R.I.P. Chris Benoit

[Coldstone Killa]

here is Benoit's Title History;

Stampede International Tag Team titles w/Ben Bassarab defeating Wayne Farris & Ron Starr (03/01/1986 in Regina);
Stampede International Tag Team titles w/Keith Hart defeating Wayne Farris & Cuban Assassin (05/09/1986 in Calgary);
Stampede British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight title defeating Gama Singh (03/19/1988 in Calgary);
Stampede British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight title defeating Johnny Smith (06/17/1988 in Calgary);
Stampede International Tag Team titles w/Lance Idol defeating The Cuban Commandos (10/07/1988 in Calgary);
Stampede British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight title defeating Johnny Smith (01/13/1989 in Calgary);
Stampede International Tag Team titles w/Biff Wellington defeating Makhan Singh & Vokkan Singh (April 8, 1989 in Calgary);
Stampede British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight title defeating Johnny Smith (July 8, 1989 in Grande Prarie);
(WWF/UWA) World Light Heavyweight title defeating Villano III (March 3, 1991 in Mexico);
Super J Cup Tournament 1994 defeating The Great Sasuke in the finals in Japan (1994);
(ECW) World Tag Team titles w/Dean Malenko defeating Sabu & Tazmaniac (February 25, 1995 in Philadelphia);
(WCW) Television title defeating Booker T. (April 30, 1998);
(WCW) Television title defeating Booker T. (May 2, 1998);
(WCW) World Tag Team titles w/Dean Malenko defeating Barry Windham & Curt Hennig (March 14, 1999);
(WCW) World Tag Team titles w/Perry Saturn defeating Bam Bam Bigelow & Diamond Dallas Page (June 7, 1999);
(WCW) World Tag Team titles w/Perry Saturn defeating Chris Kanyon & Diamond Dallas Page (June 10, 1999);
(WCW) United States title defeating David Flair (Ric Flair's son) (August 9, 1999);
(WCW) Television title defeating Rick Steiner (September 13, 1999);
(WCW) United States title awarded by forfeit (December 19, 1999);
(WCW) World Heavyweight title defeating Sid Vicious for the vacant title (January 16, 2000);
(WWF) Intercontinental title defeating Chris Jericho & Kurt Angle (February 4, 2000);
(WWF) Intercontinental title defeating Chris Jericho (August 5, 2000);
(WWF) Intercontinental title defeating Billy Gunn (October 12, 2000);
(WWE) Tag Team titles w/Chris Jericho defeating Triple H & Steve Austin (May 21, 2001);(WWE) Intercontinental title defeating Rob Van Dam (July 29, 2002);
(WWE) Tag Team titles w/Kurt Angle defeating Edge & Rey Mysterio (October 20, 2002);
(WWE) 2004 Royal Rumble Winner;
(WWE) World Heavywieght title defeating Triple H & Shawn Michaels in a Triple Threat Match (March 14, 2004 - Wrestlemania XX);
(WWE) World Tag Team titles w/Edge defeated Ric Flair & Batista (April 19, 2004);
(WWE) World Tag Team titles w/Edge defeated La Resistance (October 19, 2004 - Taboo Tuesday);
(WWE) United States title defeating Orlando Jordan (in a record 25 seconds) (August 21, 2005);
(WWE) United States title defeating Booker T (February 19, 2006);
(WWE) United States title defeating Mr. Kennedy (October 13, 2006);

[Coldstone Killa]

as reported on msnbc.msn.com...

Wikipedia posting is eerie twist in Benoit case
Web site posting referred to wife's death 14 hours before cops found her

Updated: 5:39 p.m. PT June 27, 2007

ATLANTA - Investigators are looking into who altered pro wrestler Chris Benoit’s Wikipedia entry to mention his wife’s death hours before authorities discovered the bodies of the couple and their 7-year-old son.

Benoit’s Wikipedia entry was altered early Monday to say that the wrestler had missed a match two days earlier because of his wife’s death.

A Wikipedia official, Cary Bass, said Thursday that the entry was made by someone using an Internet protocol address registered in Stamford, Conn., where World Wrestling Entertainment is based.

An IP address, a unique series of numbers carried by every machine connected to the Internet, does not necessarily have to be broadcast from where it is registered. The bodies were found in Benoit’s home in suburban Atlanta, and it’s not known where the posting was sent from, Bass said.

Benoit strangled his wife and son during the weekend, placing Bibles next to their bodies, before hanging himself on the cable of a weight-machine in his home, authorities said. No motive was offered for the killings, which were discovered Monday.

Also Thursday, federal drug agents said they had raided the west Georgia office of a doctor who prescribed testosterone to Benoit.

The raid at Dr. Phil Astin’s office in Carrollton began Wednesday night and concluded early Thursday, said agent Chuvalo Truesdell, a spokesman for the Drug Enforcement Administration. No arrests were made.

Hours before the raid, Astin told The Associated Press he had treated Benoit for low testosterone levels, which he said likely originated from previous steroid use.

Among other things, investigators were looking for Benoit’s medical records to see whether he had been prescribed steroids and, if so, whether that prescription was appropriate, according to a law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity because records in the case remain sealed.

Astin prescribed testosterone for Benoit, a longtime friend, in the past but would not say what, if any, medications he prescribed when Benoit visited his office Friday.

State medical records show that Astin’s privileges were suspended for three months in 2001 at a Georgia hospital for “reasons related to competence or character.”

Astin did not return calls to his cell phone from the AP on Thursday.

Anabolic steroids were found in Benoit’s home, leading officials to wonder whether the drugs played a role in the killings. Some experts believe steroids cause paranoia, depression and violent outbursts known as “roid rage.”

Fayette County District Attorney Scott Ballard said in a statement Thursday that he could not immediately comment on the raid.

Benoit’s page on Wikipedia, a reference site that allows users to add and edit information, was updated at 12:01 a.m. Monday, about 14 hours before authorities say the bodies were found. The reason he missed a match Saturday night was “stemming from the death of his wife Nancy,” it said.

Reporters informed the Fayette County district attorney’s office of the posting Thursday, and the agency forwarded the information to sheriff’s investigators, who are looking into it, a legal assistant said in an e-mail to the AP.

WWE attorney Jerry McDevitt said that to his knowledge, no one at the WWE knew Nancy Benoit was dead before her body was found Monday afternoon. Text messages released by officials show that messages from Chris Benoit’s cell phone were being sent to co-workers a few hours after the Wikipedia posting.

WWE employees are given WWE e-mail addresses, McDevitt said, though he did not know whether Chris Benoit had one.

“I have no idea who posted this,” McDevitt said. “It’s at least possible Chris may have sent some other text message to someone that we’re unaware of. We don’t know if he did. The phone is in the possession of authorities.”

On Thursday afternoon, the Wikipedia page about Benoit carried a note stating that editing by unregistered or newly registered users was disabled until July 8 because of vandalism.

In other developments Thursday, Ballard told the AP that 10 empty beer cans were found in a trash can in the Benoit home. An empty wine bottle was found a few feet from where Benoit hanged himself, Ballard said.

It could take several weeks for toxicology tests to be completed on Benoit to see what substances, if any, were in his system.

Benoit took four months off from work in 2006 for undisclosed personal reasons, McDevitt said.

“He was feeling depressed, that kind of thing,” McDevitt said.

In the days before the killings, Benoit and his wife argued over whether he should stay home more to take care of their mentally retarded 7-year-old son, according to an attorney for the WWE wrestling league.

The child had a rare medical condition called Fragile X Syndrome, an inherited form of mental retardation often accompanied by autism.

Chris Benoit’s father, Michael Benoit, declined to comment on the slayings when reached Thursday by telephone in Alberta, Canada. Funeral arrangements were incomplete.

[Coldstone Killa]

also reported on msnbc.msn.com...

WWE’s chairman calls Benoit a ‘monster’
McMahon refutes comment steroids weren’t a factor in the murder-suicide

Updated: 6:31 a.m. PT June 28, 2007

In an exclusive interview on TODAY, WWE chairman Vince McMahon backed off claims by his organization that steroids had nothing to do with the murder-suicide of wrestler Chris Benoit, his wife and 7-year-old son.

“Steroids may or may not have had anything to do with this,” McMahon told TODAY co-host Meredith Vieira. “It’s all speculation until the toxicology reports come back.”

That was a retreat from a statement World Wrestling Entertainment, based in Stamford, Conn., had put out earlier, in which the organization said “steroids were not and could not be related” to the deaths.

Confronted with that statement by Vieira, McMahon said, “We didn’t say that. Our reaction was reacting to the hysteria of the media.”

McMahon explained that he and the WWE were reacting to suggestions that the phenomenon known as “'roid rage” may have led to the killings. Among the potential side effects of steroid use are depression, paranoia and episodes of rage.

The slayings of Benoit’s wife, Nancy, and their child were carried out last weekend. Authorities say that Benoit may have remained in the house with the bodies as long as another day before hanging himself, using the rope and pulleys from a weight machine. His wife had been strangled. Sometime after she was killed, the couple’s son was smothered. Bibles were placed next to the bodies.

‘This man was a monster’
“This is not an act of rage,” McMahon said. “This is an act of deliberation.” He added that investigators also found prescription medications in the house that may have played a role.

“This is a horrific tragedy,” he said. “It happened in pro wrestling. There’s a rush to judgment. There’s almost a hysteria around us.”

McMahon said that Benoit was known to the organization as “a mild-mannered individual,” adding, “there was no way of telling this man was a monster.”

Benoit married Nancy, who also worked for WWE, in 2000. Three years later, she filed for divorce, claiming that her husband “lost his temper and threatened to strike the petitioner and cause extensive damage to the home.”

They reconciled three months later. But there have been reports that the marriage had been under pressure recently, and Nancy had demanded that Benoit spend more time at home helping to care for their son, who was developmentally disabled.

McMahon built the WWE into a thriving force in entertainment, creating characters and building story lines that ran like violent soap operas from one big pay-per-view show to the next. The outcomes of the matches are scripted, but the wrestlers travel as much as 300 days a year, putting on shows in cities across the country on an almost nightly basis.

While the action may be staged, the wrestlers take a pounding in the ring and injuries are frequent. So is the use of pain medications. In an earlier taped interview with NBC News, former wrestler Lex Lugar, who battled addiction to prescription drugs, said that drug use is rampant in the sport.

Benoit, known as the “Canadian Crippler,” had failed to show up for two WWE events. When WWE employees reported receiving puzzling text messages from Benoit early Sunday morning and were unable to contact Benoit in his suburban Atlanta home, WWE officials called law-enforcement authorities, who entered the house on Monday and found the bodies.

Police reported finding anabolic steroids in the home along with prescription drugs. Sports columnists and commentators have attacked McMahon and professional wrestling for failing to control the use of drugs, which have been implicated in a number of deaths. After Benoit's suicide and the slaying of his family, those criticisms intensified.

On Monday, WWE replaced its “Monday Night Raw” television show with a three-hour tribute to Benoit. Shortly afterward, when it became public knowledge that he had killed his wife and child, it pulled a tribute to him from its Web site. The organization also released the statement in which it said steroids were not to blame for the tragedy.

McMahon’s steroid charge
Vieira cited statistics showing that 60 wrestlers have died before the age of 65 since 1985 and said, “It seems like early death is almost an occupational hazard.”

McMahon questioned that number and said that he can speak only to five wrestlers who have died while under contract to the WWE or its predecessor, the WWF.

Among those who have died were Eddie Guerrero, who succumbed in 2005 to heart failure linked to steroid use. Curt “Mr. Perfect” Henning died of a drug overdose in 2003, and Davey Boy Smith, the “British Bulldog,” died in 2002 of heart failure, also linked to steroids.

McMahon referred several times to the WWE’s “wellness program,” which the organization began in February. The WWE claims to test its athletes for steroids and other drugs and says that Benoit was last tested in April. The results were negative, the WWE says.

Two weeks ago, McMahon had staged his own death in a spectacular car explosion and had not been seen since. WWE publicists claimed that the FBI was working on the case. But when Benoit and his family were found, McMahon re-emerged to fight off the attacks on his business.

Born Vincent Kennedy McMahon, the 61-year-old got involved in professional wrestling through his father, Vincent J. McMahon, a wrestling promoter, whom McMahon did not meet until he was 12 years old. The family business was originally called the World Wide Wrestling Federation. McMahon later changed that to the World Wrestling Federation, or WWF, but when the World Wildlife Fund objected in court to McMahon's use of those initials, he changed the name again to World Wrestling Entertainment, or WWE.

Under McMahon, professional wrestling underwent a renaissance during the 1980s that saw the creation of the "Wrestlemania" pay-per-view extravaganzas that began in 1985.

In 1994, McMahon stood trial on charges of providing his wrestlers with steroids. He admitted to taking the drugs himself during the 1980s but denied providing them to his wrestlers or ordering them to take them. He was acquitted of the charges.

Mr. McMahon ‘presumed dead’
In WWE shows, McMahon plays a character called “Mr. McMahon” who is seen as an evil overlord. Donald Trump once joined the antics, participating in a staged feud with McMahon.

But on June 11, after a Monday Night Raw broadcast, cameras followed “Mr. McMahon” out of the arena and into his limousine, which was then shown exploding. The WWE said that Mr. McMahon was “presumed dead,” and claimed that the FBI was investigating.

Monday night’s edition of “Raw” was supposed to include a tribute to “Mr. McMahon,” but when news broke that day that Benoit was dead, Vince McMahon reappeared and a tribute to Benoit aired.

“Everybody in this organization, to my knowledge, is well-adjusted family people,” McMahon said. “They go to work like everybody else. They’re performers. We put smiles on faces. That’s our job description, not to be tainted and smeared by this.”

[Coldstone Killa]

as reported on foxnews.com...

Web Time Stamps Indicate Nancy Benoit's Death Reported on Web at Least 13 Hours Before Police Found Bodies in Her Home

Thursday, June 28, 2007

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.

The posting reads: “Chris Benoit was replaced by [[Johnny Nitro]] for the ECW Championship match at Vengeance, as Benoit was not there due to personal issues, stemming from the death of his wife Nancy.” According to a Wikipedia.org report published after FOXNews.com made inquiries, the edit was reversed just under one hour later with the comment:

"Need a reliable source. Saying that his wife died is a pretty big statement, you need to back it up with something."

The posting apparently was made in reference to Benoit's scheduled appearance on Sunday night at an Extreme Championship Wrestling event in Texas.

An employee from Wikipedia.org told FOXNews.com that he called and left a message with investigative authorities in Fayetteville, Ga., at around 11 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, after the posting was brought to the attention of the St. Petersburg, Fla.-based Web site.

“I chat with other editors on IRC — Internet relay chat — and somebody pointed it out to me on a relay chat and that it came from a Stamford connection, and that it took place at midnight Eastern Standard Time on Monday morning,” said Wikipedia.org volunteer coordinator Cary Bass. “I called and left a message with the police department.”

The computer-generated time and date stamp of the Benoit entry are listed as 4:01, 25 June 2007. Wikipedia.org lists its entries according to Universal Time, also known as Greenwich Mean Time.

Further investigation, according to Wikipedia.com, shows that one hour after the first edit reversion, another anonymous edit by 125.63.148.173 using unwiredAustralia.com.au, a wireless Internet service provider, was made adding about the aforementioned personal issues: "which according to several pro wrestling websites is attributed to the passing of Benoit's wife, Nancy."

That edit was reverted less than 20 minutes later, with the following comment: "Saying 'several pro wrestling websites' is still not reliable information." The second edit was made by a computer in Australia from a wireless network, according to Wikipedia.org.

A message left by FOXNews.com with Lt. Tommy Pope of the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department was not immediately returned.

Investigators so far have ruled the Benoit killings as a double homicide-suicide.

Wikipedia.org claims to be one of the largest reference Web sites, and is written collaboratively by users from around the world. Approved users can make submissions and change entries that are posted on the site almost immediately. Bass said the site is constantly monitored to correct inaccuracies.

Bass said when there is a high-profile case, such as the Benoit killlings, Wikipedia.org limits postings to registered users, which is now indicated at the top of the Benoit entry. According to the listed history on the Benoit entry, the computer used to post the 12:01 a.m. entry had a Stamford, Conn., Internet Protocol — or IP — address, a numeric designation that is assigned to every computer with an Internet connection, and that same address has been used to post about a dozen other messages on the site, dating back to May 16, 2007.

In related news, FOXNews.com also has learned, through widely posted Web reports, that former pro wrestler Sherri Martel, who was found dead on June 15, was linked to former wrestler Kevin Sullivan — ex-husband of Nancy Benoit.

[Mauvaise]

WOW,

[Mauvaise]

WOW, this is horribly sad...

[Jason]

Stinger gave an interesting link in the shoutbox...

Here's the whole story...



Did Kevin Sullivan Murder Chris Benoit and His Family?
By Johnny Angel
(Former Pro Wrestling Champion)
Now known as Rev. Johnny Lee Clary

World-Wide Evangelist

Kevin Sullivan

(Is he the real killer of Benoit and his family?)

The tragic deaths of Chris Benoit and his wife Nancy and son Daniel have shocked the wrestling world. The police are calling it a double-murder-suicide, but is it really? Let’s look at some facts. It has been 10 years exactly since Nancy divorced Kevin Sullivan to marry Chris Benoit. In the 1980’s Sullivan, along with his then-wife Nancy, were running a gimmick in wrestling of how they were Satanists, and Nancy was known as “The Fallen Angel.” She later became known as “Woman.” The trouble with the Satanists gimmick was it was for real, and was not a work, or fake. In the 1990’s Kevin Sullivan was the booker for WCW, and he scripted his wife Nancy into having an affair with Chris Benoit who was a member of the Four Horsemen. This made for a good angle, except, the acting became reality as Chris and Nancy actually fell in love and Nancy divorced Sullivan to marry Benoit.

Benoit left the WCW to go to work for the WWE which was then known as the WWF. It is a fact that Sullivan threatened Benoit and told him he would kill him. Yes, that was 10 years ago, but Kevin Sullivan is no dummy. He is known for being a calculating, cold-hearted individual. Today, according to a source close to me, Kevin Sullivan is a high ranking member of the Satanic Church. The police need to consider the possibility that Sullivan carried out these gruesome murders in order to have his revenge, which is what Satanists live for. He could have entered the home, with an accomplice or accomplices and held the Benoit’s at gunpoint, Sullivan could have then bound up Nancy, and made Benoit and his son watch as he strangled the life out of her. Then the next day after making Benoit and his son spend the day in agony, murdered Benoit’s little boy because of his hatred for the offspring of Benoit and Nancy. Then he could have made Benoit wait an entire day before killing him to by hanging him in the basement.

By doing this, not only would Kevin Sullivan have lived out his Satanic Church creed with his lust for revenge, but he would have destroyed Chris Benoit’s reputation which is what has happened now as the wrestling world is attacking the memory of Chris Benoit remembering him as an insane baby killer and wife killer instead of the great World Champion wrestler and friend that he was.

Satanists hate the Bible and the police have stated that a Bible was found next to the bodies of Benoit’s wife and son. This would serve as a bizarre calling card as if to either say “What good did your Bible do you?” or to throw off investigators to keep them from suspecting Sullivan and his Satanists would have been involved.

Another thing to note is the fact that Kevin Sullivan was also associated with Sherri Martel, who died just a few days before the bodies of Chris Benoit, and his family was found, and the full details of Martell’s death have not been made known as of the time of this writing.

I wonder why the police have not even considered investigating the possibility the Kevin Sullivan killed Benoit, Nancy, and their child. It is certainly a possibility worth looking in to.

Also, Benoit was going to be crowned ECW World Champion on Sunday night. Why would he murder his family and kill himself when he was going to be on top again and make lots more money?

Why would he tie his wife up before killing her? He would have no reason to, but Kevin Sullivan sure would!

Sure he had some problems with Nancy, but that was 4 years ago and what married couple doesn’t have problems? Remember also that they reconciled and as far as everyone knows there has been no other incidents reported.

One also needs to consider the fact that Benoit loved his kids and was so proud of his son that was killed. His kids wore suits and ties to his wrestling events and was proud of their dad. He was loved and respected by all those who knew him.

In my opinion, there is no way he would have murdered his family. This whole murder case has Satanists written all over it and Sullivan is a Satanist and has the motive to murder them.

I am encouraging anyone who reads this to send this to police authorities and circulate it on the internet, so these facts can be investigated, before the case is closed and Benoit is written off in history a murderer. If Sullivan is the real killer, justice should be served!

As a former Pro Wrestler myself, now a born again Christian and world wide evangelist, I am hoping and praying for justice no matter who is responsible.

[Mauvaise]

Aw, well, I don't know much about him...but this is something to look into...for sure

[Stinger]

That article I put in the saybox has been splashed all over the internet and some folks are having a fit. Even though I still believe Benoit did it I found his theory interesting. I would be a liar to say that Sullivan didn't cross my mind before I even found that article in the first place. There was bad blood between them and I remember hearing about Sullivan threatening Benoit's life years back. By reading that article I didn't take it as him saying lets find Sullivan and arrest him for the murder of the Benoit family but I don't see how it would hurt to look into it. Another thing, some of the wrestlers do live their characters in their real lives. Brian Pillman is a prime example. When he got in that car accident he was never the same person. When he joined WWE people say on his DVD they never knew if it was a work or shoot with how he portrayed himself outside the ring.


Here's a link of what Hogan had to say about this tragedy.


www.usmagazine.com/hulk_hogan_talks_to_i_us_i_about_the_killer_wrestler

[Jason]

I don't think I see Kevin Sullivan doing it either. I know he hated Benoit though. And his motive to kill was huge.
But still.. I don't know if I see that happening.. I agree with you stinger..

It's a shame all these wrestlers keep dying..