[Centraal] Pro-Wrestling topic #20

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Professional wrestler Chris Benoit met with his personal physician hours before he allegedly killed his wife and son and then hanged himself in his basement, the doctor said Wednesday.

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

Astin, who said he was Benoit's longtime friend and physician, said he had prescribed testosterone to Benoit because he suffered from low amounts of the hormone. He said the condition likely originated from previous steroid use. He would not say what, if any, medications he prescribed the day of the meeting.

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

"I don't know what he confronted when he went back into the house," he said. "No one really knows that. We'll have to see. Clearly this issue of the son was a stressor on both of their relationships for some time."

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

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Vince McMahon appeared in the first segment after the news on The Today Show this morning. He was interviewed by Meredith Vierra after a recap of the Chris Benoit tragedy, where they mentioned that anabolic steroids were one of the focal points of the investigation. They showed a short clip with Lex Luger, who told them that mixing alcohol and steroid use is a bad combination. They mentioned the death of Eddie Guerrero in 2005 and linked it to steroids. They showed Curt Hennig and said his father blamed his son's death on drug and steroid use.

Vince was then interviewed and was very somber. He was asked about WWE's role in alerting authorities to a potential problem at the Benoit home. Vince said that Chris missed a house show on Saturday in Beamont, TX, which is very unlike him. He said that the office then contacted Chris to rearrange his travel to get him to the PPV. When he didn't show up on Sunday, they knew something was drastically wrong. Vince said that Benoit was a consummate professional from a business perspective so they knew there had to be a problem. Vince said that he heard that Benoit contacted his friends early Sunday morning with strange text messages. He said that they decided to contact the authorities.

He was asked if he contacted police. He said he didn't. He oversaw how WWE handled it.

He was asked about the steroids found in the home. Vierra mentioned that the police said they didn't know if steroids played a part in the tragedy and then mentioned that WWE almost immediately released a statement after the press conference saying that steroids were not related to the death. She asked Vince how they could possibly know that since the toxicology reports hadn't come in yet. Vince said they didn't say that. Vierra countered by saying she had just read the exact quote, which made Vince look bad.

He said, "I understand" and then went on to say that their reaction was to the hysteria of the media. Vierra again asked how they could say that steroids "were not and could not be related to the cause of death" when they have no way of proving that. Vince said that they were referring to steroid rage when they wrote that. He said that the crime happened over three days so it wasn't steroid rage. He added that it's all speculation until the toxicology reports come back.

Since Vince was ignoring her question, she flat out asked why they were so defensive about steroid involvement being linked to the crime. She mentioned steroids were found in the home and pointed to the 2003 protection order that Nancy Benoit filed to show that Benoit had a history of violence. She mentioned that steroid use also causes depression and paranoia. Vince agreed and pointed to the other medications found in the house and mentioned that there could have been other factors.

He said he hoped they could find out why it happened and was basically saying he wasn't jumping to any conclusion. He said that the whole thing goes against what WWE does. They are entertainers who bring smiles to people's faces. He didn't want this to "taint and smear" his company. He compared what Benoit did to a postal worker who commits a crime, saying it wasn't the Post Office's fault and that you still use them for your mail. He said that Benoit does not represent what WWE is about and he doesn't know why Benoit turned into a "monster". He said WWE wants to know what happened as well and whether steroids played a part in it in any way. He said it could have been the pressures of his son's illness that caused the tragedy.

Vierra said that steroid use has always been suspected among wrestlers. She asked Vince how he deals with it. He said that now they have implemented the Wellness Program. He talked about it and said it was a blood and urine test, plus cardiovascular tests to check their hearts. He said Benoit was tested in April and it came back negative. He added, "That doesn't mean he wasn't taking prescription medication and perhaps even steroids when this happened, we don't know." He added that it will be determined by the authorities.

Vierra then came back to how Vince said his business was tainted by this. She used that as a segue to talk about early deaths in wrestling, saying it was "almost an occupational hazard". She read the early death stats that always make their way out to the media (and you all probably know how I feel about those stats by now). She asked Vince what his responsibility was to the people who he makes so much money from. He said that they have had five people who were under contract to them pass away. He said he can't comment on the others and didn't even know if the stats were accurate. He told Vierra, "nor do you". Vince appeared to be getting agitated at this point.

She rolled her eyes and said, "It's disingenuous to say that you don't believe there is suspected steroid use within the wrestling community." Vince said he never said that. He said that he can only speak about the five people under contract to WWE that died on his watch. He mentioned that Benoit's death was a suicide, Owen Hart was an accident and said that the other three died of heart failure.

Vierra asked if steroids are found to have been in Benoit's system, what impact will it have on wrestling and him in particular. Vince again mentioned the Wellness Program and said how effective it is. He said that if you ask his performers, they would tell you the same thing. He said all WWE can do is establish the program and do what they can to help the wrestlers. He was asked if Benoit had steroids in his body, will it do anything to make him change his approach. Vince said he thinks people are rushing to judgment here and they won't know what is what until the toxicology reports come back.

He said that WWE is not trying to hide from the fact that Benoit was a part of their organization. "Unfortunately, he was," Vince said. He said, "There was no way of telling this man was a monster." He mentioned Benoit never gave off any signs of this kind of behavior. Vierra asked if the business creates monsters and Vince said no. He said they are well adjusted people and performers. He said that he and his company need to move on as best as they can for themselves and their fans.

They shook hands and that ended a very fair interview where Vince came off pretty well.

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Op donderdag 28 juni 2007 17:18 schreef Unstoppable het volgende:

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Ach komop zeg. Ze zijn 300 van de 365 dagen on the road, heel erg veel onderweg, erg onregelmatig leven. Kijk naar de bouw van de gemiddelde worstelaar en elk mens snapt dat daar zeker gevallen tussen zitten die dat uiterlijk niet alleen door simpel aan gewichten te hangen hebben gekregen. De bouw en opbouw van sommige sterren wijzen duidelijk op steroidgebruik. En het lijkt me gewoon ook bijna onmogelijk om nog zoveel te trainen voor zo'n natuurlijk gespierd uiterlijk, als je zoveel onderweg bent.

Er zijn onderzoeken gedaan naar een online shop die roids verkocht (in 2003). Op de klanten lijst stonden Benoit, Orton en anderen. Dus het is al duidelijk dat hij een gebruiker is/was. Zijn doktor zei ook al dat hij hem steroids voorschreef omdat zijn testosteron waarde heel erg laag was. En hij zei erbij dat dit zeer waarschijnlijk het gevolg was van jarenlang steroids gebruiken.

En je kunt natuurlijk ook nog kijken naar de verslaving aan zware pijnstillers die misschien geen uitzondering is. Het is simpelweg niet mogelijk om jarenlang je lichaam zoveel te laten verduren zonder daar flinke gevolgen van te ondervinden. Dit word nog eens versterkt door het feit dat ze zo verschrikkelijk vaak worstelen, hele jaar on-onderbroken eigenlijk, zonder tijd om het lichaam goed te laten genezen.

En natuurlijk is Vince bang. Als duidelijk bewezen word dat enkele main-eventers inderdaad jarenlang steroids of veel pijnstillers gebruiken dan heeft hij een probleem. Dan zou je bijna kunnen zeggen dat het een voorwaarde was om echt succesvol te zijn. Je moet een erg goed lichaam hebben (steroids) en je moet vrijwel het hele jaar doorgaan (pijnstillers). Dat het beide dus een gevolg is van de werk- en denkwijze van de WWE.

Het is voor mijzelf iig wel duidelijk dat er een heel erg groot probleem is met steroids en pijnstillers in de pro-wrestling wereld. Je moet wel heel goedgelovig zijn als je denk dat iedereen clean is en alles volgens de regeltjes doet. Er is een grens van wat een menselijk lichaam aankan.

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Op donderdag 28 juni 2007 17:40 schreef Unstoppable het volgende:

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Mijn punt is dat er meerdere ex worstelaar hebben aangegeven dat het gebruik van steroids normaal was in het pro-wrestling. Ook is er verschillende keren gezegd dat de WWE/WWF die zelfs verstrekte achter de schermen. Uit onderzoeken is ook bekend dat langdurig gebruik van steroids gevolgen als paranoïde, depressies etc kan hebben.

En dan hebben we Vince die als eerste krampachtig meld voordat er ook maar iets bekend is: Steroids were not and could not be related to the cause of death.

En dan vind jij het vreemd dat de pers daar verder naar gaat vragen?

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Op donderdag 28 juni 2007 17:46 schreef Unstoppable het volgende:

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Roid rage niet, depressie of paranoïde kan er zeer wel mee te maken hebben.

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Op donderdag 28 juni 2007 17:57 schreef Unstoppable het volgende:

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Het zal niet enige reden zijn geweest, maar het kan wel een kettingreactie ofzo hebben veroorzaakt. En omdat meteen als eerste statement simpelweg te roepen dat steroids geen enkele rol kunnnen of hebben gespeeld vind ik belachelijk. Dat is simpelweg proberen je eigen reputatie te redden en te voorkomen dat er ook maar iets negatiefs over de WWE in het nieuws komt. Hier hebben ze zich echt belachelijk mee gemaakt.

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Fox 5 News out of Fayetteville, Georgia is reporting that the office of Chris Benoit’s personal physician, Dr. Phil Astin was raided by Drug Enforcement Agents last night confiscating computers.

According to an article on their web site Dr. Astin had prescribed testosterone to Chris in past and he had seen him on Friday.

Drug Agents told the news station that the investigation of Dr. Astin stems from the prescription drugs found in the Benoit home with Dr. Astin’s name printed on them.

We will certainly have more on this story as it unfolds.

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The Fox News Channel is reporting that an investigation has been launched regarding an entry made on Wikipedia that apparently noted the death of Nancy Benoit fourteen hours before the Benoit family was discovered deceased in their Fayetteville, GA home. Investigators want to know who made that entry, and there is speculation that it could have been Chris Benoit himself. Benoit sent strange text messages to friends and John Laurinaitis prior to the wrestler taking his own life.

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I can not begin to articulate my feelings about the tragedy in the Benoit family. It is something I am really struggling to comprehend.
I heard the news late Monday afternoon just as I was sitting down in a business meeting in Pittsburgh, I sat stunned as I listned to DDP on the other end of the phone, trying to tell me what happened. My meeting went very late into the evening and there was little new information when I went to bed.

My phone rang at 7am on Tues and the caller ID revealed a 404 area code. Assuming it was someone that I used to work with in the area, I answered the phone. It was a local sports/talk show in the Atlanta area and they wanted to get my comments. I hesitated, but since the radio personality was a friend of a friend, I decided to go ahead.

The questions started out ok...what one would normally expect in a situation like this. However they quickly turned into a "who's to blame" line of questioning and went down hill from there.

It's really impossible anymore to be honest about something as tragic and emotionally charged as this issue without sounding like I have some kind of "hidden agenda". Its clear that the media wants to blame steroids, professional wrestling, Vince McMahon, or anyone or anything else that further sensationalizes this family tragedy.

I refuse to join the choir.

I don't have enough information. I wasn't there. I am not a psychiatrist. I just can't imagine how or why this could have happened.

God bless Nancy and Daniel. God forgive Chris Benoit.

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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.

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.

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Op vrijdag 29 juni 2007 15:00 schreef BigFire het volgende:

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ja met als excuus het overlijden van Benoit. maar nu ze daar afstand van doen kunnen ze dat niet meer aanvoeren als reden en moeten ze iets anders verzinnen. doen alsof het nooit heeft plaatsgevonden zou echt triest zijn

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Op vrijdag 29 juni 2007 16:37 schreef BigFire het volgende:

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dus je vind het normaal als Vince weer opkomt en ze doen alsof hij nooit dood is gegaan in de limo? ze moeten er wel een serieus einde aan breien bijv: dat het in scene gezet was door Vince omdat hij wilde zien hoe erg hij gewaardeerd zou worden als ie er niet meer zou zijn.

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According to the Nancy Grace show on CNN’s Headline News channel, Chris Benoit hung himself by setting off 240 lbs. on his weight machine.

In the room, an almost empty wine bottle was found (which confirms the People magazine report), and ten empty beer cans.

A statuette of Benoit was found near Daniel’s body.

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Former WCW and WWE personality Debra Marshall and Superstar Graham were interviewed on Fox News' Hannity & Colmes tonight in regard to the Benoit family tragedy.

It was noted that a big part of the Benoit tragedy story now is "roid rage" and that steroids were found in Chris Benoit's home, which led to his doctor's office being raided by the DEA.

Marshall, who started the show alone, was asked how rampant steroid use was in WWE during the time period she was married to Stone Cold Steve Austin. She said, "All I can say is what I know from being married to Steve Austin and he definitely told me he used them and I've seen him do that before, but then, if you think about it, look at the record, look at the record of how many wrestlers, the record pretty much tells it all - 60 wrestlers have died in 10 years under the age of 45 and how many had enlarged hearts and all that. It's just so sad because something has to be done."

Marshall was asked if she's seen violent behavior and whether it was discussed with her by other wrestlers. Marshall responded, "No, in this business it's a very hush-hush kind of business and especially me being a wrestler, being in the business, there is sort of a code of silence. For me to talk about it now - I never talked about my domestic abuse with Steve Austin or having him arrested - it's something you just don't do."

Debra was asked if Austin was violent and if she attributed it to steroids. "I'll tell you what, I know it was attributed to steroids. I've seen his rages. I've seen him being paranoid. I've seen his panic attacks. I mean, for three times, I've seen him attack me. At work, people would know it and they'd cover the bruises on my face "

Marshall was asked if the violence she experienced made her believe that someone could be pushed to act the way Chris Benoit did. "Absolutely and I've never talked about this. The last time Steve attacked - alcohol was involved. He jumped on me with his knee in my back pounding me in the back and in the face. I thought I was going to die and I can totally understand what Nancy felt in the last few seconds of her life. I thought I was going to die."

Marshall was asked if anything was ever said to her about the bruises. "No. They're not going to rat on the top moneymaker in wrestling and everyone else knew this was going on but no one was going to stop it because Steve would make millions of dollars for Vince [McMahon]. I just knew when this happened to Nancy and her seven year old little boy. Maybe if I spoke up before, I could have saved Nancy and her boy. "

It was said that there was a cover-up by WWE of "all this domestic abuse." Debra nodded and said, "Yes. To WWE, the wrestlers, we're nothing but tools. We're moneymakers. The people that make all the most money - you don't want bad publicity on them. They're the ones that sell the T-shirts. They're the ones that make the most money. They make the draw. For to have Stone Cold Steve Austin arrested? Oh my God. They so put that under the table. They hush hushed it and had me sign a gag order on me for a year that I couldn't talk about this because I could totally bring down their top star."

WWE's statement that the Benoit murders were acts of deliberation not roid rage was read. Debra responded, "You know what I think? They're excellent at deflecting the heat on them. They're deflecting the heat and they're trying to insert another story to get people...to get it away from the steroid rage. I know it as fact that when Steve Austin, the last time he was pounding on me - his rage, his eyes were bugging out of his head, it was a rage, it was the most horrifying thing you've ever seen. When I called the cops, he ran out the door, yanked the phone lines out, unplugged the garage door openers, yanked the wires out, so I couldn't leave. There's something similar to all this."

Vince McMahon's comments on the Today Show was aired.

Former WWWF champion Superstar Graham and a former district attorney, Janine Piro. Graham was asked if he had anything to add to Marshall's comments. Graham said that WWE and Vince McMahon, "are not to blame for the alleged steroid rage any more than the San Francisco Giants would be for Barry Bonds going into an alleged steroid rage and going home and exterminating his family. Chris Benoit is an adult and Vince McMahon is not a babysitter. These grown men have to be accountable to themselves. I also submit that this is far beyond the so-called steroid rage."

Graham said he used steroids and was taking them back with Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1967 when he first arrived in the country. He said this goes beyond steroids. Graham said that the first question was whether there were steroids in the house and there were, but he'd like to know if there was prozac in the house or anti-depressants. Were there pain pills, sleeping pills, etc.

They noted Piro has dealt with domestic abuse in the past. She said she's prosecuted wrestlers, but didn't say who, She said that the person responsible was Chris Benoit. She said Vince McMahon protested too much and brought it all upon himself because when you hog-tie your son and asphyxiate your son, those are acts of rage.

The wikipedia story (which was covered on PWInsider.com in full detail) was brought up. Piro was asked what she made of that. Piro said that everyone's antennae are up about it and it's possible Benoit notified someone about the killings. She said someone may have notified WWE because Stamford, CT is their location. The fact that most of the WWE crew and all important staff would have been in Texas by that point was never mentioned. She goes back to the release, saying that WWE is defensive and they are out to protect themselves.

When Debra was asked to reply to Graham's comments, she said, "Billy's never been the one on the other end. He's admitted taking steroids but he's not the one on the other end, getting the blunt of the reaction of the steroid rage. You're out of it. Steve doesn't believe he did this stuff. You don't know what it's like being on the other end."

Graham was asked to respond. Graham said that his wife Valerie was on the other side of his past rages involved with other drugs, not steroids. He then said that we know Benoit tested negative when WWE tested him in April under their Wellness policy. It was pointed out that Benoit was found with steroids in his home. Graham said he had a stockpile and there's no question he used them. Piro said that the person really on the line is the doctor who prescribed him the steroids.

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"... Hey everyone. I am here to talk about the wikipedia comment that was left by myself. I just want to say that it was an incredible coincidence. Last weekend, I had heard about Chris Benoit no showing Vengeance because of a family emergency, and I had heard rumors about why that was. I was reading rumors and speculation about this matter online, and one of them included that his wife may have passed away, and I did the wrong thing by posting it on wikipedia to spite there being no evidence. I posted my speculation on the situation at the time and I am deeply sorry about this, and I was just as shocked as everyone when I heard that this actually would happen in real life. It is one of those things that just turned into a huge coincidence. That night I found out that what I posted, ended up actually happening, a 1 in 10,000 chance of happening, or so I thought. I was beyond wrong for posting wrongful information, and I am sorry to everyone for this. I just want everyone to know it was stupid of me, and I will never do anything like this again. I just posted something that was at that time a piece of wrong unsourced information that is typical on wikipedia, as it is done all the time.

Nonetheless, I feel incredibly bad for all the attention this got because of the fact that what I said turned out to be the truth. Like I said it was just a major coincidence, and I will never vandalize anything on wikipedia or post wrongful information. I've learned from this experience. I just can't believe what I wrote was actually the case, I've remained stunned and saddened over it.

I wish not to reveal my identity so I can keep me and my family out of this since they have nothing to do with anything. I am not connected to WWE or Benoit at all in anyway. I am from Stamford as the IP address shows, and I am just an everyday individual who posted a wrongful remark at the time that received so much attention because it turned out to actually happen. I will say again I didn't know anything about the Benoit tragedy, it was a terrible coincidence that I never saw coming.

I hope this puts an end to this speculation that someone knew about the tragedy before it was discovered. It was just a rumor that I had heard about from other people online who were speculating what the family emergency Chris was attending to. I made a big mistake by posting this comment on his page, since all we had were what we thought was going on and nothing about what actually was going on yet, and sadly what happened turned out to be my speculation at the time. I assumed wiki would edit out my information, which they did, so thats why I didn't go back to edit it out myself.

I know I keep repeating it but I feel terrible about the mainstream coverage this has received, since it was only a huge coincidence and a terrible event that should of never happened. I am not sure how to react, as hearing about my message becoming a huge part of the Benoit slayings made me feel terrible as everyone believes that it is connected to the tragedy, but it was just an awful coincidence. That is all I have to say, I will never post anything here again unless it is pure fact, no spam nothing like that. Thank you, and let this end this chapter of the Benoit story, and hopefully one day we will find out why this tragedy ever actually happened."