Chris Benoit Thought.

[RVDmark]

Regarding the death of Benoit I just had a thought. Is it possible that Vince knew the circumstances surrounding Benoit's death before he aired the memorial raw?
Could it be that Vince did that tribute show in full knowledge or at least in some knowledge of foul play?

This is a serious question as in the UK the coverage of his death was pretty limited.
Did Vince air a tribute to him one last time before he HAD to denounce him? From a business point of view, disowning Benoit is pretty much his only choice once the details come out.

Any thoughts?

[.44 Magdalene]

How the hell would he know?


Nobody else seemed to. I mean, I'm as big of a conspiracy theorist as anyone, but I doubt the party van would tell Vince McMahon anything that they didn't tell the rest of the media / assorted interested big money outlets.

[Dorkchop]

I'm sure the thought that Chris killed his family then himself crossed Vince's, and everyone else's mind, but with no real facts yet, he did the best thing possible.

[Kane Knight]

How the hell would he know?


Nobody else seemed to. I mean, I'm as big of a conspiracy theorist as anyone, but I doubt the party van would tell Vince McMahon anything that they didn't tell the rest of the media / assorted interested big money outlets.

Beyond that, why would he, logistically?

[RP]

Bob Sanders knew

[FourFifty]

Jesus Knew

[Indifferent Clox]

I knew. I think they should re air it, but edit out his face. and his name. lol

[Hanso Amore]

the idea that it was a homicide and SUICIDe didnt break until well after raw (Story broke at 3pm, 6 hours before raw. All that was known at raw is that all 3 were dead and murder was invloved)

The next morning they anounced the facts, and he was disowned.

[Kane Knight]

the idea that it was a homicide and SUICIDe didnt break until well after raw (Story broke at 3pm, 6 hours before raw. All that was known at raw is that all 3 were dead and murder was invloved)

The next morning they anounced the facts, and he was disowned.

I'd say it'd be naive to expect that nobody had any suspicions, given they themselves may have prompted investigation into the Benoit residence....

[Nark Order]

Wikipedia knew.

[BigDaddyCool]

He knew something wasn't right, but he didn't know the exent or what happen. But he probably had a a little insight but was trying to give Benoit the benifit of the doubt.

[Kane Knight]

Wikipedia knew.

Vince doesn't check the internet, though.

[Xero]

I've heard that there were rumors that it was murder/suicide around the 10 o'clock hour.

[RVDmark]

How the hell would he know?


Nobody else seemed to. I mean, I'm as big of a conspiracy theorist as anyone, but I doubt the party van would tell Vince McMahon anything that they didn't tell the rest of the media / assorted interested big money outlets.

The point was that, as I said, my knowledge of the events (I'm in the UK) was pretty limited so I was wondering if he could have known, from what people say, apparently not.

Its not a conspiracy theory at all, if anything a decent act by Mcmahon. IMO.

[RVDmark]

Vince doesn't check the internet, though.

Oh yes he does:naughty:

[Jeritron]

I've heard that there were rumors that it was murder/suicide around the 10 o'clock hour.


I heard this too, and if I remember correctly the show took on a bit of a different tone. They didn't jump to conclusions and pull the plug, and stayed the course on the tribute...but I think the wrestlers talking changed their tone/suggestions an the Benoit tribute changed to The Benoit Family??

[Kane Knight]

I heard this too, and if I remember correctly the show took on a bit of a different tone. They didn't jump to conclusions and pull the plug, and stayed the course on the tribute...but I think the wrestlers talking changed their tone/suggestions an the Benoit tribute changed to The Benoit Family??

There were also rumors going around the internet specifically that the press conference to be held would announce that they suspected murder.

The point was that, as I said, my knowledge of the events (I'm in the UK) was pretty limited so I was wondering if he could have known, from what people say, apparently not.

Its not a conspiracy theory at all, if anything a decent act by Mcmahon. IMO.

That kind of is a conspiracy theory, though. It may be more benevolent than the aliens who run the world, 9-11, or the JFK assassination, but it's still a conspiracy theory.

[RGWhat316]

I heard this too, and if I remember correctly the show took on a bit of a different tone. They didn't jump to conclusions and pull the plug, and stayed the course on the tribute...but I think the wrestlers talking changed their tone/suggestions an the Benoit tribute changed to The Benoit Family??

I do remember William Regal being one of the ones who did suggest that Chris may have done it.

But I do like the fact that even when all the info was coming in, that Tuesday on ECW, Vince did not apologize for airing the tribute, only that they were moving on.

[Jeritron]

I don't think he should have, or had to. Even if they heard rumors halfway through the show that doesn't change the apparent facts. Those are that...they had no clue that afternoon and evening when they scheduled and began the tribute show, nor was it confirmed as anything more than rumors and grapevines later on in the night while the show was running.
The facts, if I recall, became facts sometime in the middle of the night or early in the morning (I'm on the east coast)

[Theo Dious]

Vince was in a bad situation. Apparently there were some whispers and rumors backstage that something particularly terrible had happened, and that Chris might have been the one who did it all... and yet, nobody really knew. If you're in Vince's shoes, first and foremost you have to cancel the show. You can't have your performers going out there in that mental state. A guy goes to the ring to wrestle in the mindframe that a coworker, possibly a close friend, might have just killed his family and himself, and he runs the risk of screwing something up and injuring himself or someone else. But what DO you do? You have to deliver a show. I doubt that picking a random rerun would satisfy USA, now would playing a random "best of" show. Given that the tribute show is the standard goods for an active guy who dies, you pretty much have to go with that. There may have been suspicions, but I don't think Vince or anyone KNEW what had happened at that point. How could they have? Yes, the evidence at hand (text messages and all) pointed to the notion that Chris had done something damn terrible, but until the confirmation came through, Vince had a damn hard choice. He could basically start the disownment of Benoit right there... and what would have happened if the three had died due to some freak gas leak or something? Or he could take the chance and praise a murderer. At the end of the day, I think the press for shitting on a dead innocent man would have been far worse than the press for praising the murderer (of course I'm leaving the steroid angle out of it there, since I don't think it really figured into the decision at hand on that night.)

[Theo Dious]

Additionally, please forgive the Alienoid-sized post. I've been drinking.

[RVDmark]

IS there a website or somewhere that has details on what happened, as opposed to speculation on what happened. Was whatever was in those text messages get revealed?

[Kane Knight]

IS there a website or somewhere that has details on what happened, as opposed to speculation on what happened. Was whatever was in those text messages get revealed?

I believe the contents of at least a couple of the messages even made it to CNN and the like.

[Savio]

Benoit was calling Vince on Saturday saying his family was throwing up blood. he prob thought they died of that.

[St. Jimmy]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=eFaWhwAdLSE

[Jeritron]

Benoit was calling Vince on Saturday saying his family was throwing up blood. he prob thought they died of that.

Well I remember looking forward to the Punk Benoit match and going online that night to see results, and seeing that Benoit wasn't there due to a family emergency.
When I turned on Raw the next night and saw instantly that he had died, my inital reaction was that there was some kind of home invasion, or he came home and found them dead and killed himself, or something to that effect.
I didn't begin to wonder if he killed them until later on in the night.

That's just my testimony

[Kane Knight]

Well I remember looking forward to the Punk Benoit match and going online that night to see results, and seeing that Benoit wasn't there due to a family emergency.
When I turned on Raw the next night and saw instantly that he had died, my inital reaction was that there was some kind of home invasion, or he came home and found them dead and killed himself, or something to that effect.
I didn't begin to wonder if he killed them until later on in the night.

That's just my testimony

Yeah, but then again, you weren't backstage, you hadn't received the disturbing text messages, and you probably hadn't been kept in the loop as to upcoming details. They may have come to different conclusions due to different evidence presented to them. Especially folks close to the Benoit family.

Not saying anyone else did come to a different conclusion, but that there's a chance there was more to it to those involved.

[Jeritron]

I was just giving my recalling of the events.I know it's only worth a grain of salt, but I figured for the purposes of recalling the first 24 hours I'd throw it out there.