The story of Chris Benoit is one of the worst tragedies to hit the wrestling industry.
Christopher Michael Benoit was born in May 1967 in Quebec, Canada. From a very young age, he was drawn to wrestle and, from the age of 12, was driven to lift weights and put the pieces in place to have a career in wrestling. At the young age of 18, he began working with Stampede Wrestling, then on to New Japan World Wrestling. At that time, Japan was known as a proving ground for young wrestlers. He did just that and, after success in Japan, he returned to the States and joined the World Wrestling Federation.
Success on the Wrestling Circuit:
Chris Benoit found success in the ring, but he was known as a perfectionist. He practiced his moves endlessly and would be upset with himself if the move didn’t work out perfectly. On many occasions, other wrestlers would see him doing squats, 500 at a time, to punish himself for making a mistake. He was driven to perfection and when he didn’t live up to his expectations, he took it out on himself.
He also had high expectations for younger wrestlers and some reports stated that he could be tough on new wrestlers of, some even considered him to be a bully, according to WrestlingInc.com.
But Chris overcame the negativity and was in the wrestling industry for over 22 years.
Chirs’ Personal Life:
Chris was married early in his career in Canada and had two children. He divorced and began dating valet Nancy Toffoloni, who was the wife of another wrestler. She went by the tagline of Woman. Chris and Nancy were together for several years and had a child together, Daniel, before they wed on November 23, 2000, when Daniel was nine months old.
The couple had a tempestuous relationship, with Nancy filing for divorce a couple of different times, but the couple always got back together. There were also rumors of infidelity, which bothered Nancy.
One of the most difficult things for Chris to overcome was the death of his best friend and fellow wrestler, Eddie Guerrero. He couldn’t seem to get over Guerrero’s death and began reading the bible and mourning his lost friend. It got so bad that Nancy got him a book so he could journal his thoughts hoping it would make him better.
The End:
On June 25, 2007, several of his friends got odd voicemail messages that included his address. A wellness check was requested by his employer after hearing about the messages and Chris missing an important match. When the officers entered the residence, they found Nancy, Daniel, and Chris Benoit all dead in a murder/suicide.
Many state that Benoit took medication and was suffering brain trauma due to concussions. Numerous medications were found in each member of the family, including Daniel, who had Xanax in his system at the
In all, Chris Benoit was a famous wrestler, but one that had many problems that couldn’t be solved, until he found the only way out. Vince McMahon said there would be no mention of Chris Benoit again.
