RKMBs Forums .::Robegories::. Sports and Wrestling Chris Benoit and family found dead

MONTREAL -- Bret "Hitman" Hart says drugs aren't to blame for Chris Benoit's death.

Unlike what his brother Bruce told Sun Media, Hart described Benoit as level-headed and down-to-earth, and rejected the image of him as moody and quiet.

"I never saw him lose his temper or act strange or weird," he said. "I don't remember Chris as being a guy who took a lot of pills or drank too hard.

"I think you'll find over the next few weeks this steroid thing was played up too much."

Hart, who knew Benoit since he was 12, wondered if the rigours of professional wrestling simply took their toll. "You live a very solitary, lonely life," he said.

He added Benoit never mentioned marital issues or his son. "He was a pretty tough, manly kind of guy and maybe he didn't feel right pouring his heart out to somebody.

"You can find things can eat away at your stability and it seems to me that Chris just went off the deep end."

A demanding lifestyle aimed at maintaining a chiselled physique, along with a gruelling travel schedule that sees wrestlers on the road up to 25 days a month create serious problems of dependency and depression, warns former wrestler Jacques Rougeau.

"Twenty years ago, we thought steroid use was bad and now we have the proof," Rougeau, who insists he's never taken steroids himself, said in an interview yesterday.

"It's one thing that they take steroids, but they have a lonely life, they miss their families. So at 11:30 when they get out of the arena, they hit the bars. They mix alcohol and steroids and pain pills and that doesn't go together."

Researchers involved with the study of brain trauma in deceased NFL players are seeking permission to look at Benoit's brain to try to learn whether head trauma might have played a role in Benoit's condition.

"We don't know, but we would like to find out," said Julian Bailes, chairman of neurosurgery at the University of West Virginia and medical director of the Center for the Study of Retired Athletes. "We could be talking about the effects of head trauma, or the effects of head trauma in conjunction with substance abuse, or something else.

AP Photo/WWE, HO

Brain-trauma researchers believe Chris Benoit might have suffered the kind of concussion-related dementia that marked some NFL players' declines.
"We have seen repeated concussions associated with changes in the brain. These are abnormal changes in former football players who behaved in extreme and destructive ways. We need to ask if this is part of the same syndrome."

The researchers -- the same group who conducted postmortems on former NFL players Andre Waters and Justin Strzelczyk -- believe it is possible Benoit suffered the kind of concussion-related dementia that marked the other athletes' declines.

A source told ESPN.com, however, that even if the researchers' request is granted, the brain might be too damaged to examine. By the time police found Benoit's body on Monday, it had been lying in the 93-degree heat for at least a day. According to a source familiar with the local coroner's exam, it was virtually "liquefied." Still, the researchers hope they can obtain enough tissue to determine whether repeated concussions damaged Benoit's brain and perhaps played a role in his behavior.

Despite speculation about his steroid use, Benoit was never one of the bulkiest wrestlers in the business. In fact, his gimmick was his workmanship. Benoit's signature move was an aerial leap off the top of the ring post, which sent him airborne toward his opponent, who invariably was lying on the mat. It was designed to look as if he were spearing his rival. But Benoit pulled up just before impact, absorbing most of the stress himself. That caused his neck to become so fragile that he underwent surgery in 2001 to fuse his vertebrae. It kept him out of wrestling for nearly a year.

When he returned, he resumed the move and continued to take repeated shots to the head with chairs, said Mike Mooneyham, co-author of "Sex, Lies, and Headlocks," a book about the WWE. "His friends told him to lay off, but that wasn't Chris," Mooneyham says.

Scientists are still trying to piece together the links between blows to the head, physical changes to the brain and cognitive impairment, which can lead to depression, memory loss and abnormal behavior. Doctors affiliated with the NFL have heatedly denied a connection between football-related concussions and full-blown chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the dementia seen in punch-drunk boxers.

Bennet Omalu, a Pittsburgh pathologist, examined Waters' brain after the former NFL player committed suicide in November. Omalu found that Waters' brain looked as if it belonged to an 85-year-old man with signs of Alzheimer's disease. Omalu also found unusual tangles in the brain and concluded that multiple concussions had caused, or severely worsened, Waters' neurological problems. Last month, Omalu also examined Strzelczyk, who died in a massive car wreck in 2004, and found the same tangles he had seen in Waters.

Now, Bailes, Omalu and Christopher Nowinski, a former professional wrestler who obtained permission to examine Waters' brain and who worked with Benoit, have formed the Sports Legacy Institute to formalize the postmortem study of athletes' brains. If samples from Benoit become available, the group will get a chance to see where one wrestler's brain fits into the overall spectrum of the long-term effects of concussions.

"The first reports were that it was in no condition to be looked at," said a source familiar with the group's request, "but there's still a possibility a sample could be retrieved."

Peter Keating and Shaun Assael are senior writers for ESPN The Magazine. Assael is also the co-author of "Sex, Lies, and Headlocks: The Real Story of Vince McMahon and World Wrestling Entertainment,"

My name is Debbie Fernandez, wife of the late Ray “Hercules” Fernandez and I am writing to you because I am sickened by the recent tragic event to strike the Wrestling World. I am also appalled at the fact that Vince McMahon is trying to play off the idea that there is not a Steroid Use problem in the WWE. After Ray died, I was too devastated to open up a discussion regarding the deadly roll that Steroid use plays in the lives of these wrestlers, but now, after seeing yet another tragedy, I must speak up. Vince McMahon acquires these young men, who are eager to join the world of wrestling, and who do not know any better and think that they are going to be rich and famous, but at what price?

He all but preaches that his Wrestlers do not take Steroids, and they are periodically tested, now does anyone really believe that? There is a reason why so many Wrestlers have died at such a young age, partly due to the Steroid use, and most importantly because most of them end their wrestling career with NOTHING! They have no health benefits, they have no retirement, and they are just tossed out like yesterdays trash. The only one who benefits from their blood, sweat and tears is Vince McMahon. They wrestle when their sick or hurt because they are so scared to lose their jobs, and they will, so the only way that they can stay in the game is to take steroids. Does Vince McMahon really expect us to believe that he knows nothing about the wrestlers using steroids?

The problem is that like my husband, many of the wrestlers from that era were too loyal to the profession to say anything, because if you rocked the boat, you knew you were on your way out. They just had to suck it up and do whatever it took to keep their jobs. They control everything you do professionally and personally, right down to picking your accountant, so that he can steal you blind. With all the money that the WWE brings in, you would think that they would take care of their investments and offer them the proper benefits that they and their families deserve. Now, I do not believe that Chris Benoit’s actions were caused by Steroid use, but, I do feel that Vince McMahon should be held accountable for the fact that he IS aware of everything that is going on, and that the majority of Wrestlers do take Steroids. When is it going to be enough? When are these guys going to join together and realize that unless they stand up to McMahon and fight for the benefits that they deserve, and that the WWE can afford to give them, they are headed for an early grave.


Sincerely,
Debbie Fernandez

Think what you will about Chris Benoit, but I trust we can all agree on this much...

"From my 17 years in the business, I know probably 40 to 45 wrestlers who dropped dead before they were 50," said Lance Evers, a semiretired wrestler who goes by "Lance Storm" when he's in the ring. "It's an astronomical number."

Then, he added in a voice tinged with anger and sadness, "I'm sick and tired of it."

Alvarez, who covers the sport extensively for Web site http://www.wrestlingobserver.com, has some inkling of the demons that might have overtaken the wrestler.

He said Benoit never got over the 2005 death of Guerrero, a former WWE champion and four-time tag-team titleholder who was 38 when he died of a heart attack, perhaps caused by the alcohol and drug abuses that friends thought he had beaten.

"Chris' closest friend in the world was Eddie Guerrero," Alvarez said. "He could cry to him. He could tell him everything. After Eddie died, I talked to Chris. He was broken man."

Last year, another of Benoit's wrestling buddies, 263-pound Mike Durham (known in the business as Johnny Grunge), died at 39 from complications cause by sleep apnea, a condition that often affects larger people such as wrestlers and football players.

"It was about this period of time that people started noticing weird behavior, paranoid behavior, which would indicate (Benoit) was using a lot of drugs," Alvarez said. "He was alone. He was on the road a lot, having to perform at a high level, having to look a certain way. I think the drug use escalated, and his whole world basically fell apart."

The victims are often forgotten in tragedy. Everyone knows the names Jeffrey Dahmer, John Wayne Gacy, Timothy McVeigh. But name one person that they murdered. Nancy Benoit should not be forgotten in the same manner.

Nancy Toffoloni / Daus / Sullivan / Benoit was a victim like the others, and her career and life should be remembered, and her murderer, her third husband, Chris Benoit, should be the one forgotten.

Media is covering every aspect of the double-murder suicide involving the Benoit family, and while it is well known Chris was in wrestling, Nancy’s career is often overlooked. Some articles note her as a former manager in wrestling, but the articles did little to explain much past that. As the end of the week hits, more web sites and newspapers are talking about Nancy, the victim and manager.

FoxNews.com interviewed her former husband and wrestler, Kevin Sullivan, where Sullivan had only positive things to say about his ex. "She was a nice person. We just went our separate ways. She was nice and very loving and I’m sure she was a good mother."

The two did not have a child together but were married for 12 years. Sullivan was there when Nancy was first breaking into the business in 1983. The two would marry in 1985.


Nancy met her first husband, Jim Daus, while living in Florida. Both graduated DeLand High School and she married shortly after graduating high school. Although her first marriage did not work out, Daus was in contact with her after Daniel, her son, was born in 2000.

In an interview with the Daytona Beach News-Journal, Daus said he would hope to attend the funeral. The article did not hit deep enough about Nancy’s entry into wrestling, which Daus was there to experience. Both were fans attending wrestling events in Florida when Nancy was basically handpicked from the crowd.

Most newspapers failed to find those who had worked with Nancy during her wrestling career. And of those they did find, often her life was ignored.

Debra Williams, ex-wife of Steve "Mongo" McMichael and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, was interviewed in numerous places, including Denver’s Fox 31. Williams had worked closely with Nancy as managers for the Four Horsemen in 1996 and 1997. The Fox channel failed to ask Williams about working with Nancy but asked about drug use in the industry.

It was well known within the industry that Williams and Nancy had minor problems during their time working together, but these issues were never addressed.

No one either tried to reach or failed to reach many of those who worked with Nancy during her stay in wrestling, including, Rick Steiner, Tyler Mane (Nitron), Butch Reed, Steve McMichael or Shane Douglas. Many others are under WWE contract and would not be able to speak. Mane is actually starting publicity for the newest Halloween movie, in which he has a part. So comments from him may be forthcoming.

Sites like SLAM! Wrestling and 1Wrestling.com have allowed fans to share and post their memories of Nancy. Many fans have spoken about Nancy’s position in the history of female managers.

Wrestling radio shows have spent most or all of their time addressing the ordeal, but little time on the victims. Many non-wrestling radio shows have used their take to take shots, leaving the names of the victims behind.

Besides Debra Williams, who did not address Nancy, no other female managers were interviewed by any major press.

TMZ.com was the first to release court papers filed in 2003 when Nancy first asked for a divorce from Benoit. The documents were long and detailed and often hard to read, but did contain that Nancy’s (the petitioner) reason for the divorce: "[Benoit] lost his temper and threatened to strike the petitioner and cause extensive damage to the home and personal belongings of the parties, including furniture and furnishings. Petitioner is in reasonable fear for petitioner's own safety and that of the minor child."

Although Monday Night’s RAW was to honor the career of Chris Benoit, no film was shown of Nancy, the true victim. It was not till after RAW was completed that is was revealed Chris had murdered Nancy. In response, WWE has not issued a statement on when or if it will honor the career of Nancy Benoit.

Wikipedia.org, an online encyclopedia edited by its readers, expanded its biography of Nancy tenfold. Searches for Nancy Benoit boomed as she was the fourth most searched term on Wednesday.

With more revealing about her death still to come (including toxicology reports), future books, specials and maybe even movies may reveal more about the life of Nancy Benoit.

The first time that Otten saw Nancy Toffolini (her maiden name) was in Orlando, Florida, in 1983. She and her then-husband Jim Daus were big wrestling fans, and attended the matches every week, always sitting in the front row. Otten -- who had been a wrestling fan since the 1970s -- was photographing the event, and was struck by Mrs. Daus' beauty. She reminded him of actress Valerie Bertinelli, who at the time was married to rock star Eddie Van Halen.

Keen to build his fledgling portfolio, though rather shy in asking, it took more than one conversation for him to convince Nancy to let him photograph her. She eventually agreed, though it soon became apparent that she wasn't a natural model, as she looked much the same in every shot.

At the time, Billy Jack Haynes was on a babyface tear through the Florida territory, and approached Otten about setting up a photo shoot, that would put him over as a ladies man. Otten realised that Nancy would be perfect for this type of photo shoot, and thus she and another model both posed with Haynes as he flexed his famous physique. The picture made the front of Main Event magazine, and is remembered today by many fans of the time.


Kevin Sullivan -- who Otten referred to as "a genius" of a booker -- had been feuding with Haynes at this time, and came to Otten excitedly, with the idea of using the same girls in a photo shoot with him. Playing his occult persona to perfection, Sullivan wanted to give the impression that he had brainwashed Haynes' lady-friends, and brought them into his realm.

But only Nancy showed up that day. It was to be the beginning of new things for her, both professionally and personally.

Nancy was dubbed "The Fallen Angel," and became Sullivan's valet. Her beauty brought out an extra dimension in Sullivan's gimmick, playing him to the crowd as the master of manipulators, with a mental control over those who followed him. In reality, the two had fallen in love, and after her divorce from Jim Daus, they married in 1985. But Otten believes that Nancy's decisions may have been as much about succeeding professionally as anything else.

Kevin and Nancy moved to Atlanta and World Championship Wrestling in 1989, and it was a further six years before Otten would cross their paths again. This time, it was in ECW, when Nancy was managing The Sandman. Fortuitously meeting on an aeroplane on their way to Philadelphia, she explained that her role was to light cigarettes and open beer cans for her charge. Initially perplexed, Otten soon came to understand, and appreciate, what that was all about.

After her ECW stint had come to an end, Nancy returned to WCW, and in the storyline, was stolen again, this time leaving Sullivan to manage Chris Benoit. Bizarrely, Sullivan, who was booking the storylines at the time, suggested that Chris and Nancy share hotel rooms, and portray their alliance as a shoot. In 1997, Otten spotted Nancy with Chris in San Francisco, prior to a WCW pay-per-view. She insisted that she was merely showing him around the city, but they "seemed pretty friendly," in Otten's own words.

It would later be joked in wrestling locker rooms that Sullivan "had booked his own divorce," and Otten noted that he believed that both Chris and Nancy wanted to start a family, which likely led to their decision to get engaged, just months after Otten spotted them together. Most likely, the idea would be that Chris would continue to wrestle and provide for the family, while she stayed at home.

Otten ended the interview by noting how nice Chris Benoit had always been to him, pondering on how he would always shake his hand, and chat a little about Nancy. He had spoken to Chris only two weeks ago, with no hint of any distress on Benoit's part. The tragedy, he said, was like a real-life horror film.

That is certainly the way that other wrestling fans have seen the tragic deaths of Nancy, Daniel, and Chris Benoit. Perhaps one of the small comforts is that Nancy Toffolini, for a little while, got to enjoy a life in wrestling that so many others envied.

She would marry Jim Daus, her high school sweetheart, after the two graduated DeLand High School about 30 miles north of Orlando, Fla. The marriage would be shortlived, but the two found a common liking to wrestling.


It was when the two attended wrestling events in the Orlando area when at the age of 19, in late 1983, chance and lucked landed her into wrestling.

While modeling and doing some apartment wrestling, she met photographer Bill Otten. Otten freelanced for New York wrestling magazine editor George Napolitano, often photographing matches for Florida Championship Wrestling. It was through Napolitano and Otten that Daus was introduced to Florida booker Kevin Sullivan. Sullivan and she started a real-life romance. She would be introduced as the Fallen Angel, a name derived from a Led Zeppelin song reference, in July 1984.

She was part of Kevin Sullivan's "Satanists" which also included Luna Vachon and Sir Oliver Humperdink. Snakes, blood and anti-Christian overtones were seen as controversial for the time. The group drew strange parallels to Charles Manson and Judas Priest.

The two would marry in 1985. It was her second marriage, having divorced from Jim Daus. She continued to work Florida off and on until Jim Crockett bought the Florida promotion in 1987. Kevin began to work for Crockett (eventually WCW), based out of North Carolina.

In 1989, Kevin brought Nancy into WCW as a geeky Robin Green, a "fan" who had a crush on wrestler Rick Steiner. Green was always shown ringside during Steiner's matches, cheering her hero on, or so he believed. Eventually, Steiner allowed her to stand ringside with him. It was at this point she revealed herself as Woman, backstabbing Steiner during a televised match.

Her glasses and geeky looks were dropped, and she began managing the masked team of Doom (Ron Simmons and Butch Reed). When Doom broke up, she was placed in a short-lived angle with Ric Flair. She was pushing the idea of buying the Horsemen, which Flair turned down on numerous occasions, but the angle hit a dead-end when the Sullivans left WCW in 1990.

The two would show up on independent dates where she was always portrayed as Woman, the persona that she got her biggest name from.

She and Sullivan would team up again in Jim Cornette's Smokey Mountain Wrestling, where Kevin had earned a booking position in 1992. She took on the name Devil Angel, drawing close to her original persona of Fallen Angel. Her time in Smokey Mountain was short and uneventful.

The two would eventually find their way to ECW in 1993. But when Kevin left for a return to WCW in 1994, Nancy stayed behind where she gained fame as the manager of the beer-drinking Sandman. The two were a perfect pair. She would help light the cigarettes and open the beer cans for the Sandman. The ECW style allowed her to get involved in matches like she never had to do before during her career. Kevin was able to get Nancy a position in WCW, and she left ECW where she last managed 2 Cold Scorpio.

When Nancy joined her husband in 1995, their marriage was hitting the skids. She was put into the role as a manager for the Four Horsemen, who at the time consisted of Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Chris Benoit and Brian Pillman. When Pillman left the group, he would be replaced by Steve "Mongo" McMichael. She accompanied the Horsemen alongside famed manager Elizabeth and later Debra McMichael, wife of McMichael.

Her role was small and quiet until Kevin, who was booking for WCW, began a feud with Chris Benoit. In an angle that only insiders understood, Benoit was shown dining with Woman, who Benoit would refer as "Nancy." It was to play off the marriage problems that Kevin and Nancy Sullivan were suffering in real life.

In a weird scene of where the show became reality, Nancy asked Kevin for a divorce and would begin dating Benoit, mirroring what was being booked for television. Meanwhile Kevin and Benoit still had to wrestle in the ring. The tension with Kevin as booker always haunted Benoit, who believed Sullivan had it out for him for stealing his wife. It would lead, in part, to Benoit leaving WCW in 2000 for the WWE.

Nancy would be taken off television following Benoit defeating Sullivan in a retirement match in 1997.

Nancy would give birth to Daniel Christopher on February 23, 2000. Nancy would marry the father, Benoit, November 23, 2000. She would take the name Nancy Benoit.

Although it was known by fans, Chris never spoke about his personal life. He would often refer to Nancy, if needed, as his fiancée. Although her history was never explained, she was in the ring following Benoit's win of the WWE World Title at Wrestlemania XX to congratulate him.

This might be hard for non-wrestling fans to understand, but to those who loved Chris Benoit's work, his grisly double-killing and suicide was as shocking as if Peyton Manning or Tim Duncan or Derek Jeter had committed the same acts.

He was that good at what he did and that respected by fans and peers for doing everything the right way.

As such, accounts of the way he strangled his wife, smothered his child and hanged himself are as disturbing as any I've encountered. They raise countless questions about drugs, the vagaries of the mind and our propensity for glorifying risk. They offer answers to none of them.

First off, shame on all the news hosts who've spent the past few days screaming "'roid rage," as if there's ever a simple explanation when a man kills his family and himself.

The sad episode does raise questions about links between steroid use, the frenetic lifestyle of wrestlers and mental instability. Benoit's employer, World Wrestling Entertainment, has tried to steer coverage away from his possible steroid use (authorities found prescribed anabolic steroids while searching his home).

The deliberate nature of his actions suggested anything but a rage, the company said in a news release. Chairman Vince McMahon reiterated that position on NBC's Today show, noting that Benoit tested negative for drug use in April.

The company's points may be true as far as they go (though McMahon failed to acknowledge loopholes in the testing policy that allow steroid use with a prescription). But depression is much more common among steroid users than "'roid rage," said Dr. William Howard, founder of Union Memorial Sports Medicine.

"That's by far the most common psychological side effect of steroid use," he said. "You'll find an amazing number of these users having domestic problems related to depression."

There is a stereotypical wrestler death. Benoit's great friend and rival, Eddie Guerrero, demonstrated it two years ago when he was found dead of a heart attack in his hotel room on the day he was to win the world championship.

Fans mourned Guerrero, remembering his astonishing bag of physical tricks and the outlaw mirth in his eyes and smile. But given his long history of steroid and pain-pill use, his lonely death at 38 fit expectations. It echoed those of so many contemporaries, including Brian Pillman, Curt Hennig and Davey Boy Smith.

Benoit's death proved far more disquieting, especially given that he was the model wrestler.

In the ring, he could do anything, appearing just as comfortable in a fast-paced match full of intricate moves as in a pitched brawl dominated by bruising kicks and skin-busting head butts.

He never missed a date or loafed through a performance. He came off as reserved but unfailingly appreciative of those who enjoyed his work. He enforced tradition and respect in the locker room.

Even his suspected steroid use seemed understandable. He was 5 feet 10 and had a body meant for 170 or 180 pounds. But he fell in love with a business in which the most glorified performers stood well over 6 feet and packed 250 to 300 muscular pounds.

Benoit acknowledged the pressure over the years, once telling the Pro Wrestling Torch newsletter that steroids for wrestlers were like cigarettes in the 1950s. Many used them, and few contemplated the risks.

That was Benoit's context, one in which stoic men loved their craft so much that they warped and eventually broke their bodies. When he won the world title at Wrestlemania, fans cried and cheered because the moment seemed to suggest that passion and work and resilience might be enough in this life.

That his wife, Nancy, had filed for divorce and a restraining order less than a year earlier (she later dropped both filings) wasn't known to fans. In fact, he invited his family into the ring to celebrate and often spoke of how he wanted to get home more often.

All of that explains why fans feel so shaken.
We don't know that wrestling led Benoit to the terrible events of last weekend. We will never know what ran through his mind.

Some people dismiss wrestling all too easily because of its carnival roots and ridiculous plots. But really, what's so rational about dressing up in colored armor and beating your fellow man as half-naked women cheer you on at the coliseum? I've just described the nation's most popular sport, professional football.

And we know that football shatters the bodies of its greatest heroes. Johnny Unitas' scarred knees and gnarled hands told us so.

We know that tens of thousands of punches to the head slow the steps and slur the words of courageous boxers. We're reminded every time Muhammad Ali appears in public.

We know that a car traveling 200 mph can spin out of control even when guided by the most skilled hand. Dale Earnhardt's demise at Daytona attested to that.

No, it won't do to dismiss the implications of Benoit's death simply because he was a wrestler.

As a culture, we've decided that consenting adults are allowed to push themselves past safe limits for our entertainment. Drug testing and better medical care and safety precautions can lessen many of these risks but cannot stamp them out.

I don't know about you, but when a boxer loses his life in the ring, or a football player is crippled, or a wrestler turns up dead in his hotel room, I feel complicit.

If I know these acts are so destructive, why do I watch? Do I lack the moral fortitude to look past my desire to be entertained? I fear the answer is yes.

In the past few days, scores of wrestling fans have said on message boards that Benoit's death will kill their love of the spectacle. Many more have said that one man's deranged acts shouldn't end an art loved by so many. I agree with the latter, and yet I wonder.



childs.walker@baltsun.com

G-man has managed to alienate everyone on these boards except Captain Sammitch and Dave the Wonder Boy.....impressive.

Ok, one for conspiracy nuts..........Snarf
http://www.johnnyleeclary.com/benoitmurdered.htm

I couldn't read more than a few sentences of that rambling nonsense....

Wrestling can leave lives on the ropes
Lex Luger tumbles from fame and fortune, but still counts his blessings

By BILL TORPY
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 07/01/07

Lex Luger doesn't mince words when asked about pro wrestling's appeal.

"People like to see freaks," said the former Lawrence Pfohl. "It's like live cartoon characters."

Not long ago, Luger was 270 pounds of romping manly aggression and animalistic sex appeal. It's what his public wanted and he gave it to them in steroid-fueled, larger-than-life doses as "The Total Package," a man who borrowed his name — sort of — from Superman's arch-enemy.

But the freak show that became Luger's life nearly killed him. The man who made millions, flew in private jets and lived in mansions is now dead broke, sleeps on a used bed and keeps his clothes in neat piles on the floor.

Luger is a pro wrestling casualty, although he considers himself lucky. He recently turned 49, an age many of his friends in the business will never see.

The latest in that growing toll was Chris Benoit, the "Canadian Crippler." The 40-year-old Fayette County resident apparently strangled his wife, choked his 7-year-old son to death and placed Bibles by their bodies before hanging himself by hitching a weight machine's cable to his neck and letting drop 240 pounds.

The Benoit family's tragic end once again exposed the sordid underbelly of professional wrestling.

Luger hadn't seen Benoit in several years but believes his old friend was in a "dark place" due, in part, to the frenetic pressures of the life and many years of drugs he took to build himself up and to keep the pain at bay. Authorities found steroids in Benoit's home and are investigating whether "roid rage," an explosive fit of aggression traced to steroid abuse, had anything to do with the deaths.

Benoit is one of many who have died early.

Keith Pinckard, a medical examiner in Dallas, started logging the deaths of pro wrestlers and ex-wrestlers after his office performed an autopsy on one killed in an accident.

"It seemed bizarre," said Pinckard, "there seemed to be a lot of deaths."

There were. He found nearly 70 who died early going back nearly 20 years. It was a rate at least seven times the rate of the general population, he calculated. The causes of deaths fell in common themes: drug overdoses and heart attacks were most common, followed by suicide and "natural causes."

Vince McMahon, owner of the World Wrestling Entertainment, the federation for which Benoit and Luger wrestled, has said the organization has instituted drug testing in response to such allegations of abuse.

"The last test that Chris Benoit took of a random nature was in April which he was totally negative," McMahon said on NBC's "Today" morning program. "That doesn't mean that he wasn't taking prescription medication and perhaps even steroids when this happened. We don't know."

Wrestling's casualties

"Ravishing Rick Rude" died in 1999 after being found unconscious in his Alpharetta home with empty prescription bottles near his bed. The death of the 40-year-old (his legal name was Rood) was ruled a heart attack. He suffered a neck injury years earlier that virtually ended his career.

In "Rude's" obituary, wrestler Curt Hennig, "Mr. Perfect," memorialized his lifelong friend as a performer who gave fans what they wanted.

Four years later, Hennig, 44, was found dead in a hotel, Authorities ruled it cocaine intoxication.

In an obit for Hennig, Atlanta area wrestler Ray "Big Boss Man" Traylor Jr. noted the mounting loss of his closest friends. "It used to be me, him and Rick Rude together," Traylor said. "And then Rick died."

A year later, "Big Boss Man" died of a heart attack.

The pressures on wrestlers to perform night after night grew as the business got more lucrative as federations such as McMahon's WWE went international.

But as wrestling exploded in reach, smaller regional circuits that gave more wrestlers a living dried up.

Atlanta resident Gary Juster, a former wrestling promoter, said the old circuits needed wrestlers, men who added a shtick to their act, but were athletes first and foremost.

Then, about 25 years ago, the sport changed. "The look of a typical wrestler changed," Juster said. "It changed from wrestler to bodybuilder, that chiseled look. There wasn't as much passion for the craft."

As "The Look" became more important, steroids became more popular. "Guys did whatever they had to do to get ahead," Juster said.

The pressure increased as jobs became fewer and more lucrative, said former wrestler Rick Steiner.

"Now there's pay-per-view every week and TV every night. There's the added pressure to look good and there's 100 guys wanting what you have, so a lot of guys take the easy way out," said Steiner, who is a real estate agent and school board member in Cherokee County. "You got to be ready to go every day — and if not, there's a lot of guys ready to step in for you in a heartbeat.

"Some guys sell their souls to be on TV," said Steiner, who came up in the business with Benoit in the mid-1980s.

Steiner said he took "every supplement I could" coming up. "It wasn't a controlled substance then." But Steiner stopped. "The benefits vs. my long-term goals went different ways."

He retired several years ago when his body started aching and he was asked to go back on the road 20 days a month. It was a scary moment. "There's no pension, it's what you save, " he said. "It's over and that's it. Once you are in the limelight and get a taste of the crowd, [some wrestlers] can't let it go. A lot of guys have trouble making that transition."

As is Lex Luger.

Seeking stability

Luger, a Buffalo native, banged around in the Canadian Football League and the United States Football League as an offensive lineman before trying his hand in a Florida wrestling circuit.

Luger still looks good as he sits behind a desk at Western Hills Baptist Church in Kennesaw. His face is tanned and heavily creased, the body lean and his biceps still resemble bowling balls.

But when he gets up to walk, he hobbles like he's 80. He has put in for hip surgery with Social Security.

Luger was as big as they came in the 1990s and rolled through millions of dollars, he said.

Life on the circuit was exciting and exhausting. Some years he was on the road 300 days a year. There were 5 a.m. flights, daytime gym work, shows at night, parties in some hotel or penthouse.

And then repeat again and again.

He needed help to keep up with the pace.

"Steroids were there as a shortcut to get size," he said. And then there's the pain from the never-ending body slams and pile drivers. "You start with a painkiller for bumps and bruises. And then you need more. It's never enough."

Those on the circuit were a family, "a dysfunctional family" he said. Everyone wants a piece of a superstar. "There's a lot of leeches, losers, cruisers and abusers."

"I found no matter how hard you chase it, it's never quite enough," he said. "Money makes you more comfortable being miserable."

Luger's fall was hard and quick. He got divorced and in 2003 he made an early morning call to Cobb County 911 saying his girlfriend, Elizabeth Hulette, known on the wrestling circuit as Miss Elizabeth, had passed out.

She was taken to Kennestone Hospital, where she died. The autopsy showed a mix of alcohol, painkillers and tranquilizers in her system.

He was arrested for possessing three kinds of steroids found in the home. Later, he got a DUI. "My life had fallen apart and I still didn't get it," he said.

A judge sentenced him to probation and revoked it in late 2005 when he went to Canada for a work appearance without court approval. An arrest and two strip searches later, the former Total Package was back in Cobb County Jail.

Luger credits Steve Baskin, the pastor of Western Hills Baptist, with pulling him from a terminal tailspin. The jail chaplain met Luger in early 2006 and sensed the former wrestler was spiritually wounded.

"Here's a guy who would have died or gone to prison," said Baskin. "He didn't have the skills to negotiate through his probation." Baskin said Luger had never learned to think for himself well enough to handle "regular" life experiences.

After Luger was freed, Baskin's friends — Doc Frady, pastor of Clarkdale First Baptist, and his wife, Jan — invited Luger to their home for a birthday party.

Luger learned the couple had been married 54 years and had lived in the same house for much of that time.

"It brought tears to my eyes," Luger recalls. "I didn't even know people like that existed anymore."

Luger lives in a spare bedroom in Baskin's apartment and is trying to figure out a path in life.

He'd like to help counsel those in trouble. Or maybe be a fitness coach. He even said he'd take clients out to the supermarket and show them what to buy. He's eager. He's uncertain. To him, regular life is a new business.

But in the wake of the lurid events that played out in suburban Atlanta last weekend, the Daily News has learned that another drug may have been part of a deadly cocktail that could have caused Benoit to snap. According to sources familiar with his drug regimen, Benoit was a known abuser of the drug gamma-hydroxybutyrate - or GHB, also known as the "date-rape drug." Benoit was known to have used GHB with former wrestler "Gentleman" Chris Adams when both men competed for the now-defunct World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in the late '90s. They used the drug together until Adams' death in 2001, according to sources who knew both men, and friends say Benoit was still using it as recently as two years ago.

"Benoit was a GHB user and he did it with Chris Adams," the source told The News. "The question is, does GHB use play into what happened (in Fayetteville)?"

Authorities are still waiting for toxicology results on Benoit - whose stage name was "The Canadian Crippler" - but would be unable to detect GHB in his system without a complicated test conducted on his hair sample. Still, Benoit's past use of GHB opens up the seamy side of the wrestling world - one filled with hulking men who pile-drive their opponents while scantily clad women parade nearby. Professional wrestling is a "sport" that has long been saddled with accusations of rampant steroid and drug use.

"Everybody in the wrestling business had a liking for GHB back (in the '90s)," says a Benoit family friend. "The whole business was on it." GHB, which increases sexual prowess and boosts energy among other effects, is a Schedule I controlled substance commonly referred to as the "date-rape drug" and is illegal. The Benoit family friend corresponded with Nancy Benoit just weeks before her death but noticed nothing unusual. "She told me, 'I'm driving Chris crazy, but it's a short trip,'" the friend says with a laugh. "I don't think this is a monster acting out. I really don't buy that."

If Benoit was indeed still using GHB - or if he was trying to kick a habit and suffering from withdrawal - it is likely he would have become violent.

"You see guys that are on (GHB) who go on rages," says Trinka Porrata, a retired Los Angeles police detective who is president of the non-profit Project GHB and who has counseled and detoxed GHB addicts, including several professional wrestlers. "But another possibility, which is more likely, is GHB withdrawal. If (Benoit) tried to stop using it and went into withdrawal, that would explain the bizarre behavior - the text messages, the Bible and the suicide especially. You can suffer a terrible depression coming off this stuff. It's not a quit cold turkey drug."

Porrata adds that it is not uncommon for GHB users to add methamphetamine into the mix, and that meth abuse often contributes to bizarre acts involving religion.

"The question everybody asks is, 'How in the hell could you kill your son?' Well, in a meth psychosis, your son could be the devil. That can happen quite easily," says Porrata.

Porrata says that the more severe state of GHB withdrawal - as opposed to addiction - requires at least a 14-day detox period under the care of a physician or health professional. She says the suffering is more intense and debilitating than coming off a heroin addiction. "There's sweating, your blood pressure rises in days one and two," Porrata says. "Then the psychosis starts. Days four, five and six are the worst. You hallucinate and there can often be violence accompanied with it. By day 11, the head starts to clear, but you are left with an intense depression."

Says Porrata: "We try to put things in our own terms, 'Well, I couldn't kill my own child.' Yeah, but if you were on GHB or were psychotic, a mental illness or (something) drug-induced, it's not a rational act. It doesn't excuse it, but you can't explain it on your own moral values."

Reports are that Benoit hung himself with 240 pounds of weights, but he was over 220, so that would have been a very slow and painful death... they talked about how since he had a day or two to contemplate what he did, and an empty bottle of wine was found next to his body, perhaps he wanted to die as painfully as possible.

Chris and Nancy had marital problems of varying degrees from the beginning...

The deaths of Johnny Grunge (tight friends) as well as of course Eddie's affected him...

He had recently complained to Alvarez about muscleheads getting pushes/called up from developmental instead of wrestlers with passion...

Benoit and Eddie were two wrestlers who never thought there matches were good enough, always underplayed them even if they were great; even Eddie would say a couple were great, but Benoit rarely if ever...

Superstar Billy Graham was on in Hour Two and talked a lot about the effects of low testosterone, how that can be 'deadly' and cause massive depression - also how all of these deaths must have been a toll (Graham also said something about a conversation he had with Dean Malenko who said Benoit was spacing out during some conversation in Japan, but I didn't catch the timing of that one)...

Eddie Guerrero, Johnny Grunge, Brian Hildebrand, (not to mention Victor Maher, Owen Hart, Badnews Allen, Brian Pillman) were all close with Benoit or came up into wrestling with him...

Graham says they do in fact prescribe HGH for adults to inject children; just like with insulin.

Changes being suggested to Vince... everything from making mental therapy available to rotating time off (can still work TV, but stay off the house show schedule), etc. Of course, a wrestler who wanted to get therapy (even if it was confidential, everything in wrestling gets out eventually) might feel it would adversly affect his push...

A caller asked Alvarez if there were any recent reports of Benoit blowing up and he said that yes, at ECW after that tag match that fell apart, he went backstage gave everyone a brow-beating, but that was his role as the veteran in the match.

So, you're saying they're cocksucker media whores?

The Associated Press - ATLANTA

The personal doctor of pro wrestler Chris Benoit turned himself in Monday to face a federal charge in connection with a federal drug probe, the doctor's attorney said.

Attorney Manny Arora said Dr. Phil Astin will face a single charge involving improperly prescribing medication.

Astin was expected to appear later in the day at a hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Linda Walker. Often in the federal system charges are disclosed at the first court appearance.

Arora had said Astin would come to the federal courthouse on his own, and said he wanted his client to be at the courthouse in case charges were filed.

Federal drug agents have taken over the probe into whether Astin, improperly prescribed testosterone and other drugs to Benoit before he killed his wife and son and committed suicide in his suburban Atlanta home last month. State prosecutors and sheriff's officials are overseeing the death investigation.

Meanwhile, the state prosecutor in the Benoit investigation said Monday he currently has no plans to file criminal charges against anyone in the case.

"From our standpoint, I have no reason to believe there will be any criminal charges at the current time," Fayette County District Attorney Scott Ballard told the AP. "What the federal government is going to do, it will be up to them."

Investigators have conducted two raids at Astin's west Georgia office since last week. Among other things, investigators were looking for Benoit's medical records to see whether he had been prescribed steroids and, if so, whether that prescription was appropriate, according to a law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity because records in the case remain sealed.

Astin prescribed testosterone for Benoit, a longtime friend, in the past but has not said what, if any, medications he prescribed when Benoit visited his office June 22, the start of the weekend when the killings occurred.

"It would be our belief and understanding that the federal authorities were looking for patient files and the computers that the files may be contained in to determine if prescriptions were written improperly," Arora said.

Ballard said federal authorities already were involved in similar type investigations.

"Because the feds are involved, you don't have the venue issues that we would have if we were to do it," Ballard said of the drug probe.

Meanwhile, toxicology tests on Benoit's body have not yet been completed, Ballard said.

Anabolic steroids were found in Benoit's home, leading officials to wonder whether the drugs played a role in the killings, which took place two weekends ago. Some experts believe steroids can cause paranoia, depression and violent outbursts known as "roid rage."

"We're still asking questions and searching for answers with regard to the death so we can tie up loose ends," Ballard said. "It just seems irresponsible not to pursue any suggestion that we were incorrect about it being a murder-suicide. But all of the evidence up to now points to us being correct."

Ballard said finding a motive in the case remains elusive.

"I think it will always be undetermined as to 'Why?'" Ballard said. "I think it's because there can't be any satisfactory reason why you kill a 7-year-old."

Authorities have said Benoit strangled his wife and 7-year-old son, placing Bibles next to their bodies, before hanging himself on the cable of a weight-machine in his hom

sean hannity is a piece of shit.

I dont think beating a woman is right.
Running that bitch over with a truck, now thats right!

I had to stop watching that show awhile back.....he is such a fucking pompous ass. in fact i have one of his books....I think i will throw it away tonight....that'll make me feel better.

DeMott was making perfect sense.
He was not defending Chris, and was trying to point out exactly what I said in my earlier post about how these people all supposedly knew stuff, yet did fuck all about it.
As for that dumb bitch and her "gag order"........how many years has she been out of WWE?
Sounds like she just wants to piggy back this tragedy for a bit of media exposure, and a way to get back at Austin (and thats not a defense of Austin and his woman beating ways).

If the news breaking today that Chris Benoit was being supplied with ten months worth of anabolic steroids every three to four weeks by Dr. Phil Astin turns out to be accurate, this will make World Wrestling Entertainment look extremely bad stemming from their press release comments last week.

U.S. Attorney David Nahmias reported that on average, Benoit was reportedly getting a ten-month supply of anabolic steroids every three to four weeks during a period from May 4, 2006 to May 9, 2007 from Dr. Astin. So, the April 10, 2007 WWE drug test that Benoit passed was right in the middle of that time period, making earlier claims by WWE look like a joke now to the media and a huge blow to the company overall.

Records are showing that Dr. Astin prescribed over 1 million doses of numerous drugs over the last two years, many of which were prescription painkillers and anabolic steroids. Many of the prescriptions were un-dated, which is illegal. - Said one federal agent about Dr. Phil Astin: "Dr. Astin allegedly prescribed these drugs like candy. Dirty doctors should be on notice that they face federal prosecution and federal prison time."

The early reaction to this news has to be complete credibility loss for WWE when it comes to the company's Wellness Policy. And with Benoit more than likely being tested throughout the year, it is pretty much impossible to have any form of confidence in the drug policy with the release of this information contradicting everything. It should be noted that Benoit was off for many months in 2006 and likely was not tested by WWE during that period, but it's believed he was tested at least four times minimum during a period where he was taking very heavy doses of anabolic steroids based on the timeline provided by investigators today.

It's now been made public that Benoit was arguing with his wife Nancy over his increased use of steroids at the same time he was subject to a drug testing policy. WWE announcing that Benoit passed a drug test on April 10 is something that can no longer hold up among public opinion now that these facts have been released, especially with it taking place well into the beginning of the Wellness policy being implemented. There are numerous possibilities on how Benoit may have been passing tests. Either WWE's testing is very flawed, Benoit found a way to beat the tests or the drug tests were a cover (although that could be disputed with wrestlers such as Chris Masters and Joey Mercury being subject to them not long ago).

Dave Meltzer provided an excellent commentary on this situation saying quote: "This is the first time when I truly fear that wrestling as we know it not only will be undergoing great changes, but that as bad as Vince McMahon's reputation is in some circles, and even with his history of rebounding from negatives, this will tarnish it to a level that he may never live to fully turn around. There will be a far increased number of cries in the media over the next week, which have already started, to do something about the industry. Between the advertisers, sponsors, and those action figures with the muscular physiques, this is not a story going away soon."

Like I wrote before, just take a look at all the mutant steroid freaks on the roster over the last 20 years. That's the real evidence that the "Wellness Policy" is a sham.