In last week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer corrected a rumor about the text messages Chris Benoit sent prior to his apparent suicide. Contrary to past reports, William (“Steven”) Regal was not the “S” that Chris Benoit was sending texts to, and the reason Regal only talked about wrestling and seemed so pensive during the Benoit tribute show was that JBL apparently had made a comment like “you don’t think he had anything to do with killing that boy” before the interview.
Meltzer also reports that more wrestlers’ names are linked to Benoit’s Dr. Phil Astin III that haven’t come out, including one that according to sources of Meltz will “rock” the wrestling world if it did.
This may have been reported already, but one interesting note from the case: Chris was seen playing in the pool with Daniel the morning of June 24 (after Nancy would have been killed). “It is believed” that the pool guy saw them.
Except for the episode of Larry King featuring interviews with Cena, DiBiase, Hart, etc., the cable news shows did great in ratings during Benoit segments.
Marc Mero has “become no. 1 most hated in WWE” but many who have spoken with him feel he’s being sincere in wanting to see change to help the boys (who Meltzer goes on to say barely want to help themselves, despite still paying for rental cars, hotels and get no meal money on the road, let alone get ‘regular’ employee benefits like healthcare or a pension plan).
Sean Waltman, Kevin Nash, Mero and Konnan are scheduled for the August HBO Real Sports which is updating the 2003 episode on deaths in wrestling. CNN and NBC are working on hour-long shows, with Dateline on the Benoit tragedy and CNN on wrestling overall.
Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter, August 6, 2007 (click here for subscription information)
