Korean Job Discussion Forums

Alyallen · Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 5:22 pm Post subject: A Benoit Update of sorts....

This isn't quite current events and I know this was discussed quite a bit here, so here goes...

Doctor describes Benoit brain injury
By HARRY R. WEBER, Associated Press Writer

ATLANTA - Pro wrestler Chris Benoit suffered head trauma from his years in the ring that could help explain why he killed his wife, son and himself, a doctor who studied his brain said Wednesday.

The analysis by doctors affiliated with the Sports Legacy Institute suggests that repeated concussions could have contributed to the killings at Benoit's suburban Atlanta home, though there was no way to know for sure.

"Whether it is the sole factor, I believe, is speculation, and I will not go there," said Dr. Robert Cantu, a member of the Waltham, Mass.-based institute, which researches the long-term effects of concussions.

The level of brain damage Benoit had could have caused depression and irrational behavior, said Cantu, who also is chief of neurosurgery service at Emerson Hospital in Concord, Mass.

The wrestler's father, Michael Benoit, said Wednesday he agreed to the testing of his son's brain because murder-suicide was so out of character. He said his son complained about suffering concussions, but that he knows of no medical records or records kept by the wrestling league to support the diagnosis.

Steroid use also has lingered as a theory behind the killings, since anabolic steroids were found in Chris Benoit's home and tests conducted by authorities showed Benoit had roughly 10 times the normal level of testosterone in his system when he died.

Some experts believe that use of testosterone can contribute to paranoia, depression and violent outbursts known as "roid rage."

Dr. Wendy Wright, an intensive care neurologist at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta who was not involved in the study of Benoit's brain, said multiple concussions could cause long-term brain injuries, but the symptoms were unclear.

"This isn't something you would expect to see turn on one day and have someone fly into a vicious rage," she said.

Michael Benoit, who lives near Edmonton in Alberta, Canada, said that after the killings, he discovered a diary written by his son that he thought "was written by someone who was extremely disturbed."

He did not elaborate, but he did say a friend told him that prior to the murder-suicide, Chris Benoit had been wearing a rosary, which he said was also out of character.

"I think it's the extreme that is in the wrestling industry today," he told reporters. "The human skull is not built to get hit by a chair or something."

The father said he has not discussed with his attorney whether to take any legal action against World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. or anyone else in the case.

A lawyer for Stamford, Conn.-based WWE did not immediately return a call Wednesday seeking comment. The company has maintained steroid use did not cause Benoit to snap.

Richard Decker, an attorney for the mother of Benoit's slain wife, said the brain test results "don't make a lot of difference to us."

"Even if the theories about the effects of continuing trauma on Chris' personality are accurate, they don't rule out Chris' excessive steroid use, which we know he was involved in, as a factor in the murders," Decker said. "In either case, it wouldn't excuse his conduct."

Prosecutors have said Benoit, 40, strangled his wife with a cord, used a choke hold to strangle his 7-year-old son, placed Bibles next to the bodies and hanged himself on a piece of exercise equipment the weekend of June 22.

Authorities have said Benoit's personal doctor, Phil Astin, prescribed a 10-month supply of anabolic steroids to Benoit every three to four weeks between May 2006 and May 2007. Astin has pleaded not guilty to federal charges of improperly prescribing painkillers and other drugs to two patients other than Benoit.

___

Associated Press writer Jason Bronis contributed to this report.

http://tinyurl.com/2nfgxm

Rteacher · Joined: 23 May 2005 Location: Western MA, USA

I'm sure that the concussions didn't help. Probably pain-killing intoxicants impaired his judgment, and the high levels of testosterone increased his aggressiveness ...

Who knows?... Maybe athletes who are in violent contact sports should also practice a little yoga and meditation to develop better control of their mind and senses ...

Anyway, there needs to be more psychological screening and regular physiological check-ups - along with more effective drug regulation...

I don't think the WWE (or any pro wrestling group) provides health coverage for their performers. (I doubt that most MMA groups do either...)

dogbert · Joined: 29 Jan 2003 Location: Killbox 90210

I'd like to read the diary.

Smee · Joined: 24 Dec 2004 Location: Jeollanam-do

I'm still curious about the 10 suspended WWE guys. I guess it'd be possible to figure out some of them, once they vacate their titles or stop showing up on TV, but i don't follow it closely enough to do that.

Pligganease · Joined: 14 Sep 2004 Location: The deep south...

Rteacher · Joined: 23 May 2005 Location: Western MA, USA

For an entertaining, insightful discussion of the Benoit case, the recent suspensions and their effect on storylines check the following site:
http://www.betweentheropes.com/category/the-show/

Troll_Bait · Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 9:16 pm Post subject:

It looks like Chris Nowinski's theory may have been correct.

http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=91158&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=Chris+Nowinski&start=75

I'm glad they examined his brain. Obviously, wrestlers need to stop taking chair-shots to the head.

Here's another article on the topic. It contains a lot of the same information as the one in the Original Post, but I think it's worth a read.

http://www.wrestlingobserver.com/wo/news/headlines/default.asp?aID=20635

Alyallen · Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 9:33 pm Post subject:

Young FRANKenstein · Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2007 3:12 am Post subject:

Alyallen · Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2007 3:22 am Post subject:

Rteacher · Joined: 23 May 2005 Location: Western MA, USA

That "Between the Ropes" show is on the net every Thursday evening (unless they're preempted...) Two of the guys are great at doing impersonations (eg: Dusty Rhodes, Mark Henry, "The Great Khali", Vince and Stephanie McMahon ...) and one of them (Vito DeNucci) wrestled with the WWE and WCW for a few years to provide some insider perspective ...

The show has been based out of Orlando, Florida, for almost ten years, and I was a regular listener on the local sports-talk radio station when I lived there. (Next year's "Wrestlemania" is scheduled for the Citrus Bowl - or whatever corporate name it goes by now...)

The other site that I recommend (and is updated daily) is run by another former wrestler, Brian Alvarez, and it's based out of Seattle, I think...
http://www.f4wonline.com/

Here's a Wikipedia article on him: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryan_Alvarez

"Between the Ropes" has a briefer but still interesting Wikipedia entry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Between_The_Ropes

Alyallen · Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2007 10:38 pm Post subject:

Diary: Benoit grieved fellow wrestler

By ERRIN HAINES, Associated Press WRiter Fri Sep 14, 3:08 PM ET

ATLANTA - Journal entries written by wrestler Chris Benoit show he was wracked with grief and preoccupied with death after his best friend died in 2005, according to a lawyer representing Benoit's father.

Benoit, who killed his wife and 7-year-old son and committed suicide in June, wrote the diary as a series of letters to the friend, fellow wrestler Eddie Guerrero, according to lawyer Cary Ichter, who represents the wrestler's father in estate litigation.

Benoit's father, Michael Benoit, referred to the diary earlier this month, saying it was "written by someone who was extremely disturbed at the time." The father has said murder-suicide was out of character for his son and supported medical tests that recently showed Chris Benoit suffered brain damage that could have caused depression and irrational behavior.

Authorities say anabolic steroids were found in the home and Chris Benoit had a high amount of synthetic testosterone in his body when he died, leading to some speculation that steroid-induced rage sparked the killings.

Ichter, who said he knew Benoit for years, described what he said were Benoit's writings but he did not make copies of the journal available for review.

Ichter noted that at one point Benoit wrote to his friend, "I will be with you soon," an apparent nod to his own mortality.

"It showed that he was very depressed," Ichter said of the entries.

Benoit also wrote warmly about his son, Daniel, and his wife, Nancy, who had given him the journal as a way to cope with Guerrero's death, the lawyer said.

Prosecutors have said Benoit, 40, strangled his wife with a cord, used a choke hold to strangle his son placed Bibles next to the bodies and hanged himself on exercise equipment the weekend of June 22.

Ichter said a neighbor of the Benoits found the journal in the trash after the police and family had left the Benoits' house, and the neighbor gave it to Michael Benoit. He is permanent administrator to Chris Benoit's estate, and Ichter said the journal could become evidence in the estate litigation.

Authorities have said it could be months before the court determines the heirs, since neither Chris nor Nancy Benoit had a will. Whether Nancy Benoit died before Daniel will determine whether control of millions of dollars goes to Chris Benoit's two children from a previous marriage or to relatives on Nancy Benoit's side.

http://tinyurl.com/2dkv8k