[Battlestar]

Renowned pro wrestler Chris Benoit, his wife and their 7-year-old-son, were found dead Monday afternoon in their Fayetville, Ga. home, Atlanta police said.

Police would not give any details on how Benoit, 40, his wife Nancy, and son Daniel died, other than to say they were not shot to death, the Atlanta-Journal Constitution reported Monday. Authorities are investigating the deaths and are considering the possibility of a murder-suicide, where Benoit killed his family over the weekend and himself on Monday. The three bodies were found in different rooms of the home, according to reports.

The news came just a day after Benoit mysteriously pulled out of a World Wrestling Entertainment pay per view event, during which he was expected to be crowned Extreme Championship Wrestling world champion. Various pro wrestling news sources reported that Benoit was unable to appear at the event due to a family emergency.

"There are no further details at this time, other than the Benoit family residence is currently being investigated by local authorities," the WWE said in a statement on its Web site.

Benoit was a 22-year ring veteran and perennial favorite of wrestling purists, who praised his high-intensity style and technical acumen. His aggressive wrestling technique earned him the nicknames "The Crippler" and "The Rabid Wolverine." In 2000 and 2004, he was named Oustanding Wrestler of the Year by the Wrestling Observer newsletter and in 2004 he was named Wrestler of the Year by Pro Wrestling Illustrated magazine.

The Edmonton, Canada native trained to become a wrestler in Calgary, and honed his skills in Japan before becoming a regular on U.S. national promotions in the mid-1990s. Benoit's career highlight took place in New York, when he won his first World Wrestling Entertainment world heavyweight championship in Madison Square Garden in the main event of WrestleMania XX.

Benoit cried as he celebrated in the ring with his wife and son, as well as best friend, wrestler Eddie Guerrero, who died in 2005.

"Wrestling has consumed my life," Benoit said in a 2004 WWE career retrospective video. "Wrestling is my mistress. It's my passion. It defines who I am as a person."

WWE Monday night canceled its scheduled live 3-hour "Monday Night RAW" program, which coincidentally was originally billed as a "memorial service" for WWE chairman Vince McMahon, whose character was recently killed off in a controversial scripted storyline.

McMahon opened the show from center ring in an empty arena and clarified that Benoit and his family had died "in reality." McMahon called Benoit "one of the greatest WWE superstars of all-time."

I am very sad to see this news. I was always a fan of Chris and he will be missed by all wrestling fans. My thoughts go to his freainds and family at this time.


David.

[Mark_a]

Having read all this gushing hand-wringing on other boards I'm mildly astonished that anyone still watches this artificial nonsense, or cares about some stranger who's gone bonkers and done in his poor family.

I'd have thought if they've got such heartfelt compassion for strangers to spare then perhaps they should be turning to Darfur or Iraq instead?

Regards

Mark

[addyb]

I really do feel for his friends and family but this is another case of Steriod abuse me thinks!!

It either makes you have a heart attack or send you mental in the long run.

[monkeyboy69]

addyb - frankly you're talking complete rubbish there fella. If you knew the percentage of sports people who actually took enhancing aids and related that to the suicide rate then you'll see a huge margin.

Its a tragic event and lets leave it there and not cast blame unless entirely sure

[addyb]

Originally Posted by monkeyboy69

addyb - frankly you're talking complete rubbish there fella. If you knew the percentage of sports people who actually took enhancing aids and related that to the suicide rate then you'll see a huge margin.

Its a tragic event and lets leave it there and not cast blame unless entirely sure

Hey im just saying what i think.. doesnt mean im right, im most probably wrong i just think that certain substances could of been a factor but your right i dont know the facts or what was going on in his personal life so sorry if ive upset anyone with my comments!

[Knyght_byte]

i wasnt a big fan of benoits on set personae, found him to be a bit like cena, gets beaten senseless for the whole match then pulls of 4 moves out of the blue to win every time...

but i certainly respect the hell he put his body through in the name of entertainment....yes its not a sport, its entertainment, so to people who whinge about it not being real etc stop harping on, some of us just like to enjoy a bit of circus style violence with daft storylines....

i forgot to record the 3 hour RAW event last night, i searched for the repeat and found a 2 hour one, so i presume they cut it back to normal time.....

must say one light from the dark would be its presumably ended this mcmahons dead charade.....whilst i dont mind a bit of controversial stuff, i think they were arcing a little too high this time.....

Benoit took a time out for half a year or so not long ago, perhaps this is linked somehow......

regardless, RIP Benoit and family, i hope it was all of an innocence....

[the.godfather]

Absolutely shocked at the news, I've only just found out about this and I just can't believe it. He was one of the true greats, and had so much more ahead of him. One of my personal favourites in the wrestling biz. I've watched Benoit since I was a little kid, I grew up watching the guy. Such a shame. I was only watching a documentary about the "Four Horsemen" last weekend.

I will have to catch RAW when it's repeated on Sky next.

R.I.P Chris, you'll be sorely missed mate!

[Abbeygoo]

Originally Posted by Mark_a

Having read all this gushing hand-wringing on other boards I'm mildly astonished that anyone still watches this artificial nonsense, or cares about some stranger who's gone bonkers and done in his poor family.

I'd have thought if they've got such heartfelt compassion for strangers to spare then perhaps they should be turning to Darfur or Iraq instead?

Regards

Mark

that is a ridiculous post. We all watch artificial nonsense - it's called entertainment, be that a TV programme, a film, a sports event. Your lack of sympathy in this situation is astonishing especially as we do not know the full story of this sad situation.

RIP Chris - you were a true entertainer.

[andytabor]

i agree.
ive never had any interest in wrestling whatsoever but its just another form of entertainment like going to the cinema watching something on the telly, going to the theatre, its all the same, people pretending.

sorry to hear what happened btw, it's hard to understand murder suicides like that.

[Mark_a]

Originally Posted by Abbeygoo

that is a ridiculous post. We all watch artificial nonsense - it's called entertainment, be that a TV programme, a film, a sports event.

No, it's when something pretends to be something it's not that makes it worthy of contempt. I'm equally derisive of say 'Most Haunted', or any organised religion for that matter. Total sham for buffoons, as far as I'm concerned.

Originally Posted by Abbeygoo

Your lack of sympathy in this situation is astonishing especially as we do not know the full story of this sad situation.

And why should I have any more sympathy for this person than any of the other thousands of people who die every day of the week, year in, year out?

This idea that z-grade celebs, or anyone famous for that matter, somehow deserve my sympathy simply because they appear on TV is really quite nauseating.

Regards

Mark

[Abbeygoo]

Originally Posted by Mark_a

No, it's when something pretends to be something it's not that makes it worthy of contempt. I'm equally derisive of say 'Most Haunted', or any organised religion for that matter. Total sham for buffoons, as far as I'm concerned.

It's not trying to pretending to be something it isn't. World Wrestling Entertainment is the name of the organisation and that's exactly what it is - entertainment.

Originally Posted by Mark_a

And why should I have any more sympathy for this person than any of the other thousands of people who die every day of the week, year in, year out?

This idea that z-grade celebs, or anyone famous for that matter, somehow deserve my sympathy simply because they appear on TV is really quite nauseating.

I didn't say you should have any sympathy. I said that your lack of sympathy and public statement that it didn't bother you was surprising. If it didn't bother you and you aren't interested in the WWE or Chris Benoit - then why post?

At the end of the day, three people, including one child, are dead. The guy was a famous entertainer and brought joy to millions of people around the world - his death shouldn't pass without mention.

[Battlestar]

Mark_a .

The original post was to inform anyone that had an intrest in the WWE or WCW that a great perfomer and entertainer was dead.
If you have no interest in that, or have never seen the man in action then please do not post in this thread.

Thank you.

David

[hillster]

Originally Posted by Abbeygoo

The guy was a famous entertainer and brought joy to millions of people around the world - his death shouldn't pass without mention.

The problem being he's a suspected murderer. So in my eyes what he did in the ring is of little interest or relevance now (and yes I do sometimes watch WWE).

Having children of my own I cannot understand what could drive someone to (allegedly) kill a seven year old. My sympathy lies entirely with the wife and child.

[Gagzi]

Unfortunately Chris has tarnished his legacy - no matter what the reasons were. Stories coming out now are that his son had a medical problem that was quite difficult to get help for and was quite rare. The illness to the child can also cause problems in marriages as it is so difficult to get help for. Parents have to be actively looking for help from medicines to get treatment and Benoit was always on the road.

Apparently an arguement broke out and Benoit "accidentally" killed his wife Nancy... he then waited a day before smothering his son under a pillow probably thinking that his son would find it difficult without his mom and living with the knowledge that his dad was a murderer and not being around. Again this is pure speculation from respected people in the wrestling industry but they're saying that maybe Benoit thought that his son would have had a very hard life without both of them and that's why he did it. It's still no excuse at all to murder a 7 year old child.

He then hung himself in his gym using his weight lifting equipment on the day after.

Most of the information was taken/presumed from text messages that Benoit sent out over the weekend to his colleagues.

[Lezman]

Can't vouch for the above, until further (if any) details are released I wouldn't want to speculate.

Its a very sad situation either way, I follow WWE and while never really enjoying Benoit's character I was always impressed by his technical ability and he was obviously adored by many.

A dark ending to a great career...it will be impossible to look on his life with any positivity now after this.

My regards to his family.

[Knyght_byte]

a lot of good people turn under stress, whilst its not right to condone their final action, it shouldnt always mean their entire life is blighted by it.....

as has been mentioned chris bought cheer and smiles to one of the biggest entertainment audiences on TV (yep, believe it or not, the viewing figures in america alone but also worldwide are huge for entertainment wrestling) and he did it for many years........however the life of people who do jobs like this are hugely stressful, and when something like an disability is involved, well, try living with someone who suffers from MS or epilepsy or similar, its definitely not an easy thing to handle......sometimes something inside a person just snaps.....it can happen to anyone.....its called a tragedy.....it would be different if he constantly beat his wife and stuff like that, then one day got bored and thought 'oh i fancy that new admin girl in the office, i'll kill the wife to make it easy'......then he could be hated.....but if he just got pushed past his limit from a life of difficulties, its tragic but shouldnt tar his whole past....

but as mentioned we dont know the full details for sure and may never know......

[Knyght_byte]

Originally Posted by Mark_a

No, it's when something pretends to be something it's not that makes it worthy of contempt. I'm equally derisive of say 'Most Haunted', or any organised religion for that matter. Total sham for buffoons, as far as I'm concerned.

And why should I have any more sympathy for this person than any of the other thousands of people who die every day of the week, year in, year out?

This idea that z-grade celebs, or anyone famous for that matter, somehow deserve my sympathy simply because they appear on TV is really quite nauseating.

Regards

Mark

so you dont watch films then?...or go to the theatre?....they are just pretending to be something they arnt, they are called actors

the WWE has long since dropped the pretence that its 'real wrestling'....its literally just a soap opera with cartoon violence......maybe not your cup of tea, but hardly worth sitting there slating because its 'not real'....

and your right, why should you have any sympathy, you obviously have no interest in it so thats to be expected....if a famous footballer dies i dont suddenly burst in to tears because i have no interest in football and dont follow it all..........

however i wouldnt list him as z-grade.....oh he may not be hollywood A-lister, but worldwide and specifically in Japan his name is actually pretty big....given how long he's been wrestling......he's not some ex-Big Brother muppet type celebrity....

[lovemunkey187]

Originally Posted by Knyght_byte

a lot of good people turn under stress, whilst its not right to condone their final action, it shouldnt always mean their entire life is blighted by it.....

as has been mentioned chris bought cheer and smiles to one of the biggest entertainment audiences on TV (yep, believe it or not, the viewing figures in america alone but also worldwide are huge for entertainment wrestling) and he did it for many years........however the life of people who do jobs like this are hugely stressful, and when something like an disability is involved, well, try living with someone who suffers from MS or epilepsy or similar, its definitely not an easy thing to handle......sometimes something inside a person just snaps.....it can happen to anyone.....its called a tragedy.....it would be different if he constantly beat his wife and stuff like that, then one day got bored and thought 'oh i fancy that new admin girl in the office, i'll kill the wife to make it easy'......then he could be hated.....but if he just got pushed past his limit from a life of difficulties, its tragic but shouldnt tar his whole past....

but as mentioned we dont know the full details for sure and may never know......

Very well said.


My condolences to the remaining family members

[Abbeygoo]

Quick link to youtube and a very emotional tribute from Vince McMahon first and then some great footage of the man in action. The last few seconds of the video being especially poignant.

A tragic event.

CLICKY

[Battlestar]

On one of the shows this week, Vince (owner of the WWE) expressed regrett over the tribiut show put on for chris, and now they know the details of the muder suicide ,WWE have pulled all references to chris benoit from thier website and have pulled all merchandise form thier on line shop to do with him.



An interview with Vince on american TV news

http://video.msn.com/v/us/msnbc.htm?...72&f=05&fg=rss

[Abbeygoo]

A really strong interview and some hard hitting facts about the numbers of wrestlers that have died - five of them whilst under contract to the WWE. Owen Hart was the exception, I suppose, having died as a result of an accident whereas Davey Boy Smith, Curt Hennig and Eddie Guerrero all died of heart failure linked to drugs / steroid abuse.

Chris Benoit's suicide is completely different and I hope that something positive can come from this.

As for the immediate family, I hope that they can come through this to.

[lovemunkey187]

From the bits I've read(admittedly not everything) it seems that he was under a lot of stress, and he reached his breaking point.

I'm not even going to pretend that I can understand what a parent feels when their child has severe medical problems. Or what it must be like to be doing a job where they are constantly injured/in pain and travelling for some 300 days a year.

I do not condone him killing his family but surely some idea can be found from the facts if there was anything that could've been done to stop this tragedy. How many of us have someone that we can unload too?

The pro-wrestling business is well documented as being somewhere of loneliness whilst being surrounded with a lot of people.

[dude1971]

I heard some more on this yesterday. His neighbour was talking to him over the garden fence on the Saturday and he went into great detail about how ill the family was with food poisoning, when in fact his wife was already dead.

And the way that he killed himself, with his own weight machine, was excruciatingly slow as he used just enough weight to do it but not very quickly. So he could have got himself out of it if he chose.

I don't think he was the same since Eddie Guerrero died.

[MrFurious]

how did he top himself??

[Mylo]

I'm not really sure that sort of info should be posted here.

[MrFurious]

wasnt trying to be crude but i thought he had hung himself, but the above post says somthing about his weights?

[Mylo]

To be honest, this thread has little or nothing to do with TV programmes, only a tragic event.

Maybe time to leave it alone. As I say, really not sure about this one

[Steven]

RIP

The lack of sympathy displayed previously in this thread by a member is quite astonishing and dismaying. It was another human being. That they can put less of a value upon it because his career choice didn't meet their taste is just offensive to common sense and decency

[alphaomega16]

Originally Posted by LFC_SL

RIP

The lack of sympathy displayed previously in this thread by a member is quite astonishing and dismaying. It was another human being. That they can put less of a value upon it because his career choice didn't meet their taste is just offensive to common sense and decency

I'm sorry, you expect a someone 1 murder short of becoming a serial killer to get sympathy ?

I don't care what he done in his life he chose to take the lives of others, he doesn't have that right no matter what the circumstances are.

[Steven]

With all due respect, the police have categorically stated his family were not shot (to death) and they are still actively investigating. So anything said (especially on internet forums) is mere speculation as far as I am concerned

I may change my stance slightly as the facts are revealed, but right now all we know is one man and his family have tragically died. My thoughts are with their families

P.S. It was quite clear alpha that Mark_a was not referring to what you are. He was saying as wrestling didn't appeal to him, Benoit's death was inconsequential. As I said, simply breathtaking in its callousness