It's been three years since the Chris Benoit double-murder/suicide.

[EricxGNRxSTARx]

Have your thoughts changed?  I think you gotta be a true Mark to argue that Benoit the wrestler can be separated from Benoit the murderer. The dude killed his own Wife and helpless Son. This wasn't a traffic violation, we are talking double murder/suicide! I can't ever look at a Benoit match the same way again. I used to like watching the main event from WrestleMania 20 at Madison Square Garden since I was there and it was such a moment, but now, not so much. It reminds me of OJ Simpson who was a great athlete but he will be remembered for the Ron and Nicole murders.

Today marks the 3rd anniversary since the tragic double-murder suicide in which WWE Superstar Chris Benoit killed his wife Nancy, and their 7-year-old son Daniel before committing suicide. It would be further 24 hours before their bodies were discovered on June 25, 2007. It would be a defining moment for the wrestling industry in which it was forced to look at itself and change.

[BlowUpYourVideo]

I was actually going to make a similar thread but you beat me to it.

In that three years, the only Benoit matches I've watched were ones on new DVDs I've bought, plus the 2004 Royal Rumble match, which I watched the other day. It's odd, watching the '04 Rumble, I didn't really think much about the murders. Benoit actually isn't involved in many parts of the match (I guess since he had to go for an hour, he had to rest). I don't find myself thinking about his death all that much when I have watched his matches, not because I'm trying to purposefully ignore it, a lot of the time it just doesn't cross my mind.

Who knows what went wrong in those final days, but I think it's possible to watch his matches without the way his life ended looming over them, though it'll always be somewhere in the back of my mind definitely....

I was also wondering if he'll ever be acknowledged on WWE TV again. I think he will, but it'll be a while yet. Even Vince McMahon said a little while back that's it's wrong to blank him from WWE history (or something like that). Whatever you may think of him now, he was an important part of WWE's history and to completely ignore that is wrong IMO. They don't have to be out there endorsing him or putting out Benoit DVDs, but I don't think WWE needs to totally distance themselves from him.

All that said, you still have to wonder what could drive him to murder both his wife and his son. It's all very **** up. Three lives needlessly wasted.

[D]

i know this will sound crazy, but i honestly have somewhat forgiven Chris Benoit and I don't really think about what he did when watching his matches.


1. His brain was **** from years of steroids/headshots etc.. so these weren't the acts of a sane man. these weren't the acts of benoit the wrestler

2. I still don't know all the circumstances surrounding this. i know cops claim he killed Nancy on Fri, Daniel on Sat and himself on Sun but what if he came home and Nancy had some sort of breakdown and killed Daniel? what if he found Daniel dead and then out of rage killed Nancy?


3. what if somehow they were murdered and Benoit didn't do it? ive saw some conspiracy theories and i am not sure i agree.. but u never know

4. this will make me sound like a dick but **** it.. **** happens sometimes. this wasn't some premeditated thing like the OJ deal. What if he just had a roid rage when Nancy confessed an affair or some **** and he flew off the handle and choked her to death before he could come to his senses? knowing he'd go to jail and knowing Daniel was special needs... he probably came to the conclusion that killing him would be better than he growing up a life without his parents and knowing about what happened.

[EricxGNRxSTARx]

The experts were able to determine the times of death. So there is no way that Benoit came home and anybody was already dead.

There is no way that anyone could have killed them all and not left some evidence behind.

Benoit did it that is not up for debate. The reasons why he did it can be discussed forever though.

[Jim]

^ Maaaasssiiivvee swings in time of death analysis, from from I understand. It is nowhere near as clearcut as the CSIs and the rest of it will have you believe.

(David Simon's book, Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets, ta very much  )

Sorry. Not that I mean to advocate one view or another. I just wanted to put that out there.

[D]

I try to stick with the fact his brain was screwed up and he snapped.

I think we have all lost control before in our lives and have been able to catch ourselves from going over the line... If Benoit lacked that capacity in his brain thanks to years of damage etc, he may not have had the ability to stop before it was too late.

he obviously was extremely remorseful over it or he wouldn't have spread it out over 3 days.

someone crazy kills them all instantly, someone who just snapped and couldnt calm down before it was too late and made a mistake would do what he did.

sure he should've let his son live.. but like i said, sometimes people make selfish choices. figured his son would be better off dead than special needs, growing up without his parents and knowing the horrible deed his father did and having other kids etc look at him weird his whole life.

i don't condone it, but i can at least understand how unfortunate things happen sometimes.

[Izzy]

Axl Rose is a former heroin addict, drunk, wife beater and 24 carat bastard

Has this stopped anyone listening to AFD?

Watching Benoit's matches doesn't make you an accomplice, and our money isnt suddenly subsidising a murderous rampage.

He was clearly insane - he had a body just laying about for a day...then killed another...then another day...he probably wouldn't have been able to tell the police his own name.

His crime is unforgiveable, but it doesn't work backwards - up to that point we can admire abd respect his career

[Hammy]

Never knew the guy, none of us did, but as wrestling fans we felt like we did.

We all felt emotional when he won at WMXX not because the wrestler had won, but because the man had won the title, something we thought he could never achieve.  We knew when he was crying and was there with Eddie, that was real, not scripted, people bought into him and the line blurred between what was and wasn't real.

I think that's why some people struggle, people think how could that guy who I invested so much in emotionally do such a horrendous thing.

It hit me hard at first, its always bad to see the wrestling industry take a knock, I sold my DVD, I was gutted and couldn't watch his matches, but really, why?

I look at all 3 who died as victims.  Benoit a victim of numerous concussions over the years, and maybe other drugs, such as steroids, damage which had changed him as a person and damaged him beyond the point of no return.  And his wife and kid who suffered because of how Benoit had changed.  To think their lasting memory of him will be something so bad, so evil is a horrible thought.  I though have no doubt that it was a build up of the bumps in the ring and the man he was that night, or that month leading up was not the popular family man and hero to millions who had lived so many years prior to this.  And its because of that I can watch his matches now, because to be honest I feel deeply sorry for all involved.  I think its really upsetting that what was probably a good man, just snapped one day and will now, by most, be remembered in such a negative and evil light.

[Yankee1012]

Amazing that is has been 3 years since his death.

When I think of Chris Benoit, I do not think of the bad things he did. I think of the amazing wrestler he was. Chris Benoit was a tremendous wrestler and he could put on a show in the ring. He will always remain as one of my favorite wrestlers of all time.

I still remember when he died and I was in shock. I still am kind of shocked.

[D]

it affected me BIG TIME, i couldn't shake it for weeks.

What sucks is, i watched the rise and fall of WCW and having him completely excluded was just corny and lame.

[AtariLegend]

Something I try not to think about and almost always stay clear when browsing wrestling news sites.

What happened was the personfication of Evil that night, shouldn't be defended.

Especially given the details of how he likely killed his child, will never watch another of his matches again.

btw...

For what Izzy said, comparing that too Axl's issues, WTF man?

[Hammy]

Looking back, I think the only good that can come from it is if the wrestling industry learns from it and implements stuff to prevent it happening again, from strict drug policies to stopping chair shots to the head, with the effects of concussions well known, there is just no need for them.

[D]

See though, i think its bullshit to pit this on Pro Wrestilng.... So u want me to believe that chair shots and **** lead to this?

so that is why so many Pro Wrestlers are out there murdering their families.

I think it was an isolated incident. Dude had a roid rage, killed his wife who probably told him she wanted a divorce or had been cheating or something and before he could get a hold of himself he had killed her.... Then he realized he wanted to commit suicide but didn't want to leave an orphan son so he killed him as well.


If its steel chairs etc... Mick Foley's wife better divorce him fast and change her identity.

Benoit was said to be this and that but he always struck me as kind of "Off" and "Cold" and Emotionless

[scotta75]

Wow, it has been 3 yrs since this went down. I know a lot of people have a hard time still trying grasp the fact of what this man did to his family, and to be honest no one will never know what drove Chris Benoit to do what he did to his family.

I am one of the few but I am sure there is more than me who want to remember Chris Benoit for what he was not what he became, and that is performer who give his all inside that ring. Sure what he did left a wound that wrestling may or may not recover from and there are a lot of people in the wrestling world who would say remove his name from wrestling history.  But if you do that you might as well remove all these other sport stars who have done things that brought shame to their sport, but instead we choose to remember then for all the great things they did when they were playing.

  I say remove Chris Benoit the wrestler from Chris Benoit the murder, and remember him for all the awesome matches he brought to us day in and day out.

[EricxGNRxSTARx]

I say remove Chris Benoit the wrestler from Chris Benoit the murder, and remember him for all the awesome matches he brought to us day in and day out.

That's pretty much impossible for me. I can't watch a match of his without thinking here is the dude that killed his young son and wife. He may have been one of the greatest wrestlers of all time but that was erased once he killed his family.