Coming to grips with Benoit family’s deaths
The shocking turn of events regarding Chris Benoit and his family have left me a bit shaken as I sit down to write this entry. At 10 p.m. last night, lead investigator Lt. Tommy Pope of the Fayette County (Ga.) police department ruled the deaths of Benoit, wife Nancy and 7-year-old son Daniel to be a double murder/suicide, according to wwe.com.
I first learned of Benoit’s death during a phone conversation with a friend last night. No matter how many wrestlers die in their 30s or 40s (Benoit had turned 40 last month), it still stuns me when I first hear the news. The shock usually doesn’t last long, however, because often the wrestler in question will have had a history of drug or alcohol problems. I had never heard that about Benoit, though, and after my friend informed me that Benoit’s wife (who was 43 and had performed as Woman and The Fallen Angel in the 1980s and 90s) and son also were found dead along with Benoit in their home in Fayetteville, Ga., it quickly became apparent that this was a tragedy of a much different sort.
At that point, there were no further details. I knew that Benoit had missed a house show in Beaumont, Texas on Saturday and the Vengeance pay-per-view in Houston on Sunday due to what wrestlingobserver.com reported on Sunday as “a family emergency.” As I tried to make sense of it all, it hit me that Raw was scheduled to be a three-hour memorial show for Mr. McMahon. It seemed so surreal that a show that was supposed to pay tribute to a deceased character in a fictional story line was now going to be a real tribute show for Chris, Nancy and Daniel Benoit. I know that a lot of fans found the McMahon exploding limo angle to be offensive and I don’t really want to get into all of that right now, but I do think WWE handled a bad situation the best way it could by opening the show with a somber Vince McMahon distinguishing story line from reality.
After watching Raw, I began getting my thoughts together on what I wanted to write about Benoit. Before getting started, I got on the Internet to see if there had been any updates on the situation. The news kept getting sadder and more shocking. According to a story by the Associated Press, Atlanta television station WAGA said that investigators believe Benoit killed his wife and son over the weekend, and then himself yesterday. Lt. Pope told ABC News that there were no signs of gunshot wounds or stabbing. He also said that “the instruments of death were located on the scene,” but he didn’t specify what they were. I’m sure there will be more developments in this story in the coming days and weeks.
I didn’t know Chris Benoit personally (I went to work for WCW two months after he left for WWE in 2000), but I do know that his peers held him in very high regard. I always admired his incredible ability in the ring and his work ethic and professionalism. Benoit had a gift for making his opponents look good and getting them to elevate their game to his level. He did it recently with MVP, and his likely role in ECW was to do the same with guys like CM Punk, Marcus Cor Von and Elijah Burke.
One of the best matches I ever saw in person was the WrestleMania XX main event at Madison Square Garden in 2004 when Benoit won the world heavyweight title in a triple-threat match against Triple H and Shawn Michaels. I will never forget how Benoit burst into tears after winning that match. We all know wrestling is predetermined, but not everyone gets to win the title at WrestleMania, and it was obvious how much it meant to him to be placed in that position. I also will never forget watching his family and his best friend, Eddie Guerrero, celebrating in the ring with him as confetti rained down on them and his entrance music played. It gives me a chill to think that four of the people in the ring at that moment – Chris, Nancy and Daniel Benoit and Guerrero – are no longer with us.
My sincere condolences go out to the Benoit family’s relatives and friends.
Comments
Benoit will be missed. This story is sure to rock wrestling for years to come. We are all still is a state of shock over what has already happened and also as the details start to come out regarding this tragedy.
Posted by: J. Steele | June 26, 2007 6:15 AM
WOW Kevin , I don't know where to start. I didn't know Chris had passed on til Raw came on last night. I must have cried for most of the 3 hours that Raw was on air. I know Chris wasn't at the PPV Sunday for what Jim Ross called personal reasons. Now the story is starting to come undone that it may have been a murder-suicide. Hopefully it isn't true because I thought Chris was a stand up type of person. I have several recollections of Chris Benoit other than the championship match at Wrestlemania 20. I remember in WCW after Owen Hart's death, the first match that Bret Hart had in Kansas City was against Chris Benoit in one of the technically best wrestling matches in a long time. It didn't matter to me or anyone else who won because that match was for Owen. To see Bret and Chris hug after that match was so gratifying out of respect for one another. Both are 2 of my favorite wrestlers of all time. I have had the pleasure of meeting both Bret and Chris on a few occassions and both were 2 of the most passionate guys I have ever met. Chris was very well respected by anyone who worked woth him and who has met him. He was an incredible person to talk to and I know I'll miss him so much. Now he is in a better place looking down upon us with Nancy, Daniel, Owen Hart, and Eddie Guerrero. I guess I can say this one more time to Chris that I can thank you for all the memories that you have given us and to say that I respect and love you as a person.
Posted by: Dave | June 26, 2007 9:17 AM
When I put up an IM away message last night saying that I would miss Chris Benoit, my friend IM'd me and asked how I could miss him when he seemingly killed his wife and son before killing himself. The truth is, what happened in Atlanta was a tragedy in more ways than one. It is a tragedy because one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time is no longer with us. It is a tragedy because millions of wrestling fans, now and in the future, will never see Benoit step into the squared-circle again. It is a tragedy because two innocent people, his wife and son, were caught up in this tragedy and are no longer with us. And it is a tragedy because if Benoit did in fact kill his wife and son, then it means that Benoit must have been seriously troubled in some way, and hopefully when the smoke clears from this awful incident, work will be done to ensure that professional wrestlers, and all professional athletes, get the help they may need and deserve to ensure that something like this never happens again. Either way, Chris Benoit will be sorely missed, and I am just glad that I was fortunate to see him wrestle many times in many classic matches, both in person and on TV.
Posted by: Micah Kleid | June 26, 2007 9:41 AM
Kevin,
I've been reading your blog since the beginning, and I really wish my circumstances for commenting were different.
I think I'm done with wrestling, sadly. My thoughts are with the Benoit family, particularly Chris' other two children.
Posted by: Kevin in Columbia | June 26, 2007 11:14 AM
This is unbelievable. It looks like the guy killed his wife and his seven-year-old kid ... and WW-Whatever does a three-hour special honoring his memory?
Talking about what an awesome guy he was? Wow. Awesome enough to kill his whole family.
Ask yourself this: if anyone else - say Barry Bonds, for example - had done what this guy appears to have done, what would the reaction be?
Posted by: kramdenyards | June 26, 2007 1:22 PM
As it has come out, it was a double homicide. Benoit took out his Wife by strangling her and smothered his Son before hanging himself.
They would not say if drugs may have contributed.
This is another chance for Vince McMahon to clean up his sport and not just sweep the deaths of Eddie Guerrero, Curt Henning, Miss Elizabeth, Sherry Martel, Crash Holly, Rick Rude, Davey Boy Smith and Brian Pillman under the Ring per say.
Wrestling is not under a Union and as much as we all hate the Unions of the other Major Sports, Wrestling is a Sport that needs to protect its people.
All those tributes last night on RAW, all those Friends, Teammates and all, and not one knew Benoit was having trouble.
Benoit will go down in my book as a Coward that killed a Child and a Woman with his own hands, and hopefully Vince will not let their deaths be swept under the ring.
Posted by: R Jordan | June 26, 2007 1:53 PM