Source: Corpus Christi-Times
CORPUS CHRISTI — Veteran WWE wrestler Chris Benoit was found dead in his Georgia home Monday, causing real life to trump scripted wrestling when WWE organizers canceled a show scheduled at the American Bank Center.
Detective Bo Turner told television station WAGA that the case was being treated as a murder-suicide, but said that couldn’t be confirmed until evidence was examined by a crime lab.
The station said that investigators believe the 40-year-old Benoit killed his wife, Nancy, and 7-year-old son, Daniel, during the weekend at their Fayetteville home, then himself on Monday. A neighbor called police, and the bodies were found in three rooms.
Lead investigator Lt. Tommy Pope, of the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department, told The Associated Press the deaths were being investigated as homicide, and that the causes of death awaited autopsy results today. Pope said the bodies were discovered about 2:30 p.m., but refused to release details.
American Bank Center officials posted signs announcing the live “Monday Night Raw” card would be canceled for Monday about a half hour before the show’s scheduled start at 6:30 p.m., said arena spokeswoman Christina Garcia. The event is expected to be rescheduled, but a makeup date has not been set, she said.
American Bank Center organizers were expecting a full house, but Garcia wouldn’t release the number of tickets sold or what Monday’s maximum capacity was.
Fans can check the status of their tickets at the WWE Web site, wwe.com.
“The crowd is perfect — real understanding,” police Sgt. R.L. Garcia said soon after the event was canceled.
About 100 fans congregated at the south entrance of the arena after the cancellation announcement was made and streams of others walked back to their cars as the event was scheduled to begin.
“We were hoping to see (WWE wrestler) John Cena, but now we’re going home,” said Ray Gonzalez, clutching a large yellow poster that read “you can’t see me” as he walked away from the arena with his 5-year-old son, Hurley Joe, and his wife, Gloria Gonzalez.
“I guess we can’t do much about it except show respect to the family,” he said.
Texas A&M-Kingsville student Ernest Herrera said he didn’t believe the news at first.
“We had to call friends who checked on the Web,” he said. “This would have been my first live show — I just wanted to see everyone.”
The USA Network aired a three-hour show highlighting Benoit’s career in place of the scheduled wrestling telecast.
The broadcast opened with WWE Chairman Vince McMahon standing in the middle of the ring at an empty American Bank Center arena. The glitz and showmanship that are part of the usual WWE production were absent.
McMahon, who himself was presumed dead as part of a scenario in which his limousine exploded on the June 11 edition of “Raw,” shed that storyline and announced the deaths of Benoit and his family.
Monday night’s event was supposed to be a special three-hour edition of Raw dedicated to the memory of McMahon. All superstars from the Raw, Smackdown! and ECW rosters were required to attend as the investigation into McMahon’s presumed death continued.
McMahon said the only thing the WWE could do at the moment was pay tribute to Benoit with footage of him and comments from his wrestling peers.
Benoit was scheduled to perform at the “Vengeance” pay-per-view event Sunday night in Houston, but was replaced at the last minute because of what announcer Jim Ross called “personal reasons.”
“WWE extends its sincerest thoughts and prayers to the Benoit family’s relatives and loved ones in this time of tragedy,” the federation said in a statement on its Web site.
Hundreds of fans gathered at the back of the American Bank Center Monday, some of whom had been camping out for most of the day, and cheered as cars carrying WWE stars trickled out of a loading dock. WWE employees carrying video cameras encouraged the fans to “cheer for Chris Benoit.”
