On Monday, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon made the only decision he felt he could, and cancelled the live Raw card that night in Corpus Christi, Texas in light of the deaths of Chris, Nancy, & Daniel Benoit. With only a couple of hours lead time, McMahon and his crew produced a career retrospective that was one of their finest programs. 24 hours later, however, the WWE feels they made a monumental mistake.

By now, everyone knows that Benoit, for reasons not yet truly certain, strangled his wife of 7 years to death, then smothered his son the next night, and waited until Monday to take his own life. The anti-WWE forces in the media immediately took note of the fact that there were steroids on the premises (prescribed, it turns out), and claimed that Benoit was consumed by roid rage. Naturally, the media weasels wouldn't accept any other probable cause. They didn't consider the placement of bibles next to Nancy & Daniel's bodies. The murders were strategically planned out across a period of time, but the real question I have---and I think fans all over the world do, too---is why would Benoit, on the eve of a probable ECW title victory at Vengeance, squander said opportunity? It will be a while before the truth is finally revealed, once the results of the toxicology tests become public.

Earlier tonight, as ECW went on the air, Vince McMahon appeared on screen to issue a brief statement. It wasn't the apology that was promised (one was given to the live crowd in San Antonio, according to one report), but it did give an indication that the company's position on Benoit, who'd been with WWE 7 1/2 years, had changed dramatically in 24 hours. McMahon stated that after his speech, there would be no further mention of Benoit on the telecast, and I would believe this also applies to Friday's Smackdown broadcast. All of Benoit's merchandise has been removed from the WWE ShopZone webpage. Benoit's been removed from the superstars pages on the website, and in the most knee-jerk move of them all, he's off the DVD listing of his World title victory at Wrestlemania 20, the match that closed Monday's Raw! That alone speaks volumes of how much hatred the McMahon family now has for Benoit. Any hope of Benoit being inducted into the Hall of Fame next year went out the window with the revelation that he was the author of his own demise and that of his family. He'll get into the Hall eventually, but it'd have to be a few years down the road.

There are fans on the internet who've also turned their backs on their former hero. Fellow columnist "The Franchise" is one of those fans. This much we know, however. A great career went down the tubes for all the wrong reasons.

At the end of tonight's ECW, CM Punk was caught on camera glancing up toward the heavens, wiping back a tear, as if he had dedicated his win over Elijah Burke to the memory of Benoit, as McMahon had dedicated the show to everyone who'd been adversely affected by the tragedy. The camera cut away quickly, but not quick enough, I suspect, to save Punk from some possible heat from management. I'd not be the least bit surprised if this affects his title rematch vs. Johnny Nitro, likely at the Great American Bash next month. Punk & Burke did, however, take a page right out of a 1996 match between Benoit & Dean Malenko that aired on Raw, leading to the finish to their match. That might not be so bad, but if McMahon is adamant as he says about avoiding any mention of Benoit, well.....!