As We Predicted, Wikipedia Post (Nancy Benoit Deceased) Was A Cruel Joke; My Comments
Last night on the hotline, we discussed the Wikipedia entry that noted Nancy Benoit was deceased 14 hours before the bodies were discovered. For those that frequent websites and messageboards where anonymous posts can be made, many people find enjoyment in posting pranks and lies.
When there was reports early Sunday that Chris Benoit went home due to a family emergency, some people have twisted ways of writing jokes. Anyone that searches messageboards hard enough will find that the Nancy Benoit deceased post has been done with many other individuals as well.
"Terry Funk is dead". CLICK HERE for just one stupid example.
If anyone likes, I would be glad to post about 100 I've found that has anyone from Ric Flair, Jimmy Snuka, The entire McMahon family, local wrestling promoters, independent wrestlers, even myself have all been reported 'dead'. There are alot of people who find enjoyment is making pranks like these.
It's a disturbing truth and that is why we just felt it was a terrible coincidence that the Wikipedia post claimed her death.
This morning we learn that the post in fact was a stupid prank. The only reason why the person is now writing a sincere apology about it, is because he/she is probably scared sh** that he/she could be in trouble over it. I guarantee that we will find out this individual ends up being a late teens / early 20's wrestling fan with a sick sense of humor. There was no remorse when the prank was written in the first place. And when it was taken down, the idiot pursued the post more, attempting to legitimize this 'death', claiming he/she even received the news from Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer.
I feel bad for Dave. He is the main person everyone goes to for credible news. He is the source. He has the connections. He analyzes and is very honest in his views. Because he has that much power, people use his name as a way to legitimize their writings. And in this case, their pranks.
Here's the statement issued by the moron that thought reporting Nancy Benoit dead was a cool joke. There were no rumors at all she was deceased on Sunday. Again all that was known is that there was a 'medical emergency'. Here's the 'apology':
Hey everyone. I am here to talk about the wikipedia comment that was left by myself. I just want to say that it was an incredible coincidence. Last weekend, I had heard about Chris Benoit no showing Vengeance because of a family emergency, and I had heard rumors about why that was. I was reading rumors and speculation about this matter online, and one of them included that his wife may have passed away, and I did the wrong thing by posting it on wikipedia to spite there being no evidence. I posted my speculation on the situation at the time and I am deeply sorry about this, and I was just as shocked as everyone when I heard that this actually would happen in real life. It is one of those things that just turned into a huge coincidence. That night I found out that what I posted, ended up actually happening, a 1 in 10,000 chance of happening, or so I thought. I was beyond wrong for posting wrongful information, and I am sorry to everyone for this. I just want everyone to know it was stupid of me, and I will never do anything like this again. I just posted something that was at that time a piece of wrong unsourced information that is typical on wikipedia, as it is done all the time.
Nonetheless, I feel incredibly bad for all the attention this got because of the fact that what I said turned out to be the truth. Like I said it was just a major coincidence, and I will never vandalize anything on wikipedia or post wrongful information. I've learned from this experience. I just can't believe what I wrote was actually the case, I've remained stunned and saddened over it.
I wish not to reveal my identity so I can keep me and my family out of this since they have nothing to do with anything. I am not connected to WWE or Benoit at all in anyway. I am from Stamford as the IP address shows, and I am just an everyday individual who posted a wrongful remark at the time that received so much attention because it turned out to actually happen. I will say again I didn't know anything about the Benoit tragedy, it was a terrible coincidence that I never saw coming.
I hope this puts an end to this speculation that someone knew about the tragedy before it was discovered. It was just a rumor that I had heard about from other people online who were speculating what the family emergency Chris was attending to. I made a big mistake by posting this comment on his page, since all we had were what we thought was going on and nothing about what actually was going on yet, and sadly what happened turned out to be my speculation at the time. I assumed wiki would edit out my information, which they did, so thats why I didn't go back to edit it out myself.
I know I keep repeating it but I feel terrible about the mainstream coverage this has received, since it was only a huge coincidence and a terrible event that should of never happened. I am not sure how to react, as hearing about my message becoming a huge part of the Benoit slayings made me feel terrible as everyone believes that it is connected to the tragedy, but it was just an awful coincidence. That is all I have to say, I will never post anything here again unless it is pure fact, no spam nothing like that. Thank you, and let this end this chapter of the Benoit story, and hopefully one day we will find out why this tragedy ever actually happened.
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