June 2007 News Archive (Page 2)

In the days before pro wrestler Chris Benoit killed his wife and child and hanged himself, the couple argued over whether he should stay home more to take care of their mentally retarded 7-year-old son, an attorney for the wrestling league said Wednesday.

"I think it's fair to say that the subject of caring for that child was part of what made their relationship complicated and difficult, and it's something they were both constantly struggling with," said Jerry McDevitt, an attorney for WWE. "We do know it was a source of stress and consternation."

McDevitt said the wrestling organization learned from the couple's friends and relatives that the Benoits were struggling with where to send the boy to school since he had recently finished kindergarten. He also said Benoit's wife didn't want him to quit wrestling, but she "wanted him to be at home more to care for the kid. She'd say she can't take care of him by herself when he was on the road."

In light of the Chris Benoit tragedy, Debra Williams has chosen to speak up about her experiences with a certain WWE superstar. She relayed them to a FOX affiliate in Colorado...

"The domestic and drug abuse is out of hand in the WWE and something needs to be done about it," said Debra Williams, ex-wife of the World Wrestling Entertainment star Stone Cold Steve Austin, who says she saw her husband at the time take steroids.

When she first began working with the Atlanta-base World Championship Wrestling organization. Williams had been married to Steve McMichaels, the one-time Chicago Bear football player.

When that group was acquired by WWF now WWE, she divorced and married Austin.

"In the last ten years, 60 wrestlers under age 45 have died... all in the prime of their lives. Big strong men, who somehow die with little or no investigation of the organization that encourages performers to use muscle enhancing drugs," said Williams.

Steroids have been linked to the deaths of several professional wrestlers in recent years. Eddie Guerrero, one of Benoit's best friends, died in 2005 from heart failure linked to long-term steroid use.

The father of Curt "Mr. Perfect" Hennig blamed steroids and painkillers for Hennig's drug overdose death in 2003. Davey Boy Smith, the "British Bulldog," died in 2002 from heart failure that a coroner said was probably caused by steroids.

The WWE, based in Stamford, Conn., issued a statement Tuesday evening saying steroids "were not and could not be related to the cause of death."

But "roid rage" is common among those who take the drugs to make their bodies bigger and stronger. And it appears as though Chris Benoit was involved with them after all.

Ms. Williams claims she and Nancy Benoit's stories are very similar.

Both sought help from law enforcement because of domestic abuse. In 2003, Benoit sought a divorce from Chris Benoit saying he physically abused her; she also asked the courts for a restraining order. Williams did the same thing on the third occasion when she says she was attacked by Stone Cold.

Williams says, like Benoit, Austin all but forced her to write a letter to authorities saying her complaint was a mistake. But in Williams’ case, the courts put Austin on probation for a year. In return, Ms. Williams was placed under a gag order, forcing her to remain silent about the "dark side" of professional wrestling, filled with drugs, booze and domestic abuse.

"If only I had spoken up sooner, maybe Nancy and her little boy would be alive today... that's why I'm going public now, something has to change!"

The following statement was made by Vince McMahon at the beginning of last night's ECW on Sci Fi live broadcast:

"Last night on Monday Night Raw, the WWE presented a special tribute show, recognizing the career of Chris Benoit. However, now some 26 hours later, the facts of this horrific tragedy are now apparent. Therefore, other than my comments, there will be no mention of Mr. Benoit tonight. On the contrary, tonight's show will be dedicated to everyone who has been affected by this terrible incident. This evening marks the first step of the healing process.

Tonight, the WWE performers will do what they do better than anyone else in the world – entertain you."

Results courtesy of WWE.com...

SAN ANTONIO – Just two days after seeing the ECW World Title slip out of his grasp at Vengeance: Night of Champions, CM Punk had one goal: to reestablish himself as “the man.”

Taking on New Breed leader Elijah Burke, Punk scored the final two pinfalls in a best-of-three-falls match to be named the No. 1 contender for Johnny Nitro’s freshly-won ECW World Title.

With both Superstars splitting the first two falls and momentum on the Straightedge Superstar’s side, Punk went for the knockout blow, trying to catch Burke in a GTS. Burke elbowed his way out of it, and after a series of counters by the pair, Punk was able to stun Burke and hit the GTS for the pinfall win.

After the match, Nitro came down to ringside and posed with the ECW World Title, staring down Punk.

Also, the AT&T Center crowd witnessed two special appearances by WWE Superstars on ECW on Sci Fi.

First, WWE Champion John Cena visited Raw for the first time in more than a year, challenging the new ECW World Champion Nitro to a Champion vs. Champion exhibition match.

Allegedly suffering from a high fever and cold symptoms, Nitro took it to the WWE Champion. He showed traces of new-found hardcore improvisation, throwing the Chain Gang commander into the ringside steps and choking him on the ring ropes.

Nitro’s attempts to grind Cena down just couldn’t close the deal, as Cena battled back, setting up Nitro for a FU, but Nitro was able to counter it by flipping out of the slam and sending a kick to Cena’s head from the second rope.

But Nitro could not capitalize. As he set Cena on the top rope for a superplex, The Champ shoved Nitro down to the mat, and caught the ECW Champion with a leg drop from the top rope. Cena quickly hooked Nitro in the STFU submission to score the victory.

Nitro appeared later in the program to issue a warning to his ECW counterparts, saying that his loss to Cena was a fluke, due to his illness. He also said it didn’t matter who was named No. 1 contender to his title.

“I am the ECW World Champion, and no one can take that away from me,” Nitro proudly boasted.

Also, fans witnessed a meeting of the minds between former New York City schoolteacher Matt Striker and WWE Hall of Famer “Rowdy” Roddy Piper.

Striker came down to ringside during Piper’s appearance with a birthday cake in hand. He told the “Hot Rod” of his admiration for the Scot and his storied career. Then he asked Piper to join in singing “Happy Birthday” to celebrate Striker’s recent birthday. Piper lead the San Antonio fans in a round of singing, then smashed the chocolate cake in the teacher’s face just before the final verse.

As Striker tried to clean the fudge frosting out of his eyes, Boogeyman appeared from a cloud of sulfur smoke at ringside, and headed after the former educator.

Striker’s escape was cut off by Piper, who tossed him back into the ring, where the pit dweller powerbombed Striker into his cake debris. Then, as a special birthday gift for Striker, Boogeyman fed the teacher a mouthful of nightcrawlers – no gift wrap required, and no gift receipt.

Matches:
* WWE Champion John Cena def. ECW World Champion Johnny Nitro (non-title)
* CM Punk def. Elijah Burke (2 Out of 3 Falls Match; Punk No. 1 Contender to ECW World Title)

Some excerpts from an interview with District Attorney Scott Ballard:

In an interview with ESPN.com on Tuesday, Ballard indicated that the boy had needle marks in his arms. The district attorney said he believed that the boy had been given growth hormones for some time because the family considered him undersized. That was only one of the strange facts that Ballard revealed.

He said that two text messages of note caused authorities to investigate the house. In one, Chris Benoit told somebody he knew that his wife and son were sick when, instead, "of course, they were dead," Ballard told ESPN.com. In a second message to a neighbor, Benoit said that the door of the house was open and the pets were outside. "And our assumption is that that was an effort to try and get somebody to come find the bodies after the suicide," Ballard said. "That is our assumption."

Ballard said that Benoit's wife, 43, was killed Friday in an upstairs family room, her feet and wrists were bound and there was blood under her head, indicating a possible struggle. Ballard told ESPN.com that it appeared that she had been pinned to the floor and asphyxiated with some sort of cable.

The son, Daniel, was probably killed late Saturday or early Sunday, the body found in his bed, Ballard said. The district attorney indicated that he had been choked to death. Benoit, 40, apparently killed himself several hours and as long as a day later, Ballard said.

His body was found in a downstairs weight room, his body found hanging from the pulley of a piece of exercise equipment. Ballard said that he had used weights, the pulley and cable to choke himself to death.

Officials have confirmed the horrifying details in the deaths of Chris Benoit and his family.

A statement by a member of the Fayetteville Sheriff's Department read: "Mr, Benoit had sometime, possibly Friday, murdered his wife by asphyxiation. Sometime shortly after that, the same for his son Daniel and sometime later ... committed suicide by hanging himself in the basement area."

According to officials, Nancy was bound at the wrists and feet, with a towel wrapped around her body, and blood was found underneath her head. A Bible was also reportedly found near each one of the bodies.

Police have also confirmed that prescription drugs and steroids were found in the house.

Benoit was found hanging in a weight room in his house. Cops say that he used a cord from one of his workout machines as a makeshift noose. Authorities also believe that Benoit died on Saturday.

TMZ, a celebrity gossip site, has learned more about the deaths of WWE wrestling superstar Chris Benoit, his wife and son - and the information is disturbing.

Several Atlanta-based law enforcement sources have told TMZ Benoit may have strangled his wife on Saturday, then smothered his son in his bed a day later. Investigators refuse to officially comment, pending final confirmation by the coroner on the cause and time of the deaths.

One source said that Benoit was texting friends during Sunday's WWE "Vengeance" Pay-Per-View program - possibly watching the show with his still-alive son at the time.

According to sources, Chris Benoit then hanged himself Monday in a weight room inside the family home.

Lt. Tommy Pope of the Fayette County Sheriff's Department told ABC News that Chris Benoit had missed several appointments over the weekend, leading concerned parties to ask police to do a "welfare check."

When sheriffs arrived at the Benoits' home, they found the wrestler, his wife and their son dead. There were no signs of gunshot wounds or stabbing, according to Pope. Authorities are not ruling out other causes, such as poisoning, suffocation or strangulation.

Pope told ABC News that his department is looking at this situation as a "possible double murder, suicide." Pope said "the instruments of death were located on scene," but he would not specify what those instruments are or where in the house the bodies were found. Pope added the department is "not actively searching for any suspects outside of the house."

An autopsy has been scheduled for Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. However, it could be weeks before there is a result. We'll keep all WWE fans updated and all members of Benoit's family in our hearts.

World Wrestling Entertainment is deeply saddened to report that today Chris Benoit, wife Nancy and son Daniel were found dead in their home. There are no further details at this time, other than the Benoit family residence is currently being investigated by local authorities.

Tonight’s Raw on USA Network will serve as a tribute to Chris Benoit and his family. WWE and The Wrestling Post extend their sincerest thoughts and prayers to the Benoit family and loved ones in this time of tragedy.

Jim Ross has updated his blog over at jrsbarbq.com. Here are a few excerpts from it:

Jim Ross On 3 Hour Raw: I think 3 hour Raws are exceedingly challenging to pull off, especially if we broadcast 3 hours live 51 weeks a year. I prefer the two hour versions except for the occasional special edition which are fun when they are kept special.

Jim Ross On Brock Lesnar/MMA: I think Brock Lesnar is getting firmly entrenched in the MMA world and he seems to have a wealth of potential in that area. I saw Brock’s first fight and he looks as if he can evolve into a major player in the MMA world if not rushed. If the MMA management can wrap their arms around how to market and promote Lesnar, they have a gold mine on their hands but just as with every other star that the MMA folks build, for how long??

Jim Ross On Ric Flair Retirement Match: I have heard zero about Ric Flair having a retirement match at Wrestlemania 24 and until I hear it with my own ears from Ric it is simply another internet rumor. Plus, the term retirement match as it relates to wrestling is essentially oxymoronic in nature.