Chris Benoit and Wife found dead

[MikeyPatriot]

WOW. That's TL;DR, but I recommend anyone interested in the story read that (it might be taken down for reproducing an entire article, but I'm sure the link will still be up).

An article like that pretty much puts closure on the situation for me.

EDIT: There's no link. If the article above is taken down, search for Bryan Alvarez's (of Figure Four Weekly) write up of the situation.

[Borgland]

Here's a quick timeline maybe tl;dr

RAW 6/11/07: The McMahon murder angle begins. Some marks actually believe this and call the police and FBI.

ECW 6/12/07: Chris Benoit's last televised match.

June 15, 2007: Sherri Martel dies. Causes not yet released even though they werent "natural". WWE mentions it on their website.

Smackdown: 6/15/07 The show opens with a ten bell salute to McMahon. This used to be reserved for honoring the real deaths of wrestlers but was turned into a disgraceful joke. Many fans and media are disgusted by this. This show is pre-taped on Tuesdays so no mention of Martel's death.

RAW 6/18/07: The McMahon murder angle continues. More than halfway through the show a graphic is shown of Martel with the dates of her birth and death. Usually this is shown at the very beginning of the show with the ten bell salute. Manys fans and media are disgusted by this lack of respect for a major figure of WWF/E and women's wrestling history too.

6/22/07: The Benoit murders/suicide begin.

*EDIT*- 6/23/07- Benoit has phone contact with a co-worker and a WWE agent.

6/24/07: Benoit texts Chavo Guerrero and somebody else 5 times beginning at 3:53 a.m.

6/25/07: approximately 2:00 a.m. the Wiki edit mystery begins, several hours before the WWE contacts the authorities.

6/25/07: about 2-2:30 p.m. WWE contacts the authorities. Then about 4 p.m. the authorites informs the WWE of the Benoit deaths. It's unknown at this time exactly what they were told other than they were dead.

RAW 6/25/07: The show is cancelled, the McMahon murder angle dropped, and a tribute to Chris Benoit airs. Some curious statements are made by Chavo Guerrero and Steve Austin, both ending by saying "I love you Chris". Benoit had ended a previous text message with a "I love you". The receiver mentions this seems out of character.
*EDIT*-"I love you" message was a phone call from Saturday, not text message.

Sometime after RAW begins WAGA and other media start reporting the deaths are murders/suicide.

6/26/07: WWE.com posts their timeline and begins purging Benoit's name. Some obvious damage control statements are released to the media also. One, ironically and probably justifiably, blasting the media for sensationalism.

ECW: McMahon apologizes for the Benoit tribute and announces Chris' name will be purged. The show goes on.

6/27/07: Many sad and bizarre details have come to light and still are.

[Uglyowl]

Sick:

DA: Wrestler's Son May Have Died in Chokehold

PeterP..good artcile you posted..worth taking the time to read.

[Vyse]

Yeah, that article was awesome.

[Point Point]

I agree, it's sick.

But according to Rorion Gracie there's a big difference between a choke and a strangle. With a choke, the windpipe is being blocked causing some pain and suffering. With the strangulation, the artery that sends blood to the brain is blocked, thus causing temporary dizziness before passing out but no pain.

I hope the poor kid (God bless his soul) didn't suffer. I hope his evil murderer knew the difference between a choke and a strangulation.

[El Diablo]

All,

"Here's the reality as I know it. Chris Benoit had probably taken steroids for almost his entire career. He broke in during a period where you couldn't be a star at 5-8, and his idol was Dynamite Kid, who was juiced to the gills and ultimately paid a heavy price for it (he's currently wheelchair-bound and destitute). Benoit was gigantic for most of his career, and I can only remember one time, in the late 90s in WCW, that for whatever reason he shrunk down. He was the first guy to call me after WWE had the locker room meeting announcing the institution of a Wellness Policy after the death of Eddy Guerrero, wondering if I knew what the hell was going on. I said he probably should have known more than I did, but apparently all he knew was what we all saw on WWE.com. I was told that when he went down for neck surgery and was going to be off TV for a full year, he refused to come off the steroids for fear of shrinking up. I was also told that he and Nancy had fought over the steroid issue many times in the past. In 2007, he was a 40-year-old man who was 5-9 and 220 pounds (though legal documents claimed as high as 250) with less than 10% bodyfat, and he was built like that despite being on the road 200 days a year. Physiologically, that's impossible."

That's from the writeup posted a few posts above this. Reading that, all the posts like this one (and many other similar ones):

"As I said earlier, it's hard to be addicted to substances and it not be pretty well known throughout the industry and its fans, especially someone who has been around as long as Chris Benoit. I've never heard his name come up in regards to steroids or painkillers."

earlier in the thread seem pretty ludicrous. I imagine some of you guys will be reassessing how much stock to put in "insider" wrestling web sites.

[amplify]

El D,

Perhaps you should reassess your online persona, since wrestlers now embody steroid abuse, downing vicodin like jelly beans, early death and tragedy.

amp

[offTopic]

[ QUOTE ]
El D,

Perhaps you should reassess your online persona, since wrestlers now embody steroid abuse, downing vicodin like jelly beans, early death and tragedy.

amp

[/ QUOTE ]

amp:

El D's avatar is a luchador, not an American pro wrestler. El D participates in several luchador-related messageboards, knows many people who know many of the performers personally, and as such would be shocked and appalled if any of them exhibited any of the behaviors which you have enumerated here.

[amplify]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
El D,

Perhaps you should reassess your online persona, since wrestlers now embody steroid abuse, downing vicodin like jelly beans, early death and tragedy.

amp

[/ QUOTE ]

amp:

El D's avatar is a luchador, not an American pro wrestler. El D participates in several luchador-related messageboards, knows many people who know many of the performers personally, and as such would be shocked and appalled if any of them exhibited any of the behaviors which you have enumerated here.

[/ QUOTE ]
I understand all of this perfectly, the art of lucha libre being close to my heart. Yet sometimes in the interest of promoting only the finest of appearances, one has to embrace cultural prejudices and align one's image with the heart of societal norms.

[Uglyowl]

Benoit and wife argue over care for mentally retarded 7 year old