Benoit, Hart, WWE, Steroids, ECW Jun 26 - 11:15 pm EDT

Daily Rapp Up by Bryan Rapp

Quick ECW Results: John Cena over Johnny Nitro, and CM Punk over Elijah Burke.

WWE.com published a timeline of events related to Chris Benoit up through last night's RAW including his final text messages. ABC News ran a detailed story on the Chris Benoit murder-suicide with investigators believing Chris Benoit strangled wife Nancy on Friday and asphyxiated son Daniel on Saturday morning before hanging himself on his weight machine late Saturday or early Sunday, with no known motive or suicide note. The Atlanta-Journal Constitution revealed that Nancy Benoit had filed for divorce and a restraining order in May of 2003, but she withdrew both requests in August of 2003. Son Daniel Benoit reportedly had needle marks on his arms and may have been receiving human growth hormone. The Fayette County district attorney's office issued a statement on the discovery of the Benoit situation, with the Fayette County district attorney Scott Ballard and local law enforcement held a press conference this afternoon revealing new details about what they believe happened in the Benoit home.

All three broadcast network newscasts covered the Benoit story as did the major cable news networks. Bret Hart appeared on MSNBC's Scarborough Country discussing his memories of Benoit, whether he thought steroids played a part in it, and deaths in wrestling. FOX News' O'Reilly Factor ran the Benoit story as its top story featuring an interview with the AWA's Jonnie Stewart. Several news outlets are taking the stance that steroids played a part in the murder-suicide, but WWE disputed the allegation calling it sensationalistic reporting and pointing to the fact the crime appeared to be deliberate rather than done in a rage. Benoit was linked to the illegal steroids investigation of Florida company MedXLife with FedEx delivery records for last July as well as 2005. FOX Sports compiled a list of other wrestling deaths.

WWE cancelled their Canadian shows scheduled for July 14-17, including one in Benoit's adopted hometown of Edmonton, AB. The Corpus Christi, TX show cancelled last night has been rescheduled for July 16. WWE.com removed most of their Chris Benoit stories and tributes and WWE Shop removed all Chris Benoit merchadise including his name from match listings. WWE chose to not distribute last night's tribute show internationally and Canada's The Score will not re-air it during their normally scheduled replays. TNA removed their Benoit message this morning.

The news of Benoit's death hit the Hart family hard with Bret Hart comparing it to the death of his brother Owen. Jim Ross posted a blog entry on the Benoit situation discussing last night's show and the families of Chris and Nancy Benoit. ESPN's Bill Simmons blogged that the Benoit story may be the biggest sports story of the year. SLAM has a look back at Chris Benoit's fondness for Edmonton, AB. The Benoit story dominated Google Trends for yesterday and today as people learned the news and searched for related terms and wrestlers. Last night's RAW scored a 3.8 rating (3.5 / 4.1 / 3.9 / 6.2 share).

That's it for today. Thanks for reading.

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