Roid Rage?

Roid rage? Unless you have been living under a rock, you are aware of the tragedy involving WWE wrestler Chris Benoit and his family. If you haven't heard, the short version of the story is that Chris Benoit was scheduled for several appearances over last weekend and contacted WWE officials to tell them basically he couldn't make the events because his wife and son were sick. He sent several very strange text messages to 2 WWE officials which led them to contact the autorities to go investigate what was happening at Chris Beniot's home. The text messages were strange to say the least. Here are the first 2 messages he sent:

* 3:53 AM - Chris Benoit’s cell phone: “My physical address is 130 Green Meadow Lane, Fayeteville Georgia. 30215″

* 3:53 AM - Chris Benoit’s cell phone: “The dogs are in the enclosed pool area. Garage side door is open.”

Now if that isn't a hint and a half for your ass that something is definitely up, I don't know what is. When the people do finally arrive at the residence, they find Nancy Benoit tied at the hands and feet and a cord around her neck were she had been strangled. Beside her was a bible. Upstairs they find his 7 year old son Daniel dead with a bible beside him. He had been smothered with a pillow. Finally, they found Chris Benoit in his gym hanging. A murder/suicide. This sent shockwaves through the wrestling community. What would cause a man who was so well respected in his profession to just lose it and commit this horrible act? According to police, Mr. Benoit killed his wife sometime Friday night, then the next morning killed his son and finally commited suicide on Sunday.

Now granted, none of us were there when this all took place so no one REALLY knows what happened. But the first thing I started reading and hearing about was roid rage. So what exactly is roid rage? I kind of had an idea, but did some checking around and found this simple answer:

Roid rage, in many ways, I would characterize as a form of loss of impulse control. It provokes overreactions via a stimulus that normally doesn't produce such a severe reaction.
So say somebody says something to you that you don't like. You may put your fist through a wall. The impulse is there; it's overreaction. Forget the roid, for the moment. It's a rage ... and that rage is precipitated by the brain being exposed to anabolic steroids.

Now this is by no means the definitive definition of roid rage, but you get the point. An impulse, severe overreaction. So, here is my problem with the roid rage theory. If that was the case, wouldn't he have killed his entire family right then and there without any thought? I mean, this man tied up and strangled his wife, then laid a bible right next to her. Waited several hours later and then smothered his son. Then the following day decided to take his own life. Doesn't that seem to be a bit more on the pre-meditated side? Am I way off base with this one? There is going to be nothing but speculation as to what really happened..did steroids have anything to do with this horrible crime. Now, for anyone to deny that Chris used steroids is crazy. I have been a fan of wrestling for over 30 years and was quite aware of steroid use in the WWE. That is one reason the WWE calls itself "Sports Entertainment" instead of a regular sport. That way it is not governed under certain rules that regular sports have to follow. In recent years several wrestlers have died and others have tested positive for steroid use. The WWE has now created the Wellness Program which does not tolerate the use of steroids and will punish anyone in violation...yea right. As long as these guys are making money for the business, they will always have a way around the Wellness program.

Bottom line, make no mistake about it, this is a horrible tragedy, but I think it has to do with a man who was deeply disturbed emotionally and not in a fit of roid rage. What do you guys think?

In the end, the WWE will go on and continue to entertain the thousands of fans it does every night. Maybe this incident will make the WWE take a hard look at not only drugs their wrestlers are taking/using, but also the emotional well being of these individuals. Although they are placed on pedestals to many, they are still human.