Chris & Nancy by Irvin Muchnick

memorial. Chris Masters saw Randy Orton, a star wrestler, break into tears talking with Michael Hayes, the head writer and a former wrestler. Masters later told WrestleZone.com that there had been “a buzz about some odd text messages Chris had sent to Chavo Guerrero and one of the ECW referees.” Masters suspected the worst. “I mean, how many different scenarios can there be? Either home invasion or Chris snapping. Not many others shared my thoughts on a double murder-suicide.”
    McMahon told the crew that, in lieu of wrestling, Benoit’s colleagues would give interview testimonials and remembrances on
Raw
. McMahon said anyone who wanted to go home had permission to do so. Few, if any, took up the offer — there was comfort in remaining enveloped in the numbers of this spontaneous wake. Ted DiBiase, a retired wrestler who had become an evangelical Christian minister, had been flown to Texas to be part of the McMahon death story line; now DiBiase found himself enlisted as a real-life grief counselor.
    At 8 p.m. eastern time on June 25 , Vince McMahon stood in center ring in the empty arena. Eyes blurred by tears, voice choking and reduced to the hoarse growl characteristic for him at the end of a long day of stress, McMahon broke character as he delivered the
Raw
opening:
    Tonight’s story line 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 authorities are undergoing an investigation. We here in the WWE can only offer our condolences to the extended family of Chris Benoit. 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’s 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.
    With that, taped highlights of Benoit’s career were played to the accompaniment of the song “One Thing” by the Canadian grunge band Finger Eleven.
Raw
announcers Jim Ross and Jerry “The King” Lawler reflected on Benoit’s legacy. Retired wrestling legend “Stone Cold” Steve Austin spoke via videotape. John Bradshaw Layfield talked about Benoit’s devotion to his family. Tazz, C.M. Punk, Dean Malenko, Triple H and his wife Stephanie, and others said their pieces. The tribute culminated with footage of Benoit’s 2004
WrestleMania
championship victory, followed by the emotional in-ring celebration with Nancy, Daniel, and Eddie Guerrero.
    One of the live testimonials was by William Regal, one of Benoit’s original Fayette County wrestling neighbors. Regal’s segment came off as unintentionally chilling. Just before Regal went out for the shoot, Layfield remarked to him, “You don’t think Chris killed that boy, do you?” Spooked, Regal proceeded to deliver an eerily detached eulogy; while calling Chris the best wrestler he had ever faced, Regal also said he would rather reserve comment on anything else until the facts came in.
    â€œIf you watch the
Raw
tribute carefully, it doesn’t appear that the wrestlers, as a group, had an inkling that it was murder-suicide,” Meltzer said. “But the McMahon family had to know.” Meltzer’s assessment was too generous. Though the power of denial cannot be discounted, my investigation has unearthed plenty of evidence that a substantial group of people had “an inkling.”
    During the hour from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. (eastern time) — two thirds of the way through the tribute’s live feed — Doug Evans of Fox 5 News in Atlanta became the first