1 00:00:06,319 --> 00:00:08,420 Previously on Dark Side of the Ring. 2 00:00:08,640 --> 00:00:11,640 If you're a wrestling fan, how could you not be a fan of Chris Benoit's work? 3 00:00:11,840 --> 00:00:18,580 This is my favorite page because this is the love that Chris and Nancy 4 00:00:18,580 --> 00:00:19,558 always had. 5 00:00:19,560 --> 00:00:23,840 Chris was always very much a great father, very much about his family. He 6 00:00:23,840 --> 00:00:26,220 hero, you know? I looked up to him. 7 00:00:27,120 --> 00:00:33,100 I have never, ever seen a closer friendship as I did between Chris and 8 00:00:33,770 --> 00:00:35,510 Eddie Guerrero has passed away. 9 00:00:35,830 --> 00:00:38,130 My next thought was, oh my God, Chris. 10 00:00:38,710 --> 00:00:39,790 I love you, Eddie. 11 00:00:40,030 --> 00:00:41,030 He didn't handle it well. 12 00:00:41,370 --> 00:00:42,650 Let me just say it like that. 13 00:00:43,150 --> 00:00:46,490 Nancy started getting really worried. She's like, I'm really worried for 14 00:00:47,010 --> 00:00:49,070 I just had this really bad feeling. 15 00:00:49,390 --> 00:00:52,930 We have more for you now on a developing story in Fayette County, the deaths of 16 00:00:52,930 --> 00:00:54,490 a pro wrestler and his family. 17 00:00:55,030 --> 00:00:59,170 In the immediate wake of Chris Benoit's death, the world is desperately 18 00:00:59,170 --> 00:01:00,290 searching for answers. 19 00:01:00,970 --> 00:01:04,690 What comes to light goes beyond anything anyone could imagine. 20 00:01:04,910 --> 00:01:08,410 People just couldn't believe it, couldn't fathom that something like that 21 00:01:08,410 --> 00:01:11,810 happen. It can't be real. Like, where's my nephew? 22 00:01:12,210 --> 00:01:15,690 That can't have happened because the person that I knew... 23 00:01:15,900 --> 00:01:19,820 would not do this horrific thing. But I think this is going to be gigantic. 24 00:01:20,160 --> 00:01:21,580 This will affect WWE. 25 00:01:22,120 --> 00:01:26,120 Well, the question is, was he on steroids at this time? Did the blows to 26 00:01:26,120 --> 00:01:31,220 head Benoit received in the wrestling ring fundamentally change his brain? 27 00:01:31,740 --> 00:01:35,180 It really, really was the darkest time of my life. 28 00:01:56,170 --> 00:01:58,330 Fayette County, Georgia, it's a laid -back community. 29 00:01:58,550 --> 00:02:00,050 It's more of a family atmosphere. 30 00:02:02,130 --> 00:02:03,170 Not a whole lot of crime. 31 00:02:03,490 --> 00:02:04,890 It's pretty peaceful. 32 00:02:06,490 --> 00:02:09,690 My name is Larry Alden. I was with the Fayette County Sheriff's Office. 33 00:02:09,930 --> 00:02:13,550 I was lieutenant in charge of the shift that was working the day of the Benoit 34 00:02:13,550 --> 00:02:14,550 incident. 35 00:02:14,810 --> 00:02:17,390 I had been a detective for about 15 or 20 years. 36 00:02:18,770 --> 00:02:23,010 I'd probably see Chris Benoit once or twice a week at the gym, which was right 37 00:02:23,010 --> 00:02:24,010 in the middle of Fayetteville. 38 00:02:24,880 --> 00:02:28,600 He didn't talk a lot, and he was pretty focused on getting his workout in. 39 00:02:30,160 --> 00:02:34,100 I never heard anything about him. I didn't even know where he lived at until 40 00:02:34,100 --> 00:02:35,620 call came out on the radio that day. 41 00:02:36,220 --> 00:02:39,320 My name is Dennis Figg, and I run the security for World Wrestling, and one of 42 00:02:39,320 --> 00:02:41,200 our wrestlers that lives down there is missing. 43 00:02:41,740 --> 00:02:42,740 And what's his name? 44 00:02:43,540 --> 00:02:44,820 Chris Benoit. 45 00:02:45,740 --> 00:02:47,380 Okay, and he's a wrestler? 46 00:02:47,820 --> 00:02:51,480 Yes, he's a very religious gentleman, and yesterday he was supposed to show up 47 00:02:51,480 --> 00:02:53,880 at a pay -per -view and never got on the plane, never showed up. 48 00:02:54,280 --> 00:02:56,380 It's not a character for him. 49 00:02:56,800 --> 00:02:57,698 All right. 50 00:02:57,700 --> 00:03:00,840 We'll go ahead and send somebody out there to check on him. If you want to 51 00:03:00,840 --> 00:03:02,500 us back in like 45 minutes or so. 52 00:03:03,180 --> 00:03:05,340 If he's there, we'll tell him to give you a call. 53 00:03:07,660 --> 00:03:10,360 I was in my patrol car just riding around the county. 54 00:03:10,640 --> 00:03:14,020 It was pretty close to the area when the call went out. 55 00:03:15,400 --> 00:03:18,260 I wasn't thinking of anything other than a welfare check where maybe he was 56 00:03:18,260 --> 00:03:21,640 sick, maybe drunk, didn't really know what. 57 00:03:22,480 --> 00:03:26,720 I pulled up on scene about time the neighbor was walking over, and I walked 58 00:03:26,720 --> 00:03:29,920 to them, and I asked if she had seen Mr. Benoit or anybody. 59 00:03:31,300 --> 00:03:34,920 And she said, it's been three or four days since I've seen anybody over there. 60 00:03:35,540 --> 00:03:37,640 There was two large canines in the yard. 61 00:03:38,600 --> 00:03:40,680 If I remember correctly, they were German Shepherds. 62 00:03:40,960 --> 00:03:44,960 We asked her if there was any place she could put the dogs at so we could go up 63 00:03:44,960 --> 00:03:46,560 there and do the welfare check. 64 00:03:46,900 --> 00:03:50,800 And she said, oh, yeah, me and the dogs get along great. I feed them whenever 65 00:03:50,800 --> 00:03:51,800 they're out of town. 66 00:03:53,359 --> 00:03:57,380 and she jumped the fence, dogs right there with her. She walked them in there 67 00:03:57,380 --> 00:03:58,460 and never had to take a hold to them. 68 00:03:59,540 --> 00:04:03,760 It was taking a little longer than I thought it should take, but then she 69 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:06,780 running out the door screaming that Daniel's dead, Daniel's dead. 70 00:04:08,920 --> 00:04:12,980 I went from just being a regular welfare check, okay, we've got something more 71 00:04:12,980 --> 00:04:13,980 serious here. 72 00:04:21,660 --> 00:04:25,620 crossed the fence at that time, myself and Deputy Mundy, and we made entry 73 00:04:25,620 --> 00:04:27,460 through the side door, which she had left open. 74 00:04:28,520 --> 00:04:31,280 We drew our weapons, not knowing what was going to come upon. 75 00:04:33,220 --> 00:04:36,800 It was daylight, and they had plenty of windows in the house, so you had a lot 76 00:04:36,800 --> 00:04:37,800 of light coming in. 77 00:04:38,760 --> 00:04:40,600 There was an odor in the house. 78 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:45,840 And I looked over at Deputy Mundy and said, something is dead in here. 79 00:04:47,320 --> 00:04:51,100 There was a set of stairs going up to a bedroom. So we went up those steps. 80 00:04:51,550 --> 00:04:55,370 And sure enough, that's where the juvenile child was at, laying in bed. 81 00:04:56,190 --> 00:04:58,630 I noticed the child was laying on the bed, face down. 82 00:04:59,270 --> 00:05:01,450 Deputy Mundy said, do we need to start CPR? 83 00:05:01,850 --> 00:05:02,850 And I said, no. 84 00:05:03,070 --> 00:05:04,070 He'd passed away. 85 00:05:05,270 --> 00:05:08,150 We started clearing all the different rooms and doors. 86 00:05:08,690 --> 00:05:13,270 We found another room, and that's where we found Ms. Benoit at. 87 00:05:13,710 --> 00:05:17,870 She was laying on the floor, and she was wrapped up in a blanket or maybe a rug 88 00:05:17,870 --> 00:05:18,870 or something like that. 89 00:05:21,640 --> 00:05:26,480 Went downstairs to the basement area, which was a couple of large open rooms. 90 00:05:26,800 --> 00:05:29,020 And the last door we opened was the gym door. 91 00:05:29,840 --> 00:05:31,860 And that's where Mr. Benoit was at. 92 00:05:33,960 --> 00:05:39,400 Because of the mirrors and at the angle Deputy Mundy was at to my right, she saw 93 00:05:39,400 --> 00:05:43,580 the reflection at the far end of the room, which might have been 5, 7, 10 94 00:05:43,580 --> 00:05:45,280 away from where he actually was. 95 00:05:45,620 --> 00:05:50,020 And she started to say, show me your hands, Fayette County Sheriff's 96 00:05:51,520 --> 00:05:55,660 She could not see. He had cable from one of his weight machines around his neck 97 00:05:55,660 --> 00:05:56,960 and had some weights on it. 98 00:05:57,340 --> 00:06:00,220 That's when I told her, I said, he's sitting right here. He's passed away. 99 00:06:00,920 --> 00:06:04,560 The radio had called us, asked if everything was okay, and I told them on 100 00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:07,440 radio that it looked like it might be a homicide and suicide. 101 00:06:09,800 --> 00:06:14,740 It was within two or three minutes of us walking back outside that somebody had 102 00:06:14,740 --> 00:06:17,840 already strung crime scene tape across the front of the property. 103 00:06:18,930 --> 00:06:23,510 I was at the gym, and I remember I was driving home. My son was with me, and I 104 00:06:23,510 --> 00:06:28,910 got a call from one of the writers from WWE who called me and said, are you 105 00:06:28,910 --> 00:06:31,430 sitting down? I'm like, what's going on here, dude? And that's when he said, 106 00:06:31,550 --> 00:06:33,570 Chris is dead. And I said, what? Chris who? 107 00:06:34,710 --> 00:06:35,710 He said, Chris Benoit. 108 00:06:36,450 --> 00:06:39,210 And I pulled over on the side of the road, and I just started bawling. 109 00:06:39,730 --> 00:06:41,690 And I remember my son, he said, Daddy, you cry funny. 110 00:06:42,670 --> 00:06:44,230 I was just crying. I was bawling. 111 00:06:44,960 --> 00:06:48,620 At this time, no one knew what happened to WWE. 112 00:06:49,060 --> 00:06:53,500 It's just thinking that Chris Benoit has passed away, along with Nancy and 113 00:06:53,500 --> 00:06:58,040 Daniel. You're not trying to put together that, okay, did someone break 114 00:06:58,040 --> 00:06:59,080 carbon monoxide happen? 115 00:06:59,520 --> 00:07:05,240 What's going on? You just know that these two of your friends are gone, and 116 00:07:05,240 --> 00:07:06,240 one has answers. 117 00:07:06,520 --> 00:07:10,860 Vince McMahon, the chairman of the board, couldn't go on the air and not do 118 00:07:10,860 --> 00:07:13,740 anything. So we went on the air and did what we thought was right. 119 00:07:14,440 --> 00:07:18,940 Tonight, this arena here in Corpus Christi, Texas, was to have been filled 120 00:07:18,940 --> 00:07:23,820 capacity with enthusiastic WWE fans. 121 00:07:24,500 --> 00:07:27,500 We tried to honor the guy. We tried to honor his family. We tried to honor his 122 00:07:27,500 --> 00:07:30,360 fans. But we didn't have a full story. 123 00:07:31,780 --> 00:07:33,120 Shame on us for that, I guess. 124 00:07:33,980 --> 00:07:39,440 So tonight will be a three -hour tribute to one of the greatest. 125 00:07:42,680 --> 00:07:44,020 WWE superstars of all time. 126 00:07:44,540 --> 00:07:48,400 We just know that Chris Benoit is no longer with us, and neither is his 127 00:07:49,220 --> 00:07:51,180 Of course I'm going to pay tribute to my friend. 128 00:07:51,480 --> 00:07:55,980 And I would trust you with me, with my life, with my kids' lives. 129 00:07:57,160 --> 00:07:59,720 Because I know you, Chris. I know your heart. 130 00:08:00,360 --> 00:08:03,700 Yeah, they called me and asked me if I wanted to be on it, and I was like, 131 00:08:03,720 --> 00:08:07,000 absolutely not. I remember just sitting there, just watching, like, dead. 132 00:08:08,010 --> 00:08:11,270 The bottle of vodka he was drinking, like, you know, because Eddie's was bad. 133 00:08:11,570 --> 00:08:12,570 This was worse. 134 00:08:12,830 --> 00:08:16,490 Chris Benoit was one of the greatest wrestlers I ever saw, but he was one of 135 00:08:16,490 --> 00:08:18,030 best friends I ever had in this business. 136 00:08:18,670 --> 00:08:20,090 We did not know all the information. 137 00:08:20,910 --> 00:08:21,910 That's our fault. 138 00:08:22,430 --> 00:08:24,090 We were trying to serve the audience. 139 00:08:24,370 --> 00:08:25,610 It was a major story. 140 00:08:25,850 --> 00:08:29,010 It was hitting all the news sources, and we had a TV show. 141 00:08:29,410 --> 00:08:33,150 We wanted to update people on what the hell was going on, but we didn't have 142 00:08:33,150 --> 00:08:34,069 the information. 143 00:08:34,070 --> 00:08:35,870 But we didn't know we didn't have all the information. 144 00:08:36,480 --> 00:08:40,080 We were told from the authorities, here's what happened. Oh, guess what? We 145 00:08:40,080 --> 00:08:41,480 wrong. This is not what happened. 146 00:08:43,539 --> 00:08:45,460 Chris was the type of guy you'd want to go to war with. 147 00:08:46,740 --> 00:08:51,500 It was hard because at that time, some guys were, you know, in their speeches, 148 00:08:51,620 --> 00:08:53,640 you know, praising Chris. 149 00:08:53,960 --> 00:08:56,040 Because Chris Benoit was my hero. 150 00:08:56,620 --> 00:08:57,620 I love you, Chris. 151 00:08:58,260 --> 00:09:01,640 It's interesting to me because when I watched the Raw tribute and everybody 152 00:09:01,640 --> 00:09:04,560 talking about Benoit and how great a performer he was and... 153 00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:11,040 How amazing he was. I thought Regal's words on that night were very revealing. 154 00:09:12,000 --> 00:09:17,920 Now all I'm willing to say is that Chris Benoit was 155 00:09:17,920 --> 00:09:23,160 undoubtedly the hardest working man in professional wrestling. 156 00:09:23,480 --> 00:09:27,080 And when you talk to him afterwards, you find out he lived in the same city as 157 00:09:27,080 --> 00:09:31,840 Chris and knew a lot about whatever fights Nancy and him had or whatever 158 00:09:31,840 --> 00:09:32,860 was going through at the time. 159 00:09:33,120 --> 00:09:36,040 And I'm not sure if a lot of people would have noticed it, but knowing what 160 00:09:36,040 --> 00:09:38,680 knew about him, I started thinking, wow, this is not good. 161 00:09:41,660 --> 00:09:47,380 My sister had told me to spoil myself and go to the mall and get some makeup 162 00:09:47,380 --> 00:09:50,480 have some wine with lunch and go watch a movie. 163 00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:55,080 I came out of the theater and I turned my phone on and I had like 22 missed 164 00:09:55,080 --> 00:09:56,160 calls from my parents. 165 00:09:58,250 --> 00:10:01,710 And my parents made sure they wouldn't tell me anything. They wanted me to be 166 00:10:01,710 --> 00:10:04,530 parked in my driveway and inside my house before they told me. 167 00:10:05,150 --> 00:10:06,330 And that's how I found out. 168 00:10:08,530 --> 00:10:12,090 And then when it finally sunk in, I just absolutely lost control of myself. 169 00:10:13,590 --> 00:10:14,730 It was very difficult. 170 00:10:15,410 --> 00:10:16,410 Very difficult. 171 00:10:16,490 --> 00:10:18,210 I had to go to the hospital and be sedated. 172 00:10:21,870 --> 00:10:24,990 I was in Edmonton, and then this number kept calling. 173 00:10:26,120 --> 00:10:30,260 My mom's cell phone, unknown number, unknown number, unknown number. 174 00:10:31,480 --> 00:10:35,440 And then she finally answered it, and it was the police, RCMP. 175 00:10:37,580 --> 00:10:40,600 So we left, rolled down to the station. 176 00:10:43,800 --> 00:10:45,200 She found out first. 177 00:10:46,700 --> 00:10:48,220 I see her crying there. 178 00:10:50,800 --> 00:10:53,780 She couldn't spit it out, so... 179 00:11:05,130 --> 00:11:11,750 The cop told me that they all passed away over the weekend. 180 00:11:12,710 --> 00:11:15,250 I punched them in the chest. 181 00:11:16,970 --> 00:11:20,190 Then me and the cop went for a walk. We talked. 182 00:11:21,810 --> 00:11:25,690 You know, your dad loved you. 183 00:11:28,570 --> 00:11:29,770 They all loved you. 184 00:11:30,910 --> 00:11:34,390 I thought that was a joke. 185 00:11:34,780 --> 00:11:35,780 I really did. 186 00:11:37,300 --> 00:11:43,060 It wasn't until after the show and after the fact that all the details started 187 00:11:43,060 --> 00:11:43,699 coming in. 188 00:11:43,700 --> 00:11:47,160 We have more for you now on a developing story in Fayette County, the deaths of 189 00:11:47,160 --> 00:11:50,880 a pro wrestler and his family. Fayetteville authorities say the bodies 190 00:11:50,880 --> 00:11:54,560 Benoit and his family were found this afternoon in their home. Right now it's 191 00:11:54,560 --> 00:11:55,900 being investigated as a murder -suicide. 192 00:11:56,220 --> 00:12:02,500 However, until we get the crime lab reports, it's undetermined exactly what 193 00:12:02,500 --> 00:12:03,500 happened. 194 00:12:04,760 --> 00:12:09,400 you know, all of these details start coming out about it's not just him 195 00:12:09,400 --> 00:12:11,640 dead, it's Nancy and Daniel's dead as well. 196 00:12:11,860 --> 00:12:13,580 And then that's when it just started getting out of control. 197 00:12:13,960 --> 00:12:17,060 The father killed his wife and son and then committed suicide. 198 00:12:17,860 --> 00:12:19,060 That's what's happened here. 199 00:12:19,480 --> 00:12:22,400 You didn't want to believe it. Can't believe it. Can't be true. 200 00:12:23,700 --> 00:12:24,700 But it was. 201 00:12:32,520 --> 00:12:37,270 The evidence indicates that It was a particularly brutal and vicious murder. 202 00:12:38,590 --> 00:12:41,750 It was something that showed some sign of real rage. 203 00:12:42,470 --> 00:12:46,150 I'm Matthew Randazzo V, and I'm the author of Ring of Hell, the story of 204 00:12:46,150 --> 00:12:47,470 Benoit and the fall of the pro wrestling industry. 205 00:12:48,610 --> 00:12:52,970 The weekend of the murders on Friday, Chris Benoit had a barbecue out by the 206 00:12:52,970 --> 00:12:56,530 pool with Daniel. And then that Friday evening, it appears that there was some 207 00:12:56,530 --> 00:12:58,350 sort of altercation between Chris and Nancy. 208 00:12:58,920 --> 00:13:04,420 that Chris restrained Nancy with duct tape and then utilized a telephone cord 209 00:13:04,420 --> 00:13:07,580 strangle her and then placed a Bible next to her body. 210 00:13:09,440 --> 00:13:13,100 There were a number of beer cans and wine bottles around that indicate Chris 211 00:13:13,100 --> 00:13:14,100 have been drinking. 212 00:13:14,460 --> 00:13:20,080 Next morning on Saturday, Chris, we assume, gave his son Daniel Xanax and 213 00:13:20,080 --> 00:13:24,160 murdered him in his room, being suffocated by his father. 214 00:13:24,580 --> 00:13:27,120 A Bible was then placed next to Daniel as well. 215 00:13:27,890 --> 00:13:32,250 After that, Chris made a phone call and let friends know that Daniel and Nancy 216 00:13:32,250 --> 00:13:36,050 were both suffering from a bad stomach virus, and that he had to take them to 217 00:13:36,050 --> 00:13:37,050 the hospital. 218 00:13:38,130 --> 00:13:42,450 That night, Chris went to bed with the bodies of his wife and child in the 219 00:13:42,450 --> 00:13:43,450 house. 220 00:13:43,890 --> 00:13:48,790 On Sunday, Benoit makes a couple searches on the Internet that are 221 00:13:48,790 --> 00:13:49,790 retrospect. 222 00:13:50,230 --> 00:13:54,510 One for a story in the Bible about the prophet Elijah and the resurrection of a 223 00:13:54,510 --> 00:13:55,810 dead boy in the Old Testament. 224 00:13:56,440 --> 00:14:00,320 And then a search about the quickest and most painless way of breaking one's own 225 00:14:00,320 --> 00:14:01,320 neck. 226 00:14:02,020 --> 00:14:05,860 Chris then went down to his home gym with a half -drunken bottle of wine. 227 00:14:06,600 --> 00:14:10,240 He went to his lat pull -down machine, he took the bar off, he wrapped a towel 228 00:14:10,240 --> 00:14:14,680 around his neck, and he took the metal cord from the lat pull -down machine and 229 00:14:14,680 --> 00:14:16,120 put it around his neck. 230 00:14:17,080 --> 00:14:22,120 He adjusted the weight to 240 pounds, and then he released it. 231 00:14:23,280 --> 00:14:26,720 So it's a very bizarre scenario. It's a very bizarre weekend. 232 00:14:27,040 --> 00:14:28,560 And it does leave a lot of answers. 233 00:14:29,360 --> 00:14:30,880 He was just a guy. 234 00:14:31,640 --> 00:14:32,940 You know, like my friend. 235 00:14:33,600 --> 00:14:37,880 Nobody expects a friend to kill their family. Like, what? 236 00:14:38,680 --> 00:14:44,580 When I found out what had really happened, the shock is just, you can't 237 00:14:44,580 --> 00:14:49,860 believe it. He had put his knee in her back and essentially broke her back. 238 00:14:51,020 --> 00:14:56,220 I couldn't fathom how cruel and how much pain she must have gone through and how 239 00:14:56,220 --> 00:14:59,560 horrific that must have been for her. It was just unfathomable. 240 00:15:00,860 --> 00:15:05,700 If Chris did give Daniel that, you know, medication or prescription pills and 241 00:15:05,700 --> 00:15:10,920 suffocate him, you know, like, shame on him. Daniel was innocent in all this. 242 00:15:11,320 --> 00:15:16,020 We were hearing other things come out about the circumstances of him putting 243 00:15:16,020 --> 00:15:19,700 Bible by their side and having a knife. 244 00:15:20,360 --> 00:15:23,980 that he had planted underneath Daniel's bed or something like that. 245 00:15:25,080 --> 00:15:26,940 Still couldn't wrap my head around it. 246 00:15:27,760 --> 00:15:31,380 Just sounded so... like some bad horror movie. 247 00:15:33,460 --> 00:15:38,460 And now I'm a part of humanizing a murderer? 248 00:15:40,240 --> 00:15:41,240 Strange. 249 00:15:41,740 --> 00:15:46,780 I mean, to think that Nancy was dead for two days before Chris took his life? 250 00:15:47,880 --> 00:15:52,100 How is that even logical for this man who loved her so much? 251 00:15:53,480 --> 00:15:58,160 Later, it turned out that there was a Bible in the house, similar to the ones 252 00:15:58,160 --> 00:16:02,980 left by Nancy and Daniel's body, that Chris had left something akin to a 253 00:16:02,980 --> 00:16:07,260 note, something along the lines of, I'm preparing to leave this earth. 254 00:16:07,840 --> 00:16:10,220 So Chris did leave a suicide note. 255 00:16:10,680 --> 00:16:13,620 He did know what he was doing. He was at least enough in his right mind to 256 00:16:13,620 --> 00:16:16,940 understand exactly what was happening and was still considering whether he 257 00:16:16,940 --> 00:16:19,640 go make a flight to go wrestle that night on international television. 258 00:16:20,480 --> 00:16:25,200 Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. We came up on air with Vince talking and 259 00:16:25,200 --> 00:16:28,940 letting everybody know what happened. Last night on Monday Night Raw, the WWE 260 00:16:28,940 --> 00:16:33,520 presented a special tribute show recognizing the career of Chris Benoit. 261 00:16:34,640 --> 00:16:39,140 However, now some 26 hours later, the facts of this horrific tragedy 262 00:16:39,950 --> 00:16:45,010 are now apparent therefore other than my comments there will be no mention of mr 263 00:16:45,010 --> 00:16:49,890 benoit's name tonight it was understood that we were not to speak of chris speak 264 00:16:49,890 --> 00:16:56,490 of benoit speak of anyone of that incident and by that next week chris's 265 00:16:56,490 --> 00:17:01,670 was erased from everything that was involved with wwe i mean when we did 266 00:17:01,670 --> 00:17:06,310 interviews we were not to mention chris benoit so that's something that was 267 00:17:06,310 --> 00:17:10,450 really hard for us to do but Because we all wanted our jobs, it was understood. 268 00:17:11,930 --> 00:17:16,589 I know WWE has kind of like erased a history of being in the business, and I 269 00:17:16,589 --> 00:17:20,329 understand and totally agree with what they did. We're not going to praise a 270 00:17:20,329 --> 00:17:22,290 who murdered his wife or son. 271 00:17:22,530 --> 00:17:23,990 I don't give many accolades for that. 272 00:17:25,390 --> 00:17:27,650 I went to the funeral of Nancy and Daniel. 273 00:17:29,190 --> 00:17:30,890 I can't even believe how sad it was. 274 00:17:32,190 --> 00:17:35,750 I was the WWE representative there, just me, with the shits. 275 00:17:36,120 --> 00:17:39,160 To go to a funeral and keep crying and a kid being buried and a woman being 276 00:17:39,160 --> 00:17:40,160 married for no reason. 277 00:17:41,080 --> 00:17:42,160 No reason to die. 278 00:17:43,040 --> 00:17:49,580 The WWE sent JR and I left my cool with him and told him two days that he wasn't 279 00:17:49,580 --> 00:17:51,140 welcome at the wake afterward. 280 00:17:51,960 --> 00:17:53,200 It was all work. 281 00:17:53,520 --> 00:17:56,500 Just fake, garbage, nonsense. 282 00:17:57,100 --> 00:18:02,080 I can see work coming a mile away and that's what I saw and I knew that that 283 00:18:02,080 --> 00:18:03,080 the truth. 284 00:18:03,630 --> 00:18:07,770 I felt like I was the most unwanted person in the building because I was a 285 00:18:07,770 --> 00:18:10,770 guy. And I probably loved him as much as anybody there. 286 00:18:11,710 --> 00:18:13,270 Everybody was just a mess. 287 00:18:14,150 --> 00:18:19,790 It's shitty, and it's sad, and it's unfair because there's two people that 288 00:18:19,790 --> 00:18:20,850 still be with us today. 289 00:18:21,250 --> 00:18:26,270 And if Chris wanted to take his life, then so be it. But to take all of them? 290 00:18:27,690 --> 00:18:30,350 I didn't go to Chris' funeral. I was angry. 291 00:18:31,000 --> 00:18:34,020 At that point, I was pretty angry at Chris, you know, for what he did. 292 00:18:34,660 --> 00:18:38,040 This funeral was very private. We didn't tell anyone about it. 293 00:18:38,540 --> 00:18:40,460 That's when it all hit me right there, all at once. 294 00:18:40,800 --> 00:18:42,440 I was crying my eyes out. 295 00:18:43,380 --> 00:18:46,700 Who in the wrestling business provided care for you and your family in the 296 00:18:46,700 --> 00:18:47,700 aftermath of this? 297 00:18:48,980 --> 00:18:50,280 Is that a serious question? 298 00:18:51,020 --> 00:18:52,280 Not a single person. 299 00:18:52,980 --> 00:18:56,560 No one. And did anyone from the WWE ever reach out to you and your family? 300 00:18:56,840 --> 00:18:58,740 Chris Jericho and Chavo Guerrero. 301 00:18:59,360 --> 00:19:00,360 That's it. 302 00:19:00,600 --> 00:19:02,280 Nobody else, you know? 303 00:19:02,620 --> 00:19:03,620 Screw them. 304 00:19:04,200 --> 00:19:07,400 They weren't there for me, you know? 305 00:19:08,380 --> 00:19:11,260 They backed off like I didn't even exist. 306 00:19:19,660 --> 00:19:26,380 It was so hard after the funeral because the media was just nonstop, 24 307 00:19:26,380 --> 00:19:31,830 -7. Tonight, we are talking about the strange and very sad case of Chris 308 00:19:32,090 --> 00:19:34,890 I didn't even watch news anymore. I didn't watch TV for months. 309 00:19:35,410 --> 00:19:37,330 I couldn't even watch wrestling anymore. 310 00:19:37,670 --> 00:19:42,710 We're also told by the police here that there were instruments of death bound, 311 00:19:42,890 --> 00:19:44,030 not instruments of murder. 312 00:19:44,230 --> 00:19:47,770 There's going to be an autopsy report, but there's an awful lot of confusion 313 00:19:47,770 --> 00:19:49,010 about how this happened. 314 00:19:49,550 --> 00:19:53,190 It really, really was the darkest time of my life. 315 00:19:53,610 --> 00:19:58,290 Benoit had an intense on -stage persona. He was nicknamed the rabid wolverine, 316 00:19:58,290 --> 00:20:02,730 the Canadian crippler. The couple actually met when her former husband 317 00:20:02,730 --> 00:20:04,710 script that had put the two of them in a relationship. 318 00:20:05,030 --> 00:20:09,330 It made everything extremely difficult. It made everything under a magnifying 319 00:20:09,330 --> 00:20:16,090 glass because CNN and Fox and all the news channels were at the gate. You 320 00:20:16,090 --> 00:20:20,150 a double murder -suicide with a seven -year -old kid is news, but I think that 321 00:20:20,150 --> 00:20:22,930 there's a point where you really just need to let the family grieve. 322 00:20:23,470 --> 00:20:26,410 All I really wanted to do was to be with my niece and nephew. 323 00:20:27,510 --> 00:20:32,930 The mainstream media's reaction was typical because, A, they love a tragedy, 324 00:20:32,930 --> 00:20:36,450 it gives them another reason to take a shot at wrestling. It was a field day 325 00:20:36,450 --> 00:20:42,790 them. Professional wrestlers are 20 times more likely to die before age 45 326 00:20:42,790 --> 00:20:44,410 professional football players. 327 00:20:44,690 --> 00:20:47,730 I think a lot of mainstream media looks down on wrestling as it is, and suddenly 328 00:20:47,730 --> 00:20:49,630 it's... Public enemy number one. 329 00:20:49,870 --> 00:20:54,290 Chris Benoit's diary is revealing new information about his state of mind. The 330 00:20:54,290 --> 00:20:58,150 wrestler wrote a series of letters to his best friend. At one point, Benoit 331 00:20:58,150 --> 00:20:59,890 wrote, I'll be with you soon. 332 00:21:00,210 --> 00:21:04,510 Mike Benoit believes it's the diary of his son going mad. 333 00:21:04,890 --> 00:21:08,950 We just didn't understand this was going on at that time in Chris's life. 334 00:21:10,790 --> 00:21:15,070 I got a call from Chris's dad, Mike Benoit, because he knew my relationship 335 00:21:15,070 --> 00:21:17,670 Chris. The first thing he asked me was why. 336 00:21:18,340 --> 00:21:21,940 Which from a father's standpoint, I can understand how upset he was. 337 00:21:22,680 --> 00:21:25,080 Unfortunately, I felt bad I didn't have any answers for him. 338 00:21:25,820 --> 00:21:28,240 People need to understand that that was not him. 339 00:21:29,180 --> 00:21:30,460 Not the person we knew. 340 00:21:30,720 --> 00:21:33,340 The person I loved with all my heart. My hero. 341 00:21:33,770 --> 00:21:36,010 The term that's been being thrown around everywhere is roid rage. 342 00:21:36,230 --> 00:21:40,670 Some say steroid abuse is rampant at the organization, and everyone just turns a 343 00:21:40,670 --> 00:21:44,150 blind eye to this. The media's initial response to the Benoit tragedy was that 344 00:21:44,150 --> 00:21:45,470 this was a roid rage incident. 345 00:21:45,790 --> 00:21:49,130 Where do steroids stand in the bizarre Benoit deaths? 346 00:21:49,490 --> 00:21:52,830 Pro wrestling, when Chris Benoit entered it in the 1980s, was extremely 347 00:21:52,830 --> 00:21:57,310 discriminatory against people who were not six foot plus tall, who were not 250 348 00:21:57,310 --> 00:21:59,250 pounds or more, and very, very muscular. 349 00:21:59,510 --> 00:22:02,370 My understanding is that Chris Benoit was using steroids from when he was in 350 00:22:02,370 --> 00:22:03,370 high school. 351 00:22:04,140 --> 00:22:08,120 In the months before the murders, Chris received a number of text messages from 352 00:22:08,120 --> 00:22:12,380 Nancy in which she made it very clear she was sick and tired of his steroid 353 00:22:12,380 --> 00:22:15,960 abuse. Nancy definitely directly accused him of abusing steroids to the point 354 00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:19,900 that it led him to be an angry and violent and unhappy husband. 355 00:22:20,300 --> 00:22:25,160 And she said that the WWE drug enforcement policy and testing regime 356 00:22:25,160 --> 00:22:28,580 obviously nonsense. Something called the wellness program that alleged that it 357 00:22:28,580 --> 00:22:32,760 was. testing every WWE wrestler to make sure they weren't using recreational 358 00:22:32,760 --> 00:22:35,420 drugs, performance -enhancing drugs or steroids. 359 00:22:35,760 --> 00:22:40,160 I think at that time, you know, instituting a wellness program like 360 00:22:40,160 --> 00:22:43,540 think everybody was happy that finally some of these guys that needed the help 361 00:22:43,540 --> 00:22:47,400 were going to get help. I thought it was a great idea, anything to help talent, 362 00:22:47,580 --> 00:22:49,480 save guys from themselves. 363 00:22:51,820 --> 00:22:56,040 After Eddie died, the WWE's drug testing was super strict. 364 00:22:56,260 --> 00:22:58,420 It went through the roof. Like, you couldn't even take... 365 00:22:58,720 --> 00:23:03,380 freaking aspirin, like a high -powered aspirin, unless you had like a 366 00:23:03,380 --> 00:23:04,760 prescription. And I'm not kidding. 367 00:23:05,140 --> 00:23:06,840 The drug testing is so strict. 368 00:23:07,220 --> 00:23:08,220 Dude, 369 00:23:08,960 --> 00:23:13,680 you can't. You can't go snort cocaine or smoke weed or anything. 370 00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:19,980 In practice, it was seen that this initial version of the wellness program 371 00:23:19,980 --> 00:23:24,560 large loopholes in it and large blind spots that allowed wrestlers to continue 372 00:23:24,560 --> 00:23:28,300 to use drugs at a really large scale without... 373 00:23:28,890 --> 00:23:29,890 tripping the tests. 374 00:23:30,150 --> 00:23:34,350 Speculation is running wild. Did steroids play a role, or is there 375 00:23:34,350 --> 00:23:38,650 explanation? We have an exclusive interview with WWE Chairman Vince 376 00:23:38,890 --> 00:23:42,110 WWE did everything it could to combat any coverage in the news media that 377 00:23:42,110 --> 00:23:45,750 indicated that drug abuse or steroid abuse was the cause of the homicides. 378 00:23:46,160 --> 00:23:49,440 And obviously this is not an act of rage. It's an act of deliberation when 379 00:23:49,440 --> 00:23:53,000 do something like this over three days. It's not an act of rage, be it steroid 380 00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:55,800 rage or roid rage, whatever it's called, or any other rage. 381 00:23:56,140 --> 00:24:01,880 WWE strongly suggests that it is entirely wrong for speculators to 382 00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:05,240 steroids had anything to do with these senseless acts. It's all speculation 383 00:24:05,240 --> 00:24:07,720 until the toxicology reports come back. 384 00:24:08,280 --> 00:24:12,120 In his autopsy, Chris Benoit was shown to have enormous amounts of testosterone 385 00:24:12,120 --> 00:24:13,120 in his body. 386 00:24:13,300 --> 00:24:16,680 Testosterone is still a steroid that's banned in all major sports. 387 00:24:16,940 --> 00:24:21,540 It directly leads to increased muscle growth. Some folks have said he had 10 388 00:24:21,540 --> 00:24:23,900 times the normal amount of testosterone in his body as a normal human. 389 00:24:24,140 --> 00:24:27,460 And did Benoit pass the wellness program check leading up to the murders? 390 00:24:27,700 --> 00:24:31,360 Yes, preposterously, Chris Benoit passed the wellness checks leading up to the 391 00:24:31,360 --> 00:24:34,340 murder, despite the irrefutable fact that he was taking enormous amounts of 392 00:24:34,340 --> 00:24:35,340 steroids. 393 00:24:43,880 --> 00:24:47,280 After it initially happened, I actually had nightmares. 394 00:24:47,540 --> 00:24:52,780 It was very traumatic because as a female, I tend to really get angry with 395 00:24:53,280 --> 00:24:57,020 The one person she thought was there to protect her is the one that really took 396 00:24:57,020 --> 00:24:58,020 her life. 397 00:24:58,380 --> 00:25:02,340 There was a lot of stuff going on behind closed doors that no one knew about. I 398 00:25:02,340 --> 00:25:03,860 think there was a lot of volatile fights. 399 00:25:04,280 --> 00:25:07,500 One thing I'd always heard about Nancy and the fact that she didn't take shit. 400 00:25:07,880 --> 00:25:11,920 So I just know there was a lot of volatility there. 401 00:25:12,889 --> 00:25:14,730 That's the word I think was used, volatile. 402 00:25:15,170 --> 00:25:18,650 There was a few times that Nancy would call me and she would say that her and 403 00:25:18,650 --> 00:25:22,970 Chris were fighting. There was an instance when they were in Tampa and 404 00:25:22,970 --> 00:25:26,890 upset when they were driving on the way to our house and Chris went and busted 405 00:25:26,890 --> 00:25:28,090 the windshield of their car. 406 00:25:29,150 --> 00:25:33,150 Did you ever witness any abuse that was going on in that relationship? 407 00:25:33,890 --> 00:25:36,810 My sister called me to the house and she called Mike Durham. 408 00:25:37,630 --> 00:25:42,050 known as Johnny Grunge, who was also a professional wrestler that lived in the 409 00:25:42,050 --> 00:25:43,050 area. 410 00:25:43,370 --> 00:25:47,390 And Mike said, I'll go wrangle Chris, I'll go wrangle Chris, don't do anything 411 00:25:47,390 --> 00:25:53,090 rash. But it was already kind of done. He hurt her. 412 00:25:54,390 --> 00:25:57,470 I don't know whether it was intentional or accidental, but he hurt her. 413 00:25:58,630 --> 00:26:02,970 Out of respect for the kids that he still has here, I won't go further into 414 00:26:02,970 --> 00:26:03,970 that. 415 00:26:04,950 --> 00:26:07,030 She got a restraining order against him. 416 00:26:07,450 --> 00:26:09,510 I went down there and stayed at the house. 417 00:26:09,930 --> 00:26:12,470 Mike had him at a hotel there in the area. 418 00:26:12,950 --> 00:26:17,930 Chris contacted me directly because Nancy wasn't answering any of his calls 419 00:26:17,930 --> 00:26:21,850 asked me to talk to my sister on his behalf. 420 00:26:23,070 --> 00:26:27,070 And please, please, please let him come to the house and talk to her personally. 421 00:26:27,210 --> 00:26:31,210 She called him, and he came over the next day, and they were back together a 422 00:26:31,210 --> 00:26:32,210 couple of days later. 423 00:26:34,030 --> 00:26:37,810 So I look back on that moment and say, you probably shouldn't have gotten 424 00:26:37,810 --> 00:26:41,790 involved, and why did I take his call? Because maybe that would have been the 425 00:26:41,790 --> 00:26:42,790 end of it. 426 00:26:43,530 --> 00:26:45,410 Almost every day I think about that. 427 00:26:47,230 --> 00:26:52,290 When police found steroids on the scene, many assume that explained it. The 428 00:26:52,290 --> 00:26:54,250 killer had flipped out because of drug use. 429 00:26:54,670 --> 00:26:56,770 Or might there be another explanation? 430 00:26:57,530 --> 00:27:02,690 The initial media coverage all focused on steroid use, and I said, there's no 431 00:27:02,690 --> 00:27:08,150 way. I'm Chris Nowinski. I'm a former WWE superstar, and now I am a 432 00:27:08,150 --> 00:27:10,750 neuroscientist and run the Concussion Legacy Foundation. 433 00:27:12,010 --> 00:27:17,410 My wrestling career came to an end because I had a series of concussions 434 00:27:17,410 --> 00:27:18,910 didn't quite appreciate were concussions. 435 00:27:20,930 --> 00:27:27,370 I never stopped performing until the damage was sort of too much. 436 00:27:27,470 --> 00:27:32,270 So I decided I would start digging into what else was known, and it became a 437 00:27:32,270 --> 00:27:33,270 book. 438 00:27:34,030 --> 00:27:38,950 Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or CTE, is a progressive degenerative brain 439 00:27:38,950 --> 00:27:42,670 disease that appears to be started by hits to the head. 440 00:27:43,310 --> 00:27:43,950 What 441 00:27:43,950 --> 00:27:50,830 I knew 442 00:27:50,830 --> 00:27:54,730 about CTE at that time was that there were four cases of NFL players. 443 00:27:54,970 --> 00:28:00,990 Two had died by suicide, and one had started hearing voices and led the 444 00:28:00,990 --> 00:28:01,990 on a... 445 00:28:02,050 --> 00:28:05,830 chased through upstate New York and died in a fiery crash going on the wrong 446 00:28:05,830 --> 00:28:06,830 side of the highway. 447 00:28:07,190 --> 00:28:11,490 When I heard about what happened with Chris Benoit, I immediately remembered a 448 00:28:11,490 --> 00:28:14,890 conversation I'd had with him maybe six months prior. 449 00:28:15,690 --> 00:28:20,110 I remembered that he had sat next to me in the locker room and said, I heard you 450 00:28:20,110 --> 00:28:21,430 write in a book about concussions. 451 00:28:21,670 --> 00:28:24,390 I was like, yeah. And he goes, I'm interested in what you're learning. 452 00:28:24,670 --> 00:28:29,030 And he's like, how many concussions have you had before you had to retire? And I 453 00:28:29,030 --> 00:28:31,370 said, well, I can remember at least six, but I probably hadn't. 454 00:28:31,580 --> 00:28:33,940 more. And I said, how many have you had? 455 00:28:34,280 --> 00:28:36,940 And he said, I've had more than I can count. 456 00:28:37,800 --> 00:28:40,620 And then he said, I'm going to give you my phone number and I want you to call 457 00:28:40,620 --> 00:28:41,559 me next week. 458 00:28:41,560 --> 00:28:42,940 The next week I called him. 459 00:28:43,820 --> 00:28:47,440 It sounded like he was in the middle of an argument. He was clearly agitated. It 460 00:28:47,440 --> 00:28:50,420 sounded like someone else was there. He just said, hey, I can't talk right now. 461 00:28:50,500 --> 00:28:51,500 Can I call you back? 462 00:28:51,640 --> 00:28:52,640 And I said, sure. 463 00:28:53,200 --> 00:28:57,980 I wonder if the reason he was asking me to call him was that he knew that 464 00:28:57,980 --> 00:28:59,060 something was going on. 465 00:28:59,320 --> 00:29:01,080 but he didn't quite appreciate what that was. 466 00:29:01,920 --> 00:29:06,320 And so I decided that I really needed to know if Chris had CTE. 467 00:29:06,680 --> 00:29:10,620 There was so much media attention, I really couldn't imagine his family 468 00:29:10,620 --> 00:29:13,360 answering the phone. But I said, I'll give it a try. 469 00:29:13,560 --> 00:29:19,520 And Chris's father answered the second ring. He was in a state of mind you 470 00:29:19,520 --> 00:29:22,400 imagine when you just lost your son and learned what happened. 471 00:29:23,560 --> 00:29:28,040 I told him my theory, and he immediately said, yeah, I want to see this done. 472 00:29:29,360 --> 00:29:34,320 We have the brain in early July, and I think within about a month we knew that 473 00:29:34,320 --> 00:29:38,240 it was positive for CTE, and it was a pretty severe case of CTE. 474 00:29:38,920 --> 00:29:42,120 And so we held a press conference in New York. When you look at Christopher 475 00:29:42,120 --> 00:29:48,580 Benoit's brain, it is in fact shocking. Our findings showed extensive areas of 476 00:29:48,580 --> 00:29:51,500 tau protein deposition throughout his brain. 477 00:29:51,800 --> 00:29:54,700 Tau protein is a marker for brain damage. 478 00:29:56,040 --> 00:30:00,740 With Chris, he actually had what would be defined as a severe case of CT at 40 479 00:30:00,740 --> 00:30:05,140 years old, which is early to have it. So it wouldn't just be areas of his cortex 480 00:30:05,140 --> 00:30:09,660 or areas of his brain stem, but there was damage in areas that you would think 481 00:30:09,660 --> 00:30:12,380 could influence emotional behaviors. 482 00:30:13,240 --> 00:30:17,320 And I believe the degeneration of his brain changed who he was and what he was 483 00:30:17,320 --> 00:30:18,219 capable of. 484 00:30:18,220 --> 00:30:22,420 If you get hit in the head thousands of times, your brain essentially can start 485 00:30:22,420 --> 00:30:23,239 to rot. 486 00:30:23,240 --> 00:30:26,620 You get this damage in your brain that even after you stop getting hit in the 487 00:30:26,620 --> 00:30:33,000 head will continue to spread and changes who you are and how you behave and what 488 00:30:33,000 --> 00:30:34,000 you become. 489 00:30:44,680 --> 00:30:48,300 I think about, you know, when me and Chris would be talking and he would just 490 00:30:48,300 --> 00:30:52,340 crying so much that, you know, I wonder why he couldn't control his crying. 491 00:30:52,540 --> 00:30:57,040 Does that go with the concussions? Does that go with his brain? You know, Eddie 492 00:30:57,040 --> 00:30:58,880 and Chris took a lot of chair shots. 493 00:31:01,920 --> 00:31:06,800 And these chair shots from, like, years ago were hard and they were mean. 494 00:31:09,260 --> 00:31:12,920 In the 90s, we used to take chair shots to the head. 495 00:31:13,390 --> 00:31:17,250 That was a badge of honor. And what I mean by that is someone would swing a 496 00:31:17,250 --> 00:31:18,270 steel chair at your head. 497 00:31:20,110 --> 00:31:26,390 And I literally remember you would grit your teeth and you'd, you 498 00:31:26,390 --> 00:31:29,170 know, tense yourself and tense your neck. 499 00:31:31,910 --> 00:31:35,510 And just take it. They hit you in the head with it and you just take it. 500 00:31:35,830 --> 00:31:38,910 That was what you did. 501 00:31:39,930 --> 00:31:40,930 That was expected. 502 00:31:41,470 --> 00:31:44,990 If you had a concussion in wrestling, you just shake it off. 503 00:31:45,610 --> 00:31:48,150 Shake it off, go in there and do it. And all of us did it. 504 00:31:50,070 --> 00:31:52,170 I wrestled for 20 -plus years. 505 00:31:53,770 --> 00:31:58,310 It makes me wonder, how much CT do I have? 506 00:31:58,550 --> 00:32:02,630 How much CT do these other wrestlers have? Because we all got it to some 507 00:32:02,790 --> 00:32:03,790 you know? 508 00:32:03,810 --> 00:32:05,890 Is this going to be my end? 509 00:32:07,440 --> 00:32:10,440 So one of the most incredible things to me is you have Harley Race invents the 510 00:32:10,440 --> 00:32:14,600 flying headbutt and tells everyone after, don't do this move, it fucks your 511 00:32:14,600 --> 00:32:17,580 spine up horribly, it ruins your ability to have an old age. 512 00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:20,900 Dynamite Kid hears that from Harley Race, does it his whole career, ends up 513 00:32:20,900 --> 00:32:24,220 wheelchair. Dynamite Kid tells Chris Benoit, Chris Benoit does it his whole 514 00:32:24,220 --> 00:32:25,440 career, then loses his mind. 515 00:32:27,400 --> 00:32:33,340 I mean, there is a clear history of people repeating the most self 516 00:32:33,340 --> 00:32:35,260 story imaginable over and over again. 517 00:32:37,420 --> 00:32:42,860 I think the Benoit tragedy led to some institutional changes. The awareness of 518 00:32:42,860 --> 00:32:46,480 what CTE is was never before even a conversation point. 519 00:32:46,800 --> 00:32:47,800 Now it is. 520 00:32:48,040 --> 00:32:53,360 And finally, unprotected chair shots and subsequent concussions are now being 521 00:32:53,360 --> 00:32:57,280 addressed because the one thing we've got to do is protect the athlete. 522 00:32:58,120 --> 00:33:02,500 I think when you look at what Chris Benoit did, as a symptom of some sort of 523 00:33:02,500 --> 00:33:07,440 medical problem, whether it's drug use or brain damage, I think that misses the 524 00:33:07,440 --> 00:33:12,040 point. Ultimately, the thing that is the core reason this happened was Chris 525 00:33:12,040 --> 00:33:16,160 Benoit made a decision when he was a very young person to do absolutely 526 00:33:16,160 --> 00:33:19,820 it took to succeed at his childhood dream of becoming a pro wrestling star. 527 00:33:20,800 --> 00:33:24,660 No matter what happened that weekend, Chris Benoit's story was going to have a 528 00:33:24,660 --> 00:33:25,660 tragic end. 529 00:33:26,920 --> 00:33:30,020 I think his fate was sealed the day that Eddie died. 530 00:33:30,410 --> 00:33:33,810 Whether he knew it or not, I don't think anybody could save him after that. 531 00:33:34,070 --> 00:33:37,130 Not his kids, not his family, not his other friends. 532 00:33:37,550 --> 00:33:42,030 I just think that was the one guy that he said, I can't do it if Eddie's not 533 00:33:42,030 --> 00:33:43,030 with me. 534 00:33:44,290 --> 00:33:49,030 Whatever it was that he was going through, you know, I think he just 535 00:33:49,030 --> 00:33:53,750 to shrink his whole world until all that was left was just whatever was in his 536 00:33:53,750 --> 00:33:55,570 head that caused him to snap. 537 00:33:55,810 --> 00:33:56,810 And he fucking snapped. 538 00:33:58,640 --> 00:33:59,760 It's not one thing. 539 00:34:00,080 --> 00:34:07,080 I think that it's a factor of alcohol and drugs and, yes, possibly CTE and 540 00:34:07,080 --> 00:34:08,260 stress and grief. 541 00:34:09,120 --> 00:34:12,940 And all those things rolled together put him on a path that weekend that he 542 00:34:12,940 --> 00:34:13,940 couldn't get off. 543 00:34:14,400 --> 00:34:20,199 Chris is always going to be my friend and my brother. I just know that there 544 00:34:20,199 --> 00:34:23,560 something going on with him that wasn't him. And it's something that, you know, 545 00:34:23,580 --> 00:34:25,760 I'm still very much torn with because you love Chris. 546 00:34:27,409 --> 00:34:28,449 You just hate what he did. 547 00:34:28,929 --> 00:34:33,909 The act of what he did is unthinkable, unforgivable. 548 00:34:35,370 --> 00:34:39,650 It's so hard for me to separate a friendship that I had with him, matches 549 00:34:39,650 --> 00:34:41,889 had with him, moments, times, car rides. 550 00:34:42,230 --> 00:34:46,610 I think I can always look at Chris as one of the best performers I've ever 551 00:34:47,590 --> 00:34:48,710 I'm just going to leave it at that. 552 00:34:52,810 --> 00:34:55,330 You get questions all the time, does Chris Benoit deserve to be in the Hall 553 00:34:55,330 --> 00:34:56,730 Fame? And I say, absolutely not. 554 00:34:57,790 --> 00:35:01,390 No. The issue is, is that if Chris were here, we could talk to him, he would 555 00:35:01,390 --> 00:35:04,530 say, putting me in the Hall of Fame is going to be one of the great 556 00:35:04,530 --> 00:35:05,530 of the entire event. 557 00:35:06,050 --> 00:35:09,730 Because all it's going to do is bring up Nancy and Daniel and Chris in their 558 00:35:09,730 --> 00:35:10,730 last 24 hours. 559 00:35:11,030 --> 00:35:16,090 So therefore I say, Chris Benoit does not belong in the WWE Hall of Fame, now 560 00:35:16,090 --> 00:35:17,090 ever. 561 00:35:17,710 --> 00:35:20,430 You have two guys that were the same. 562 00:35:20,920 --> 00:35:24,880 basically their whole life, and had the same reputation of being immaculate 563 00:35:24,880 --> 00:35:30,120 professionals, immaculate human beings, the nicest guys, and they both die very 564 00:35:30,120 --> 00:35:36,360 young, and one's legacy is acclaimed, and one's is buried to that you almost 565 00:35:36,360 --> 00:35:37,360 can't say his name. 566 00:35:38,580 --> 00:35:44,200 If you would have told Chris, you know, when you die, your name and your body of 567 00:35:44,200 --> 00:35:49,960 work is going to be erased from existence forever, it would have broke 568 00:35:49,960 --> 00:35:52,710 heart. Because I think if nothing else, I remember he told me once, like, 569 00:35:52,710 --> 00:35:55,830 listen, the critics are the critics, but if you have the respect of your peers, 570 00:35:55,970 --> 00:35:58,050 then nothing else matters. 571 00:35:59,530 --> 00:36:02,910 So to find out that he would have lost the respect, not only of his peers, his 572 00:36:02,910 --> 00:36:06,650 friends, his family, I don't think he ever wanted that. 573 00:36:07,370 --> 00:36:09,050 It almost took down the whole business. 574 00:36:09,390 --> 00:36:13,310 What Chris did almost, and that's another thing, what Chris did almost 575 00:36:13,310 --> 00:36:17,810 the only thing that he ever loved from a professional standpoint. 576 00:36:18,460 --> 00:36:23,040 The only thing he ever loved, pro wrestling, Chris Benoit almost destroyed 577 00:36:23,660 --> 00:36:25,460 That would have torn him apart as well. 578 00:36:26,080 --> 00:36:29,180 So it leaves us around to, like, why did he do it? 579 00:36:30,080 --> 00:36:34,200 And I don't think anyone's ever going to be able to answer that question. 580 00:36:42,420 --> 00:36:46,900 You know, people will look at me different now because of what he did. 581 00:36:47,500 --> 00:36:52,300 People talking shit behind my back, looking at me different, getting 582 00:36:52,980 --> 00:36:53,980 Screw it. 583 00:36:54,720 --> 00:36:59,660 I'm defending my family and what I believe in. You know, he loved them. 584 00:37:00,400 --> 00:37:02,560 That definitely was not him. 585 00:37:04,600 --> 00:37:05,600 He's still my hero. 586 00:37:06,560 --> 00:37:07,960 I think about him all the time. 587 00:37:10,060 --> 00:37:12,320 I want them to recognize Nancy, though. 588 00:37:14,340 --> 00:37:15,940 She definitely deserves... 589 00:37:16,190 --> 00:37:17,850 the recognition that she doesn't get. 590 00:37:18,710 --> 00:37:22,990 That's the unfortunate and the sad part about the story is that she needs to be 591 00:37:22,990 --> 00:37:29,270 remembered for a strong woman pioneering in this business and her talent and 592 00:37:29,270 --> 00:37:32,910 focus on that instead of what happened to her. 593 00:37:34,090 --> 00:37:36,690 She's a Hall of Famer all across the board, in my opinion. 594 00:37:37,150 --> 00:37:42,030 She was a pioneer and one of the best at a role that doesn't exist anymore. 595 00:37:42,270 --> 00:37:44,030 As a pro wrestling manager, 596 00:37:44,810 --> 00:37:48,430 She created the role. She perfected the role. And then when she stopped doing 597 00:37:48,430 --> 00:37:49,830 it, the role basically disappeared. 598 00:37:50,610 --> 00:37:54,710 I would like nothing better than to see Nancy, you know, Nancy Benoit. 599 00:37:55,730 --> 00:37:57,610 Once again, you can't even say that name, right? 600 00:37:58,630 --> 00:37:59,630 Woman. 601 00:38:00,270 --> 00:38:03,410 I would like nothing better than to see woman be put into the WWE Hall of Fame. 602 00:38:05,630 --> 00:38:06,710 She was a great mom. 603 00:38:07,170 --> 00:38:08,890 She was a beautiful friend. 604 00:38:09,430 --> 00:38:13,990 And Nancy will always be the superstar that she was meant to be. 605 00:38:14,360 --> 00:38:15,440 In my, in my mind. 606 00:38:17,860 --> 00:38:24,220 What do you remember the most about Nancy? 607 00:38:26,160 --> 00:38:30,920 I remember everything about her. I remember how her hair smells. 608 00:38:34,520 --> 00:38:41,500 She's tucked me in with both hands real hard, like on both sides of the 609 00:38:41,500 --> 00:38:42,940 blanket to tuck me in. 610 00:38:43,660 --> 00:38:46,780 Almost like she was putting a lock on me to keep me safe. 611 00:38:47,040 --> 00:38:52,960 And to this day, when I get sad or upset or stressed out, I will tuck myself in 612 00:38:52,960 --> 00:38:55,840 on the sides so that I feel more secure. 613 00:38:57,080 --> 00:38:58,660 What do you remember the most about Daniel? 614 00:39:00,380 --> 00:39:01,380 Everything. 615 00:39:01,880 --> 00:39:04,220 I closed my eyes and I could see him doing everything. 616 00:39:05,210 --> 00:39:11,250 He was our whole lives, all of us. He was very, very, very, very loved by our 617 00:39:11,250 --> 00:39:15,730 family, by his siblings. He and his brother were just thick as thieves. 618 00:39:17,030 --> 00:39:20,610 Did you go on to have any relationship with the Benoit family afterward? 619 00:39:22,090 --> 00:39:23,090 I tried. 620 00:39:25,230 --> 00:39:26,230 Unsuccessfully. 621 00:39:30,320 --> 00:39:35,000 I was told, I won't say by who, that the children didn't want anything to do 622 00:39:35,000 --> 00:39:35,678 with us. 623 00:39:35,680 --> 00:39:39,600 And apparently the children were told that we didn't want anything to do with 624 00:39:39,600 --> 00:39:44,320 them because of what their dad did, which was absolutely not the truth. 625 00:39:46,940 --> 00:39:53,120 My last trip with my family was for WrestleMania 23 in Detroit. 626 00:39:53,820 --> 00:39:57,680 And then after the match, we flew back to Atlanta, me and Nancy. 627 00:39:59,630 --> 00:40:00,630 And Daniel. 628 00:40:00,850 --> 00:40:03,530 My dad went to Mexico for a tour. 629 00:40:04,130 --> 00:40:08,950 And then me, Nancy, and Daniel were just hanging around the house, taking 630 00:40:08,950 --> 00:40:13,010 pictures, you know, out by the trees, the dogs. 631 00:40:14,290 --> 00:40:16,330 And then, you know. 632 00:40:38,299 --> 00:40:39,880 David is absolutely a victim. 633 00:40:40,280 --> 00:40:44,440 He's a great kid that was just dealt a bad hand. I mean, it's just not fair. 634 00:40:44,560 --> 00:40:45,459 It's not right. 635 00:40:45,460 --> 00:40:49,680 He didn't do anything wrong. He's just an innocent bystander in all of this. 636 00:41:14,580 --> 00:41:20,180 I felt that because Chris killed his family, that the family he left behind 637 00:41:20,180 --> 00:41:22,460 automatically blackballed from the world. 638 00:41:23,600 --> 00:41:28,660 Like, they're going to be blamed for what Chris did. To me, those two needed 639 00:41:28,660 --> 00:41:33,000 be reconnected because talking with David and meeting Sandra and knowing she 640 00:41:33,000 --> 00:41:38,100 having the same issues and pain and hurt that David had, and nobody will ever 641 00:41:38,100 --> 00:41:39,100 really understand. 642 00:41:39,670 --> 00:41:43,370 what they went through with the exception of each other. So I thought if 643 00:41:43,370 --> 00:41:48,070 connect them, if they had a chance to talk, that maybe they could move on and 644 00:41:48,070 --> 00:41:51,070 still realize that they have family in each other. 645 00:41:51,770 --> 00:41:57,230 Chris Jericho, wrestling angel come to life. He gave my number to my nephew and 646 00:41:57,230 --> 00:41:59,670 gave my nephew's number to me. We hadn't talked before. 647 00:42:00,230 --> 00:42:01,230 Everything happened. 648 00:42:02,410 --> 00:42:06,230 So 13 years, the last time we saw each other. 649 00:42:07,330 --> 00:42:08,670 It's been a very long time. 650 00:42:09,360 --> 00:42:11,360 She finally called me. I answered. 651 00:42:11,660 --> 00:42:17,380 We talked on the phone for probably a good two hours, and now going to watch 652 00:42:17,380 --> 00:42:20,300 wrestling because I still love it. 653 00:42:20,860 --> 00:42:21,860 It's in my blood. 654 00:42:22,800 --> 00:42:25,400 It feels like we never were apart. 655 00:42:25,640 --> 00:42:28,560 It felt like we just reconnected, left off where we started. 656 00:42:28,980 --> 00:42:30,020 Nothing has changed. 657 00:42:30,260 --> 00:42:31,580 She's still my Auntie Zosia. 658 00:42:32,860 --> 00:42:37,720 Chris lives on in David every day, and Nancy lives on in Sandra every day, and 659 00:42:37,720 --> 00:42:38,720 think they're both lost. 660 00:42:39,020 --> 00:42:40,600 when Tristan Nancy died. 661 00:42:41,400 --> 00:42:44,600 So hopefully this will help them get found. 662 00:42:45,180 --> 00:42:50,100 You feel better? Yeah. Because you guys have the same perspective, you know, and 663 00:42:50,100 --> 00:42:53,440 it's important for you guys to stick together on this, right? 664 00:42:53,660 --> 00:42:57,160 Because you know, yeah, we can be friends and be supportive, but it's not 665 00:42:57,160 --> 00:42:58,560 same. It's for you guys. 666 00:42:58,800 --> 00:43:00,220 No, it's not the same as family. 667 00:43:00,420 --> 00:43:01,420 Yeah, exactly. 668 00:43:01,540 --> 00:43:02,560 They've never been more. 669 00:43:05,960 --> 00:43:10,640 I've never been more grateful and happy to see someone that I love as I was when 670 00:43:10,640 --> 00:43:11,640 I saw my nephew. 671 00:43:12,020 --> 00:43:17,220 Do you think you will ever be able to or want to give forgiveness to our script? 672 00:43:18,680 --> 00:43:22,960 Yes, I think I do someday want to be able to forgive him. I do. 673 00:43:23,520 --> 00:43:30,200 Because carrying around the burden of hate gets 674 00:43:30,200 --> 00:43:31,200 exhausting. 675 00:43:32,820 --> 00:43:34,280 Everyone deserves forgiveness. 676 00:43:37,770 --> 00:43:39,610 And everyone deserves mercy. 677 00:43:40,290 --> 00:43:47,030 So I think that within time, there will be a day when I get on my knees and 678 00:43:47,030 --> 00:43:49,930 I finally say it, that I forgive them. 679 00:43:51,650 --> 00:43:55,570 You never know. It might be tomorrow. 680 00:43:56,050 --> 00:43:58,530 But I do know it's not today.