The Sports Legacy Institute (SLI), which oversaw and coordinated the testing, is an independent medical research organization dedicated to studying the long-term effects of head injuries in sports. SLI President Christopher Nowinski contacted Michael Benoit on June 28th, the Thursday after his son’s death, to obtain permission to study the wrestler’s brain. SLI’s research has indicated there is a connection between the repeated head injuries suffered by many athletes involved in contact sports and an aggregation of abnormal Tau proteins in the brain, causing CTE. CTE’s most common symptoms include depression, cognitive impairment, dementia, Parkinsonism and erratic behavior. Experts believe that CTE may have been a cause or contributing factor in the Benoit tragedy.

Bennet Omalu, MD, MPH, a leading forensic neuropathologist, the Chief Medical Examiner of San Joaquin County, CA, and founding member of the Sports Legacy Institute examined Chris Benoit’s brain as part of the Sports Legacy Project and had also examined the brains of Mike Webster, Terry Long, Andre Waters, and Justin Strzelczyk all of whom were professional football players, died by the age of fifty, and displayed similar psychological and behavioral profiles. Their brains showed evidence of CTE and two of the players – Long, and Waters – committed suicide. Mike Webster died of a heart attack, but suffered from dementia, depression, and exhibited erratic behavior after retiring from football. When Justin Strzelczyk died at the age of 36, he had been telling relatives he was hearing voices from “the evil ones” and then led police on a 40 mile high- speed chase through central New York at speeds up to 100 mph on the wrong side of the highway, which resulted in an explosive crash and his death.

Chris Nowinski was interviewed as was Chris Benoit’s father. Michael Benoit says he is angry about the way his son has been treated, and about what happened to him during his wrestling career. “Let me put it this way. The company that I work for — the number one priority of the person that owns the company is the health and safety of the people that work in the company. I wish that the same could be said for the company that Chris worked for.”

Nightline contacted World Wrestling Entertainment for a response, and they sent a statement. They called the analysis that concussions might have led to Benoit’s murderous rampage, “speculative,” and went on to say that “WWE can certainly understand the anguish of a father having to deal with the fact that his son allegedly murdered his wife and young son … We respect the desire of that father to do whatever he can to find some explanation.”

Shame on you, WWE. That is the most insensitive, butt-covering statement I have ever heard. If anyone didn’t think that Vince McMahon and the WWE doesn’t care about the wrestlers, that statement should leave no doubt. The evidence is overwhelming and to call it speculative is a cop out. Then to go on to make out Michael Benoit as looking for a reason is just deplorable. I encourage you to read the press release from the Sports Legacy Institute.

It makes me sick that the WWE is carrying this line. If there is even a small chance of this being the case, then they should support the research and start to take measures to identify concussions and the medical treatment needed. I hope the United States Congress takes Vince McMahon and the WWE and makes an example out the man and the company. One congressman called the WWE Wellness Plan a joke, it’s more like lip service. It’s there so Vince McMahon and Jerry McDevitt can say “we are doing something” while in reality it’s just smoke and mirrors. The only reason they are making any efforts now is to try and avoid the coming storm that is brewing in Congress.

So I say it again, Shame on you WWE. I hope you get what’s coming to you.