He missed a pay-per-view last night to fly home for a “family emergency” and now him, his wife and their young baby have been found dead. Authorities are at the home and that’s all that is known so far. It’s just now starting to make the rounds on news sites.
This…this is horrible. I’m a long-time wrestling fan, and yes, I know it’s rigged, but what difference does that make? I’ve grown up watching him and cheering for him and now…this.
All the articles I’ve seen go back to ‘reported by WWE’. I’ll wait until there is something a bit more official than that. If it is true, my BF will be really upset. Benoit is one of his favorites.
For the record, I am deeply saddened by this. I haven’t followed wrestling closely in a few years, but I was a huge smark from about 1998-2003, and Chris Benoit was always one of the best technical wrestlers and hardest workers in the business. From all accounts, he was a stand-up guy, too. This is horrific news, even compared to the relatively large number of pro wrestlers (compared to other professions) who die every year. This business kills.
Sounds plausible. From what I understand carbon monoxide poisoning can cause pulmonary edema. His wife might have mistaken the symptoms for the flu the night before and asked him to rush home, then he was overcome when he entered the house the next day.
My first thought was: I hope it wasn’t another incident like Phil Hartman’s death!. I don’t think it’s a hoax, but if it is I think there’ll be quite a backlash over it. I’d say not though, it hasn’t been dramatically announced for the first time during a match or anything, has it?
There’s no mention on CNN or MSNBC. I really hope this is some sort of storyline for the show. A few weeks ago the WWE reported that Vince McMahon was killed in a car bombing (that didn’t show up on CNN or MSNBC either). So, I am really hoping this goes along with that.
I haven’t watched wrestling in years and I don’t think I know who Chris Benoit is but things like this shouldn’t happen to anyone.
I had a huge amount of respect for what Benoit was able to do in the ring. Few people actually made pro wrestling look technical and strategy-oriented like he did.