“McMahon to Apologize for Benoit Tribute

By James Hibberd

WWE Chairman Vince McMahon will apologize for the three-hour USA Network tribute to pro wrestler Chris Benoit that aired Monday night, sources said.

The WWE and USA Network have received complaints about the tribute, which was hastily produced after Mr. Benoit, his wife and their son were found dead in their Georgia home Monday afternoon.

Authorities said Tuesday that Mr. Benoit strangled his wife and suffocated his son, then took his own life. But WWE and network officials were unaware of the circumstances of Mr. Benoit’s death when the tribute was assembled, sources said.

The WWE canceled its regularly scheduled “Monday Night RAW” event on USA Network Monday night and aired the tribute in its place.

Mr. McMahon will address wrestling fans tonight on Sci Fi Channel’s live Extreme Championship Wrestling event. He also plans to address speculation that Mr. Benoit’s actions were the result of steroid use.

The WWE plans to resume its regular wrestling telecasts, which air on USA Network, Sci Fi Channel and the CW.”

The timeline we’re getting is that Benoit sent text messages Saturday or Sunday to his friend, Chavo Guerrero, stating that “Nancy and Daniel are sick” and “the dogs have to be let out”. He noshowed a house show Saturday and the pay-per-view Sunday. The WWE covered this on Sunday stating he had a “family emergency”, and either Sunday or Monday called the Atlanta police asking for help.

Weirdly enough, Chavo was at the Benoit residence until Friday morning. He claims that nothing was amiss. A few hours later, the killings began. Chavo’s been through hell; his uncle was Eddie “Latino Heat” Guerrero, who died over a year ago from a heart attack linked to steroids.

Honestly, I think Vince didn’t know how bad the situation was until midway through the RAW show. And he tried to do the right thing, which he hasn’t always done. Remember that when Owen Hart died in the middle of the ring, Vince made the performers finish the show. And when Eddie died, they performed the next night. This time, Vince stopped the show and sent the fans home. He even ended the “Vince is dead” storyline even though they invested a lot of money in the pyrotechnics that blew up the limo. Vince has done some bad things in his life; this wasn’t one of them.