The Figure Four - ALL Things ECW-WWF-NJPW-TNA-ROH-AEW

[Zguy28]

I checked out that chat, the one thing I noticed was that the son was suffering from dwarfism, and that was reported by the police.

Well didn't you notice that Chris Benoit himself suffered from some mild form of dwarfism? It was like his torso or his legs were two short or something.

[Joe Sick]

I am sorry i do not speak the grammer of a scholared profesor as your self I will have to work on that thanks for the tip of the day

It usually helps to use a period or two.

A full stop or period, also called a full point, is the punctuation mark commonly placed at the end of several different types of sentences in English and several other languages. A period consists of a small dot placed at the end of a line of text, thus: "." (sans quotes).

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Period_(punctuation)

[SonOfWashington]

I am sorry i do not speak the grammer of a scholared profesor as your self I will have to work on that thanks for the tip of the day

www.dictionary.com

[LeesburgSkinFan]

Benoit always did work stiff...

[The Evil Genius]

Hmm...some interesting additional info...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070627/ap_on_re_us/wrestler_dead

By GREG BLUESTEIN, Associated Press Writer 21 minutes ago

ATLANTA - 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 World Wrestling Entertainment. "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."

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

Over the past weekend, authorities said, Benoit strangled his wife, suffocated his son and placed a Bible next to their bodies before hanging himself with a weight-machine cable in the couple's suburban home. No motive was offered for the killings, which were discovered Monday.

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

The WWE, based in Stamford, Conn., issued a news release Tuesday saying steroids "were not and could not be related to the cause of death" and that the findings indicate "deliberation, not rage." It also added that Benoit tested negative April 10, the last time he was tested for drugs.

Also Wednesday, Benoit's personal physician said the wrestler did not give any indication he was troubled when he met with the doctor hours before the start of the weekend.

Benoit had been under the care of Dr. Phil Astin, a longtime friend, for treatment of low testosterone levels. Astin said the condition likely originated from previous steroid use.

Astin prescribed testosterone for Benoit in the past but would not say what, if any, medications he prescribed the day of their meeting.

"He was in my office on Friday to stop by just to see my staff," Astin said. "He certainly didn't show any signs of any distress or rage or anything."

"I'm still very surprised and shocked, especially with his child Daniel involved," Astin said. "He worshipped his child."

District Attorney Scott Ballard said the autopsy indicated that there were no bruise marks on the child's neck, so authorities are now assuming he could have been killed using a choke hold. "It's a process of elimination," he said.

The Benoits' argument over their son was not the only friction in their marriage. Nancy Benoit had filed for a divorce in 2003, saying the couple's three-year marriage was irrevocably broken and alleging "cruel treatment." She later dropped the complaint.

Meanwhile, authorities in Georgia were investigating a link between Benoit and a Florida business that may have supplied him with steroids.

Prosecutors in upstate New York who have been investigating the company's drug sales said Benoit received deliveries from Signature Pharmacy and MedXLife.com, which sold steroids, human growth hormone and testosterone on the Internet.

Six people, including two of the pharmacy's owners, have pleaded guilty in the investigation, and 20 more have been arrested, including doctors and pharmacists.

"That's something that sounds like we ought to be investigating," Ballard told the AP on Wednesday.

A lawyer for MedXLife co-owner Dr. Gary Brandwein scoffed at allegations that his client's company sold steroids to Benoit.

"I've only read that in the paper. I have no direct information about that whatsoever," Terence Kindlon said Wednesday, adding that prosecutors in Albany County, N.Y., were trying to "distract everyone's attention from the fact that their case is disintegrating."

Brandwein, a 44-year-old osteopath from Boca Raton, Fla., has pleaded not guilty to six counts in New York state court related to the criminal sale of a controlled substance. He was accused of signing and sending prescriptions without ever seeing patients.

Telephone messages left for attorneys for Brian Schafler and Greg Trotta — two other co-owners of MedXLife — were not immediately returned Wednesday. The two men have pleaded guilty to felony third-degree diversion of prescription medications and prescriptions, admitting they helped get drugs in 2006 for customers in upstate New York who had no medical need for them.

McDevitt said the drugs found in Benoit's house were legitimately prescribed. "There's no question, none of these drugs are out there, none of these drugs came from Internet pharmacies," he said.

In addition to causing paranoia and explosive outbursts, steroids can also contribute to deep depression, according to experts.

"Just as you have the extreme high of when you're on steroids, you can get the opposite," said Dr. Todd Schlifstein, a clinical assistant professor at the New York University School of Medicine. "You can have a dramatic difference in mood swings. You can feel there's no hope, there's no future."

[herrmag]

OH for ****s sake, his child had a mental condition on top of it? Can this story get any ****ing worse?!

[Skin'emAlive]

Deep down i want to believe that its a cover up. That someone killed the three and made it look like benoit did it... This is a mess.

[Tastes Like Chicken]

Wow. Perhaps caught between a rock and a hard place- Chris had to wrestle to make money to pay the bills, maybe pay for a special school for his mentally challenged son, but his wife (I presume stay-at-home at that point) pressuring him to spend more time at home with his son. Faced with the prospect of more and more work obligations (spoilers report that he was going to win the ECW title that night), a heated argument with his wife turns ugly. He goes out of control, kills her, then doesn't know what to do. At his lowest point, feeling that there is no hope, he suffocates his son. Now at the point of no return, he's too chicken to kill himself right away so he waits until he can't stand himself anymore. He's killed his wife, and killed his poor innocent son, so he finally hangs himself.

He was either extremely mentally ill, or extremely evil. I don't know what to believe. I feel bad for Nancy, but I still feel the worst for the boy though. 7 years old...damn.

[Teller]

Deep down i want to believe that its a cover up. That someone killed the three and made it look like benoit did it... This is a mess.

Yeah me too. I just think there's no way that one or two people could go into Benoit's house and kill him without leaving other extraneous marks on his body, and then kill his wife and kid too. As much as it hurts to realize it, it looks like he really did do this.

I'll miss Chris. And I hate to say that, given what's happened. But for my money, there was nobody better in the business in this day and age. I was at WM XX, and the bump he took from Triple H and Micahels where they suplexed him through the announce table was just sick. I know tables actually break their falls, but he was 12 feet in the air when they let him go.

I was also at the Starcade where the ladder broke on him, and he sold that perfectly. Add to that his technical skill and athleticism, and you had the perfect "old school" wrestler. He wasn't great with the mic, but most guys these days are great talkers and can't do **** in the ring.

Tragic doesn't begin to cover this situation. Hideously sad.

[gimpy007]

I guarantee you he didn't watch a single second of that "travesty"

The media likes to pile on pro wrestling, and this is all the fuel they need.

Interesting you should mention that -

My wife and I were talking about that last night which brought up Pro Football having its issues in the past with players but no one ever mentions steroids or recreational drugs as the cause like they do with Wrestling. Check out this article -

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/6966076?MSNHPHMA

Mike Webster played 17 seasons in the pros, most of them for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and is considered by many to be the game's greatest center. In 1997, he delivered an alarmingly confused speech at his Hall of Fame induction. Five years ago, at the age of 50, he died: broke and alone, addicted to painkillers and suffering from dementia believed to be the result of the repeated concussions he endured as a player. In his last days, Iron Mike Webster — who started 150 consecutive games for the Steelers — would curl up in a ball and cry. As it ended, he couldn't even find the bathroom. His son remembers him urinating in an oven.

Not one time do they mention steroids in this article. Yet we all know that steroids are just as big of a problem in the NFL as it is in Wrestling.

My wife and I have came to the conclusion that concussions along with steroids abuse and or recreational drugs, mainly cocaine, have played a big part in athletes dying young or just going plain WACKO for no apparent reason.

[praise_gibbs]

District Attorney states that that Daniel Benoit was perhaps killed with a 'chokehold'. :mad:

[Teller]

District Attorney states that that Daniel Benoit was perhaps killed with a 'chokehold'. :mad:

Physical strangulation is one of the most personal and intimate ways to kill someone. Without getting any more graphic than I have to, obviously the killer can see his victim's expressions and suffering very closely and intimately.

To be able to do that to your own child, indicates someone who was in a fit of uncontrollable rage, almost to the level of "possession." It's one thing to pull a trigger, and kill the kid. But to see him suffer up close, and not be able to release him, says in my mind, that Benoit was completely out of control.

The bible thing goes along with this theory. Once the rage wore off, Chris no doubt had the, "Oh my God, what have I done," wave of emotions sweep in. He was probably screaming and crying for forgiveness and their 'salvation' as he placed the bibles.

He probably had no intention of killing them, and therefore, no intention of committing suicide. When he realized what he'd done, and done what he could for his family (in his own sick way), he grabbed what was available, a weight-machine wire and hung himself. He used that for two reasons. It was handy, and heavy-guage enough that he knew it wouldn't break. Had it broken, a guy who was always on the move would've been condemned to a fate worse than death for him, a REAL cage.

This is all just a guess, loosely based on experience and training, but it seems more than plausible to me.

[Skin'emAlive]

^^^

Yea, that seems like that is what could have happened. Its so sad, he was one of my favorite wrestlers. It goes to show you that concussions + steriods ( even though im sure he did get off of them at some point.. but still had years of steriod use under his belt) = a crappy ending. If i were the comissioner of the NFL, i would sit Dan Morgan out. The dude looks like a roid, and has had one too many concussions. I would hate to see another travesty happen for his sake.

[Boss_Hogg]

We will not know if steroids played a factor in this travesty until the toxicology reports come back...which could take weeks into months. But there is a great chance that Benoit could have suffered a roid rage, no doubt.

I never thought this would happen, Benoit seamed like a great person and a devoted family man...I still can't believe this. I met a WWE employee several years back on a flight from Chicago to Oklahoma City for a pay-per view. He went on and on about how Benoit was the "nicest most genuine" person in the locker room. Benoit would apparently take lots of his own time to sign autographs and speak with the young fans.

I guess my favorite Benoit match has to be the one with Stone Cold back in 2001 in Benoit's hometown of Edmonton. I thought the Candians were going to riot after the match!

[SkinsOrlando]

Years from now we will still remember how it all ended, does that mean we shoud forget and erase what he did over his career? I dunno what to think about that. I do know that with WWe owning damn near all the footage of him theres a good chance his work will never be seen again.

[herrmag]

Years from now we will still remember how it all ended, does that mean we shoud forget and erase what he did over his career? I dunno what to think about that. I do know that with WWe owning damn near all the footage of him theres a good chance his work will never be seen again.

If that's the only punishment he gets, I'd say he got off light.

[cyfar]

OH for ****s sake, his child had a mental condition on top of it? Can this story get any ****ing worse?!

I know right. It's amazing how much respect I had for the man just a week ago and that was based on his work ethic and the job he did performing his craft. All of it, as well as his legacy goes down the crapper.

[cuchip703]

Deep down i want to believe that its a cover up. That someone killed the three and made it look like benoit did it... This is a mess.

The only problem with the "cover up" theory is that Chris himself actually spoke to WWE co-workers on the phone after established time of death for his wife. There is a timeline of events on the WWE website which has him actually talking to someone late Saturday, and from my understanding, she was killed either late friday night or early Saturday

[Heidenreich]

I do know that with WWe owning damn near all the footage of him theres a good chance his work will never be seen again.

I was thinking about this. Does the WWE go as far as to remove Benoit matches from PPV releases on DVD? That would render the Wrestlemania XX DVD quite moot.

What about WWE 24/7? They rerun old PPV's & Monday night Raw/Nitro episodes. Do they cut him out of them as well?

I would figure that they would have to leave them in. Watching those old shows from 97 is morbid enough anyway when you count how many of those people are gone. I'll end up fast forwarding the Benoit matches anyway.

[praise_gibbs]

http://www.pwheadlines.com/WWE_News/WWE_Pulls_All_Benoit_Merchandise_Off_WWE_Shop_Zone.shtml

PWHeadlines >> WWE News >> WWE Removing All References Of Benoit Off Web Site

Reported By Shawn Moniz on Jun 26, 2007 - 10:20:10 AM

In light of the recent developments that Benoit reportedly killed his wife and son, then committed suicide, WWE.com has yanked all merchandise pertaining to Benoit off of its website. All searches pertaining to Benoit on WWE Shopzone's website are now returning "discontinued".

Benoit's name has also been removed from the description of the Wrestlemania XX DVD. It now reads "Triple H defends his World Heavyweight Championship against Shawn Michaels."

Updated 11:35am

WWE.com is now removing all references of Benoit and replacing them with traditional wrestler articles. The current top story at this time, is a WWE.com confirmation that this was indeed a double murder suicide.

[praise_gibbs]

http://www.prowrestlingfans.com/index.php?id=viewArticle&articleID=12223

Road Warrior Animal appeared on Scarborough Country on MSNBC. He discussed that his brother John Laurinaitis, who is second in command for Talent Relations under Stephanie McMahon, was one of the people that received text messages from Chris Benoit before he committed suicide.

[praise_gibbs]

http://www.prowrestlingfans.com/index.php?id=viewArticle&articleID=12210

This is a pretty cool comment from Booker..

-- WWE superstar King Booker sat down with KHOU out of Houston, Texas today to talk about the Benoit tragedy. Below are some of the highlights. Booker said that he knew Benoit personally and as most people in the business that knew Benoit have said, commented that he had never seen a bad side of Benoit. He noted that he knew Benoit's wife Nancy and all of his children. He characterized what has happened as completely "out of the norm and unexplainable."

Booker noted that he wrestled Benoit in 75-100 matches and just recently talked to him for about thirty minutes about the wrestling business. "We're all tired at certain points, we work a lot of hours, but I never saw this side of Chris. I've never seen Chris mad. I've never seen Chris angry. He was always the guy with a lot of positive energy, always pushing the guys."

He went on to tell a story of a student that came to his wrestling school in Houston, Texas to be trained. Booker said that the student arrived from Illinois, with no way to go back? and had $800 in his pocket. He revealed that the student carried around a photo of Benoit and Eddie Guerrero with him, as he was inspired by them to pursue a career in professional wrestling. "That was just the type of person he was, always encouraging people. He didn't even know this guy, but that's the type of person he was." Booker commented.

When roid rage was brought up in the interview, Booker commented, "The media is going to put a spin on it, you know. We know that. WWE knows that. Did the guy last week who murders his wife and kid last week have any form of roid rage? He was a cop. This happens in any form of life. I feel like the human life is a delicate piece of equipment and everyone has their breaking point. We don't know what his breaking point was. You don't know what my point is, I don't know what your point is. We're all human.

I just think it was a huge malfunction and whatever it was, we may never know. It's not for us to know. It's out of our hands and with God now." Booker said that the wrestling industry is a huge family and he?s cried and wanted to pull his hair out over the tragedy. He revealed that he loved Chris and said that he is mad to see him "go out like this. I'm pissed at him in certain ways. I wish I could just hold him for a second, but it's out of our hands. I'll be there at the funeral and tell him goodbye and hopefully see him on the other side. Hopefully, I'll find out what happened one day."

[Heidenreich]

We missed Vince on the TODAY show this morning! I found this update on wrestlingobserver.com

http://www.wrestlingobserver.com/wo/news/headlines/default.asp?aID=20028

Well, at least Vince McMahon didn’t try to slap a list of questions out of Meredith Viera’s hands.

That was one of the few positive developments for World Wrestling Entertainment after owner Vince McMahon appeared this morning on the Today show.

Before McMahon appeared, a news piece raising the possibility of a link between steroids and the Benoit murder/suicide as well as the deaths of some other wrestlers. That set the tone for the appearance.

Among the more pertinent exchanges between Viera and an even-keeled McMahon [Note: Viera never said NBC has a business relationship with WWE before conducting the interview]:

X: Viera called WWE on the carpet for issuing a press release Tuesday claiming that steroids couldn’t have been part of the reason for Benoit’s actions when the results of toxicology tests won’t be known for several weeks. McMahon tried to explain the press release was a reaction to “hysteria of the media” trying to link “roid rage” to Benoit’s actions.

“Obviously, this was not an act of rage,” McMahon said. “It was an act of deliberation … There were a number of prescription medications found in the house. Whether they contributed to this, who knows? Whether there was some other aspect for something to do with this behavior, hopefully we’ll find out in some way.

“What we’re about [in WWE] is putting smiles on people’s faces. We’re entertainers. We entertain all over the world. That’s the job description. It’s not something to be tainted and smear with this. It’s no different than a postal worker [shooting] up a post office. There was no indication whatsoever that this person turned into a monster and do what he did. Steroids may or may not have something to do with this. There were other pressures in terms of his son and wife. I don’t know, We may never know. But hopefully, we can put this to bed as best we possibly can and determine what happened once we have the real evidence.”

X: On WWE’s drug-testing policy: “Last February, we instituted a wellness policy to police for steroids or abuse of prescription drugs. We do urine and blood tests to determine as well as test the cardio aspect of things to test for heart disease and heart failure. It’s a comprehensive test. The last test he took of a random nature was in April and it was totally negative. That doesn’t mean he was not taking prescription medication or steroids when this happened. We don’t know.”

X: On 60 wrestlers under the age of 45 dying and what responsibility Vince McMahon feels toward their families: “We’ve had five individuals since we’ve been in business under contract to that died … I can only speak to those five.”

[Note: McMahon’s answer doesn’t take into account the long-term impact that steroid use could have had on performers before WWE instituted its wellness program. But in McMahon’s defense, some of those young deaths also feature performers that never worked for WWE or died of drug-related issues].

X: On what type of impact it would make if steroids were found in Benoit’s system: “I can only speak of our wellness program and how effective that is … All we can do is the best we can with anyone else and establish the wellness program the best we can … This is a horrific tragedy. There is a rush to judgment here as to what caused this. There’s almost a hysteria around us. I don’t know whether it’s justified or not. We won’t know until we get the toxicology reports back. Once we get those back, we’re dealing in real facts. There was no way to tell this man was a monster. He was a mild-mannered individual.

“Everyone in our organization are well-adjusted, family people. They go to work like anybody else except the definition of their job is to put a smile on everybody’s face. It’s important our organization continue to do that for our fans and move on as best as we possibly can not withstanding this devastating situation.”

Final comments: NBC did a better job than Nancy Grace and other CNN/FOX tabloid news shows have done in addressing this topic. But with a lack of knowledge about the wrestling business, Viera didn’t try to push McMahon on some of his answers like whether it was acceptable for wrestlers to take steroids if given a prescription or try to get much insight about what kind of person Benoit was. But I do give McMahon credit for appearing in this kind of forum to address the issue and handling himself professionally.

[Heidenreich]

And now there's this....

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,287194,00.html

Web Time Stamps Indicate Benoit Death Reported About 14 Hours Before Police Found Bodies

Thursday , June 28, 2007

By Blane Bachelor

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 about 14 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.com 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.

Wikipedia.org's computers are set to record Standard and Universal Time, a spokesman told FOXNews.com.

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.”

The posting was apparently made in reference to Benoit's scheduled appearance on Sunday night at an Extreme Championship Wrestling event in Texas, with the last phrase noted in red to indicate an edit made to the original entry.

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.

Click link for the rest........

[Kilmer17]

This just keeps getting stranger and stranger.

But this piece on wikipedia supports the idea that WWE knew before they went with the tribute.

Also, there's this-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.

Click here to read more about the death of Sherri Martel.

Martel, who had a reputation as one of the top managers in pro wrestling, was found dead at her mother’s home in near Birmingham, Ala., on June 15. She was 49.

Investigators, who have not yet determined Martel's cause of death, say foul play is not suspected but that Martel did not die of natural causes.