Chris Benoit and family found dead

It didn't prompt Bret to do anything, besides punch Vince McMahon in the face. Bret was already leaving the WWF for WCW, but did not want to drop the title to real-life enemy Shawn Michaels in his home country on PPV. Vince had different plans and rang the bell during the match and awarded the title to Michaels without Hart's knowledge.

It basically began the whole evil McMahon character, ushered in the Attitude era, and helped cement WWF as the number one wrestling promotion in America.

But yeah, Bret's had some of the worst luck a guy can have...but can't compare to those Von Erich's.

 

But it's not just Montreal.

Owen Hart -- crashes into ring from rafters while doing a stunt that he didn't want to do for an organization that wasn't on the Hart's Christmas card list to begin with
Davey Boy Smith -- steroid-induced heart attack
Brian Pillman -- undiagnosed heart condition, likely exasperated by heavy use of steriods and painkillers
Chris Benoit -- apparently kills wife and son, then himself

And he also suffered a stroke, from which he's just now fully recovered.

Bret and Kevin Von Erich have both had it pretty rough (don't forget, in addition to the other Von Erichs, guys like Chris Adams and Gino Hernandez also died down there). I wouldn't want either of their lives.

 

I don't think they mean it in terms of being screwed in a sports competition. It is more like being screwed out of a big promotion at work.

 

There's a "Pro Wrestling" thread in the Anything Goes section.
Most people coming to this thread aren't wrestling fans and are only coming to this thread to read about the case and any breaking news. Relating any of it to wrestling and its many stories in and out of the ring probably should be restricted to the "Pro Wrestling" thread because you have hardcore fans reacting one way and people who don't follow the business are like "WTF is wrong with these idiots?"

 

Kind of, but not really. There was real-life hatred between Bret, Bret's opponent that night, Shawn Michaels (Michael Hickenbottom, but people like Doc who think we're all fanboy losers) and Vince McMahon. Here's the story: Bret was going to be leaving WWF to join World Championship Wrestling, Ted Turner's company. Ted offered Bret a lot of money, as did Vince, but Vince wanted Bret to sign a 20-year contract, which Bret wanted no part of.
So, if memory serves correct, Bret was to face Shawn at Survivor Series in Montreal, and the script called for him to "job" (aka lose on purpose) and drop the title. Bret however, did not want to lose in his home country, and said he would drop the title during a house show or the next Raw show or something else.
Vince agreed, and the match went on as scheduled, but mid-match, McMahon changes his mind to have Hart lose the title anyway. He goes out to the ring near the end of the match when Michaels has Bret in Bret's finishing hold, the Sharpshooter. He tells the bell ringer to ring the bell, ending the match, and tells the referee to count out Bret, therefore giving the title to Michaels. Bret can't believe it. He spits in McMahon's face, Michaels, McMahon and Triple H (Paul Levesque) get the hell out of the ring area, as those three were heels (bad guys) and Hart was a top face(good guy) at the time. Backstage, as the story goes, Bret went to confront Vince, but could only find Shane, Vince's son. After that, he found Vince, ends up punching him in the face. Vince appears on television for weeks with a black eye.

You will all call me a stupid fan who can't tell real from fake, but basically Hart was told he would keep his dignity but it was taken away from him regardless.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bret_Hart

 

Off Bret, back on Benoit: Fox News just said that there may have been a past of domestic problems and that Nancy may have been planning a divorce. More to follow...

 

Latest AP version mentions steroids int he second graph and a previous divorce filing...

Nancy Benoit filed for a divorce in May 2003, saying their three-year union was irrevocably broken and alleging “cruel treatment.” But she later dropped the complaint, as well as a request for a restraining order in which she charged that Benoit had threatened her and had broken furniture in their home.
In the divorce filing, she said Benoit made more than $500,000 a year as a professional wrestler and asked for permanent custody of Daniel and child support. In his response, Benoit sought joint custody.
Fayette County Coroner C.J. Mowell did not return calls seeking comment. The answering service for his funeral home said he was out of town.

 

Probably not an issue, but AP has an error in the last graf of its most recent write-thru, talking about Bret Hart formerly wrestling for the now-defunct World Wrestling Federation. The WWF changed its name to World Wrestling Entertainment as part of a lawsuit settlement with the World Wildlife Fund over use of the WWF acronym.

 

This thread has nearly eclipsed the amount of pages that the NHL Off-Season thread has.

 

There is a press conference on CNN now. They are saying he killed his wife Friday and then maybe his son on Saturday before offing himself.

 

But it's about a Canadian, so it's semi-related

 

Maybe one of the weirdest things from this is that he killed his wife and son on different days. That is just a sick and twisted thing to do, well obviously killing your family members or anyone is one thing, but on different days, and having your son in the same house as his dead mother is another.