Chris Benoit - 10 Years Later

[WarMachine1]

There is no doubt in my mind that this is going to be a hot topic for the next couple of days, because as of today, it has officially been ten years since the murders and subsequent suicide occured.

I believe like any tragedy, this is okay to talk about. And it's guaranteed that there will be a lot of talk around all about the events that transpired through June 22nd-24th, 2007, and I also believe it is okay to discuss and acknowledge Benoit's contributions to the wrestling world.

 

[Just Kevin]

Who's Chris Benoit?

 

[Nikki Nitro]

Who's Chris Benoit?

Ur serious right?

He was a good wrestler. But what he did is unforgivable in my mind. U will never see me talk bout him

 

[WarMachine1]

This is one of the toughest issues the industry has ever had to deal with.

Chris Benoit went from one of the most revered workers to the most reviled in a matter of days. While there's been all this speculation about brain damage and the trauma he had dealt with, according to Nancy's sister the injuries inflicted suggests that it wasn't some violent confrontation that went horribly wrong and there was plenty of intent from Benoit. The Daniel stuff...I really don't want to touch on because in a sick way it seemed like Benoit's idea of a mercy killing, but to deny his son any chance of living is just unspeakable. Not a lot of celebrity deaths affect me, but this is one that whenever I think about it, it just makes me feel sick.

The post-Benoit Raw was one of those ideas that blew up in the WWE's face. Even with the benefit of hindsight, I'm not entirely sure what approach the WWE could have taken other than cancel the show altogether with a brief message for Nancy and Benoit's (for Daniel) family. They were in a no-win situation and feel bad for them whenever they're criticized for the tribute.

The weeks that followed were just a blur. The WWE really cracked down on it's drug policy which seemingly made it seem like they weren't really serious after Eddie's passing which sucked. Then they ramped up concussion testing which seems to be in the company's best interest, even though it's credibility has been called into question. I'm not sure which concussion test they've used but Punk was adamant they weren't that credible on the Colt Cabana podcast since the WWE officials still wanted to do further testing afterward. Now, you could argue Punk was just being stubborn but the point I believe he was making was that the WWE were covering their arses and used these tests that really aren't that effective to protect themselves. This eventually led to the Daniel Bryan retirement which is an ongoing story and will be interesting to see what happens when Bryan's existing deal runs out. If he ends up leaving and going to New Japan whatever, I hope to god he ends up okay. Especially after what happened to Shibata recently.

Like everyone else, I was bitterly disappointed we didn't get the Benoit-Punk match at the pay per view and to learn Benoit died ruined that day for me. I was like Jericho where I just sat in front of the PC and looked at every possible theory. I even bought into the 'Kevin Did It' angle as some reports of his arrest at an Atlanta airport came up but were later proven false. I was just so torn up and when it came out it really made me question my passion for anything television related (whether it be pro sports, tv shows etc.). It was a good lesson to get out of the way then and there that the only thing that truly matters is you and the people around you but it was a harsh one as well.

As for Benoit these days, I can still watch his work no issues. Benoit the pro wrestler is not like the Benoit we've heard about in personal stories so it's easy to disconnect myself from that and WrestleMania XX is still one of those shows I like to pop in from time to time. Before his death, Benoit was still one of my favorite wrestlers on the roster and I was excited to see him finally leave SmackDown and become a main event attraction on ECW. In retrospect those early to mid years in the WWE become that much worse post-Benoit because you really do lose one of the best aspects of the show. Even though he wasn't a star attraction, Benoit's stuff was usually liked all across the board so now with most of it gone, it's so much harder to look at that era retrospectively.

If there's been any positives, it seems like a lot of those early wrestling deaths are becoming a thing of the past and guys are at least making it to their 50s. Still too young, but better than what it was like in the late 90s - mid 00s.

 

[Mr. Roman Empire]

Chris Benoit was alright. Kind of overrated imo. Great wrestler but not a great entertainer.

 

[Zardnaar]

Never saw him in WWE until this year on the network so he is a WCW guy to me.

 

[edge4ever]

Benoit was a good wrestler and okay at anything else. He tarnished me ever really wanting to talk about his sucesses, because his failure was much more great. Hard to commend a guy for anything who murders his whole family and then kills himself.

 

[Jacob Fox]

The facts in the Chris Benoit matter have always been quite clear to me. Due to years of hits to the head from unprotected chair shots, head butts off the top rope, his brain had deteriorated to the point that when autopsied, it was compared to that of an 80 year old Alzheimers patient. He very likely had chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

Now my area of specialty is cognitive psychology, which is maybe why I am not as quick to judge Benoit as most people are. The fact is that his behavior surrounding the incident and even before the incident often showed that the man was suffering from this impairment. Although we will never know for sure, Benoit could have committed these offenses without having an real control or conscious awareness he was doing it. That would then explain his behavior through the text messages over the next few days before he killed himself.

Now, it's easy enough for the majority of us to just look at the situation without considering the medical facts in the case. It's easy to see and hate a man who murdered his family and killed himself. It's difficult for people to acknowledge that it was extremely unlikely that a man with his brain deterioration knew what he was doing. It's easy for us to just label the guy as evil or as a murderer. But the fact is, you don't know. And there is more than enough forensics evidence to show that he may have not been in control of his actions for a period of time, which seems more likely to me.

Many people have refused to discuss this with me because they are set in their belief that he is an evil murderer. But rushes to judgment historically are much worse than walks to judgment.

 

[Jacob Fox]

Honestly, I think it's dangerous for us to not talk about what happened. Benoit suffered numerous concussions throughout his life which leads to the credibility that he suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy. But when we ignore the possibility of that option because its easier for us to say "He's evil, end of discussion," we make it more likely that such an incident will happen again. When we open our minds that this could have been something that was caused by years of brain damage and NOT just because he was evil, then we can find ways to prevent it from happening again. I think prevention of future occurrences is much more important than just ignoring the man.

 

[Jacob Fox]

Who's Chris Benoit?

A dangerous sentiment, my friend.

 

[Jacob Fox]

. While there's been all this speculation about brain damage and the trauma he had dealt with, according to Nancy's sister the injuries inflicted suggests that it wasn't some violent confrontation that went horribly wrong and there was plenty of intent from Benoit. .

I've seen reports on the autopsy and although I am not a medical doctor, I do hold a PhD in cognitive psychology so this IS my area of specialty. Not sure if it's Nancy's sisters area of specialty or not. Unless she is a forensics expert, then her opinion really is irrelevant as more than likely it will be biased towards her sister.

Memory is flawed and people can find and even add intent where none may have actually existed before. But even if Nancy and Chris were having problems, that in no way rules out the fact that severe brain damage may have been the mitigating factor in this. I've wanted to beat the crap out of my boyfriend several times but I don't. My frontal lobe activity is completely normal, therefore my impulse control is intact. Benoit's frontal lobe was SEVERELY deteriorated. The nicest people in the world can become the rottenest people in the world when they have damage to their frontal lobe. Look up Phineas Gage.

And before anyone gets on me, thinking I am some big Benoit fan who is just trying to defend the guy.. I've NEVER been a fan of the guy at all. What I am a fan of is information. And in my view, the information shows that this was not as cut and dry as many of us would like to believe.

 

[Solid Snake]

Honestly, I think it's dangerous for us to not talk about what happened. Benoit suffered numerous concussions throughout his life which leads to the credibility that he suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy. But when we ignore the possibility of that option because its easier for us to say "He's evil, end of discussion," we make it more likely that such an incident will happen again. When we open our minds that this could have been something that was caused by years of brain damage and NOT just because he was evil, then we can find ways to prevent it from happening again. I think prevention of future occurrences is much more important than just ignoring the man.

I feel like WWE just don't want to take partially blame and that is why they cover it up. They need to be open and honest. This should be a tool to help people understand the dangers of wrestling and severe head trauma that can come with any sport. Enough years have passed and I don't get why they are still ignoring it.

 

[RedDwarfTechy]

The facts in the Chris Benoit matter have always been quite clear to me. Due to years of hits to the head from unprotected chair shots, head butts off the top rope, his brain had deteriorated to the point that when autopsied, it was compared to that of an 80 year old Alzheimers patient. He very likely had chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

Now my area of specialty is cognitive psychology, which is maybe why I am not as quick to judge Benoit as most people are. The fact is that his behavior surrounding the incident and even before the incident often showed that the man was suffering from this impairment. Although we will never know for sure, Benoit could have committed these offenses without having an real control or conscious awareness he was doing it. That would then explain his behavior through the text messages over the next few days before he killed himself.

Now, it's easy enough for the majority of us to just look at the situation without considering the medical facts in the case. It's easy to see and hate a man who murdered his family and killed himself. It's difficult for people to acknowledge that it was extremely unlikely that a man with his brain deterioration knew what he was doing. It's easy for us to just label the guy as evil or as a murderer. But the fact is, you don't know. And there is more than enough forensics evidence to show that he may have not been in control of his actions for a period of time, which seems more likely to me.

Many people have refused to discuss this with me because they are set in their belief that he is an evil murderer. But rushes to judgment historically are much worse than walks to judgment.

Yeah, this is pretty much how I see it, sans the science terms.

I watched a documentary way back and the statement I remember to this day was that he had the brain of an 80 year old Alzheimer's patient. My grandad had Alzheimers, at that age, they have no idea whats real, whats a 'dream' and for them, these two worlds seemingly change. Same thing with old memories, they believe that is their reality at that point of time. They lose all sort of base with reality so I can't really call him evil or anything. But I also get why people hate the guy for what he did. But I don't know if Benoit was even Benoit at that point.

 

[Jacob Fox]

Yeah, this is pretty much how I see it, sans the science terms.

I watched a documentary way back and the statement I remember to this day was that he had the brain of an 80 year old Alzheimer's patient. My grandad had Alzheimers, at that age, they have no idea whats real, whats a 'dream' and for them, these two worlds seemingly change. Same thing with old memories, they believe that is their reality at that point of time. They lose all sort of base with reality so I can't really call him evil or anything. But I also get why people hate the guy for what he did. But I don't know if Benoit was even Benoit at that point.

It's hard to know, but I generally ask people this: Verne Gagne had the same brain condition and killed a man but no one blames him for it because he was a man in his 80's with alzheimers.

If Benoit was evil, why did he send all those depressed text messages to friends and why did he kill himself? He likely killed them without realizing what he was doing... had a few moments clarity, realized he killed his wife and son... and did the only thing he figured he could do at that point... kill himself rather than live with what he did. If he was an evil, remorseless murderer like many want to believe... why did he kill himself? The true Benoit resurfaced for a short period of time, realized what he did and punished who was responsible.

 

[¡Tranquilo!]

Damn that was 10 years ago now...I'm starting to feel old. I really enjoyed Benoit's ruthless aggression run and was excited to watch (WWE's) ECW since he was potentially going to be the next world champion. Sucks what went down, all the years of dedication he put into his craft came to spite him in the end.