According to a new FOX News report, the investigation of Chris
Benoits physician, Dr. Phil Astin, has revealed that he is accused
of supplying "Benoit with a ten month supply of steroids, every
three or four weeks, from May 2006 to May 2007."
If the news breaking today that Chris Benoit was being supplied
with ten months worth of anabolic steroids every three to four
weeks by Dr. Phil Astin turns out to be accurate, this will make
World Wrestling Entertainment look extremely bad stemming from
their press release comments last week.
U.S. Attorney David Nahmias reported that on average, Benoit was
reportedly getting a ten-month supply of anabolic steroids every
three to four weeks during a period from May 4, 2006 to May 9, 2007
from Dr. Astin. So, the April 10, 2007 WWE drug test that Benoit
passed was right in the middle of that time period, making earlier
claims by WWE look like a joke now to the media and a huge blow to
the company overall.
Records are showing that Dr. Astin prescribed over 1 million doses
of numerous drugs over the last two years, many of which were
prescription painkillers and anabolic steroids. Many of the
prescriptions were un-dated, which is illegal. - Said one federal
agent about Dr. Phil Astin: "Dr. Astin allegedly prescribed these
drugs like candy. Dirty doctors should be on notice that they face
federal prosecution and federal prison time."
The early reaction to this news has to be complete credibility loss
for WWE when it comes to the company's Wellness Policy. And with
Benoit more than likely being tested throughout the year, it is
pretty much impossible to have any form of confidence in the drug
policy with the release of this information contradicting
everything. It should be noted that Benoit was off for many months
in 2006 and likely was not tested by WWE during that period, but
it's believed he was tested at least four times minimum during a
period where he was taking very heavy doses of anabolic steroids
based on the timeline provided by investigators today.
It's now been made public that Benoit was arguing with his wife
Nancy over his increased use of steroids at the same time he was
subject to a drug testing policy. WWE announcing that Benoit passed
a drug test on April 10 is something that can no longer hold up
among public opinion now that these facts have been released,
especially with it taking place well into the beginning of the
Wellness policy being implemented. There are numerous possibilities
on how Benoit may have been passing tests. Either WWE's testing is
very flawed, Benoit found a way to beat the tests or the drug tests
were a cover (although that could be disputed with wrestlers such
as Chris Masters and Joey Mercury being subject to them not long
ago).
Ted DiBiase was backstage at Raw last week. He said he is now a
full time minister, and joined the show from Louisville.
# DiBiase said he knew Benoit for 10 years. A great guy, said
DiBiase of Benoit. DiBiase said he was totally dedicated to the
trade, and helped young wrestlers. He said he admired Benoit.
# He said he had just arrived in Corpus Christi, Texas for Raw when
word of Chriss death flittered in. He said people were crying,
including himself. He said there was no speculation at the time,
and heard rumors hours later of the ruling in the case. DiBiase
said he didnt talk to Vince McMahon that night.
# He was scheduled to do a cameo that night and instead they did a
three hour Benoit tribute. DiBiase said wrestlers were allowed to
go home or do tribute interviews.
# DiBiase said he was at a crossroads in 1992 while doing drugs,
messing around with women, etc. and realized he risked his marriage
and the well being of his family, and took responsibility for his
actions.
# DiBiase said he was randomly drug tested when he wrestled. He
said WWE tests for all kinds of drugs today.
Gail Kim made a statement regarding the Benoit tragedy on the forum
of her official website. Here is her statement:
"I can see that everyone has been shocked by the Chris Benoit
family tragedy and I didnt want to speak on this topic since the
news came out. I received the news the day after I got home from
the last road trip and was resting when i was notified that Chris
and his wife were dead. I woke up immediately and was in total
shock. My first thoughts were ....was it an accident? I couldn't
believe it! I reached out to my friends in the business and slowly
i started to hear more details. I can honestly say until yesterday
I was in a state of shock and confusion. Its almost like you dont
want to believe the details that you were hearing because thats not
the Chris we all knew. Like you have probably heard before, Chris
was one of the good guys in the business...passionate, intense,
quiet, and always so nice. I loved his family and they were always
a pleasure to be around...truly. Daniel was such a cute kid who you
could tell looked up to his father and loved wrestling as well. Its
so strange how we all think we know what someone's like and then
something like this happens. I think I am still in the stage of not
wanting to believe it.... but it did happen. The news coverage
blaming the steroids? I dont believe it was roid rage...it sounds
like from the investigation that this was not a "in the moment"
incident. it happened over the course of the weekend. Who knows if
steroids affected him in terms of long term use.... we dont know
any details about his personal life, his health, etc... so i dont
want to draw any conclusions myself. its just been a sad few days
that I cant seem to stop thinking about and I know we are all
asking the question WHY? I dont think we'll ever find out the
answer to that question." -Gail Kim
Friday night Chris Jericho appeared on Fox News television show "On
the
Record" to speak about the Benoit case. He started out by saying
that the
man he knew and loved was not the same man who murdered his family.
He
stated that in the last few hours of Chris's life, he commited some
of the
most henious and violent crimes Jericho had ever heard of. When
asked about
the steroid's he said that WWE does many wellness tests all done at
random.
They are preformed by outside organizations and cover many
different areas
of wellness. Jericho said that he had seen a psychiatrist the day
before,
thursday, and she had told him that people who commit double
murder-suicide
do it for a multitude of reasons. He believes that if steroids were
involved
that was not the only reason that Benoit committed these crimes. He
said
that he belives Benoit was mentally ill and that contributed to
the
murder's. Multiple times Jericho said he believes that Benoit took
all the
answers with him to the grave.
Jericho did not only speak of the bad things though. He went on to
explain
how Benoit would fly home between shows just to see his kids for a
few hours
before he flew off again for another show. He explained how Benoit
was
possibly the best there was in the business. He said that Benoit
was the guy
everybody in the locker room wanted to be like, including himself.
When
asked if Jericho was glad to be away from the business he said
"absolutely
not, its a great thing to be able to entertain so many people every
single
day."
