R.I.P Chris Benoit/WWE Chris Benoit dead at 40

[GothMickey]

I haven't been posting at all lately. I felt I had to post here. I watched the Chris Benoit tribute last night. Everyone said he was a family man. Yet, this is being classified as a murder-suicide, and that Benoit killed his wife, kid, then himself. I wonder what triggered such a family guy to go crazy and takle out his entire family like that. WWE's website is also now reporting it as a murder-suicide, so I guess it is true.

[princessjojo]

This is truly a sad thing for the entire Benoit family. I can remember many years ago speaking with his father over about 5 years. Mr. Benoit was an industrial HVAC customer of mine and though you don't typically hope your children grow up to be Wrestling Superstars, he was still very proud of him and his accomplishments.

My thoughts and prayers go out to his Canadian and American families in this very terrible time.

[Red Randal]

Obviously, we don't know what happens in the personal lives of wrestlers. I consider myself to be among the most well informed persons on professional wrestling but the majority of this "knowledge" comes from stories, rumors, and speculation compiled from years of reading "news" sites run by 15-year-olds and "dirt sheets" concerned more with subscriptions than substance. It's hard for me to believe that if Chris Benoit had some type of known mental or emotional condition that it would not have come out on the internet, where he was a beloved icon for over 15 years.

I honestly don't know what to say or what to feel. One of my icons in the wrestling world has died. I am shocked and saddened. Then, to hear that he may have killed not only himself but his wife and young son, is just a very cruel shot to the gut.

It's just an awful, awful story all around.

[Juggalotus]

Remember too that all these sites reporting the story are getting their info off the information released by one police spokesman late last night. So while it seems it must be true because "all these sources" have reported it, they are still getting their information from just 1 source.

[Juggalotus]

(sorry about double posting, wanted this to be its own)

From the Associated Press:
ATLANTA - Pro wrestler Chris Benoit strangled his wife and smothered his son before hanging himself in his weight room, a law enforcement official close to the investigation told The Associated Press Tuesday.
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The official spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Authorities also said they are investigating whether steroids may have been a factor in the deaths of Benoit, his wife and their 7-year-old son who were found dead in an apparent murder-suicide.

Fayette County District Attorney Scott Ballard said test results may not be back for weeks or even months.

Autopsies were scheduled Tuesday by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation in DeKalb County.

This is a breaking news update. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

[pshokie]

Erased Posting. Prior poster beat me to it.

[Amy_617]

I have been following up on this myself. I can't believe it. This is so horrible. I read on a site that they do believe it was steriods. Appartently, steriods causes depression and anger rages. My heart really goes out to the rest of the family. This is just very very sad. That poor child. If all this turns out to be true, I don't care what he was on or what made him do it.....that is just sick. That poor poor family.

[Red Randal]

It appears that the murder-suicide is, indeed, what happened. I will spare the gory details due to the family friendly nature of Intercot but if you want to find them, they're out there now.

It seems that Benoit is now being erased from WWE history. The tributes are off the website and replaced with generic links like "learn about the superstars." His merchandise is down from WWE Shop. At tonight's ECW/Smackdown tapings (highlight for spoilers) it is believed that two "straight wrestling" shows will be taped with little mention of the Benoit tragedy and no mention of any storylines. Regular WWE programs, sans the "Mr. McMahon is dead" storyline, will begin with Monday's Raw.

Just a very depressing and disheartening story. I don't want to keep reading about it and I don't want to watch wrestling anymore now, but yet I can't bear to stop.

[tink'72]

I just was on cnn.com and they had a link that brought you to Sports Illustrated who confirmed that it indeed was a murder suicide. Very sad.

[PirateLover]

The details that are coming out about this are sickening and disheartening. It is just unbelievable. for the family and friends... I just can't imagine having to cope with such a tragedy.

[DizneyFreak2002]

You have to wonder what was going on in his head.... I cannot imagine anyone doing what he did, yet, it happens every day sadly.... The Chris Benoit character in wrestling will be missed, but, will the person??? Now we all know what kind of devil he was.... Back in 2003, his wife filed for divorce.... I feel truly bad for the 7 year old Daniel and Nancy, but, I am lukewarm now on Chris.... I felt terrible last night, but learning the new facts today, I am leaning toward never respecting what the man did in the ring ever again.....

[snifflesmcg]

I have been following up on this myself. I can't believe it. This is so horrible. I read on a site that they do believe it was steriods. Appartently, steriods causes depression and anger rages. My heart really goes out to the rest of the family. This is just very very sad. That poor child. If all this turns out to be true, I don't care what he was on or what made him do it.....that is just sick. That poor poor family.

Agreed! I am SHOCKED this post got more attention that the post about Jessie Davis. This is disgusting to me. This man was obviously sick and I can't belive how many people worship trash like this.

[PirateLover]

Agreed! I am SHOCKED this post got more attention that the post about Jessie Davis. This is disgusting to me. This man was obviously sick and I can't belive how many people worship trash like this.

With Jessie Davis, it was indeed tragic but really it was not a surprise when the body was found and the father was charged. I think everybody kind of knew... The 24 hour news station had really been beating it into the ground to the point where my family was almost becoming desensitized to it, sad to say. This story is fresh and it also involves a celebrity who was admired by many wrestling fans. There was no clue prior to this that he was "trash." He was an entertainer. But wrestling really needs to wake up and look at itself. There have been too many tragedies in wrestling over the past decade or so that can almost all be traced back to drug/alcohol/steroid use. Even my childhood idol, Miss Elizabeth (who wasn't even a wrestler, she was Macho Man's wife) was found dead next to a bottle of pills and alcohol. Sad sad stuff.

[chrisb26]

When I first heard of this I was shocked and saddened however as more details have started to emerge I have gotten from shock to disbelief to almost disgust. I didn't want to believe that he would do such a horrible thing however it appears this is what truly happened. I can't believe how anybody could do such a horrible thing. Today I heard about the divorce from a couple years ago and this was a bit strange circumstances then. With prior abuse then it being revoked sorta. I have really lost alot of respect for Chris and am so sad that his family had to go through at the loss of Nancy and Daniel however Chris I am not so sad for anymore. Many news places have stated that it was Steriods that led to this however WWE is stating differently and saying he was clean from then back in April when he was tested but between then and now he could have been taking them. They also stated that there was a bible next to each of the bodies which they say wouldn't have been done in a Roid Rage also how they died however; Regardless of the steriod use there isn't an excuse for doing such a thing. WWE needs to start stepping up more then they have to deal with this. I know they have their Wellness policy however this has obviously not worked well enough if it was the steriods that might have lead to this. WWE needs to take drastic steps to make sure that they remove the steriod use in their wrestlers. If they are found to be using them they should be suspended and treated the same as the Baseball Players.

[Red Randal]

I've been following this story pretty much non-stop since Monday night and I've been trying to offer updates to those of you on Intercot who might care based on what I've seen from the regular news media and reactions in the internet wrestling community.

The debate raging now is whether or not it is possible to respect Benoit the wrestler now knowing what Benoit the man did. I look at it two ways. First of all, Benoit obviously had some kind of mental problem. He HAD to. There's no other explination for a human being, ANY human being regardless of if they are a pro wrestler, a stock broker, a taxi driver, whatever, could do something like this unless there was something seriously wrong with them. This was a sick man who's story had a tragic end. It doesn't mean that his five star matches are suddenly less impressive. That having been said, it's hard, for me at least, to really have any desire to watch Benoit wrestle because it only serves to remind of the terrible ending to his life and career. I love his match with Kurt Angle at Wrestlemania 17 but I don't really have any desire to watch it.

As for those who might think the story doesn't deserve attention and that we are crazy for caring about Benoit, a man whom they see as a roided freak and murderer, I understand their feelings and can see how this story could be so revolting to someone from the outside looking in. The best comparison I could make to people who are not wrestling fans to make them understand who Benoit was and what he meant to the business is this. It is kind of like what a football fan might feel if Brett Favre did this.

All in all this is a terrible tragedy and one that I fear will not be going away too soon. There will be more news reports, it will be covered on Dateline and Real Sports, there will be a Law & Order episode, and a tell all book. What I can only hope that there will also be is closure. Closure for the family and friends of the victims, closure for the wrestlers, and, perhaps selfishly, closure for the fans. Until then...I don't know.

[goofhook]

I don't know if this was posted, but I heard he was enraged by the steroids he used. This enraging is called roid rage, which may have caused this. Just a rumor... but who knows what happened.

[Juggalotus]

That is purely speculation at this point. They are waiting for tox results to come back. He tested negative last time he was tested by the WWE (April).

[chrisb26]

l I just found something very interesting that was posted on the Chris' Wikipedia page. Appearently somebody updated his page talking about what happened 14 hours before the police entered their home.

From Wikipedia:
Wikinews has learned through an investigation that anonymous edits on the Wikipedia article Chris Benoit were added about the death of his wife Nancy Benoit 14 hours before police entered the Benoit home to find the former professional World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Canadian wrestler and his family dead.

From FOX News:
An anonymous user operating a computer traced to Stamford, Conn. — home to World Wrestling Entertainment — posted an entry to pro wrestler Chris Benoit's biography on Wikipedia.org announcing the death of his wife Nancy at least 13 hours before police in suburban Atlanta said they found her body along with her husband's and that of their 7-year-old son, FOXNews.com has learned. Employees at Wikipedia.org said the posting went live on their site on Monday at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. Police, however, said they found the bodies Monday at 2:30 p.m. EDT.

This is very strange I wonder who could have posted this.

[Advnt05]

I don't have much confidence in the WWE stating that they tested him clean. That's like baseball stating that it's players are clean when in reality, they are not testing. Anyone can look at pro wrestlers and see rampant steroid use. From Eddie Guerro, now Benoit, reports about Steve Austin, Lex Lugor..and many more have all used the stuff. What's amazing is that in a soceity where using steroids is illegal, we have an entire industry that obviously uses them and turns a blind eye until something like this happens.
I realize it's entertainment but how many more will die before the clean it up? Would people still watch if the guys were not so big?

[Hammer]

That's like baseball stating that it's players are clean when in reality, they are not testing.

Um, baseball does have a steriod testing policy. Ask Guerillmo Mota of the NY Mets, who just finished serving a 50 game suspension (sorry Mets fans but he was the most recent). Do they test for everything? No, but guess what? None of the other sports do either! Not one of the 4 major professional sports leagues (NFL,MLB,NBA, or NHL) testds for HGH as none of the leagues use blood tests. The problems the science is always a step ahead of the testing for ALL sports. Sorry for the rant, but I get a bit annoyed on this topic .