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Archive for June, 2007

Fox 5 in Atlanta continues to uncover disturbing new details in the double murder-suicide involving WWE wrestlers Chris Benoit; his wife, Nancy Sullivan-Benoit; and their seven-year-old son, Daniel.

One detail is that Benoit had a history of alleged domestic violence with his wife. In a 2003 divorce filing – a complaint that was later dropped – Nancy alleged that their marriage was irrevocably broken and cited “cruel treatment” when asking for a restraining order against him, saying he’d broken furniture and threatened her during a dispute.

Somehow, their marriage survived and the 2003 divorce filing was never pressed forward. Apparently, however, the couple did not put their issues to rest.

According to the Fox 5 report, based on information released by local authorities, police now believe that Benoit killed his wife as early as last Friday night; she was found in an upstairs room with both her feet and hands bound, the victim of an apparent strangling at the hands of her husband. Blood under her head indicated there may have been a struggle prior to death.

Authorities place son Daniel’s death as occurring late Saturday or early Sunday. He was found smothered to death, on his bed.

Authorities then place Benoit’s suicide as taking place no earlier than late Sunday, perhaps even Monday morning. The long intervals between the two murders and his own suicide will be one of the unanswered mysteries of the case.

Benoit was scheduled to wrestle C.M. Punk at Sunday’s PPV event, Vengeance: A Night of Champions, and was scheduled to win the ECW title that night; Benoit’s in-ring character had been drafted from SmackDown to ECW two weeks prior to the event, setting up the clash. When Benoit canceled his appearance at a WWE Live event on Saturday, as well as his PPV appearance on Sunday, the company promoted wrestler Johnny Nitro into Benoit’s spot and gave Nitro the ECW title in his place. WWE.com reports that Benoit had contacted the company on Saturday to explain his absence, and that he told WWE staff that his wife and child were “not feeling well,” and that he couldn’t make the trip.

While Benoit was reported to be paid roughly $500,000 per year in the 2003 divorce filing, the family’s financial health is not clear at this hour; whether there is insurance coverage for either parent or children insurance on Daniel is unclear, although in cases of murder, insurance companies do not always pay a death benefit to surviving family members. Hopefully, some arrangements can be made for both Nancy and son Daniel.

Credit goes out to Fox 5 in Atlanta for reporting a detail Pro Wrestling Views missed; on Monday Night’s RAW broadcast, Vince McMahon did appear in a pre-show address, admitted the “Who Murdered Vince?” storyline was made up, and said that the storyline had been dropped in light of the Benoit tragedy, which at that point was still not known by WWE officials to be a double murder-suicide.

Props to WWE for dropping the tacky, too-close-to-reality storyline promptly.

In light of media speculation that WWE knew about the nature of wrestler Chris Benoit’s crimes over the weekend that preceded his suicide, the company has posted a timeline of events as they came to light from a company perspective.

The decision to cancel the live show in Corpus Christie, TX, was made at 4 p.m. to 5 p.m., according to the company’s statement, and when the nature of Benoit’s pre-suicide murders came to light through local authorities, they reversed their decision to air a Benoit memorial.

According to the WWE press release, “In keeping with company policy, and with limited knowledge regarding facts of the case, WWE choose to air a memorial dedicated to the career of Chris Benoit. As facts emerged surrounding the case, all tributes to Chris Benoit were removed both on-air and on WWE.com.”

Despite this, several photos of Benoit remain on WWE.com in relation to the timeline. Pro Wrestling Views urges WWE.com to remove all images of Chris Benoit from the main WWE.com page and all affiliate sites. Given the nature of events, all Benoit material should be removed from the market. It doesn’t take 20GB of IBM memory to figure that out; it’s common sense.

Casting aside the “storyline murder” of Mr. McMahon, WWE owner Vince McMahon appeared on ECW on SciFi tonight, delivering a solemn address prior to the beginning of the show. His comments were as follows:

“Last night on Monday Night Raw, the WWE presented a special tribute show, recognizing the career of Chris Benoit. However, now some 26 hours later, the facts of this horrific tragedy are now apparent. Therefore, other than my comments, there will be no mention of Mr. Benoit tonight. On the contrary, tonight’s show will be dedicated to everyone who has been affected by this terrible incident. This evening marks the first step of the healing process. Tonight, the WWE performers will do what they do better than anyone else in the world – entertain you.”

As promised, there was no mention made of Benoit on the Tuesday show; it was the first WWE event held after the tragic events of the weekend and Monday came to light. What was not apparent in the broadcast was whether the WWE had also decided to cast aside the “Vince is murdered” storyline, which seems to be a no-brainer, even without conducting any market research on the topic.

As an apparent double-murderer prior to his suicide on Monday, Benoit deserves no tearful goodbyes or heartfelt retrospectives. Pro Wrestling Views will give WWE the benefit of doubt and assume they aired the Raw tribute before the company knew the complete nature of Benoit’s acts.

Now, if they can only confirm that the “Who Murdered Vince?” storyline is dead, perhaps the healing can begin; if they choose to continue it, the storyline will only serve as a painful reminder to the families affected by this tragedy.

A couple unfortunate weeks ago, WWE decided to spice up its storyline with a murder mystery. In out-of-character fashion, Vince McMahon acted a bit goofy after losing the ECW title, and at the end of a Raw broadcast, walked out into the parking lot and got into his limo, which immediately blew up.

The storyline, intended to call to mind the “Who Shot JR?” cliffhanger of the classic TV show Dallas, started out with a bang, but soon grew disturbing and tacky as the WWE played out the concept, because rather than playing it for humor, the company played the storyline straight, airing clips of somber, apparently-grieving wrestlers spilling tears over an owner who, within the storylines, never made any friends.

Pro Wrestling Views was among the first to call for the storyline tone to change or be dumped because it cheapened how the WWE had treated real deaths, like those of Eddie Guerrero and Owen Hart. That call seemed further justified as last week it was learned that classic WWE Diva Sensational Sherri Martel, who died at age 49; Martel passed away in her sleep, with circumstances still under investigation. No foul play is suspected in Martel’s death, though toxicology tests are being run as part of the autopsy to determine if drugs or alcohol were involved.

Now, with a current WWE superstar involved in a possible double murder-suicide, there can be no further justification for continuing the “Who Killed Vince?” storyline. It’s simply too disturbing and too close to real life events. Forget the marketing, forget the T-shirts, forget the engraved pens. The storyline must be dropped immediately to make room for wrestlers and fans to deal with their mixture of grief and anger on a deserving target: a real-life tragedy.

Let’s hope the WWE didn’t know the whole story when they decided to replace a live Raw broadcast with a tribute to Chris Benoit’s 22-year wrestling career on Monday. No doubt if the evidence proves, as local police allege, that Chris Benoit took the lives of his wife and son, then took his own life 24- to 48-hours later, the company is certain to come under fire for celebrating the life of an alleged double-murderer.

Whatever dark thoughts and demonic influences possibly drove Benoit to such evil actions, no amount of “this was about his wrestling career, the good parts of his life” excuse-making can justify the miscalculation it would be if the WWE knew he was possibly a murderer and ran the tribute show anyway. Talk about getting your network cables crossed? It would be bad taste in the extreme.

Fox 5 out of Atlanta is reporting that wrestler Chris Benoit is the main suspect in the death of his wife, his son, making his death an apparent suicide. What seemed like a tragedy until moments ago, when this story broke, is now looking somewhat darker and more sinister.

Although final determinations won’t be made until Tuesday, when autopsy results are expected in, “Detective Bo Turner told television station WAGA that the case was being treated as a murder-suicide, but said that couldn’t be confirmed until evidence was examined by a crime lab,” according to the Fox 5 report.

Earlier today, rumors of the nature of the deaths were flying around the Web, alleging everything from a gas leak that took Benoit and his family as they slept overnight, even to the extreme of some sources suggesting Benoit’s wife, Nancy Sullivan-Benoit, had been responsible for the double murder-suicide.

Yet the local police paint a starker picture of Benoit taking the lives of his wife and 7-year-old son sometime over the weekend, canceling his appearance on a WWE PPV, Vengeance: A Night of Champions, in which he was expected to compete against wrestler C.M. Punk for the ECW World Championship title, and finally taking his own life sometime on Monday.

The news, even before the nature of the deaths was known publicly, sent shockwaves through WWE, and caused the company to cancel Monday Night’s live RAW event, replacing it with a three-hour tribute show to Chris Benoit’s 22-year wrestling career. It was nearly a case of power supply repair, as the company sought a way to “keep the lights on” even as they struggled with the tragic news.

It may seem insensitive to say it at the moment, but Chris Benoit was never quite my favorite wrestler. Sure, I appreciated him. In fact, on that memorable night in WCW where he wrestled three matches in one night, including a match against Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka, I was more than impressed with his abilities in the ring.

Yet for all his technical skill, he just never quite “got over” on the microphone or found an image that made him seem like the top guy in any promotion of which he was a part. He didn’t bring the electric personality of a Stone Cold Steve Austin or John Cena; he didn’t sparkle on the microphone as brightly as a Chris Jericho or The Rock. He was just solid in the ring and projected a tough, tough image. A first-rate mid-carder who could hold a championship for a while, but never really “lead” a promotion.

That’s OK; a lot of wrestlers have made great livings and left fond memories in the hearts of fans while not even reaching the level that Benoit achieved. Heck, some wrestlers have been reduced to acting like household pets and eating organic dog food on national TV; Benoit was blessed, by comparison.

Circumstances of his death and the deaths of his family aside for the moment, it must be acknowledged that no matter whether he was my favorite wrestler or not, the “Rabid Wolverine” will be missed in WWE.

When it first aired last Monday, I was excited by the potential of the car bombing of Mr. McMahon’s limo and the storyline it could generate. It was a move reminiscent of the classic Dallas cliffhanger, “Who Shot J.R.?” I could imagine it played up for fun and suspense, perhaps generating summer T-shirt sales (“Who firebombed Vince?”) and maybe leading up to a campy Halloween resurrection storyline involving The Undertaker bringing back “the First Evil.”

No such luck, however. The storyline is being played entirely too seriously for a death everyone knows is fake and for storyline purposes. The segments based around Vince’s death are about as thin on humor as a person taking Phentermine is on excess body fat.

Playing it so similarly in tone to recent actual WWE deaths, especially the recent passing less than two years ago of Eddie Guerrero, is a tacky move, cheapening what the WWE does when a real, actual death does occur within their ranks.

I’m sure at a story session, some idiot spoke up and insisted, “We have to do this straight or the fans will never buy in to the story.”

Sorry, Vince. Wrong choice.

OK, someone has to speak up before an opportunity is blown.

The Great Khali-John Cena feud has the potential to be the biggest thing since Hulk Hogan-Andre the Giant, but not at the pace it’s going.

For two PPVs in a row, Cena’s managed victories over the Great Khali, despite dramatic size differences. Cena no-selling a fear of Khali in the latest chapter might make Cena seem tough, but it hurts the necessary fear that any Cena-Khali match should inspire.

Something’s needed. Something has to change the tide of this feud or it won’t even last until SummerSlam, let alone next year’s WrestleMania. Unless something dramatic is done, by the time next year’s WrestleMania comes around, the Great Khali might be no more frightening and imposing than a round of golf at Firestone using Ping Golf equipment.

There are some legit ways to take the feud.

1) Change belts. Put the strap on Khali and have Cena “injured” and our of action for a while, at the hands of Khali. That’d give Cena some time off to make The Marine 2 or something, and turn some of this negative, “Cena sucks” fan heat back into cheers upon his return. In the meantime, Khali could have some squash matches and dominate in a way that makes the audience wonder if anyone will ever defeat Khali. Keep it this way until at least SummerSlam, or maybe even until the Royal Rumble as the point of Cena’s return. Having Khali hold off Cena until a final WM showdown would be a better way to promote a Cena-Khali main event at WM.

2) Use the multi-brand draft to separate the two for a few months, until the big push toward WM starts, around the time of the Royal Rumble… or maybe a bit sooner, at Survivor Series.

3) Have Khali banned for some reason, and maybe even wrestle in disguise for a while. Hey… it worked for Andre!

When it was born a couple years ago, ECW One Night Stand was a breath of fresh air among WWE PPV events. It was the world series of ECW events, considering that the promotion had been dead for years, bought out by Vinny Mac.

Sure, everyone knew that ECW was still WWE-owned, but for one night a year fans could see Paul Heyman in control, struggling against the McMahon oligarchy. One could hear RVD given lines more significant than “that’s cool” or “sweet.” For a while, ECW was ECW again.

No more. In this post-WrestleMania calender year, all the WWE PPVs that were single-branded are now multi-brand, including One Night Stand, which isn’t even called ECW One Night Stand anymore.

ECW is swiftly becoming just another generic WWE brand. Rest in peace, ECW fans.

I realize that from a WWE perspective, putting the ECW belt on Vince McMahon was a classic retread of the Stone Cold Steve Austin storyline template: rebellious employee faces off with evil owner. But that formula is wearing a bit thin, carrying the luggage of overuse in recent years, and while WWE’s defenders may say it was all about pushing ECW’s Bobby Lashley as much as possible, the backlash of the move certainly carried with it substantial risks related to alienating ECW lovers.

ECW has been the subject of a McMahon-centric makeover ever since ECW creator Paul Heyman was bounced from WWE last December, but what such a Vince-centric storyline really needed was an opposing force manipulating from behind the scenes who could go toe-to-toe with Vince. That’s right: ECW needs Heyman to really sell this “ECW Originals vs. The New Breed” storyline that has become central to each Tuesday night broadcast on SciFi.

The New Breed has Vince pulling the strings, which is fine, but who is the unmovable object to Vince’s irresistible force? Bringing Heyman back would take this storyline to the next level, and open of the possibility of an “ECW Walkout” in which ECW seems to go independent again, under Heyman’s leadership, even though it would be in storyline only.

Something like that is needed to fix the current ECW, which in the months since Heyman’s ouster has become just another identity-less WWE brand, not distinguishably different from Raw or Smackdown, except that the show’s an hour shorter.

Heck, even One Night Stand has become a multi-brand PPV event. Sure, the belt was put back on Lashley, but anyone who think’s McMahon’s reign is over is fooling only themselves. Yawn.