Chris Benoit found dead
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no offence to benoit n his fans...
actually last time i have a feeling Benoit one day would die like Eddie becos he given up his body alot for those dangerous moves. he might die a stroke or something...
but i find it hard to accept he is murdered together wif his family.
hope the murderers can be brought to justice!
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hector ? his bro ? look sohx much like him!Originally posted by the Bear:that's Hector -
.....Another of my favourite WWE wrestler had gone to meet his keeper. I admired him for his no-nonsence attitude and professional behaviour. Never forget his sharp shooter move. In fact I were hoping he could face John Cena for the WWE heavy weight championship.
RIP : CHRIS BENOIT
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MR CRIPPLER CROSS FACE!!!
I HOPE YOU REST IN PEACE BROTHER!
I'LL ALWAYS MISS YOU MAN
GOD HOLD THE DEPARTED!
LEGENDS NEVER DIE! -
His theme was one of my fav lor...and his sharpshooter..
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rip,
although its been very long since i last watch WWE but he was a great wrestler. love his crippler... -
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rest in peace, hes one my favourite wrestler. the legend. i will miss his crippler crossface
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ahh.. RIP Mr Toothless
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Benoit was scheduled to win the ECW title and defend his title here in Singapore de... Coincidently..Eddie was supposed to win the world Championship from Batista 2 yrs ago...
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heard he murder his wife n son den he suicide but haven confirm
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that could be.. it's being reported like that at the moment..
he was taken off the PPV Vengence for 'personal reasons' -
Crippler Cross Face, Kamikaze heabutt, Multiple German Suplex...
No more -
yeah..Originally posted by Qing^.^:Crippler Cross Face, Kamikaze heabutt, Multiple German Suplex...
No more
i luvs his moves,man..
so sad tat his gone.. -
Judge raises issue of fraud in suit over wrestler's deathOriginally posted by newcomer:got evidence anot?
By DAN MARGOLIES
The Kansas City Star
A Missouri judge has found evidence that a prominent local law firm may have committed fraud in a case stemming from the 1999 death of professional wrestler Owen Hart.
In an order issued Friday, Circuit Judge Douglas E. Long Jr. ruled that there was "overwhelming evidence" that Hart's family "and/or its counsel" -- the law firm of Robb & Robb -- "engaged in fraud, collusion and/or tortious conduct" in connection with a settlement that was reached with one of the defendants.
The unusually harsh language, partially directed at one of the most successful personal-injury law firms in Kansas City, is the latest flare-up in a highly contentious case stemming from Hart's accidental death at Kemper Arena in May 1999.
Gary Robb denied any wrongdoing on the part of the firm or his client.
Although World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. -- formerly known as the World Wrestling Federation -- agreed in November 2000 to pay Hart's family $18 million to settle the lawsuit, the case has dragged on as the WWE sought reimbursement from some of the other original defendants.
At issue is the Hart family's dismissal from the case of defendant Lewmar Inc., which made the trigger-latch shackle whose premature release led to Hart's fall and death.
The 34-year-old wrestler, one of the WWE's biggest stars, plunged from the rafters of Kemper Arena on May 23, 1999, when the quick release on his harness opened as he was being lowered into the ring.
The judge's order allows the WWE to sue Lewmar for reimbursement of some or all of the settlement amount. The case has been set for trial in September.
Reached Tuesday, Robb & Robb attorney Gary Robb defended the Hart family's dismissal of Lewmar from the case, saying the family believed that the WWE was solely responsible for the accident.
"Bear in mind that the decision to settle solely belongs to the client, and we support that decision...," Robb said. "Mrs. Hart felt that Lewmar wasn't at fault even 1 percent."
Hart's family filed suit against 13 defendants -- including the WWE, the city of Kansas City and Lewmar -- 13 weeks after Hart's death. The 118-page lawsuit alleged that the stunt was dangerous and poorly planned, and that the harness system was defective. The lawsuit sought unspecified damages in the tens of millions of dollars.
About seven months before it settled with the WWE, the Hart family settled with Lewmar and dismissed it from the case. The settlement with Lewmar called for a mutual release of claims but no payment of money by Lewmar, although the WWE noted that Lewmar had nearly $50 million in liability insurance coverage.
That settlement prompted the WWE to cry foul, saying in court filings it arose under "highly suspicious circumstances" that raised questions about whether the settlement with Lewmar was reached in good faith.
The WWE's protest stemmed from its concern that the settlement would bar the WWE from seeking reimbursement from Lewmar. Missouri law prevents a defendant from seeking reimbursement from a co-defendant if the co-defendant reaches a good-faith settlement with the plaintiffs.
Long's order followed an evidentiary hearing in mid-December on that issue. After finding that "significant evidence existed at the time of the settlement tending to establish liability on the part of Lewmar," Long concluded that a jury "more likely than not" would have apportioned to Lewmar "a significant amount of fault for Owen Hart's death."
Long's four-page order went on to say that "substantial evidence exists" that "plaintiffs' counsel was motivated by a desire to prevent facts concerning Lewmar's liability for this accident from coming to light in an effort to construct a punitive damages claim against WWE."
In theory at least, a punitive damage award against the WWE could have exceeded $50 million.
Robb said neither he nor the Hart family were parties to the December hearing, "so we don't know what evidence was or wasn't presented."
But he said that even if Lewmar had $1 billion in insurance coverage, Hart's widow, Martha Hart, "wasn't going to take a nickel because she believed the WWE was solely responsible."
"I think the evidence that Mrs. Hart relied on to support her decision was more than sufficient, and that's the bottom line," Robb said.
Attorneys for the WWE reacted strongly to Long's order.
Jerry McDevitt, one of the attorneys, said the order contained "some of the strongest statements I've ever seen in my 22 years of practice about the manner in which this case was handled."
Another WWE attorney, Craig O'Dear, said: "Our objective is to hold accountable all the entities responsible for the accident. We have believed from day one that Lewmar bears a far greater degree of responsibility for this accident than does the WWE. This ruling simply opens up the door for the case against Lewmar to proceed."
Kansas City attorney Paul Wickens, who represents Lewmar, declined to comment. Officials of Lewmar, which is based in England, could not be reached.
The city of Kansas City, which owns Kemper Arena, was dismissed from the case as part of the WWE's settlement with the Hart family. The city did not pay any money.
Long's ruling comes after two earlier legal squabbles in the case.
In the first, the WWE and other defendants accused Robb & Robb of trying to steer the case to a Jackson County judge of its own choosing. (Jackson County cases are supposed to be assigned randomly.) That matter was resolved when the Missouri Supreme Court stepped in and assigned the case to Long, a judge from Waynesville, Mo.
Then the defendants protested a side agreement that Robb & Robb asked Hart's 10 siblings to sign. The agreement called for the siblings to share in any damages recovered by their parents in return for the siblings' agreement to cooperate with the plaintiffs -- Hart's widow, two minor children and the parents -- and not to cooperate with the defendants.
Because Missouri's wrongful death statute did not allow the siblings to be parties in the case, the WWE claimed in court documents that the agreement amounted to witness tampering. That's because the siblings could have been crucial witnesses as to the question of how many more years Hart had planned to wrestle -- a crucial issue bearing on the amount of lost earnings.
Robb & Robb later rescinded the agreement with Hart's siblings.
The latest brouhaha, unlike the others, concerns the underlying issues of the case, namely whether and which defendants' negligence contributed to Hart's death.
In court documents, the WWE maintains that deposition testimony shows that Lewmar knew its trigger-latch shackle was used for purposes other than its intended use as marine equipment, but did little to prevent its misuse. In fact, the WWE says that Lewmar and its distributors knowingly provided the shackles to the stunt industry for years.
Robb & Robb is one of Kansas City's most successful plaintiffs' firms, having won numerous multimillion-dollar judgments or settlements in the years since it was founded in 1984. The firm is essentially a two-person operation consisting of the husband-and-wife team of Gary and Anita Robb.
Among the multimillion judgments obtained by the Robbs was a $350 million jury verdict in 1995 -- at the time thought to be one of the biggest product liability verdicts in U.S. history -- against helicopter maker Turbomeca SA of France. An appeals court later reduced the verdict to $30 million.
More recently, the Robbs have represented the family of former Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan, who was killed in an October 2000 plane crash along with his son, Randy Carnahan, and a top aide, Chris Sifford. The Cessna 335 piloted by Randy Carnahan crashed while the governor was campaigning against then-U.S. Sen. John Ashcroft.
Last summer, Cessna Aircraft Co. and its holding company paid $1.6 million to settle the Carnahan family's wrongful death lawsuit. One other defendant remains in the case. -
Okay, i think john cena dying soon.
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ooh what happened? sun.co.uk is kinda rubbishy tabloid newspaper.
i used to watch wwe alot....... -
All i can say is that this is sad and shocking news.
www.chrisbenoitmemorial.blogspot.com
Go here, for the latest details coming out...
It is being said that he may have killed his own wife and son before killing himself.
What a sad day, a true legend in the ring. -
WWE RAW Results (6/25): RAW Cancelled - Benoit Tribute!
Event: WWE Monday Night RAW
Airdate: Monday, June 25th, 2007 (USA Network)
Location: The American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas
The show opens to a wide angle shot of an empty American Bank Center in Corpus Christy, Texas. Vince McMahon, abandoning his storylined death, stood alone in the ring and delivered the following message:
"Good evening. Tonight this arena here in Corpus Christi, Texas would have been filled to capacity with enthousiatic WWE fans. Tonight's storyline was to have been the alleged demise of my character, Mr. McMahon. However, in reality, WWE superstar Chris Benoit, his wife Nancy and their son Daniel are dead. Their bodies were discovered this afternoon in their new, suburban, Atlanta home. The athourities are undergoing an investigation. We here in the WWE can only offer our condolences to the extended family of Chris Bennoit. And the only other thing we can do at this moment is, tonight, pay tribute to Chris Benoit. We will offer you some of the most memorable moments in Chris' professional life and you will hear, tonight, comments from his peers - those here, his fellow performers - those here, who loved Chris and admired him so much. So tonight will be a three hour tribute to one of the greatest WWE superstars of all time. Tonight, we pay tribute to Chris Benoit."
A short encapsulation of Benoit's career aired to the song "One Thing" by Finger Eleven.
- Commercial break -
RAW returned to footage from Chris Benoit's WWE produced autobiographical DVD.
Back in the empty American Bank Center are Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler speaking about some of Chris' greatest professional moments. They lead us into footage of Benoit's win at the Royal Rumble in 2004.
Stone Cold Steve Austin pays his respects to Chris Benoit in a studio-shot segment.
- Commercial break -
More footage from the Chris Benoit DVD. Chris and friends talk about how, as young men, they hung around the local wrestling scene and eventually got to meet Chris' idol, Dynamite Kid, Tom Billington.
Michael Cole and John "Bradshaw" Layfield speak about Chris' dedication to his family, his proper upbringing of his children and his overall respect for those around him.
John speaks about Chris Benoit.
- Commercial break -
Back from commercial, we see more footage from Chris' DVD. This time, he speaks about his time in ECW.
Joey Styles and Tazz share their thoughts on Benoit's arrival to ECW in 1994.
Styles and Tazz lead us into Benoit's final televised match ever - last week on ECW on SciFi against Elijah Burke.
CM Punk gives his thoughts on Chris Benoit.
- Commercial Break -
9:00 hour mark. Recap of Vince's intro to tonight's show.
JR and Jerry Lawler speak again about Chris' competitiveness. They introduce us to a match between Dean Malenko and Chris Benoit from WCW Hogwild in 1996.
- Commercial break -
JR and Lawler bring us back from commercial and return us to the completion of Malenko cs. Benoit at Hog Wild 96.
Dean Malenko shares his thoughts on his best friend in the wrestling business.
- Commercial break -
JBL and Cole speak to Benoit's strengths as a wrestler. While he may not have been the "best talker" according to JBL, he was phenominal in the ring. Cole mentions how fans gave Benoit standing ovations whether he won or lost. We then see the last half a cage match between Benoit and WWE US Champion JBL on SmackDown in April 2006.
Stephanie McMahon gives her thoughts on Chris Benoit. She talks about Chris' genuine excitement for her and Triple H, Paul Levesque, on their marriage and new child.
- Commerical break -
Chavo Guerrero gives his thoughts on Chris Benoit.
- Commercial break -
Joey Styles and Tazz remember Chris Benoit's history in Japan as the Pegasus Kid. They take us to a match between Pegasus Kid, Chris Benoit, versus Jushin "Thunder" Liger in Japan from the early 1990's
William Regal shares his thoughts on Chris Benoit.
- Commercial break -
Replay of Vince's speech at the 10:00pm mark.
JR and Lawler greet the audience and set up some more footage from Benoit's DVD where he talks about how he patterned his moveset of The Dynamite Kid, Tom Billington.
Lawler and JR set up a recap of Benoit and Jericho's amazing ladder match at the Royal Rumble 2001 for the Intercontinental Title.
Lawler and JR speak again about Benoit's dedication to the wrestling business.
- Commercial break -
Edge gives his thoughts on Chris Benoit.
- Commercial break -
JBL and Cole welcome us back with more words on Benoit's leadership and professionalism backstage.
A somber tribute promo airs with more photos from Benoit's life.
- Commercial break -
Triple H gives his thoughts on Chris Benoit.
JR and Jerry Lawler set up the footage of Benoit's title win at Wrestlemania 20 with a few last words about the key theme of tonight's broadcast and a key theme in Benoit's life. One word. Respect.
Two commercial breaks later and just before the end of the match, JR and King say a few last words about Benoit.
We close the show with the conclusion of Benoit's colossal win over Shawn Michaels and Triple H at Wrestlemania 20 for the World Heavyweight Championship and the emotional post-match celebration with the late Eddie Guerrero.
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he also fought as Wild Pegasus in Japan...
he became "The Canadian Crippler" after Sabu's neck was broken in a match with him..
a few of the moves i've seen him use was the superbomb and the tombstone piledriver from the 2nd rope... -
Very sad. RIP, Chris.
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Its so sad to see him leave, i watched him and brock lesnar wrestle during the smackdown tour.. that was so nice... haiz~ RIP...
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RIP.
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Er, Im still here leh.
RIP.
Well, it was shocking. I just came back from holiday.