All language subtitles for Dark Side of the Ring s02e01_English

My name is Dennis Fagan.

I run the security
for World Wrestling,

and one of our wrestlers that
lives down there is missing.

[Police] Okay, what's his name?
[Dennis] Chris Benoit.

Chris Benoit was considered
by many of us in the business

as being one of the
greatest workers in wrestling.

He was nicknamed the
Rabid Wolverine and

the Canadian Crippler.

They tried to
reach his wife, Nancy.

[Dennis] She doesn't answer.
They tried to call his house.

I plan on ruling
the wrestling world.

She was in love.

More in love than I'd ever,
ever seen her in my life.

This was during Chris
and Nancy's wedding.

Daniel was the
best man, of course.

[Police] Alright.
We'll go ahead and

send somebody out there
to check on it.

Well, the wrestling
world in shock today,

former champion,
Chris Benoit,

found dead in
his Atlanta home,

along with his wife
and young son.

Police now treating
the discovery as

a double murder-suicide.

[Narrator]
On June 25, 2007,

Chris Benoit's brutal
murder of his wife and son

dominated the news cycle,

leaving the world
searching for answers.

Going over it
in my mind like,

why did this happen?
How did it happen?

Could it have been stopped?

Authorities say Benoit
strangled his wife and

suffocated his son before
hanging himself in their home.

The term that's being thrown
everywhere is "roid rage".

When you look at
Chris Benoit's brain,

it is in fact, shocking.

For over a decade,
those closest to the killings

have been left traumatized
and desperate for closure.

For the first time,
friends and family have

come together to tell the
story in their own words.

Chris was just
a gentle giant,

and I could never have imagined
that he could hurt someone.

He was probably the greatest
wrestler that's ever lived.

And, to have that same person
have murdered your family;

that's not an easy
statement for me to make.

That's not the
Chris that I knew.

There's so many details that
are crazy to understand.

I need to talk about this.
If you don't want to hear it,

if you're gonna give me
shit about it later,

and say I'm glorifying
a murderer,

stop listening now.

♪

[sighs] Alright.

[Off-screen]
Alright. You ready?

- Let's rock.
- [Off-screen] Alright...

...So, first, can you
tell us who you are?

I'm David Benoit,
son of Chris Benoit...

Who, is one of the greatest
wrestlers of all time,

I believe.

[Announcers shouting
& crowd cheering]

That was just his job. But,
soon as he got off the road,

he was just dad.
That was it.

No matter what.

♪

My grandfather took him to
his very first show in Edmonton.

And then he saw
the Dynamite Kid.

[Announcer]
Against the Dynamite Kid,

also 214, from Liverpool.

[Crowd] [Cheers]
[Announcer] Oh!

And then, he's like, "Yep,
that's what I want to do."

My dad, he looked up to him.
That was his idol.

He emulated him,
his work ethic.

Nothing like it.

And then he would do his
signature flying head butt.

He would climb up
to the top rope,

jump off, spread eagle.
Then, connect.

Busted his ass in the
ring every single night.

Gave it 120%,
no matter what.

I got my very first Nintendo
and I had WCW Mayhem...

And I played as him.

Chris Benoit was on the
radar as a pro wrestler since,

gosh, the 80s.

I'm Jim Ross.

Got into wrestling in 1974.

I'm now the
Senior Advisor to AEW.

I'm a wrestling fan so,
if you're a wrestling fan,

how could you not be a
fan of Chris Benoit's work?

He was always considered one
of the best workers ever,

even when he was young.
He was just a natural.

My name is Chris Jericho.

I've been wrestling
for a long time,

almost 30 years.

Watching Chis Benoit was one
of the reasons why I really

enjoyed Stampede Wrestling and
why I started really thinking,

maybe I can do this.

[Announcer ] Benoit is a rookie,
but he does have the moves.

To watch Stampede Wrestling,
you could tell that

the guys were smaller guys.

They were not as tall
as the giants that

you could find in the WWF.

I thought, wow, like,
they're kind of my size.

So, in that aspect,
someone like Chris Benoit

was kind of an early
influence on me.

[Wrestlers] [grunts]
[Audience] Oh!

The most intense and
believable performer

I've ever been in the ring with.

He could see things that would
happen before they happened.

[Audience] Oh!

His first job was wrestling
and his last job was wrestling.

All he ever did was wrestle.

The only thing he ever got a
paycheck from was wrestling.

[Wrestlers] [grunts]

I was a huge fan
of Chris Benoit,

right off the get go.
He's the ultimate performer.

Dean Malenko.
I wrestled for ACW,

WCW, and of course,
-WWF/
-WWE.

Chris was a very quiet,
very reserved, you know,

very serious guy and
kind of like into

his own little world
at times, but when,

when that red light went
on and that bell rang,

Chris Benoit was a
whole 'nother person.

Extremely focused.
Probably one of the most

focused individuals that
I've ever seen

in any sport,
for that matter.

Chris took nothing
less than being perfect.

♪

[Lionheart] Oh!
[Audience] Oh!

[Chris] I did a few tours
with Benoit, over in Japan.

And, we had a match.
I gave him a spin kick and

I didn't hit him in
the head with it,

nor should you -
it's wrestling -

you work together
to put on a show.

He felt like he took it
the wrong way.

He felt that he exposed the
business with his ineptitude.

Meanwhile, I bet you
nobody noticed anything

'cause a quick kick goes by.
You take a bump.

It's not on TV. Who cares?

He cared.

♪

I found him in the
back doing Hack squats,

like Hindu squats where
you just go up and down:

1, 2...
And I go, "What's wrong?"

He's like, "Oh, I messed up
that kick and, you know,

I have to do squats now."
I'm like, "Why?

Who told you to do squats?"
Like, "Are you in trouble?"

Like, "No, I'm just
doing them on my own.

I screwed up.
I'm doing 500 squats."

That was him.
It was like he had to

purge himself and
punish himself

for making this
minor mistake...

that, to him,
was everything.

And Eddie was
like that, too.

♪

Wrestling fans, of course,
all know who Eddie Guerrero is.

To many in the
wrestling world,

he is considered
as one of the

absolute best wrestlers
of all time.

I'm Chavo Guerrero Jr.,
third generation

professional wrestler from the
legendary Guerrero family.

When Eddie was about 18,
he started really training

for wrestling, started
wrestling all over Mexico,

and then transitioned it
to Japan and became one of

their top stars, and it
was called Black Tiger.

♪

He was this tall Mexican guy

with long hair and cowboy boots,

and pants that were tight.
And, I loved his ass,

and I thought and I thought he
was the most gorgeous guy.

My name is Vickie Guerrero.

I am a former WWE superstar.

And, I fell in
love with Eddie.

He loved wrestling.
He ate it. He dreamt it.

He was always doing promos
in the bathroom mirror.

He was always showing me, "Hey,
can I try this move on you?

And tell me if it hurts."

Those were kind of
fun days in the bed,

I mean, I'm not gonna lie.
Those, those were good times.

[laughs]

[Chris]
Super nice. Very friendly.

Would give you the
shirt off his back, like,

literally, like,
you could just tell

the sweetness just
exuded from this guy.

A little bit crazy,
as any wrestler can be,

especially from
that generation.

Very small, though.

When we were in Japan,
the referee Hitori

used to call him
Mexican Flamingo.

[accent] "Big, big upper body.
Small leg."

[Dean] I think Chris and Eddie
first met in Japan,

if I'm not mistaken.

[match bell]

[Wrestlers] [grunt]

[Chris] They beat the shit
out of each other,

almost like they owed
each other a lot of money.

[laughs]

[Audience] Oh!

[Vickie] Eddie would
call me and be like,

"Man, I can't
stand this asshole.

Like, he's such a prick and,
you know, I can't believe

I have to work with him
for the next week or two."

[Dean] I think even in today's
world of wrestling

every company out there,

they all go back and watch
those matches.

Those guys were like
way ahead of the time.

I really wanted to be like
those guys, you know,

like, that's why my name
was Lionheart for so long.

[Announcer] Lion... heart!

'Cause I wanted to be
an animal, like those guys.

Eddie was Black Tiger.

Chris was the
Pegasus Kid, Wild Pegasus.

Those two just saw
things differently,

and that was part of what
made them so ----ing great.

The more they fought,
I think the more that

they started, you know,
respecting each other.

They hit it off and
they ended up just,

you know, being
the best of friends.

♪

These particular earrings
are a pair that

my sister wore as Woman on WCW.

I decided that I would wear
what she thought

would look good on camera.

My name is
Sandra Toffoloni and,

I am the only
sibling of Nancy Benoit.

My sister Nancy just married
right out of high school.

Her first husband was a huge
wrestling fan and got her

to going to the matches
and she really liked it.

There was a moment where,

I don't know if it was
a promoter,

or another manager that picked
her out of the crowd...

You know, she's a
beautiful woman.

The first time it was just kind
of like a weekend thing.

And then it turned
into something else.

She met Kevin Sullivan in
Florida Championship Wrestling.

Humba-hunda,
hoobla-hacha!

Hey!
Let me tell you something!

He's probably one of the
greatest promoters and

bookers that's ever
worked in wrestling.

[Chavo] Kevin Sullivan, who was
this satanic character,

and he was satanic because
he shaved an X into his

chest hair and put
makeup on, you know...

That was about the
extent of his Satanism,

you know,
and he wore a hood.

And, they had an instant
connection as friends,

and then, shortly after
that were falling in love.

She was already in the process
of divorcing her first husband.

♪

So, Kevin, he had this
idea in his head

to grow this gimmick of,

he's the prince
of darkness and he has

this army of darkness
behind him.

And, Nancy by his side
as the Fallen Angel.

Welcome to Polynesian
pro wrestling.

I'm Angel, your co-host,
and here's my master,

Kevin Sullivan.

You know, Angel,
you've done a fine job.

The name Fallen Angel came
from a Uriah Heep album.

And the coverof it had
this beautiful woman

in a leather-ish
bikini with feathers,

and a sword, and she looked
at that cover and said,

"Man, that's the gimmick."

[Dean] She was good at
what she did.

Probably one of the first
that really understood the

art of being a valet
or a second, so to speak.

She's an instrumental
part in getting heat,

as we like to say.

[Sandra] People would stop her.
They recognized her.

They believed
she was possessed.

She'd be getting gas and
they would come over, like,

"We're just gonna
lay hands on you and pray,

pray for your soul."

And she loved it
'cause she knew,

if they hate me,
I'm absolutely doing my job.

[Chris] She wasn't a wrestler,
but she was very valuable

as a ringside performer.
And, that's a lost art.

Now, there's no
such thing, right.

Every girl in the business
has to be a wrestler.

She wasn't that, but she
probably knew the business

better than most.

[Sandra] She did Kevin's makeup;
she did her own makeup.

She did everything: the hair,
the staging, the clothes.

Guys would
break their tights;

Nancy would be there
with thread and needle.

We had duffle bags full
of boa constrictors

all around the house.

[Off-screen] In the beginning,
how would you describe

their dynamic, like, what they
saw in each other, even?

[Sandra] Nancy and Kevin's?
[Off-screen] Yeah.

Oh, man.
You know, he worshipped her,

and she was all in with him.
She was in love.

And their dynamic
was awesome.

So, they moved to WCW.

It was a big step up,
obviously, so...

than what they were doing.

WCW...
Where the big boys play.

[Audience]
[cheering]

[Chavo] Dean Malenko,
Chris Benoit,

and Eddie Guerrero were
the three amigos.

All three of them
came to WCW together.

[Announcer] What do they call
this guy up north,

the Canadian Crippler?

Oh! My goodness!
Did you see that?

[Sandra] Kevin was a
booker at the time,

booking productions,
booking talent for story lines.

Everyone kept talking about
this really great

technical wrestler that
was coming out.

I knew he was new to the
company and I know that

my brother-in-law
wanted to book him.

[Chavo] I just knew Nancy as the
Fallen Angel character.

Then, getting to WCW,
she was Woman.

I am Woman.
So, men... look at it,

wish you had it,
and eat your heart out.

Woman was the one character
she was attached to 'cause

it was most like her
actual personality.

I'm gonna watch
your every move, Ric Flair.

I'll see you at
the Clash, big boy.

[Sandra] She's independent.

She takes
nothing from anyone.

And, god help you if
you get in her way.

- Ow!
- This one's for you!

[Dean] I know Kevin really,
really liked Chris,

really enjoyed
working with him.

And, at that time,

Kevin was booking Chris and
himself into matches.

And, Nancy kind of
became a part of it.

Things were kind of
happening a little weird,

but nobody really
knew what was going on.

Kevin Sullivan, it started out
as you and I...

And then you
brought Nancy into it.

[Sandra] The joke in the
business is always that

Kevin Sullivan booked
his own divorce.

It's funny, to a point,

but then it's kind of not
funny at all 'cause

I'm certain that it was
not meant to happen.

♪

[Chavo] Starting in WCW,
Dean Malenko,

Eddie Guerrero,
Chris Benoit,

who all came in together,
they loved it.

They were happy
and they were, you know,

getting some props 'cause
even them being smaller,

in a sense,
they were the work horses.

You could always
count on them.

Benoit takes flight!

He is on time with a swan dive!

So, Kevin Sullivan,
the booker, the story maker,

writes a story and has
this idea to have Woman,

who was Nancy,
leave Kevin's side and start

going with Kevin's arch rival
who was Chris Benoit.

What's it feels like,

losing the most important thing
that you ever had?

WCW would film vignettes with

Chris and Nancy being
intimate together.

I'll tell you what; it sure
feels great getting it.

What they didn't plan for
is that, that really happened:

Nancy left Kevin Sullivan
to go with Chris Benoit.

[Sandra] Kevin was used to her
always being there and

kind of being his
right-hand person and,

with her focusing
on her own career,

I think there
were strains there.

There were a couple of
physical altercations

in the house,
fights that escalated.

Nancy would reach out to
Chris whenever she would

have a bad night with Kevin,
and Chris was her safe haven,

you know, where she would go,
wherever he was at.

[Dean] Chris was going through
some problems with his wife

at the time so, two people kind
of gravitating towards

each other 'cause they were,
you know, having difficulties.

[Julie] So, I got a call
from my husband

telling me that Nancy has

had some problems
and could I help her.

I was working in a
psychiatrist's office and

Chris brought
her in to see me,

and she came in and
removed her sunglasses and

she had a huge black eye.

She told me Kevin
had done that to her.

And, I just told
her that I, you know,

I'm gonna help you
in any way we can.

We need to document this.

I was really hoping to try
to help her get out of

that abusive relationship.

I just saw it as
being in this...

it's gonna blow up.

♪

[Sandra] Bash at the Beach
was in

Daytona Beach at
the Ocean Centre.

It was Kevin Sullivan
going against Chris.

It was a great match,
I thought,

'cause it looked
super realistic.

And then, at one point, Chris
and Kevin were really--

started exchanging blows.

Chris hit Kevin really hard
on the side of the head and,

it broke his ear drum.

[Audience]
[cheering]

[match bell]

The match ended, but the
fight continued backstage.

And I was called out to
go backstage.

I started to walk towards Kevin
and Chris is like,

"No, no. Don't do that."

And Kevin's yelling from the
other end of the hallway,

"Come on. Come on.

Come with me.
We're leaving."

Chris handed me the phone
and it was my sister

on the other end, she's like,
"Sandra, get out of there.

Come home.
Come to the condo.

Just go with Chris.
Do not go with Kevin."

And, I always do what my sister
says so, that's what I did.

No explanation needed.

I went to the condo and my
sister came out to talk to me.

And, she was
visibly physically hurt.

She explained to me that her
injuries were from Kevin and

that Chris had helped her,
and that she was leaving Kevin.

I told her she had to.

♪

Chris was a nice person and
all I knew about him was that

he helped my sister in a time
that she really needed it so,

for that, he instantly had my
thanks and my admiration.

And she was in love.

More in love than I'd ever,
ever seen her in my life.

The way that they
looked at each other,

we're like, "Oh, yeah,
it's gonna work."

And, Nancy and I
became best of friends.

Chris decided that he wanted
to push his career forward

a little bit, and then,
she just really, really, really

wanted to focus on building the
house and starting a family.

And then, all of a sudden,
Daniel was born.

I had never seen Chris so
beyond himself, just excited.

♪

This is my favourite page
because this was during

Chris and Nancy's
wedding and,

Daniel was the
best man, of course.

This is the love that
Chris and Nancy always had.

And then, here's them
feeding Daniel

after they got married.

And, Nancy being the
princess that she was.

And, David was there, too,
Chris' oldest.

[Chavo] David is the son
of Chris Benoit,

from Chris' first marriage.

[Chris Benoit] Hi, guys.

[David] Nancy, she treated me
like I was her own kid.

We didn't use the
word "step" in our,

in our family, you know.

We were family.
We went and had fun.

Went to Chuck E. Cheese
with Daniel and Nancy, and...

you know, it was good times.

This is my very favourite
photo of David and Daniel.

That's flipping adorable.

I mean,
that's what siblings are.

You hang on to
one another and

hope for the best
for each other.

He would look up
to me, you know?

I loved him.
I protected him.

We wanted to be
tag team champions.

That's what we wanted to do,

be the tag team champions
of the world, together.

♪

[Chavo] So, in WCW,
there was definitely

a ceiling that you would reach.

[Vickie] The bigger guys were
getting all the TV spotlights.

If you weren't like 7-foot tall
and huge muscles,

you know,
you didn't get the...

the main event.

[Dean] Chris was getting a
little irritated about the

situation happening
at WCW at the time,

and never seeing ourself for
the main event spot because

we kept getting pushed down.

So, we decided
to take a walk.

[Announcer]
I cannot believe this!

Eddie Guerrero,
Chris Benoit,

and Dean Malenko on WWF Raw.

They walked out.

WWF picked them up
in one second and

the rest is history.

[Announcer] Benoit, on top!

[indistinct shouts]
Oh my god!

[Chris] When all three of them
got to WWE,

then you really
saw their strengths.

[Eddie] I lie!
I cheat! I steal!

Their intelligence for the
business and their view of

the business, and seeing, like,
we see this, they saw this.

Eddie became one of the
best characters of all time,

as well as being one of
the best in-ring champions.

And, Benoit became
just this killer.

You know, no nonsense,
Clint Eastwood performer.

It was like Dirty Harry.
"Go ahead. Make my day."

[Announcer] Benoit,
who's a rabid wolverine.

I'm telling you;
Chris Benoit is heartless.

[Jim] Chris Benoit's been a
main eventer for years.

It was only a matter
that he was too short.

Perceived as too short,
imagine that.

[Announcer]
Benoit's a magnificent,

extraordinary athlete.

[Jim] I always thought, man,
getting Benoit here

is gonna create these great
match ups, and it did.

It was a no-brainer.

- Yay!
- Good boy.

[Chris] But also, Chris was
always very much a great father.

You know, very much
about his family.

His kids were always
high up on his list.

[Chavo] When Daniel got
a little older,

Chris would bring
him to the ring.

And, of course, any time
when Chris brought

the kids around, we'd all
play with them.

It really pained him when he
had to miss certain things.

I remember at one point,
I said something

along the lines of, "I've got
to be home on Halloween."

He's like, "Man, I wish I
could go home for Halloween.

I've gotta work. And I missed
Father's Day too," like...

I was like, "Dude, well,
just get those days off."

And, it was
almost like he...

didn't want to ask for
days off 'cause, you know,

he was sacrificing for his art,
I guess you would say.

And, there's a similarity
between Chris and Eddie

in that both of them
sacrificed a lot for their art.

Chris and Eddie basically gave
their life for pro wrestling.

♪

For Eddie,
wrestling was everything.

God was first.

And then, family and
wrestling were a close second.

[laughs]

You know, sometimes we'd be in
the locker room and Eddie'd...

Eddie's naked in the locker
room reading scripture to,

to other wrestlers and
telling them about God.

[Vickie] Chris wasn't
religious at all and,

Eddie was the one that started
introducing him about God.

And, Chris was very
receptive and he always

listened to Eddie, and Eddie
had even given him

a bible one Christmas.

And Chris always had that on
him and that was something

that meant a lot to Eddie.

To always be a
witness to Chris, you know,

and to help him try
and find his higher power.

[Dean] Chris was very quiet,
very reserved,

and it took a while for
him to trust somebody.

[Chavo] Eddie would be
his go-to guy.

He'd go and talk to him
about certain things

whether it be marriage problems,
or family,

or professional problems.

They'd always
confide in each other;

that's what their
friendship was,

and I know that Chris didn't
have that with a lot of people.

[Sandra]
Chris, he was blowing up.

He was getting
bigger as a wrestler.

And, to have
Nancy behind him,

he was really happy.

She was the driving
force and motivation,

sort of taking care of
everything else that

wasn't related to wrestling.

She wanted him to be happy,
and to be successful,

and to be with
his best friend.

[Vickie]
Eddie was injured a lot.

He had a lot of pain,
a lot of injuries that,

you know, he couldn't
get operations for.

[Announcer] Eddie Guerrero
is legal...

Drops, flies...
It could be over!

[Vickie] And, as a wrestler,
you never say that you need

time off because as soon as
you're off TV for 4, 6 months,

you know, someone else is
gonna come and replace you,

and that was something that
was always in Eddie's mind,

you know,
is, I can't stop now.

[Announcer] I think Eddie
Guerrero is seriously hurt.

[Chris] Everything he
did was wrestling.

Even to the point where,
I know he was in a lot of pain,

but he still
wanted to wrestle;

that's what he does,
that's what he did,

that's who he was.
And there was also a lot of,

I mean, let's be honest,
we're all adults here,

we all did the same shit.
There was a lot of drinking;

There was a lot of drugs;

[Vickie] But, the more that
Eddie was trying to hide

his injuries with the drugs
and the alcohol,

and it was just getting to a,
a downward spiral.

♪

[Chavo] You know, I saw Chris
several different times

make sure that Eddie was
tucked in bed okay, you know,

and put on his side so he
wouldn't throw up on himself.

But then, Eddie started
getting DUIs and

crashing his car and...

you know,
having overdose problems.

♪

[Vickie] There was three ODs
Eddie did in our house.

The first two,
I called the ambulance,

and all they did was release
him the next afternoon.

They just sent him home.

The third time, I,
I just let him lay there.

I actually left and
took the girls to school,

and just told God,
"If you're gonna take him,

just take him now," because
it was a bad place in my life.

♪

A lot of wrestlers
were dying from

substance abuse issues and,

in the back of your mind,
always,

you're like, man, is Eddie
gonna be one of those...?

Is he gonna be a statistic?

[Vickie] Eddie showed up
to work high one day,

where he was in bad shape and

I think that when they saw that
Eddie couldn't perform,

that's when they said,

"We're gonna go
ahead and let you go."

He called me and said,
"Well, I got fired."

I finally was like,
well, thank god.

I mean, because now the
worst that could

ever be imagined is happening.

[Chris] They sent him to rehab,
lost everything,

and had to go from the
depths of hell and

work his way up
the system again.

[Vickie] Little by little,
he started

changing his
life to get clean.

[Chavo] After that,
his wife came back,

his family came back,
his life came back.

And, that's where Eddie got
rehired from WWE and

things were great.
He was in the best shape.

WrestleMania XX, the fans
knew the history of

Eddie and Chris so,
the night in New York,

it's the right time
for both of these guys.

Me and Nancy were
watching from the sky box.

We were jittery
and we were nervous,

and we were excited,
and we were stressed, too,

because we didn't know,
you know,

if they were gonna win
or what the outcome was.

[Announcer] Just tap--
Wait a minute!

[indistinct shouts]

1, 2, 3!
[cheering]

When Eddie won,
it was pure joy.

[Announcer]
Benoit going up to the top.

Oh, no! He hit it!

Seeing my dad in the ring,
he was my hero.

[Announcer]
[indistinct shouts]

[Audience]
[cheering]

I remember it like
yesterday, man.

[Announcer]
Benoit!

[David] I jumped up after
he won the belt.

[match bell]

Nancy and I were crying,
and the girls were excited.

And, of course,
you see the confetti and,

you know, all the
fans just on their feet.

[David] And then I got to see
Eddie Guerrero go out there,

best friend.

What a moment.
I'll never forget that.

♪

[Chavo] And that's why that's
one of the best moments in,

not just wrestling history,
I think TV history.

It was the happy, storybook
ending of WrestleMania.

[Dean] You know, thank god,
the office finally

saw those guys for
what they were.

♪

[David] It was my favourite
time, my favourite match.

I wish those two just
retired right after that,

to be honest with you.

♪

[fans cheering]

♪

I have never, ever seen
a closer relationship

or friendship between
two wrestlers

as I did between
Chris and Eddie.

It was an actual real,
no bullshit,

out of the ring,
caring relationship.

[Chavo] So, there's a super
show in Minneapolis.

We got a flight to Minneapolis.
It's a few hours so,

Eddie's sitting there talking to
me and then he kind of just...

he kind of passes out...

sleeps, and I'm like--

well, I didn't know that this
had been happening to Eddie.

He started talking to people and

pass out in the middle
of a sentence.

So, we get off the
plane in Minneapolis,

check into our hotel
that we always go to,

and we had seen
Chris in the lobby also,

saying, "I'll see you
down in the morning."

"Okay."

7 o'clock and we're
gonna go work out.

It's set, you know,
the three of us together,

it's just the way it was.

Eddie goes to his room.
I go to my room.

Next morning, I get
a call about 5:30.

It's the front desk.

"Something's wrong
with your uncle."

"What do you mean, something's
wrong with my uncle?"

So, I get a knock on
my door, security guard,

and he's taking me
to Eddie's room. I go,

"What's going on?"

He goes, "Well,
your uncle didn't...

he didn't answer
his wake up call,

so we came to his
room and knocked.

No answer,
with the latch on.

That means
someone's in here."

So, they cut the latch off.

I walk in, and I
look in the bathroom.

I see Eddie face down.
He's in his underwear,

his toothbrush was
in his hand.

I grab him. I kind
of try to shake him

and he's moving,
and I hear him...

gurgling, like
[mimics gurgling]

And I'm like, "Eddie! Eddie!"

Wiping his face
and, and, and he's... like...

He's, he's still there,
man, and he's trying,

and then all of a sudden,
he's in my arms and he's,

he's not there anymore.

♪

He passed in my arms,
like, literally. Ah...

Hold on.

♪

I haven't been to this
moment in a long time.

♪

Then, I get a call from Chris,
and Chris goes,

"Hey, man. I'm downstairs.
Where are you?"

I go, "Hey, man,
are you sitting down?"

He goes, "Yeah."
And I go,

"Eddie passed away
this morning,"

and all you hear is a -

from a guy with
no emotion whatsoever -

you hear a wail.

♪

Just this wail from deep down,
like a heartbreak.

If you've ever heard one,
this was a heart break.

♪

Then Vince called me,

and he said,
he goes, "Vickie..."

And he's just crying,
and I'm just like,

I go, "Is it true,
Eddie's passed away?"

He said, "I'm sorry."

♪

[Dean] Chris went over there
and kind of knelt down and

kissed Eddie on the forehead.
I went over there and,

you know,
kind of like the same thing.

It was hard.
I mean...

I mean, here's your buddy
you've been with for

8, 10 years,
every day pretty much.

♪

[off-screen] And there wasn't
really any sign that,

obviously, he had relapsed?

He didn't relapse.

The verdict was
heart disease, at 38.

[Sandra] I remember the day
that my sister called me,

hysterical. I couldn't even
understand her.

"You need to take some
breaths and you need to

tell me what's going on,"
'cause she couldn't even

get the words out.

When she told me, I just,
I burst into tears.

And I thought about the kids,
and Vickie really,

you know, just a flash
in my head, and then...

my next thought was,
oh my god, Chris.

[cheers & claps]

Eddie Guerrero has
passed away.

The tribute the WWE did
couldn't have been any better.

Yeah, the whole stage was filled
with everyone from backstage.

But, all I can
remember was Chris.

He was just crying.

I want you to know that I
love you and I miss you.

One by one, they took
different talent they wanted

to talk about Eddie,
Eddie's passing, Eddie's life.

And, Chris did it, which was
probably really difficult to do.

Chris had a hard time
getting through it.

I want to thank
you from my heart,

and tell you that I love you
and I'll never forget you,

and that we'll see
each other again.

I love you, Eddie.

♪

[David] I believe it was very
hard for him, you know.

I even cried after, for him.

Funerals are never good, but
Eddie's funeral was very hard.

When I saw Benoit, he...

man, he came and
gave me a hug,

but it was like the most
desperate, saddest,

I'm hanging on for dear life hug
that you could ever get.

Sobbing deep, hitching sobs,
and leaving literally a

patch of wetness on the
shoulder of my suit that

soaked through to the shirt.

Went through the jacket,
the shirt, of tears.

♪

[Chavo] I had never seen Chris
show emotion before.

You know, of course,
it affected all of us,

but I just think it
affected Chris just,

like, so much more.

It affected Chris like
a spouse or something.

♪

When Eddie passed away,
not only did it end

Chris and Eddie's relationship,
in a lot of ways,

it kind of ended
mine with him too.

I think he just became more
and more of a hermit and

didn't want to see
people that he knew.

♪

I remember seeing him at
Eddie's funeral and

the WWE guys had to leave
right after the funeral

to fly to Europe.
You have Chris,

who has this
horrible damage done to him,

where he's crying, sobbing,
the lowest point of his life,

and as soon as the funeral's
done he goes on a plane

and flies to Europe to wrestle.
I didn't get that.

You know, I thought if
there is ever time to,

to take some time off or to
give someone some time off,

I think Chris needed to...

be away from
stuff for a while.

But, I think he just
continued on

'cause he didn't know
what else to do.

He didn't handle it well.
Let me just say it like that.

♪

[Vickie]
I was in bed, like,

for the first week after
we buried Eddie and,

Nancy was the
first one at the house.

And, she helped me
with everything.

I mean, she was the one
who was making sure that

the kids were fed.
Finally, she just, like,

walked in my room
and she's like, "Enough."

She goes, "Enough.
Get up and shower.

Get up because you
have two girls

that still love you
and they need you."

And, I didn't, I didn't want
to do anything and she

threw me in the shower,
she got the girls dressed,

and she goes,
"We're going to lunch."

She was my angel
in so many ways.

She just immediately
went into planning mode.

"I'm gonna help with this,
and I'm gonna do that," and--

I mean, she just, that was
her knee jerk reaction

to grief and heart ache.

But Chris... locked down.

♪

Nancy stayed with me for a
month after Eddie passed away,

and Chris would
come in when they were off,

and I would find Chris on
Eddie's side of his bed and

Chris would just be
laying there crying,

holding Eddie's pillow.

Eddie had a beautiful gym
upstairs and I would go upstairs

and the girls would come down
and they would say,

"Mom, Chris
is crying again."

♪

And I would go to the gym
and Chris would just be

sitting on the bench,
just crying.

He goes, "I'm lost
without Eddie being here."

To see him just crying in
my arms is very emotional.

Here's this big,
strong man who is tough,

and quiet, and strong...

He broke my heart.

You know, but then
you see Chris, you know,

around the other wrestlers
or in a meeting

and he had his face on.

So, professional, like,
you wouldn't even think that

anything was bothering him.

But Chris was getting
more and more distant where,

he was not being
seen as much backstage.

You know, where I couldn't
find him. Like, Nancy would

call me and be like,
"How's Chris doing today?"

And I'd say, "Well,
I haven't seen him."

[Sandra] She talked to me
about it several times.

She was like, "There's
something going on

and I don't know what it is.

You gotta tell me if
you notice something."

And I was like, "Yeah,
there's something up."

He just seemed different.
He was talking more about

other wrestlers that had had
children kidnapped and

fans that went sideways,
and were violent.

He used to take different
cars and different ways to

the gym that we had
been going to for years.

♪

It was super random.

He just didn't want to
be places and be seen.

There was a level of
paranoia we had never,

ever seen before.

Nancy started
getting really worried.

She's like, "I'm really
worried for Chris.

This is really affecting him
in so many ways."

He was just sad all
the time and depressed.

He was impatient.

There was a lot of fighting
going on for reasons that

she didn't understand
why he would be upset.

She would just be like, "Life is
just really hard right now.

Like, Chris is just
irritable and

he doesn't want to talk to me.
He's mad all the time."

You know, he was just
mad at life in general.

There were a few months
where he completely closed off,

not really even
talking to Nancy,

not really
talking to anyone.

So, we got Chris a journal
so that he could write to Eddie.

I think that after we got him
that journal is when

he started opening up a little
bit more 'cause writing to him,

he started feeling like
maybe Eddie was with him

in spirit and heart,
by just being able to

talk to him every day.

[off-screen] Was there any point
when Nancy wanted Chris to

maybe step away from
wrestling at all?

That last year.

She didn't think
that it was healthy,

physically or mentally, for him
to be on the road and

doing so much work in the
same places that he and

his best friend used to be,
and do things together.

[Chris] I remember talking
to him and he was like,

"Every building I go to,
all I can do is think of Eddie.

Okay, we're in Kansas City.
Last time I was here,

Eddie was here.
And now, we're in New Mexico.

Last time I was here,
Eddie was here."

I think all of those things
were kind of signs that

something really serious
was going on with him.

He was so grief stricken on
a monumental level that

she thought that staying in,
in the company and staying in

the business was going to
eventually harm his wellbeing.

♪

It's Saturday night.

We're gonna go
into Laredo, Texas.

We're doing the Texas loop.

I get to Laredo and,
Chris, myself,

and Scott Armstrong
are gonna ride together.

And then, I get a call
from Chris and he goes,

"Oh, man.
I'm not gonna make it."

I go, "What's wrong?"
He goes, "Oh...

Daniel and Nancy have
food poisoning and

I'm just trying to take
care of them."

And I'm like, "Oh, man.
Are you good? You alright?"

And he's like, "Yeah, I'm...
I'm okay. I'm okay."

I said, "Well, tomorrow we're in
Houston for the Pay Per View."

So, he goes,
"Okay, okay. Great."

I said, "Okay, man."
And he goes, "Chavo, Chavo..."

And I go, "Yeah?"
And he goes, "I love you."

And I'm like, "Okay, brother.
I love you too, man."

Hm... That was weird.
And I go, "Are you okay?"

He was like,
"Yeah, I'm okay, man.

Just, you know, just...
I'm just really tired."

I said, "Okay, man, okay.
Well, you know,

call me if you got any problem.'
"Okay. I will. I will."

So, then, that's it.

About 5:30 in the morning,
I get a text and it was from

Chris' phone and it said,
"The dogs are in the

enclosed pool area and the
back door is open."

So, I'm half asleep and
I see this text and

I'm like, what the heck is that?

All of a sudden,
30 seconds later,

I get another text from
Nancy's phone and

it says the exact same thing.

I was like, what?
That's weird.

I get another text
right afterwards,

he tells me his address.
What is that?

So, I disregard it, thinking
I'm picking Chris up

in three hours at the airport.

So then, yeah, I meet Scott
downstairs and

we go get breakfast and we--
I talk to him. I go, "Hey, man.

Did you get a weird
text from Chris?"

And he goes, "Yeah, I did."
I said, "What did it say?"

And he said the
exact same thing.

We drive to Corpus Christi
for the next show.

Still no word from Chris.

So, the head of talent
relations, Johnny Ace,

asked me, "Hey, Chavo,
you heard from Chris?"

And I said, "No."
I said, "But, look, Johnny,"

and I bring out my
phone and I show him,

"These are the texts that I got
from Chris yesterday."

And Johnny, in his raspy voice,
is like, "Chavo!

Why didn't you show us
these yesterday?"

And I'm like, "Look, man.
We were covering for, for Chris.

We didn't know where he was.
You didn't know where he was."

[Vickie] The office is starting
to get concerned 'cause it was

getting to be like, 1, 2, 3
o'clock in the afternoon.

So, Vince McMahon had sent a
wellness check to his house.

My name is Dennis Fagan.

I run the security for World
Wrestling and one of

our wrestlers that lives
down there is missing.

We need a
welfare check done.

[9-1-1]
And what's his name?

[Dennis] Ah, Chris Benoit.
It's spelled B-E-N-O-I-T.

[9-1-1] Okay, and he's a...
a wrestler?

So, Vince McMahon calls
a meeting at the ring.

[Vickie] Dean Malenko's
sitting next to me.

I just had this
really bad feeling.

Dean's like,
"There's something wrong.

Something is not right."

That's when Vince McMahon
stands up in the ring and says,

"We just got
word that Chris Benoit,

Nancy, and Daniel
have all passed away."

And the gasps, of course,
around the ring.

[Dean] I remember Vickie
'cause she just

let out this hurling scream.

I freaked out and I
started crying and,

Dean kind of stood up and...

he grabbed my hand,
he took me off to the back.

So then, Vince is backstage
and I walk up to Vince and

I say, "What happened?
What happened?"

And I'm a little frantic.

And, he says,
"They're gone."

I said, "What do you mean,
they're gone?"

And he hugs me super tight.

And, my head's
on his shoulder, like,

crying to Vince, like,
"No, no, no, no!"

Like, "What happened?
I don't understand.

I don't understand."

Nobody understood because
no one knew the details yet.

I didn't know
what was going on,

but I heard enough to know
that something's not right.

If you would have lined up
100 people against the wall

and said, "Name one that's
gonna kill his family..."

How can this be?

Like, how could
he have done this?

He fooled us all.

♪

I went from just being a
regular welfare check.

Okay, we got something more
serious here.

And I came out of the theater
and I turned my phone on and

I had like 22 missed calls
from my parents.

The cop told me that they all
passed away over the weekend.

You didn't want
to believe it.

Can't believe it!
Can't be true!

But it was.

The act of what he did
is unthinkable... unforgivable.

♪