There is, his sister-in-law Sandra has pretty much confirmed that he had other issues that had built up. Obviously for privacy reasons she isn't going to disclose exactly what but along with the CTE it clearly damaged his psyche hugely.
@Death Adder Not for me. When Bret left WWF and the Hart Foundation disbanded, it turned into tits and ass crash TV. I tried to stick with WCW afterward but it was just a mess, so I stopped watching after about a year or so.
@@ZBR_ProXP My Uncle felt similarly to you. At that time in from late 1997 to 1999, I mostly watched WWF Shotgun and Heat where it had a lot of the midcard guys I liked (Val Venis, The Brood, Droz, Faarooq, Tiger Ali Singh, Kaientai, Kurrgan, Headbangers, etc.), and it recapped enough Raw stuff for me to be in touch. The 2 hour Raw show itself had too much talking. When I took an effort to watch the full Raws in early 1999 when "Dr. Death" Steve Williams returned (my all-time favorite wrestler as a die-hard AJPW fan), there was just too much gaga in general. It was all Austin, Undertaker, and the whole Stephanie kidnapping angle & Road Dogg stuff. Talking, talking, talking... I just wanted to see wrestling with not-to-convoluted storylines. When all those midcard guys got phased-out, I gradually stated losing interest in WWF in January 2000, and stopped watching in April 2000. Then, it became even more talking than 1999... I remember Dr. Death in some interview joked and called the companies "World Talking Federation" and "World Championship Talking" sometime in very late 1999 or 2000.
@@DTskater16 In my case, I stopped watching WWE between January to April 2000, mainly because there was too much talking in the show, wasn't a fan of Stephanie McMahon's heel stuff, and all of the midcarders I liked (basically the "WWF Attitude career mode" roster) got phased-out. The biggest one for me though was no sign of "Dr. Death" Steve Williams returning to the WWF, my all-time favorite wrestler. He happily found work in January 2000 in All Japan (AJPW) and I more or less switched to them. I wasn't originally a WWE fan, I was an AJPW fan and WCW fan starting March 1994. But when WWF Shotgun started airing on WLUK Fox 11 (Wisconsin) in mid 1997, I was drawn into the colorful midcard. Too Sexy Brian Christopher, Marc Mero, Nation Faarooq, Droz, Val Venis, Yamaguchi-era Kaientai, Gangrel, Tiger Ali Singh, Oddities, Headbangers, etc. were among my favorites. They all started getting used poorly and/or disappeared from TV by the time Vince Russo left in late 1999. By early 2000, I got heavily invested again in All Japan (AJPW), where Dr. Death, Bart Gunn and Vader (the old-school types of wrestlers I like) found full-time work & main event TV time after their WWF runs. Apart from WWF Metal, and the stuff my Dad and Grandma kept showing me (who still watch even today) I haven't watched WWE since. WWE and AEW aren't my type of promotion, and I like to see main events like Dr. Death vs. Mitsuharu Misawa, Bart Gunn vs. Keiji Muto, etc. with a colorful "Dreamcast game"-style midcard to fill the show, with say 8~10 minute matches and 2~3 minute promos for the storytelling. Jimmy Hart's XWF was heading in that right direction that I liked, and he also wrote WCW Saturday Night (a show I loved), but too bad his XWF went out before it had a chance.
I used to think to myself when CB was doing his signature match-ending move by giving his opponent a flying headbutt from the top turnbuckle, it seemed like it hurt him as much or more than the other guy. I now wonder if all those headbutts may have lead to being concussed too much and brain damage.
Does anyone remember Chris Jericho vs Benoit matches on RAW in the early 2000s? Benoit dove to headbutt Jericho and Jericho recovered and held up a chair for Benoit to land on headfirst. I defintively cringed at that spot, there was no way that didn't seriously hurt him. He was doing these spots every week. Him ending up with brain damage was not surprising to me after seeing him wrestle during that time period.
@@rdrouynrivgood point. And that's only what we saw televised.. Can only imagine those numbers multiplying rather quickly after adding in house shows.
Paul is right in that wwe had known before they went on the air with the memorial show that WWE knew that it was at the very least being treated as a double murder suicide. The book who is referring to is by Irv Mushnick
I appreciate Paul talking so candidly about Chris Benoit. People need to understand how brain injuries can completely change people. What a horrific tragedy. As for how much the WWE knew about it, Obviously i have no idea, but watching as a fan, the Raw tribute show had a different feel over the course of the show. Almost as information was coming in indicating Chris may have done the murders. I dont think Vince would have talked so glowingly of Chris if he already knew what he had done. The night after that was the last time they mentioned Chris' name. Oh and one last thing, all major corporations are experts at deflecting blame, not just WWE. And most businesses see employees as replaceable as well.
Thank you Paul man. I really love you for that. I think everyone, who's mentally going through things, can relate, that sometimes you're not your normal self. And I think Chris was one of the best human beings in the wrestling business, from what I heard at least. I was a big fan of his, Eddie and Rey also, because they shared something. Something, that you could even see on TV. And that triggered me. All 3 of them were big role models for my life. For me, all that happened doesn't make sense. And it's just so sad. Imagine him still being here today, as well as his family of course. But sadly, he isn't. 😥
he does kinda have a point of there being more to the chris story because this isn't the first time some weird shit like that could have happened I mean look at the jimmy snuka situation
Vince covered that up for 40 years. The beniot thing sucks and wwe claims no responsibility for head injury and all wrestling promotion claimed ignorance on it but they are all responsible for all the overdoes and brian damage in my opinion
@@chanced1313they’re not responsible, Chris was a protester for 15 years before he went to wwf. He willingly entered a business which is based around violence, scripted or not. He willingly performed high risk and impact moves, took unprotected chair shots willingly, etc etc etc. WWF is not responsible for a wrestler who had injuries from a career that involved numerous companies killing his wife and son for whatever reason it was
I go on any other channels on this planform messaging anything positive about Benoit, I get replies back "go to hell. he can rot in hell." Something to that extent. It sucks that his life ended like that but I always hear from people who actually knew him only say positive things about him before the tragedy which gives me hope that it was just major brain damage that caused it.
If he didnt have people that liked him would that make him a true monster? It seems like its possible, to be a horrible person and have friends. Most people actually only liked Chris because he was good at wrestling and was intense... I guess he also like laughing at people throwing up, that usually made him feel good. When your goal is to be like Dynamite Kid, and you end up doing what Dynamite kid threatened to do, it really does expose something. I guess Benoit was more damaged? Instead of trying to protect Benoit for his madness, people should rather give respect to Dynamite Kid for not following through with it, unlike Benoit. Yet it seems like people make excuses for Benoit, Dynamite didnt actually murder his family and gets more hate. Its a terrible human condition to feel sorry for a guy who literal hero threatened to kill his family, than to actually do what he said he would do? Its crazy and of course it had to be Benoit.
I remember that texas loop weekend that Benoit missed. I went to what was a smackdown super card in beaumont, Tx. I believe benoit and flair was suppose to wrestle but it was Changed and instead Kenny dixtra subbed for benoit in that match against flair
I can't imagine what it must be like for his friends and those who were around him daily, seeing him go from a stand up great guy, to what happened. I think for those in that position though, there's a bias in using CTE as a reason and almost an excuse. While I have no doubt there was some serious issues with the state of his brain, those text messages and phone calls to Chavo before and between the murders suggest rational thought. Yes, the brain issues may have made him snap, but there was still calculation involved. In regards to what WWE knew, I wouldn't be shocked in the slightest. They're far from an ethical company, and Vince is a vile human. That said, I wouldn't read so much into a tribute show being voluntary. Most work places I know would offer the same if a friend and his family died under such circumstances - although I'm aware workers rights aren't quite the same in the US as other major developed nations.
4:34 London obviously can't say too much. The office definitely knew about it. Chris wikipedia page literally changed and, they said it was from WWE Headquarters and, they put the blame on the 19 year old at the time. Let's not forget Chavo changed his story many times saying how he didn't hear anything in the background then, another story he says he heard ppl at the door and then heard tussling sounds in the background. He also said Chris called him back 3hrs later which the number 3 is a mason number anywho, Chris called him back out of breath and Chavi he loves him. Again this is all Chavo's words. One more thing, Chris literallychanged his routes to his house bc, he was getting followed home. Vince literally covered up what Jimmy Superfly to his gf, Vince hands aren't clean at all. Didn't mean to go full "conspiracy" but, Paul literally can't say too much.
Absolutely because there are eyes and ears everywhere. You say too much and they silence you too. They can’t have that. Paul is a smart man he values his life. Chris’s death is by far the most controversial incident to have ever occurred in pro-wrestling period. The Jimmy snuka incident is a close second. You see when details or information are sketchy, when things are modified to fit a certain narrative, when witnesses (Chavo) or victims change their story then you know something is up. However it’s human nature to remain ignorant. Most people would rather accept a lie then accept the truth because the truth is truly a hard pill to swallow. The wrestling industry is so dark it makes hell seem pleasant.
Tracy Smothers on Chris Benoit. Search it and listen closely. OPERATION RAW DEAL. Benoit was made to watch his family murdered and he was then tortured to death. You wouldnt abuse your wife like that and use a Submission hold on her and also on your Child!!! Its bollocks what they say happened. Also watch those around it after who did the whole Publicity stuff. It was established a Murder Suicide INSTANTLY!!!! HOW????? No. I dont buy it and the Audio Clips when hes calling people up and in the background you can hear torture sounds and crying screaming. Benoit couldnt call out for help... Dean Malenko also was in charge of the show for ECW...SO WHO DID HE CALL??? people said he didnt call and he did call for people. People want to act like they didnt know anything?! No. It was a set up and OPERATION RAW DEAL . . .it was a thing for 18months, it was woth Drug Busts for Steroids and it wasnt just WWE... Tracy Smothers on Chris Benoit details a lot ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Iuly0m2An0g.htmlsi=alBUl2myc4vCCBLd Operation Raw Deal.
I know in past interviews he's made light of the situation especially that shoot interview w/ brian kendrick where he tells the bob evans story but at the end of the day you can see ho grateful he was for guys like benoit, someone of similar stature, sort of looking out for him, london seems like a good dude who got looked down on by upper management, id like to think that now w/ triple h running things theres more of a chance for him to come back for one off appearances maybe to train the newer talent.
Benoit was one of the very best. He got over because of his intensity, his ability to be so crisp, he was the absolute top 5 in ring worker to ever do it. The end is tragic, but he had a disease of mental health. But he was not a bad person till that moment of existence
Bret always said this in 1997 we re just circus animals and when they're done with us they take us behind the tent and put a bullet in our head....... Really sad and disrespectful to the talent that make them millions of dollars!
Interesting what he said here if WWE did have any indication of what Chris did before the details came out that changes the whole investigation they are responsible too.
A good friend of mine who I grew up with, I got found dead in a car in a lake, the autopsy show that he was high on crystal meth and opioids. I knew this guy for years, I had seen him just a couple of weeks before. He seemed like everything was great. He's one of the nicest guys you ever meet in your life. I could have never imagined that that would happen to him The moral of the story is, you don't always know people even though you think you do
Unless u were or there was a camera recording it we will never know if he did it or was murdered along with the others. The police botched the investigation they were amatuers and are people so naive not to know there has been many many miscarriges of justice/police getting it wrong before Just because there was no evidence if 3rd party involvement doesn't mean there wasn't. They hardly even looked for evidence, they already had the conclusion drawn up before the investigating even began. Not saying he didn't do everuthing attributed to him but i cannot say veyond all reasonable doubt that another person/s were If you listened to the Puerto Rico police & there was nobdy there to witness Brusier Brody's murder. Say he did if when nobody was there, everyone had already left except Gonzalez & Brody. They would tell you a crazed fan did it. Gonzalez even officaly got away with it in court. For all we know even if it wasn't an intruder/s, Nancy killed Daniel then Chris killed her. As if u believe the official conclusion then SOMETHING had to spark murderous rage when he was in a perfecrly calm, normal mood just mere hours before. Just because he's a man and she's a woman everyone acts like its got to be him because a man is wicked but a woman has to be an angel... BS! Plenty of female scumbags out there who've done evil things. Or not planned but just fits of rage & frustation or mental illness & reacting to a crying baby or small child by shaking it & accidenrly breaking it's neck. Scary thing is how many have got away with stuff especialy 100 years ago right up til even now. Police & authorities etc literaly thought it was impossible for a woman to murder. One thing is for certain steriods had nothing to do with it! There was no steriods in his system
Two details related to the case that i only discovered recently and barely see anyone mention is that the Friday that this all suppsedly started, Chris and his family were having a cookout in their backyard and they had the pool company over there cleaning their pool while they were outback grilling. And Chris even asked the cleaners about future appointments if they could come on a day other than a Friday since i guess that was a busy day for them typically. Also, the man who was the lead medical examiner of Georgia at the time of this case was forced to resign a few years ago over corruption. There was also claims he covered up another murder of a teenager who was supposedly killed by a retired FBI agents sons.
All of us have the capacity to committ violence. Saying that Benoit was a good guy means nothing, "good" guys, and gals committ atrocities everyday. I think he killed his wife after a fight. Perhaps he sat there in disbelief. When reality of what he had done set in, he looked up the Bible story. He didn't want his son to lnow what he did, and thought something bad would happen if he was left without a mother or a father. What a rational person would do is to call the police. Call your nearest family, then if you wanted to go out then do it. But he sat there three days with his wife's decomposing corpse. Two days with his son's dead body. Then lastly sent out texts so the police could come discover everything after he killed himself. The second murder , and suicide was premeditated. The first was a rage killing imo. How good a wrestler he was, or how nice he was had no effect on what he did that weekend.
Benoit had a history of domestic abuse, too. I could believe the whole thing was premeditated. According to Nancy's sister, Nancy didn't just hit her head after an errand shot, or anything; she was brutally, violently murdered with an intent to kill. It was not an accident, according to her. Chris Benoit was not a good person.
1:20 to quote new Jack, "I can show you a hundred times that Chris Benoit took a chair shot, and I can show you a hundred times that Chris Benoit put his hands in front of his face to not take the chair shot" He cannot imagine that this person who he liked could be such an evil monster. But he was
For years after i wanted to believe it was CTE that changed him and caused this tragedy. While that may have played a role in it, there's a ton of evidence that shows premeditation which requires some thinking and making a deliberate choice. Like Googling the bible passage about the resurrection of a child and how to break your neck and kill yourself. Or the knife under his son's bed, bibles being placed by the bodies. All of this combined with his very strange behavior and it's obvious this nice guy had a very dark side. It pains me to say it about him as no one was a bigger Benoit fan than me. No doubt there was so many factors that caused this tragedy. I always felt like it was an argument with him and Nancy that turned violent. But at the end of the day if you choose to kill your family and yourself you are a monster.
@@robvarley3091 I'm saying if he had the brain of an 85 year old Alzheimer's patient, there's no way he could've premeditated a murder suicide. My grandfather had Alzheimer's and I can tell you first hand when you are that far gone it's a struggle to do simple every day tasks like shaving or showering. Yet, we are to believe Benoit was so far gone from CTE after committing this horrible tragedy? Like I said I was a huge fan of his and still think he was one of the best in ring workers ever. But most fans confuse that with the monster he was. And are content to make excuses for his actions. While I agree there was a lot of contributing factors at work with this situation, ultimately he made the choice to do what he did.
after seeing this i kinda believe him that they knew more then they were leading on. only cause vince has done stuff like this in the past with bailing people out or covering for them. the jimmy snuka stuff is first thing that comes to mind
I've said this so many times: it isn't in any wrestler's interest to portray Chris Benoit as a good guy if he absolutely was not. A select bunch of people knew him, and that's up to them to share stories on time they spent with him. As Paul mentions, we don't really know what's going on in our brains at any particular moment. When tragic incidents such as the Benoit family double murder suicide happen, it's very often a matter of seconds when your brain lapses and lethal consequences ensue. Reality then sets in, and sometimes you're left without a solution. 😢
I dunno, anger can be controlled, im assuming maybe his wife was leaving him. His control he thought he had was gone and there really is no excuse, id rather him beat the shit outta some wrestler for a botch than kill his family but it is what it is, and when you understand how he got with his wife, you can understand that she was probably going to leave him especially when he wasn't getting help and was heading down a very bad road. I do think that the illusion that Chris Benoit was in complete control, is what set him off. Noone is in complete control and it shouldn't set you off like this. Also keep in mind Benoit was always weird before any of the injuries.
@@Christmas_Milk Does this make it anymore of a tragedy, I feel off a horse when i was a kid and smashed my head on a rock, and was in a serious highway accident as a child, if I did something terrible would you use those incidents to defend me? People only do this with people they admire or like the rest they dun give a crap about. Im sure lots of people walking around with brain injuries but they all are not killing there wife than child, than taking a cowards way out, thats what ill remember Benoit for. A guy who brain was functioning enough to know he messed up bad, so instead of dealing with the outcome, he kills himself. Its pretty common behaviors by terrible people that do terrible things. To end own life after ruining others. This guy admired the Dynamite Kid, and Dynamite kid was deranged, but never did what Benoit did...... Maybe when your hero "Dynamite Kid" is messed up regardless of how well he wrestle, Benoit shoulda not sadly went down an even darker path, history always seem to rewrite itself.
@@csho6512 You said he was always weird. I'm telling you why that was. I didn't know you had a brain injury, and now that I do. I understand why you can't understand that everyone's brain works differently. While people say he was weird, they usually talk about how good of a guy he was unless they were rookies who were bullied by him, and the rest of the roster in the early 2000s. The bullying was a culture thing in the 2000s, and was simply how it was. Benoit was probably bullied worse than anyone he ever bullied. Imagine growing up with the Harts who outside of Bret, and Owen were absolutely batshit insane. Going to Japan where the young boys were actually abused. In WCW Benoit was even bullied by Scott Hall, by Scott pissing on his boots ect. Benoit screamed at people. That was about as far as he went.
Well I mean there’s never been a shortage of wrestlers who worked with him speaking on how solid of a guy he always had been and how him being such a solid guy all those years was part of why the events were so shocking because he was basically the last dude anybody would have ever predicted doing it because he had always demonstrated an immense love for his family and treasured the time he could spend with them so when it was discovered that he killed them ir was that much more shocking than an event like this would be to begin with. That has been consistently said by many since the discovery of the events and there have been so many dudes openly speak on trying to understand how he eventually did this. But it seems one of the most likely contributors to what happened was the severe trauma to his brain. In the years since Benoit we’ve seen many cases of guys who suddenly flip behavior that people don’t understand be found to have CTE following their death, often being paranoia and unstable mood swings with eventual suicide. But there have also been some football players who come to mind who murdered, committed suicide were found to have CTE so Benoit wasn’t a solitary occurrence that is unreasonable to attribute to some extent to his CTE. But he was one of the very first occurrences before much was known about what the trauma can cause. But it shouldn’t be seen poorly to acknowledge who he had always been and reflect on how opposite it was of his end as long as it isn’t used to pump a conspiracy absolve blame.
And thts the reason he killed everyone. He knew once nancy wanted divorce his amazing famioy is done and he didnt know how to cope with it as he had mental anger issues
To this day I can watch anything to do with Chris (after Eddie died) & I can FEEL the pain radiating out of him. 😭 I have no doubt that CTE took the man everyone knew away. I knew Dave Mirra since he was 16 & cte made him a different person too. I would have never suspected Dave would commit suicide. This is the same thing. Vince McMahon should be ashamed of himself.
@@wrestlingthenandnow - you’re very welcome! I worry about my bmx friends that were concussed multiple times & unfortunately I think we’ll hear this story more in the future. 😢
I have never really heard anyone say that Chris showed signs of any mental decline before these things happened. No stories about mixing up names, dates, being forgetful or anything like that but then one day he just totally snaps? But then comes back to and calls Chavo and gives directions via text?
According to his wife's sister, I think, or somebody else in his extended family, Chris had gotten very paranoid in the weeks leading up to the crime. He was doing things like driving strange routes to avoid people, mumbling about people coming after him and stuff like that. I think he was also snapping at Nancy, too. There were definitely reports of his mental deterioration. It didn't happen overnight, but I'm sure those things were intermittent, too.
Could you Imagine if the Real Truth came out about Benoit being Innocent, like he didn’t kill them, and the WWE makes an Announcement and let’s out Benoit’s History and Legacy back into the World??? Talk about the Biggest “We’re Sorry About That!!!”!!!
I used to love chair shots until JBL got that pop. Ge lived, but that still makes me cringe. I can only imagine what happens to the brain over time. Like too conplex to mess with.
The talk changed from calling everything drug induced into the science behind chronic brain trauma. Let the dead rest in peace and learn from their stories.
Benoit cannot be forgiven. He should have / could have taken his own life and sparred his child, and Nancy. But, he couldn't do that. Because he was a coward and a narcissist The most telling thing is, Nancy and Chris had problems- that everyone knew about. And, he had stated multiple times that he had to work until the day he died because of his previous divorce. He wanted her dead, or had an accident during a fight- then like most narcissists, he had to end everything before suffering the ultimate humiliation.
They were very close friends and I understand Chris taking the loss hard, but even Vickie said she often ended consoling Chris because he cried about Eddie regularly. That's a bit too much, but grief is complicated so who knows.
@@GameTime-yj6qv didn’t Benoit keep a diary after Eddie died in which he wrote to Eddie about his day and how he missed him? I thought it was a little weird. It might be a way to deal with grief.
"Those of us who knew Chris are completely delusional" is what he should say. You don't want to imagine somebody who you thought you knew that you didn't know them at all
People like to excuse what happened with CTE, however, Benoit used to force his son to get leg lengthening surgeries and injected him with growth hormone/steroids. That sounds pretty abusive to me and this happened for years before how things ended.
the end is important, but yet Paul seems like he still cant speak 'freely'... odd. Circus Animal is almost too kind. I love that Paul shared that with David as well...makes me happy. I dont think CTE is even a thing, but that's just my (well researched opinion). Im not saying that it doesnt have an effect on a person to get hit in the head repeatedly, but all is not what it seems. . . its worth talking about
Separating Chris work life and family life is an excuse, CTE is an excuse. He killed his 5 year old son. He’s garbage and plenty of other WWE WCW guys get that. Like wrestlers and football players from 60’s, 70’s and 80’s didn’t have CTE and did they snap out and crippled Crossface their kid to death? Nah
I wonder what book about Chris Benoit Paul London mentioned in the interview? I don't think there is some conspiracy that WWE knew or talked to Chris after the first murder. They had shows that were voluntary before like the Owen Hart show on RAW.
