The WCW Conspiracy Iceberg EXPLAINED!

2. The Absolutely Insane Kevin Sullivan Theory

Across June 22 and June 24 2007, Chris Benoit killed his wife Nancy, son Daniel, and himself. It was the most shocking, grim wrestling news story ever. Endlessly discussed in the mainstream media, initially, the unconscionable act was pinned on his record-setting levels of anabolic steroids intake. Benoit was ravaged by CTE, profound grief, and was disposed to sadism and abuse in both the backstage arena and the family home. The word “cocktail” was later used to describe the factors that led to the unexplainable horror. What follows is absolutely ridiculous, but no less true, unfortunately. 

In 2007, a lot of people could not comprehend Chris Benoit’s actions in part because he was an incredibly accomplished professional wrestler who worked stupidly hard to craft exciting, believable pro wrestling matches. If you trawl through contemporary posts on the message boards of the day, you’ll find this sentiment with a disturbing frequency. Chris couldn’t have done this; he was so passionate about wrestling that he was practically one of us. People did not want to believe it - where if a crap, lazy and over-pushed wrestler had annihilated his family, it might have been a different story. 

It is this warped mentality, you suspect, that has fuelled a sick conspiracy theory. Benoit, it is posited, did not perpetrate the killings; the real murderer was Kevin Sullivan, whose marriage to Nancy ended when she cheated on him with Chris. It doesn’t take too much for certain people to “ask questions” - but when a bleak coincidence can double as a clue, this sort of thing can take on a deranged life of its own. Supposedly, Nancy was killed on the 10 year anniversary of the divorce confirmation. There exists a YouTube video, totalling 1.3 million views, discussing the conspiracy, which receives considerable support in the comments section. One theory puts forward the idea that Sullivan, flanked by accomplices, entered the Benoit residence and subdued Benoit through the use of chloroform before executing his family. This is preposterous. Trace elements of the substance would have been located at the scene. The theory was first floated by a former no-name wrestler, Johnny Lee Clary - a man with such little history in the business and thus no links to anyone in it that he does not have a single recorded bout on Cagematch. The best Wikipedia can come up with is that he was best known for almost holding a title governed by the NWA. Every single shred of evidence - timelines, DNA, everything - confirms Benoit as the killer. 

“Wronged man waits a decade to enact bloody revenge” is a bad wrestling storyline - but then, some people believe in those, too.