Chris Benoit

[cj]

How disgusting is it that WWE had a three hour tribute to this guy on television? I'm not a big fan of WWE, but I do watch once in a while when nothing else is on and it can be funny. I will, however, never watch it again, ever.

The paid tribute to a man that murdered his wife and 7 year old son.:(

[Greyfox]

The tribute is symbolic of how sick our society has become and was in poor taste.
The man strangled his wife, and smothered his son.
The tribute should have been to them and battered families everywhere.
Prior to that she had restraining orders against him.
So he was a good wrestler, or actor. So what?
He is being treated as though he met death in an unfortunate
car accident.

[GaryG]

He is being treated as though he met death in an unfortunate
car accident.Anyone who commits suicide is seriously disturbed. That is just as unfortunate as a car accident IMHO.

[delayjf]

In this case I think he did the honorable thing. Not that it makes up for killing a wife and child. Sad.

[ponyplayerdotca]

To be fair to the WWE, they received official word of the three deaths on Monday around noon EDT. Reportedly, there were no details as to how the deaths occurred at that time, only that the three of them were dead.

They immediately cancelled their live show RAW (which was to happen that night). They then did (as they have done in the past) hastily record rememberance interviews to honour their colleague.

It aired at 9pm EDT Monday night, again, still before any official details of the tragedy had been made public.

As soon as word broke Tuesday morning about the nature of the deaths - a double-murder suicide - the WWE removed any and all tributes to Benoit from their websites, including merchandise, bios, etc.

I'm sure had they known details of the events on Monday at noon when they learned of the deaths, they would not have aired any such tribute show.

That's all the info as I've been able to read over the last two days.

So, perhaps that may ease some of your collective disdain for them. I don't watch wrestling anymore (used to years ago), but I did watch the tribute show Monday night because I had only heard that Benoit was dead.

For what it's worth, Benoit's actions are unforgivable.

[ljb]

In this case I think he did the honorable thing. Not that it makes up for killing a wife and child. Sad.
Where is the honor in killing and then committing suicide to avoid the consequences of your actions. I think it was chickenshit.

[Greyfox]

Anyone who commits suicide is seriously disturbed. That is just as unfortunate as a car accident IMHO.

I agree with you that he was seriously disturbed. I would agree that suicide is very hurtful for those who are left behind to grieve.
But by definition "fortune" = "fate" or the lot your dealt by the cards of life.
When those cards are poor we say that's unfortunate.
For example, you buy a car and the axle breaks going around a mountain cliff.
You die. That's very unfortunate.
In a car accident you are in the wrong place at the wrong time = unfortunate.
In this man's instances he made decisions, albeit disturbed ones, that
led to the tragic deaths of 3 individuals. His death was not unfortunate,
it was meditated. Nor are the deaths of suicide bombers unfortunate. They are planned. The death of Nancy Benoit and her son child were unfortunate and just as unfortunate as a car accident.

[delayjf]

The honor was not in the Killing of his wife and child, rather it was in acknowlegement that he was wrong and should pay for his crimes with his life. Kind of a samuri kind of thing.

[JPinMaryland]

I agree with you that he was seriously disturbed....

In a car accident you are in the wrong place at the wrong time = unfortunate.
In this man's instances he made decisions, albeit disturbed ones, that
led to the tragic deaths of 3 individuals. His death was not unfortunate,
it was meditated. ...

If indeed this person was mentally disturbed then his death is indeed an "accident" by most people's definition of fortune, fate, etc.

One does not consciously choose to go insane, you know.

People have no problem with the idea that if they have a broken arm or cancer they go to a doctor to fix it. It is a break down in the body. Or that if a car breaks down it is an "accident." But for some reason there is this block that when the chemistry in the brain goes bad, it is not an "accident" rather it is a conscious decision.

I dont get it. How can you say a person is seriously disturbed and then say his descisions were conscious or rationale??? :confused:

[cj]

The honor was not in the Killing of his wife and child, rather it was in acknowlegement that he was wrong and should pay for his crimes with his life. Kind of a samuri kind of thing.

There was no honor in killing himself. It is pure cowardice in my opinion.

I understand that the WWE didn't know specifics, but they had to know there was suspicion on Benoit himself. Everyone else did. My wife forwarded me story about it very early Monday morning and even said it looks like he killed his family.

I can't really applaud WWE for removing his stuff from the store and web site. They really had no choice.

[Greyfox]

If indeed this person was mentally disturbed then his death is indeed an "accident" by most people's definition of fortune, fate, etc.

One does not consciously choose to go insane, you know.

People have no problem with the idea that if they have a broken arm or cancer they go to a doctor to fix it. It is a break down in the body. Or that if a car breaks down it is an "accident." But for some reason there is this block that when the chemistry in the brain goes bad, it is not an "accident" rather it is a conscious decision.

I dont get it. How can you say a person is seriously disturbed and then say his descisions were conscious or rationale??? :confused:

I never said his decisions were rational. I said they were meditated.
And he would have certainly been conscious of them. Insanity is a very difficult defense to plead. Most likely the man flew into a rage.
In rage people don't make the same decisions that they do in calmness.
Having said that, I am not prepared to let people in rage off the hook just because they did something stupid in a rage. If by 40 years old one hasn't learned to put the brakes on problems with anger, it is because they have chosen not to. And that ain't mental illness. That's egocentricity.
Otherwise, we might as well say let people do what they want. He had no control as he was mentally ill.

More importantly, I am simply saying victims are unfortunate, perpetrators are not unfortunate. It's just that easy.
(Understandably you can get into an airy fairy esoteric semantic argument on this. A Philosopher can make a case for anything. But in the real world in real life we have to make a decision somewhere. Otherwise we could make a case that a horse that ran last really was a winner because at least he tried.)

[boomman]

IMHO just another sad case in the long and dreadful history of "roid rage" caused by steroid usage...you only have to look back at the OJ Simpson killings of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman to see how long this has been going on:( Boomer

[chickenhead]

One does not consciously choose to go insane, you know.

One can consciously choose to take drugs known to cause insanity. Side effects "you may kill your family and yourself"....Have no idea what kind of guy he was, don't care. 3 people dead. Ugly ugly.

[JPinMaryland]

I never said his decisions were rational. I said they were meditated. And he would have certainly been conscious of them....
(Understandably you can get into an airy fairy esoteric semantic argument on this. A Philosopher can make a case for anything. But in the real world in real life bla bla bla....

Are you saying mentall illness cannot exist because it always amounts to mere rage? What the expletive deleted are you talking about?


What is your pt. about being "Conscious of his actions???" People can be conscious of their actions and still be insane. It is no more than being conscis of falling off a building and yet having no control of oneself..

[Tom]

Tuesday night, on the ECW TV show, Vinny Mac came on before the show and acknowledged that the new facts about Benoit dictated that his name would never be mentioned on the shows again. I suspect they did not believe the real facts at first - apparently, CB was very well respected and like amoung all the perfomers. Cancelling the live event was neccessary because it's theme was a tribute to HIMSELF, having been "killed off" the last week in a new story line that, mercifully, has been abandoned.

[Greyfox]

Are you saying mentall illness cannot exist because it always amounts to mere rage? What the f$#k are you talking about?


What is your pt. about being "Conscious of his actions???" People can be conscious of their actions and still be insane. It is no more than being conscis of falling off a building and yet having no control of oneself..

I'm not sure what your knowledge of mental illness is.
Chances are that he was not mentally ill. Even if he were, mentally ill people are not mentally ill in every decision that they make. Generally they have "islands" of insanity and continents of saneness. In other words, they are more normal than you think they are. (Or conversely, most humans that you meet are more nutty than you think they are.)

Secondly, I did not say that mental illness cannot exist. It most certainly does
to varying degrees.
And when it does, it does not usually lead to rage.
Rage is an emotion that appears very early in infancy. Part of the maturation process is learning to put restraints on it, to walk away when we want to.
Unfortunately, many individuals choose not to put restraints on that rage.
They are rewarded with "power" when they see others cower. There's a good chance that this mans rage was fueled by steroids. Nevertheless he's still responsible for how he expresses his anger.
Having said that we all are. All of us have access to rage, it's in there somewhere.
And tut tut, your use of the four letter friend getter is one way to trigger anger which ultimately triggers rage. Maybe his wife said something as simple as that to him when he let the reins off. Who knows?

[delayjf]

There was no honor in killing himself.

CJ,

On second thought your right. Honor has nothing to do with it. Lets just say he deserved the death he suffered.

[Tom]

Suicide is cowardly and selfish.
Add murder to that, and doping your kid....this guy is burning as we post. Good.

[ryesteve]

I understand that the WWE didn't know specifics, but they had to know there was suspicion on Benoit himself. Everyone else did. My wife forwarded me story about it very early Monday morning and even said it looks like he killed his family.
There's something off on your timeline. The bodies weren't even discovered until 4pm late monday afternoon.

[cj]

Maybe it was early Tuesday morning. I work shift work, I'm always getting my days mixed up.

[ryesteve]

Yes, that'd make sense... by tuesday morning it was far more clear what had actually happened.

[Tom]

Maybe it was early Tuesday morning. I work shift work, I'm always getting my days mixed up.

So I'm playing the horses using numbers from a guy who doesn't know what day of the week it is????? :eek::lol:

[cj]

So I'm playing the horses using numbers from a guy who doesn't know what day of the week it is????? :eek::lol:

I don't call them Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc. I call them Yavapai, Great Lakes, Penn National, etc. to match the feature track of the day.

[Tom]

Well alright then.
;)

[OTM Al]

There goes another one.....

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/more_sports/2007/08/14/2007-08-14_wrestler_crush_found_dead_in_fla-1.html

[Bubbles]

I hate the new wrestling, but I am an avid fan of the old stuff (up until about 2000 or so, when the then-WWF realized it really had no competition and started going down the tubes because of it). That said, this year is easily the worst one for premature wrestling deaths there's ever been. Not only have Benoit and Bryan Adams passed away, but two other big-name guys, Bam Bam Bigelow and Mike Awesome, have also died.

Here's a pretty disturbing list of premature wrestling deaths since 1990 that I found on a wrestling board I sometimes post at. Notice how, in the late-1990's, it JUMPS. It's probably not going to stop anytime soon; we're feeling the aftershocks of the 1980's steroid craze, for sure.

1990
12-31: Daniel Aldana
12-31: Ed "The Bull" Gantner, 31, suicide

1991
04-23: Frankie Williams, 52, lung cancer (of Piper's Pit fame)
08-15: Tank Morgan, 58
08-24: Vivian Vachon, 40, killed by drunk driver
08-??: Chief Thundermountain, 33
09-12: Chris Von Erich, 21, shot himself to death
09-26: Lance Idol, 32, heart disease
10-27: Rocky Hata, 43
10-31: Gene Anderson, 58, heart attack (original Anderson brother)
11-03: El Gran Davis, 57

1992
02-07: "Mad Dog" Buzz Sawyer, 32, heart failure from a heroin overdose
05-11: Rene Guarjado, 59
06-??: Masami Soranaka, 48
07-01: Uncle Frazier, 54, kidney failure
10-??: Black Baron, 46
12-27: Motoshi Okuma, 51

1993
01-27: Andre The Giant, 46, congestive heart failure from a build-up of fluid in the body
02-18: "The Texas Tornado" Kerry Von Erich, 33, shot himself to death
03-10: Dino Bravo, 44, shot to death gangland-style
04-15: George McKay, 58
05-16: Little Coco, 40
05-25: D.J. Peterson, 33, motorcycle accident
05-26: Billy Hines, 58
06-07: "Bulldog" Don Kent, 59, Leukemia (former Fabulous Kangaroos member)
08-01: Jimmy Beal, 20s
10-26: Oro, 21, ring injury
12-13: "Lethal" Larry Cameron, 41, heart attack

1994
01-03: Muhammad The Butcher
03-09: Anibal, 53
05-15: Ray Candy, 42
07-25: Scott Peterson, 31, motorcycle accident
11-23: "Love Machine" Art Barr, 28, unknown circumstances (Eddie Guerrero's friend and partner in Los Gringos Locos in AAA)
11-27: Flash Monroe, 52, heart attack

1995
01-??: Tiny Anderson, 42
01-22: Jerry "Crusher" Blackwell, 45, pneumonia
02-18: Eddie Gilbert, 33, heart attack
03-16: Mighty Yankee, 55
03-20: Big John Studd, 46, Hodgkin's disease
05-02: Ripper Savage, 48, heart attack
07-25: Zandokan, 39
09-30: Black Venus, 46
10-02: John Ayres, 42
10-07: "Alaskan" Jay York, 57
10-17: Frank Dalton, 54
10-??: Chief Kit Fox, 58
12-??: Jerry Oski, 32

1996
04-09: Betty Clark, 53
06-14: Bobby Graham, 57
06-15: "Captain Redneck" Dick Murdoch, 49, heart attack
08-23: Neil Superior, 33, heart attack
08-30: Chris Colt, 50, drug & alcohol related
10-13: Espectro, 59
12-08: Espanto III, 56
??-??: Sonny Rogers, 49

1997
01-03: Big City Mike, 38
02-07: "Bulldog" Bob Brown, 58
06-30: Larry O'Day, 53
08-16: Plum Mariko, 29, ring injury
08-18: Jeep Swenson, 40, heart failure
10-05: "The Loose Cannon" Brian Pillman, 35, arteriosclerotic heart disease
10-26: Big E. Sleeze, 22
12-03: Rip Tyler, 57

1998
02-15: Louie Spicolli, 28, Soma and alcohol overdose, choked to death on his own vomit
04-??: Randy Mansfield, 23
07-05: Billy The Kid, 48
06-02: Junkyard Dog, 45, car accident
06-21: "Lucha" Larry Doyle, 37
06-29: Steve King, 49
08-18: Shane Shamrock, 23, shot to death
11-23: Loch Ness, 51, cancer
12-15: Brady Boone, 40, car accident
12-31: Tank Patton, 52

1999
02-22: The Renegade, 33, suicide (former WCW TV Champion)
03-13: Kurt Von Hess, 56, heart attack
04-09: Emiko Kado, 23, ring injury
04-20: "Ravishing" Rick Rude, 40, heart failure caused by GHB and steroids
05-02: Jos LeDuc, 54, lung infection
05-23: Owen Hart, 34, fell to his death on WWF PPV
07-31: Yuel Lovett, 28
08-07: Jonathan Boyd, 56, heart attack
11-13: Tony Rumble, 43, heart attack
12-03: Jerry Monti, 59

2000
01-07: Gary Albright, 36, cardiac arrest due to an artery disease
01-24: Bobby Duncum jr., 34, drug overdose
02-26: Liz Chase, 45
04-19: Masakazu Fukuda, 27
05-14: Jumbo Tsuruta, 49, liver and kidney cancer
06-01: Mark Mendian, 20
07-28: Harlem Warlord, 32
08-05: Rick Davidson, 47
08-05: Tony Nash, 30
08-19: Tony Parisi, 58, heart attack (former WWWF Tag Team Champion)
08-25: Chris Duffy, 35
09-10: Canadian Destroyer, 41
10-22: Yokozuna, 34, heart attack
11-08: Orgeon Lumberjack, 54
11-22: Yoshi Momota, 54
11-24: Eddie Sullivan, 59
12-25: Rick Bolton, 49

2001
01-03: Kung Fu, 49
01-04: Villano I, 54
03-16: "Delicious" Dave Vicious, 32
03-26: Benny McGuire, 54, heart failure
05-24: Bill Helm, 55
05-28: Brian Ong, 24
06-02: Pete McKay, 54
07-16: Terry "Bam Bam" Gordy, 40, heart attack (original Fabulous Freebirds member)
07-27: Rhonda Singh AKA Bertha Faye, 40, heart attack (some sources claim drug overdose, suicide)
08-08: Bad Business Brown, 31, heart attack
09-06: Tamba, 51
10-07: "Gentleman" Chris Adams, 46, shot to death by roommate
10-28: Chief Dave Foxx, 44
12-15: Russ Haas, 27, coronary heart disease (brother of Charlies Haas)
12-25: "Maniac" Mike Davis, 46,

2002
01-27: Herb Calvert, 45
02-09: Jeff "Rattlesnake" Raitz, 38
02-18: Basil Bozinis, 26
02-18: "Slick" Robbie D, 32
03-01: Dave Casanova, 35
03-07_ "Dream Machine" Troy Graham, 47, heart attack
03-17: Jerry "Big Red" Reese, 51
05-15: Ben Alexander, 51
05-16: Big Dick Dudley, 37, kidney failure
05-17: "The British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith, 39, heart attack
06-09: "Executioner" Terrence Manton, 54
07-22: Randy Tyler, 50
08-08: El Sanguinario, 33
08-09: Jackie Sato, 41, stomach cancer
08-15: Little Frankie, 44
09-21: "Flyboy" Rocco Rock, 50, heart attack
11-23: Billy Travis, 41
11-29: Jeff Peterson, 21, cancer
12-22: The Diva, 28,
12-30: Yukon Braxton, 24

2003
02-10: "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig, 44, acute cocaine intoxication
03-19: Kodo Fuyuki, 42, cancer
03-23: "Bruiser" Brian Cox, 33, heart attack
05-01: Miss Elizabeth, 42, overdose of a combination of pain pills and alcohol
06-25: Core, 29
07-20: "Bullwhip" Danny Johnson, 49, cirrhosis of the liver caused by alcohol problems
08-08: Giant Ochiai, 30
09-25: "Pit Bull #2" Anthony Durante, 36, overdosed on the painkiller fentanyl
10-18: Road Warrior Hawk, 45, heart attack
11-06: Crash Holly, 33, overdosed on over 90 pills of Carisoprodol and choked to death
11-29: Moondog Spot, 51, heart attack
11-29: Joey Rossi, 51, lung cancer
12-05: "The Wall" Jerry Tuite, 36, heart attack
12-18: "Canadian Tiger" Mike Lozansky, 35,
12-26: Danny Fargo, 44, cancer

2004
01-25: "Beetlejuice" Alan Carnill, 42
02-16: Danny Hawke, 33
03-04: Hercules Hernandez, 47, heart attack
03-09: Texas Outlaw #1, 39
04-04: Dr. Destruction, 34
04-06: Stephan DeLeon, 34
04-17: Rattlesnake Brooks, 43
06-20: Victor The Bodyguard, 38
07-03: Billy Redwood, 28, car accident
08-01: Ken Timbs, 53, cardio myopathy and congestive heart failure
09-22: "The Big Bossman" Ray Traylor, 42, massive heart attack
11-25: Xtreme, 20
11-29: Samson Kutsuwada, 57

2005
01-05: Buddy Porter, 59
01-15: El Texano, 47, respiratory failure
01-18: "Pistol" Pez Whatley, 54, heart attack
04-28: Chris Candido, 33, blood clot due to surgery complications (although family never made coroner's report public)
05-28: The Spider, 22, ring injury
07-11: Shinya Hashimoto, 40, brain hemorrhage
08-18: Chris Cash, 23, motorcycle accident
08-26: Moondog King, 56, heart failure
11-13: Eddie Guerreo, 38, heart failure

2006
01-26: Emory Hail, 36, kidney problems
02-16: Johnny Grunge, 39, sleep apnea
06-07: "Earthquake" John Tenta, 42, bladder cancer
06-26: Tiger Khan, 33
09-15: Ricky Gibson, 53 (brother of Robert Gibson)
10-15: "Jumping" Joey Maggs, 37

2007
01-19: Bam Bam Bigelow, 45
02-17: "Awesome" Mike Awesome, 42, apparent suicide by hanging
06-15: "Sensational" Sherri Martel, 49
06-??: Bif Wellington, 42, apparent heart attack
06-22: "Woman" Nancy Benoit, 43, strangled to death
06-24: Chris Benoit, 40, suicide by hanging
07-18: John Kronus, 38
08-13: Brian "Crush" Adams, 43

[Greyfox]

Thanks for the post Bubbles. Here they are by age.


Famous Wrestlers That Have Died Since 1985 Before the Age of 65
Chris Von Erich - 21
Mike Von Erich - 23
Louie Spiccoli - 27
Art Barr - 28
Gino Hernandez - 29
Jay Youngblood - 30
Rick McGraw - 30
Joey Marella - 30
Ed Gatner - 31
Buzz Sawyer - 32
Crash Holly - 32
Kerry Von Erich - 33
D.J. Peterson - 33
Eddie Gilbert - 33
The Renegade - 33
Owen Hart (http://prowrestling.about.com/od/wrestlersnotinwweortna/p/owenhart.htm) - 33
Chris Candido - 33
Adrian Adonis - 34
Gary Albright - 34
Bobby Duncum Jr. - 34
Yokozuna - 34
Big Dick Dudley - 34
Brian Pillman - 35
Marianna Komlos - 35
Pitbull #2 - 36
The Wall/Malice - 36
Leroy Brown - 38
Mark Curtis - 38
Eddie Guerrero (http://prowrestling.about.com/b/a/257829.htm) - 38
John Kronus - 38
Davey Boy Smith - 39
Johnny Grunge - 39
Vivian Vachon - 40
Jeep Swenson - 40
Brady Boone - 40
Terry Gordy - 40
Bertha Faye - 40
Billy Joe Travis - 40
Chris Benoit (http://prowrestling.about.com/od/thewrestlers/p/chrisbenoit.htm) - 40
Larry Cameron - 41
Rick Rude - 41
Randy Anderson - 41
Bruiser Brody - 42
Miss Elizabeth - 42
Big Boss Man - 42
Earthquake - 42
Mike Awesome - 42
Biff Wellington - 42
Brian Adams (Crush) - 43
Ray Candy - 43
Nancy Benoit (Woman) (http://prowrestling.about.com/od/wrestlerprofiles/p/womanpro.htm) - 43
Dino Bravo - 44
Curt Hennig - 44
Bam Bam Bigelow (http://prowrestling.about.com/od/wwesmackdownwrestlers/a/bambamtimeline.htm) - 45
Jerry Blackwell - 45
Junkyard Dog - 45
Hercules - 45
Andre the Giant (http://prowrestling.about.com/od/wrestlersnotinwweortna/p/andrethegiant.htm) - 46
Big John Studd - 46
Chris Adams - 46
Mike Davis - 46
Hawk - 46
Dick Murdoch - 49
Jumbo Tsuruta - 49
Rocco Rock - 49
Sherri Martel (http://prowrestling.about.com/od/wrestlerprofiles/p/sherrimartel.htm) - 49
Moondog Spot - 51
Ken Timbs - 53
Uncle Elmer - 54
Pez Whatley - 54
Eddie Graham - 55
Tarzan Tyler - 55
Haystacks Calhoun- 55
Giant Haystacks - 55
The Spoiler - 56
Kurt Von Hess - 56
Moondog King - 56
Gene Anderson - 58
Dr. Jerry Graham - 58
Bulldog Brown - 58
Tony Parisi - 58
Rufus R. Jones - 60
Ray Stevens - 60
Stan Stasiak - 60
Terry Garvin - 60
Boris Malenko - 61
Little Beaver - 61
Sapphire - 61
Shohei Baba - 61
Dick the Bruiser - 62
Wilbur Snyder - 62
George Cannon - 62
Karl Krupp - 62
Dale Lewis - 62
Gorilla Monsoon - 62
Hiro Matsuda - 62
Bad News Brown - 63
Bulldog Brower - 63
Wahoo McDaniel - 63

And 10 suggested reading tragedies at:
http://prowrestling.about.com/od/whatsrealwhatsfake/tp/10tragedies.htm

[JustRalph]

Andre the Giant was only 46 when he died? Wow........he looked older than that............

[Bubbles]

Andre the Giant was only 46 when he died? Wow........he looked older than that............I thought so, too. The other surprising one, at least in my eyes, was that Yokozuna was only 34.

[Lefty]

JR, Andre had a disease that caused his abnormal growth. People with that disease don't live to old age. Andre,knowing this, boozed and p[artied, living life to the fullest.

Now, if you did a similar list of football players that died young, wonder how many you would find?
Wrestling takes a great toll on the body, glad my once father-in-law, an ex wrester himself, talked me out of it when I was 19.

[46zilzal]

Andre the Giant was only 46 when he died? Wow........he looked older than that............
ACROMEGALY

[JustRalph]

ACROMEGALY

Thanks, I went over to his web page and read the bio. What a life to lead. Knowing that eventually what makes you unique will someday kill you..........