just like alcohol has caused much hardship; so this points out to the dangers of steroids with other cases out there.
Chris Benoit's picture is on the cover of the next issue of People Magazine. The Benoit story is not the main story (the main story deals with Paris Hilton) but his picture is featured in the corner of the cover.
(snip)
FOX News has put up a story on Chris Benoit's wife, Nancy "Woman" Benoit, here. {includes comments from Kevin Sullivan}
Professional wrestler Chris Benoit met with his personal physician hours before he allegedly killed his wife and son and then hanged himself in his basement, the doctor said Wednesday.
"He was in my office on Friday to stop by just to see my staff," said Dr. Phil Astin of metro Atlanta. "He certainly didn't show any signs of any distress or rage or anything."
Authorities say Benoit strangled his wife, suffocated his 7-year-old son Daniel and placed a Bible next to their bodies before hanging himself with a weight-machine pulley over the weekend. No motive was offered for the killings, which were spread out over the weekend and discovered Monday.
Astin, who said he was Benoit's longtime friend and physician, said he had prescribed testosterone to Benoit because he suffered from low amounts of the hormone. He said the condition likely originated from previous steroid use. He would not say what, if any, medications he prescribed the day of the meeting.
"I'm still very surprised and shocked, especially with his child Daniel involved," said Benoit. "He worshipped his child."
(snip)
Before the killings, the family was struggling with how to care for the child, who suffered from a rare medical condition called Fragile X Syndrome, an inherited form of mental retardation often accompanied by autism, said Jerry McDevitt, an attorney for World Wrestling Entertainment.
"Him and Nancy were clearly struggling about this whole issue, about how to take care of Daniel," said McDevitt.
"I don't know what he confronted when he went back into the house," he said. "No one really knows that. We'll have to see. Clearly this issue of the son was a stressor on both of their relationships for some time."
District Attorney Scott Ballard said the autopsy indicated that there were no bruise marks on his neck, so authorities are now assuming he could have been killed using a choke hold. "It's a process of elimination," he said.
Anabolic steroids were found in Benoit's home, leading officials to wonder whether the drugs may have caused the muscle man nicknamed the "Canadian Crippler" to kill his wife and child and then himself.
I know the MSM is going to want to spin this as being the fault of a MAN on STEROIDS. But unless a person has experienced it themselves they just have no idea the stress of having an autistic child. It is overwhelming at times. And there are some people who just can’t handle letting go of every hope & dream they had for their child. Because it ain’t happening. Autism is bad enough but add Fragile X & that’s going to make a rough situation for any family. Chris may not have been able to cope with the idea that his son would not be following in his footsteps. Because of genetics I’m wondering if he blamed Nancy. If I remember right a father cannot pass Fragile X to a son.
I have a feeling this had a lot less to do with steroids than with a simmering pot that finally boiled over & Chris took the coward’s way out.
I used to like Mick Foley, too, until he too overstayed his welcome. I’m so tired of his misshapen carcass getting hauled out so he can mug for the fans and go for his two cheap pops. He has put me to sleep for several years now. Just stale, dull, and awful.
True - tearing people down is a lot easier than actually accomplishing something!
I've heard this a lot in the last couple of days but Benoit didn't have a freaky roided body. He had a great physique, but there are worse abusers in the WWE, and in all of wrestling. Benoit was pushed because of his talent - even more stringent health standards wouldn't have caught this atrocity before it happened.
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