Chris Benoit commentary

[Deaconbluezzz]

Dear Sir,

I've been a visitor to this page for years now, but have never felt the need to contact any of it's staff until now. After a lengthy "Oh gosh, he really was a great guy" piece on Chris Benoit, you wound up the commentary with this update...

"Late date correction: what was really sad has become truly appalling, as the real situation has turned out to be premeditated murder with bizarre ritualistic overtones that now paints a picture of Benoit as a genuine monster. So his previous image is no longer overshadowed, it's obliterated. I feel ill."

Newsflash...his previous "image" ought to be obliterated. The POS not only killed his wife, but his own child as well. He doesn't need to be painted as a monster, he was a monster. Excuse it any way you please with every good deed in the book prior to this event, but when you kill your own 7-year old son...who apparently idolized his dad...you're a bigger monster than 95% of the folks currently on death row.

The whole worshipful tone of this article left me sick to my stomach.

Sincerely,
James Connell

[Steven Grant]

Understandable. I was still sort of numb when I wrote that, but the coda was meant not to suggest that Benoit was being tarred by some unwarranted portrayal of him as a monster, but to agree that he was a monster. I guess I fumbled that. Sorry. When I wrote the first bit as an early reaction mid-Monday, the whole thing was still shrouded in confusion and no timeline had been established. So there was more of a sense of sheer loss than of general horror, though of course even the immediate revelation of a double murder-suicide was horrifying. But that was still a point where you could imagine "excuses," which isn't the right word but they would mitigate things slightly - the scenarios that would not justify the events, there's no doing that, so much as make them make some kind of sense. Even roid rage would generate some kind of sense. There's a slight difference between someone who snaps and someone who's a total monster.

By Tuesday afternoon it was absolutely evident, no question about it, that Benoit was a total monster and that the murders were pure cold-blooded. Sorry if I gave the impression that I felt otherwise. But there was never a moment when, because he was one of my favorite wrestlers, I was willing to overlook that he killed his wife and child or interested in suggesting that his wrestling career was somehow more important than that. But had he simply snapped and killed his family, then hung himself for whatever reason, that would have been awful and terrible but it wouldn't necessarily mean I'd, say, never be able to watch another Chris Benoit match on tape anymore than Phil Spector getting convicted of murder would mean I'd never listen to "Da Doo Ron Ron" again. That's what I meant about the murders overshadowing his wrestling career. There wasn't any value judgment intended; it was simply a statement of fact. They would, and there was never any intent to suggest they shouldn't.

But... given the more elaborate circumstances now known, any value his career may have had in the moment is now completely obliterated, and there's absolutely no intent to suggest it shouldn't be. It should be. Having anything to do with Benoit matches is now the equivalent of buying a John Wayne Gacy clown painting. The mere idea of watching a Benoit match sickens me. I don't know about before that, but at the end, at least, he was beyond a shadow of doubt a monster, and deserves to be remembered that way and that way alone, if he's remembered at all.

We clear now?

- Grant

[stealthwise]

Strange, I got exactly where you were coming from in your short write-up, Stephen. Benoit was such a hero to me while I was still able to watch wrestling (the exploitation of Eddie's death killed it for me completely), but this... is just f-ed up tragedy. It's still hard to believe that Benoit was such a monster, capable of the most atrocious acts imaginable.

[Steven Grant]

Yeah, it's hard to shake some twenty years of following a guy's career in the blink of an eye, but that doesn't mean we're not horrified or that we feel nothing for Nancy and David. (I vividly remember Nancy's ring career as well.)

I see today the WWE is going around to talk shows (like ABC Good Morning America) and pushing hard the theory that the murders erupted from a fight over their son's genetic condition - so blatantly to turn the eyes of the press away from steroids toward some other hot tabloid topic - and they trotted Linda McMahon out to be the concerned feminine face of the theory. (Oddly, she's much better spoken than on WWE TV; maybe they should just let her ad lib from now on.) At this point I doubt we'll ever find out what triggered it, so I guess we're now officially into the wild tabloid journalism part of the story.

- Grant

[Deathstroke]

When it first broke that Benoit had killed his wife and kid, my first reaction was that it completely and utterly tarred his career as a wrestler for me.

I haven't watched wrestling in years, it's something that I just lost interest in, but when I was watching I really liked how he conducted himself in the ring.

Now, even seeing clips repulses me.

[Briareos]

Now it's getting really wierd. A IP address traced back to stamford conn. (Hq of WWE but not yet traced to the building of the WWE) posted 13 hours before the discovery by police of the deaths that Nancy had died on wikpedia.

[berk]

... the coda was meant not to suggest that Benoit was being tarred by some unwarranted portrayal of him as a monster, but to agree that he was a monster. ...

I thought your intention was pretty clear when I read the addendum.

[Perry Holley]

Sorry if I gave the impression that I felt otherwise.

Don't worry, your intent was clear.

Quite frankly, I'm not certain how the OP got the impression they did from what you wrote.

[Sabrinaset]

I dunno. When I was a lil kid, around four or five, I really thought the people on TV actually were who they were, and I remember being astonished when daddy told me that Worf didn't really look like that IRL, that he was some guy walking around in makeup and a head prothesis and was really named Michael Dorn. I couldn't get over that. I was actually depressed because of it too for awhile.

I think a lot of what's going around is the same thing, people who were so entertained by Benoit are now having to wrap around their heads the fact that the guy they really believed was a good guy was capable of killing his wife and son, then himself. The sheer amount of cognitive dissonance ... it's hard to take.

[bartl]

I see today the WWE is going around to talk shows (like ABC Good Morning America) and pushing hard the theory that the murders erupted from a fight over their son's genetic condition - so blatantly to turn the eyes of the press away from steroids toward some other hot tabloid topic

But that is the point. Benoit was not a monster. He was a human being, who did a terrible thing. And he continued to take the steroids, knowing that he could do terrible things under their influence, because he considered his wrestling career to be more important than his wife, his kid, or his sanity. But to just say "he was a monster" takes some of the blame away from an industry that insists on people working for it keep up an appearance which is physically impossible without use of illegal drugs, and then says, in surprise, "We never TOLD him to take steroids."

OK, maybe Benoit was a monster. But he wasn't the ONLY monster.

[Steven Grant]

But that is the point. Benoit was not a monster. He was a human being, who did a terrible thing. And he continued to take the steroids, knowing that he could do terrible things under their influence, because he considered his wrestling career to be more important than his wife, his kid, or his sanity. But to just say "he was a monster" takes some of the blame away from an industry that insists on people working for it keep up an appearance which is physically impossible without use of illegal drugs, and then says, in surprise, "We never TOLD him to take steroids."

No, it doesn't. Like I said, murdering your wife and child is a monstrous act, but a monstrous act doesn't necessarily make you a monster, it just makes you someone who under the right circumstances is capable of a monstrous act.

But dragging it out over a weekend, that pushes it over the line.

Honestly, I don't see steroids as taking an immediate role in this thing. His behavior was not consistent with the behavior of someone out of control on steroids. But we won't know until the autopsy is done. Which isn't to say the wrestling business (like the bodybuilding business, professional football, etc.) shouldn't be put on the spot over its emphasis on steroid mutants.

- Grant

[Citizen V]

The whole thing is very sad,and disturbing indeed.In a way,i dont think its Benoit`s fault.I would say its the steroids,but it isnt the first time steroids has made people do insane things.

Would stress and such also play a factor?Not the fact that Benoit was a hard worker,just the stress of working for the WWF.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

No, it doesn't. Like I said, murdering your wife and child is a monstrous act, but a monstrous act doesn't necessarily make you a monster, it just makes you someone who under the right circumstances is capable of a monstrous act.

But dragging it out over a weekend, that pushes it over the line.

Honestly, I don't see steroids as taking an immediate role in this thing. His behavior was not consistent with the behavior of someone out of control on steroids. But we won't know until the autopsy is done. Which isn't to say the wrestling business (like the bodybuilding business, professional football, etc.) shouldn't be put on the spot over its emphasis on steroid mutants.

- Grant

This is right on. Sadly the last theory I have heard is pretty much the one I think that will get the focus. Benoit seemed very ok when he showed up Friday at the doctor. He asked about his son and the talk from some was that Nancy wanted Chris home more for Daniel. But with his career being one the way it is...I can see the friction it caused.

The 2 had a horrible fight , Chris snapped and realized he had really taken away Daniel's mom. I'm sure he thought and realized that he would be locked away or put in the chair and who could take care of Daniel.

It doesn't excuse Benoit period. The man was someone I looked up to and he ruined that forever. I can't even watch a WWE DVD and see his image without thinkin of what a damn monster he is.

[Steven Grant]

Look, if Benoit had simply hauled off and killed her, I'd say he snapped. But we don't really have evidence of any "fight" that I know of. We don't know what happened.

Except that Benoit bound Nancy hand and foot before killing her. That's not "snapping," that moves into cold-blooded pre-meditated murder. I'm not saying he thought of it hours before he did it, but he clearly worked it out in his head enough that it can't be viewed as a crime of passion. It doesn't fit. And it completely makes it Benoit's fault, even if you can make an argument that it wasn't completely Benoit's fault, if you get the difference. At some point, he decided to kill her, and then he carried it out. She wasn't struggling or fighting back. She couldn't. At the point that he killed her, she was already helpless. So there was something going on there besides a crime of passion. It was too methodical for roid rage. His murder of his son was too methodical to call it roid rage, though I suspect he had convinced himself by that point it was a mercy killing - which doesn't excuse it. If he was that methodical, he had time to decide to walk away from it instead, and he didn't. The only possible (but yet unproven) contributory factor that I've heard so far that comes anywhere near mitigating is the possibility of long term brain damage from years of getting struck in the head - Benoit was famous for his ability to take a chair shot right to the skull - and subsequent untreated concussions. But this is highly theoretical - former WWE wrestler and sports medicine expert Chris Nowinski, who has been studying to long term effects of un-or-undertreated head injuries in athletes, proposed to and asked the coroner to check for damage in specific regions of the brain, but so far the coroner appears disinterested - and so far not supported by any evidence. All we know for sure is that Chris Benoit went home, bound and murdered his wife, then murdered his son, then hung himself, and he took his own sweet time about it.

- Grant

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Look, if Benoit had simply hauled off and killed her, I'd say he snapped. But we don't really have evidence of any "fight" that I know of. We don't know what happened.

Except that Benoit bound Nancy hand and foot before killing her. That's not "snapping," that moves into cold-blooded pre-meditated murder. I'm not saying he thought of it hours before he did it, but he clearly worked it out in his head enough that it can't be viewed as a crime of passion. It doesn't fit. And it completely makes it Benoit's fault, even if you can make an argument that it wasn't completely Benoit's fault, if you get the difference. At some point, he decided to kill her, and then he carried it out. She wasn't struggling or fighting back. She couldn't. At the point that he killed her, she was already helpless. So there was something going on there besides a crime of passion. It was too methodical for roid rage. His murder of his son was too methodical to call it roid rage, though I suspect he had convinced himself by that point it was a mercy killing - which doesn't excuse it. If he was that methodical, he had time to decide to walk away from it instead, and he didn't. The only possible (but yet unproven) contributory factor that I've heard so far that comes anywhere near mitigating is the possibility of long term brain damage from years of getting struck in the head - Benoit was famous for his ability to take a chair shot right to the skull - and subsequent untreated concussions. But this is highly theoretical - former WWE wrestler and sports medicine expert Chris Nowinski, who has been studying to long term effects of un-or-undertreated head injuries in athletes, proposed to and asked the coroner to check for damage in specific regions of the brain, but so far the coroner appears disinterested - and so far not supported by any evidence. All we know for sure is that Chris Benoit went home, bound and murdered his wife, then murdered his son, then hung himself, and he took his own sweet time about it.

- Grant

Whats really scary is the fact the last I heard Grant was that Chris may have tied and bound her up...after killing her. If they changed that scenerio then its been a few days since I really wanted to hear the grizzly details.