The official report on the death of Chris Benoit, the Canadian wrestler with a long and illustrious career, on June 25 may not be what we're being told it is. This isn't the first time that a wrestler who's been at odds with World Wrestling Entertainment owner Vince McMahon met his death with drugs as the main villain. It's been a convenient set-up on a number of occasions.
Without going into details because I still plan to write a book about this subject in the future, many of the athletes employed by McMahon who became involved with trying to help me in regards to something that McMahon's dad did many years ago have met an untimely end or wound up being blackballed.
The lucky ones were just eradicated from the sport, often due to injuries in the ring. Some of those who were tougher eggs to crack wound up paying the ultimate price, usually in some way related to drugs, both legal and illegal. In almost all of these cases, the official verdict was a drug overdose, accidental or suicidal.
Some of the names that fall in this last category include the British Bulldog, Eddie Guerrero, Brian Pillman, and Owen Hart. Hart's death differed in that it involved an "equipment malfunction" witnessed by thousands of live audience members and many more on pay-per-view TV. He was polished off in the ambulance on the way to the hospital, my sources told me the day of the "accident".
Right now, police in Fayetteville, Georgia are saying that Chris bound his wife's hands and feet, then suffocated her on either Saturday or Sunday, then did the same to his 7-year old son the following day. This fairy tale goes on to say that Benoit placed bibles near his wife and son's bodies then hung himself using the cord from an exercise machine. His wife, Nancy, was formerly married to pro wrestler Kevin Sullivan, and herself was a wrestling personality known by the name "Woman".
According to a WWE press release, Benoit sent "curious" E-mails to friends, who then forwarded these messages to the WWE, which led the wrestling organization to contact Georgia authorities so they could check up on him. The "Canadian Crippler", as he was also known, is said to have cancelled a weekend wrestling show appearance set for last weekend due to "a family problem". Benoit, who earned about $500,000 a year for his services, was certainly not suicidal or had any murderous tendencies. Why would Chris' neighbors first contact the WWE instead of the police if they suspected anything was amiss? If you thought a co-worker was, let's say, beating up his wife, would you call your employer or the police? Do you also smell that rotting fish?
A late update states that drugs, including anabolic steroids, were found in the Benoit home, but a WWE statement says Benoit was tested for drugs, as are all WWE wrestlers, in April, and he was "clean". Chris got his superb body the old-fashioned way: he worked out hard for it. perhaps that "drug-free" WWE report was a mistake by an overzealous employee that will hurt the kind of police report McMahon is hoping for.
Benoit was a remote cousin, so the "murder-suicide" angle just doesn't click with me. He wasn't that kind of man, and if a REAL investigation is conducted, instead of one probably financed by McMahon, we may find out what REALLY happened. Even if anybody in the WWE crowd knows what went down, they'll no doubt never tell because of the possible repercussions.
People who work for and with McMahon refer to him in terms that would make a sailor blush if they know he's not within earshot. The animosity over what his family has done to mine runs deep, but with his immense wealth, he's managed to keep it covered up. To him, it's a fun game to perform this covering up, and even though he's spent a fortune to keep it up, he enjoys every minute of it. Some day, the truth will come out---unless, of course, I also die from a "drug-related event" or "accident" before my book gets done.
2 comments:
Interesting commentary, Chief. My wife and I watched RAW the day they filmed the tribute, and I have to admit I was shocked. I met Benoit only once when we were both at Bush Intercontinental, waiting on our planes, but his persona on WWE and the interviews I've watched never led me to believe that he was a cruel or evil individual. Of course, I didn't know him personally, so my opinions don't hold much water. Anyway, I'll look forward to reading your book.
-Steve Thompson (from AC)
Benoit's on-screen personna, as with all of the participants, is part of a script, which in the WWE is handled by about half a dozen people. The script called for him to be arrogant, cocksure, and act like he was better than everyone else.
In real life he was much different. I suspect that he was murdered by his boss' goons because he always hid his association with my family and McMahon may have just recently found out about it.
I miss the old days when wrestling was rigged only to the extent that the winner was determined before the match began and the wrestlers had the option to play out the match as they wanted. In those days, there were also genuine "blood feuds" involving such participants as the original Sheik, who often sneaked sharpened pencils in the ring to rip open his opponents.
The "bloodletting" on a regular basis almost resulted in a total national ban on pro wrestling, until the respective heads of the companies got together with various state athletic commissions and devised plans to fake the violence and blood gushing.
Post a Comment