Chris Benoit News (Page 2)

ECW Press announced this week that it has signed author Irvin Muchnick to write a book about the sensational case of wrestler Chris Benoit.

The book, entitled CHRIS AND NANCY: The True Story of the Benoit Murder-Suicide and Pro Wrestling's Cocktail of Death, will be published in 2008.

Muchnick is author of the hot-selling ECW Press book, WRESTLING BABYLON: Piledriving Tales of Drugs, Sex, Death, and Scandal and has appeared extensively in media coverage of the Benoit case. The appendix of WRESTLING BABYLON documents the premature deaths of nearly 100 wrestlers over the last generation from drugs and related aspects of the pro wrestling lifestyle.

That information has been cited both by commentators and by a member of Congress urging investigation of the billion-dollar pro wrestling industry.

Michael Holmes, senior editor of ECW Press, said:

"We are delighted to be publishing what certainly will be the most authoritative and best-written full-length account of the Benoit tragedy and its implications. Irv Muchnick's WRESTLING BABYLON is both one of the most important and one of the most commercially successful books in our company's history. We expect CHRIS AND NANCY to break more new ground."

By Pete Ellis

A lot of things have been said since the untimely demise of Chris Benoit and his family a few weeks ago.

Many of his fans have journeyed to Atlanta to leave flowers at the gate of his large suburban home. Others consider the events the act of a madman or a drug addict who deserves to be condemned for his actions.

The WWE has all but washed its hands of Benoit and his legacy since the day after the initial announcement of his death. WWE.com went from a Benoit memorial to "MOVING RIGHT ALONG! NOTHING TO SEE HERE!" overnight.

But for whatever it's worth - for the public, for the media, and for wrestling fans everywhere - I will never forget Chris Benoit. In my opinion, he stands as the greatest in-ring performer in the history of wrestling. I will not forget his accomplishments or what he meant to me as a fan.

William Regal said it best the Monday his death was announced. Regal didn't gush about his passing or speculate as to any of the details. He simply said Benoit was the best ever, and he was right.

I have the luxury of being able to remember Chris fondly and not consider judging him or his actions. Certainly I am left a little more weary of the idol worship that comes with every form of professional athletes and other famous individuals. But perhaps that's for the best.

I also look forward to enjoying wrestling again, and here's hoping that the string of bizarre and unexpected deaths that find their way into this business can dissipate now and forever.

Goodbye, Chris Benoit. May others who internalize their pain in this world find a way to deal with it because of you. The sport of wrestling is worse off because of your absence, and you will always be remembered.

The family of Nancy Benoit has announced that they will be forming a foundation in the memory of Nancy and Daniel Benoit to benefit abused women and battered children. With so much response to the tragedy, the family is asking to donate money to the foundation instead of taking gifts at the following address:

The Nancy and Daniel Benoit Foundation for Battered Women and Abused Children
c/o Decker, Hallman, Barber and Briggs
260 Peachtree St. Suite 1700
Atlanta, GA 30303

This week's issue of People magazine featured Chris Benoit on the cover.

It examines his personal life and tries to make sense out of what happened with the Benoit family...

Friends searching for clues to what went wrong have focused on Benoit's relationship with Nancy Benoit, 43, who often complained she felt like a single mother because of her husband's constant touring.

Former neighbor Melissa Coppage recalls asking Nancy recently if she had any vacation plans. "She said, 'No, it's all wrestling, all the time.' "

But several of Benoit's friends describe the 40-year-old as a devoted father and husband – who, apparently at Nancy's request last year, took a four-month leave from work to be with her while she recovered from surgery.

"He wasn't a monster," Benoit's friend and former wrestler Dean Malenko tells People. "We're talking about a guy who, a month ago, was in Jacksonville and rather than drive down to Orlando, where he needed to be the next day, he took a flight to be home with [his son] Daniel."

In 2003, Nancy filed for divorce from Benoit, saying he had threatened her. But the couple then reconciled.

Continue Reading...

Hulk Hogan was shocked when Chris Benoit murdered his wife, Nancy, and son, Daniel, 7, then committed suicide the weekend of June 23.

“He was peaceful and kept to himself,” Hogan told Us Magazine.

Hogan, who last saw Benoit in March, says he wonders what pushed the wrestler over the edge. He can only come up with this theory:

"I think it had to be something personal, a domestic problem between him and his wife."

And Hogan tells US the wrestler’s wife, Nancy Benoit, had a dark side.

“She was into devil-worship stuff. It was part of her [wrestling] character, but [she was] somebody who gets so close to their character, someone who gets into their character too much. Sometimes these people believe their own publicity.”

Before Chris Benoit killed himself and his family, the Drug Enforcement Administration knew he was an "excessive purchaser of injectable steroids," documents show.

According to a June 29 search warrant affidavit posted on The Smoking Gun, Benoit's physician, Dr. Phil Astin, prescribed Benoit, on average, "a 10-month supply of anabolic steroids ... every three to four weeks" from May 2006 to May 2007.

Astin surrendered in Atlanta Monday after being charged with improperly dispensing painkillers and other drugs, his lawyer said.

According to a seven-count indictment, People magazine reports that Astin dispensed drugs including Percocet, Xanax, Lorcet and Vicoprofen between April 2004 and September 2005 to recipients identified by the initials O.G. and M.J., the Associated Press reports.

The initials of WWE star Benoit were not listed.

A sealed criminal complaint was also filed, and a law enforcement official close to the case told the AP that case involves steroids.

Authorities say Benoit killed his wife Nancy and their 7-year-old son Daniel before hanging himself the weekend of June 23.

Continue Reading...

The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that on Thursday, June 21, Nancy Benoit called a close friend to express grave fear.

Nancy reportedly told the friend that she was scared to death and that, "if anything happens to me, look at [Chris Benoit]."

The friend, along with a former wrestler and friend in whom she confided, told Nancy to immediately leave and hide out in an apartment. Furthermore, Nancy was instructed to send son Daniel to her parents' house in Florida.

Despite her fear, Nancy did not follow such instructions. And we all know about the tragedy that followed.

In the wake of the lurid events that played out in suburban Atlanta last weekend, the New York Daily News has learned that another drug may have been part of a deadly cocktail that could have caused Chris Benoit to snap.

According to sources familiar with his drug regimen, Benoit was a known abuser of the drug gamma-hydroxybutyrate — or GHB, also known as the “date-rape drug.” Benoit was known to have used GHB with former wrestler “Gentleman” Chris Adams when both men competed for the now-defunct World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in the late `90s. They used the drug together until Adams’ death in 2001, according to sources who knew both men, and friends say Benoit was still using it as recently as two years ago.

“Benoit was a GHB user and he did it with Chris Adams,” the source told The News. “The question is, does GHB use play into what happened (in Fayetteville)?”

Authorities are still waiting for toxicology results on Benoit, but would be unable to detect GHB in his system without a complicated test conducted on his hair sample. Still, Benoit’s past use of GHB opens up the seamy side of the wrestling world.

“Everybody in the wrestling business had a liking for GHB back (in the `90s),” says a Benoit family friend. “The whole business was on it.”

GHB, which increases sexual prowess and boosts energy among other effects, is a Schedule I controlled substance commonly referred to as the “date-rape drug” and is illegal.

The Benoit family friend corresponded with Nancy Benoit just weeks before her death but noticed nothing unusual. “She told me, `I’m driving Chris crazy, but it’s a short trip,”’ the friend says with a laugh. “I don’t think this is a monster acting out. I really don’t buy that.”

If Benoit was indeed still using GHB — or if he was trying to kick a habit and suffering from withdrawal — it is likely he would have become violent.

“You see guys that are on (GHB) who go on rages,” says Trinka Porrata, a retired Los Angeles police detective who is president of the non-profit Project GHB and who has counseled and detoxed GHB addicts, including several professional wrestlers. “But another possibility, which is more likely, is GHB withdrawal.

If (Benoit) tried to stop using it and went into withdrawal, that would explain the bizarre behavior — the text messages, the Bible and the suicide especially. You can suffer a terrible depression coming off this stuff. It’s not a quit cold turkey drug.”

Porrata adds that it is not uncommon for GHB users to add methamphetamine into the mix, and that meth abuse often contributes to bizarre acts involving religion.

“The question everybody asks is, `How in the hell could you kill your son?’ Well, in a meth psychosis, your son could be the devil. That can happen quite easily,” says Porrata.

Fourteen hours before investigators discovered the bodies of Chris Benoit, his wife, Nancy, and their 7-year-old son, Daniel, someone updated the professional wrestler’s Wikipedia biography entry to include his wife’s death.

Benoit's page on Wikipedia, a reference site that allows users to add and edit information, was altered at 12:01 a.m. Monday, though authorities did not find the bodies until after 2 p.m. that afternoon. The entry cited that the reason Benoit missed a match Saturday night was "stemming from the death of his wife Nancy.”

Us Magazine reports that Wikipedia confirmed the time stamp’s authenticity. The entry was updated by someone using an IP address registered in Stamford, Connecticut, where World Wrestling Entertainment is based.

On Friday, an anonymous user with the same IP address confessed on WikiNews to making the changes to the entry, but explained that the edit was just a "terrible coincidence" fueled by rumors and gossip.

"I just can't believe what I wrote was actually the case, I've remained stunned and saddened over it," the alleged user wrote.

Matt Hardy posted the following on his MySpace.com blog...

I haven't always agreed with every decision Vince McMahon has made, but I do agree with everything he's done dealing with this situation thus far. Out of respect for the sudden death of Benoit's family and his contributions to the business, I think Vince did the right thing by canceling the scheduled Raw. When the decision was made to make Raw a Chris Benoit tribute show, the WWE was only doing what seemed respectful and right at that time.

When more information was discovered, the WWE took a different and appropriate stance towards their programming. The ECW and Smackdown shows this week were dedicated to our great fans. Wrestling fans who were grieving and confused over this tragedy needed us, including me, to entertain them. I feel it is my responsibility, as well as my pleasure, to put smiles on people's faces and give them an escape from reality. I know Vince feels that way as well.

Chris Benoit was always kind, considerate, and professional when I interacted with him. Like everyone else, I was shocked when everything came out. I can't believe Chris Benoit and his wife and child are dead as I type this. As of now, all of the strange pieces of this puzzle haven't been put together yet. My thoughts and prayers go out to Benoit's other two children as well as the immediate family and friends of the deceased. More than anything, I feel terrible for little Daniel--he was as innocent as any human being could possibly be. This is a terrible and sad tragedy.

I am very disappointed with how many media outlets are lapping the entire population of professional wrestlers into this situation. There are many outstanding, wonderful people that do so many great things for the world that I work and wrestle with. It's not fair or accurate.

Tell the people you love that you love them, and never lose sight of what's really important in life. We may not ever understand why this tragedy happened, but we have to learn from it. Stay strong--life is too precious and too short. I have much more I want to say about the activities of the last few days. If it's appropriate, I definitely will. Be well my friends, I'll talk to you soon...