RIP Chris Benoit and Family....

TahoeJeff · 06-25-2007, 11:44 PM

A lot of times, people don't really consider Pro-Wrestlers real athletes, but some of the crap that they do is incredible. Chris Benoit was definitely one of my favorites. What a sad, sad story...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070626/...2sJEfYAi6s0NUE

By DEBBIE NEWBY, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 52 minutes ago

FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. - WWE wrestler Chris Benoit, his wife, and son were found dead Monday and police said they were investigating the deaths as a murder-suicide.
Detective Bo Turner told television station WAGA that the case was being treated as a murder-suicide, but said that couldn't be confirmed until evidence was examined by a crime lab.
The station said that investigators believe the 40-year-old Benoit killed his wife, Nancy, and 7-year-old son, Daniel, over the weekend, then himself on Monday. A neighbor called police, and the bodies were found in three rooms.
Lead investigator Lt. Tommy Pope, of the Fayette County Sheriff's Department, told The Associated Press the deaths were being investigated as homicide, and that the causes of death awaited autopsy results on Tuesday. Pope said the bodies were discovered about 2:30 p.m., but refused to release details.
The house is in a secluded neighborhood set back about 60 yards off a gravel road, surrounded by stacked stone wall and a double-iron gate. On Monday night, the house was dark except for a few outside lights. There was a police car in front, along with two uniformed officers.
Benoit was a former world heavyweight and Intercontinental champion. He also held several tag-team titles during his career.
"WWE extends its sincerest thoughts and prayers to the Benoit family's relatives and loved ones in this time of tragedy," the federation said in a statement on its Web site.
Benoit was scheduled to perform at the "Vengeance" pay-per-view event Sunday night in Houston, but was replaced at the last minute because of what announcer Jim Ross called "personal reasons."
The native of Canada maintained a home in metro Atlanta from the time he wrestled for the defunct World Championship Wrestling.
The WWE canceled its live "Monday Night RAW" card in Corpus Christi, Texas, and USA Network aired a three-hour tribute to Benoit in place of the scheduled wrestling telecast.
"My relationship with Chris has extended many years and I consider him a great friend," Carl DeMarco, the president of WWE Canada, said in a statement. "Chris was always first-class — warm, friendly, caring and professional one of the best in our business."

Zooropa · 06-25-2007, 11:54 PM

This is one of the most screwed up things I've ever heard. I've been watching Benoit wrestle for over ten years now, and I can't believe he would do something like this. I am not ashamed of being a wrestling fan, and I respect the hell out of the performers, but there are a lot of messed up/shady deaths in pro wrestling. Makes me wonder what some of these guys are really like behind the curtain.

TahoeJeff · 06-26-2007, 12:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zooropa

This is one of the most screwed up things I've ever heard. I've been watching Benoit wrestle for over ten years now, and I can't believe he would do something like this. I am not ashamed of being a wrestling fan, and I respect the hell out of the performers, but there are a lot of messed up/shady deaths in pro wrestling. Makes me wonder what some of these guys are really like behind the curtain.

Yeah, its crazy. Sensation Sherri recently died as well...

Tim Possible · 06-26-2007, 12:06 AM

Very bizarre.

beau99 · 06-26-2007, 12:56 AM

The whole situation does taint my image of him, but he battled his demons, and they've overcome him. That's all I can really say about this. I'm in shock.

tigerfan88 · 06-26-2007, 08:06 PM

It's awful and very shocking. No one would ever have expected Benoit to do something like this. All I can say is that I'm praying for all who were affected by this tragedy.

sportsman123 · 06-27-2007, 04:06 PM

Some roll models the WWE are-Eddie Guerro dies of drugs, Benoit Strangles and sufficates his wife and son, then kills himself!

beau99 · 06-27-2007, 06:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sportsman123

Some roll models the WWE are-Eddie Guerro dies of drugs

Guerrero was clean for 4 years.

tigerfan88 · 06-27-2007, 06:11 PM

I don't think WWE is a considered a role model themselves (the wrestlers maybe are) and they don't have control of everything their wrestlers do. People think both Benoit and Guerrero's deaths were caused by steroids--in Benoit's case, they think the 'roids made him depressed and maybe put him in the state of mind that he'd kill his wife, child and himself. WWE is anti-steroids and have been testing wrestlers weekly/monthly. You can't blame WWE for Benoit's death, therefore you can't say that WWE is a poor role model because one of their wrestlers took steroids and ended up killing himself and two other innocent people. If you want to blame anyone besides the individual who did this, blame the industry as a whole. But don't place the blame on WWE alone. They've been trying to clean things up and, unfortunately, there's still a dark side to it.

**redbaron** · 06-27-2007, 06:36 PM

I think the pathetic thing is that they're glorifying him with all these tributes.

It's sad that he lost to whatever demons he was fighting, but his wife and child were the victims, and he was the perpetrator. I don't see any reason to honor that.

Chris · 06-27-2007, 07:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by redbaron

I think the pathetic thing is that they're glorifying him with all these tributes.

It's sad that he lost to whatever demons he was fighting, but his wife and child were the victims, and he was the perpetrator. I don't see any reason to honor that.

So one mistake in life (that they weren't even aware of yet) automatically means they should forget all that he'd done in the lives of the other wrestlers and the others in the WWE/WCW/ECW? They didn't glorify his demons, they glorified the good things he did in other's lives.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sportsman123

Some roll models the WWE are-Eddie Guerro dies of drugs

As Beau99 said, Eddie Guerrero was clean for 4 years. Not only was he clean, but he was saved and shared the gospel with many of the other wrestlers. He died of heart failure. Please get your facts straight before condemning the man.

tigerfan88 · 06-27-2007, 07:15 PM

^ Exactly. I do not feel like WWE was at all glorifying what had happened (and at the time of the tribute, it was NOT announced that it was a murder-suicide). They were simply paying tribute to his career as a wrestler and to everything good he did. And if the tribute did "glorify" him, they've since apologized for it.

Zooropa · 06-27-2007, 08:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tigerfan88

^ Exactly. I do not feel like WWE was at all glorifying what had happened (and at the time of the tribute, it was NOT announced that it was a murder-suicide). They were simply paying tribute to his career as a wrestler and to everything good he did. And if the tribute did "glorify" him, they've since apologized for it.

Exactly. The tribute was done before the report of the double murder suicide came out. What pisses me off is that the media is using this is an excuse to attack WWE in general. They are being extremely close minded about the situation and using it to push a "OMG all wrestlers are roid ragers!!!!! judge judge judge" agenda. Not that anyone in the mainstream media is worth a damn anyway.....

But I never understood why some people seem to have this strong, inherit hate for pro wrestling. You don't get it? Fine. But why the hard feelings?

tigerfan88 · 06-27-2007, 08:32 PM

Yeah, and that's something I've argued about with my brother-in-law who had a "problem" with them doing the tribute. At the time they made the decision to do a tribute, police were investigating the murders as homicide, not murder-suicide. No one knew for sure what had happened, and because of how well loved Benoit was, Vince made the best decision he could at the time.

There's a lot of pro wrestling haters. Some hate it because it's "fake"; others because of how "dangerous" it is for the individuals involved in it. And all these young deaths have done nothing to improve wrestling's image. Even though WWE isn't really at fault for Benoit's death, people are going to blame them for it, just as they placed some blame on WWE when Eddie died. I guess the bottom line is that if the haters wanna hate something, they're going to hate it no matter what the facts are.

Zooropa · 06-27-2007, 08:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tigerfan88

No one knew for sure what had happened, and because of how well loved Benoit was, Vince made the best decision he could at the time.

Seriously, I would like for some of these people to be in Vince McMahon's shoes during a moment like that. He had just lost a friend of his family's in a very sudden, bizarre manner. Raw was set to go on the air in a matter of hours. In such a situation, it is hard to remain objective and make such a critical decision. At the time, no one in their wildest imagination would have thought Benoit killed his wife, kid and himself. I'm sure everyone thought like I did that all three were murdered by an outside source. Add in that Benoit was a legend, and of course you're going to go ahead with a tribute. These people have no idea what the wrestling industry is really like. If they knew what these wrestlers go through, they might not be so quick to judge. Hopefully.