Lots & Lots Of Benoit Family Tragedy Notes Inside

From Jorge Uribe: I went on a benoit toy hunt today, Toys 'R' Us, Kay B toys, Walmart,and Extreme Toys all told me that all benoit merchandise had been recalles. The only place I found any Benoit toys were at a booth in the mall (Montebello) which sells WWE merchandise they had three benoit ruthless agression figures (one that comes with a ladder) they had only 3 figures left and were 24.99, But my debit card mysteriously didn't go through even though I had been making purchases with it all day.

From Martin W: I work for TESCO in the UK and yesterday they withdrew all Chris Benoit Action Figures from the shelves.

From Jayde: Just thought that I would let you know that today [Saturday] the australian WWE Fans were shown a "special edition" of RAW, hosted by Todd Grisham, that showed the best championship matches of the past year & not the Chris Benoit Tribute Show.

The funny thing was that before the edition of RAW started the Vince McMahon speech from ECW appeared. So obviously that's why they didn't show us the tribute show.

From efeddereric: It appears WWE has eliminated all traces of Benoit on their 24/7 On Demand Cable Service. Earlier this week, Wrestlemania 23 and the Monday Night War Episode from 2/3/97 were on the service, both of which featured Benoit in matches. I checked back today, and both have been taken down.

- Dr. Phil Astin had been staying with his mother and other family members at his mom's home, which is about six blocks from his office. DEA investigators raided Astin's office on Friday, and his mother's home looking for more medical records.

- Apparently investigators want to know if Dr. Astin prescribed any medication for Benoit on Friday when the wrestler visited Astin's office.

- Benoit will be buried in Canada, and Nancy and Daniel will be buried in Florida.

- Bret Hart was interviewed, and said he understands the separate funeral services.

- Hart said he knew Benoit since he was 10 or 12 years old, and was introduced to him by his father.

- Hart said he guesses that Benoit took steroid, but the key question is if he were on steroids at his time. Hart said Benoit tested negative for steroids in April.

- Dr. Marty Makary, a physician, said the toxicology reports may not shed any light on this case as steroids are short acting, and your body produces them.

- Makary said when people come off steroids it's a high risk period (an even higher risk period then when you are on them) as you suffer from severe depression, fatigue and mood swings, and it's a risk factor for suicide.

- Wendy Murphy wondered why investigators didn't raid Anna Nicole Smith's doctor who was prescribing her lots of different medications.

- Hart said WWE has had a strict drug testing policy since Eddy Guerrero's death. Hart feels the punishments under WWE's wellness policy is fair as wrestler's can not afford not to be paid as they have bills like everyone else.

- Hart believes steroids aren't necessary in wrestling.

- Hart said he is hearing mixed rumors about Benoit's mental status. He has heard Benoit was fine, but has also heard he was having problems in the days leading up to the tragedy.

- Makary said Daniel was more likely to inherit Fragile X syndrome from his mother, rather than his father. An estimated 1 out of 2,000 boys is impaired by Fragile X. 10 to 15% of those affected by Fragile X experience growth problems, but it typically causes mental retardation.

- Author Irv Muchnick of "Wrestling Babylon," and said that Benoit's death was the fourth prominent wrestler to die since his book was published in December.

- Muchnick said investigators may be inquiring about other clients of Dr. Phil Astin's in their second roid.

- Hart said the wrestling lifestyle is physically demanding, but said Benoit had been successful and was on top of the world.

- Hart doesn't believe time was running out on Benoit's career, but admitted the last time he saw him wrestle Bret noticed that Chris didn't appear to have the passion he usually had in the ring.

- Murphy said she believes the men in wrestling are exploited, and pushed aside when they age or don't look like they had in the past. She believes this mistreatment of wrestlers can cause depression and rage, regardless of drug abuse.

- Det. Lt. Steve Rogers said police must think outside of the box, at least until all the facts are known, not to rule out even a triple homicide.

- Hart admitted that Benoit may have had an internal struggle to stay on top of the business and work a full schedule versus having to attend to a child with special needs.

- Muchnick said Benoit wasn't demoted going to ECW, but said if he were in a paranoid state he may have viewed it as a demotion. Irv said he was scheduled to win the ECW title and had a job for life with WWE.

- Bret said he has known a lot of people that have taken steroids, and this case isn't the norm. Hart said he doesn't believe this was 'roid rage,' but could have been a result of using a variety of pills.