| Nancy Benoit | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Birth name | Nancy Elizabeth Toffoloni |
| Born | (1964-05-17)May 17, 1964 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | June 22, 2007(2007-06-22) (aged 43)[1] Fayetteville, Georgia, U.S.[2] |
| Cause of death | Murder bystrangulation |
| Spouse(s) | |
| Children | 1 |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Devil Angel[3] Fallen Angel[3] Para Robin Green[3] Woman[3] |
| Debut | June 30, 1984[3] |
| Retired | May 26, 1997 |
Nancy Elizabeth Benoit (formerlyDaus,Sullivan,néeToffoloni; May 17, 1964 – June 22, 2007) was an Americanprofessional wrestlingmanager and model. She appeared inFlorida Championship Wrestling,Extreme Championship Wrestling, andWorld Championship Wrestling where she was known under thering nameWoman.[3][4]
In 2007, Benoit and her son Daniel werevictims of a murder-suicide committed by her husband,WWEprofessional wrestlerChris Benoit.
After graduating fromDeLand High School inFlorida, Toffoloni got a job answering phones atState Farm Insurance.[4] WhenGeorge Napolitano needed a beautiful young girl for the cover of the June 1984 edition of the pro-wrestling magazineWrestling All Stars, fellow photographer Bill Otten suggested the 20-year-old Nancy Toffoloni Daus for the role.[3] Toffoloni, who had worked as a model,[3] often sat alongside her then-husband Jim. She had also been selling programs at the Orlando shows and appeared as Apartment Wrestler "Para" inStanley Weston'sSports Review Wrestling magazine. It was on this shoot where she metKevin Sullivan, who eventually wanted her to be a part of his wrestling entourage. After months of convincing, she finally became an on-air valet, taking the ring name "Fallen Angel".
As "Fallen Angel", Toffoloni made her in-ring debut on June 30, 1984, in Miami, Florida, forChampionship Wrestling from Florida.
Toffoloni became a part of Kevin Sullivan'sstable ofkayfabe "Satanists", which also included wrestlersThe Lock,Luna Vachon,The Purple Haze, andSir Oliver Humperdink.[3] Toffoloni and Kevin Sullivan traveled throughout the United States using the "Satanist" gimmick for promotions such as Angelo Savoldi's ICW andSouthwest Championship Wrestling. The two married in 1985.[3] On August 3, 1985, she wrestledDebbie Combs in Hawaii forNWA Polynesian Wrestling, in which she lost by disqualification.[5]
Nancy Sullivan first appeared in WCW as a "fan" ofRick Steiner named Robin Green, wearing a Steiner T-shirt and large glasses. She would sit in the audience and would interact with Steiner whenever he appeared. She eventually turned on him, aligning herself with Kevin Sullivan and adopting the name "Woman" and becoming the manager of Doom (Butch Reed andRon Simmons). After leaving Doom, she teamed herself up withRic Flair and theFour Horsemen.
In late-1993, Nancy and Kevin Sullivan joined the Philadelphia-based promotionExtreme Championship Wrestling, where she reverted to the ring name "Woman".[3] In December 1993, Sullivan andThe Tazmaniac won theECW Tag Team Championship. They held the championship until March 1994, when they were defeated byThe Public Enemy.
After Sullivan left ECW in spring 1994, Woman began managingThe Sandman. The Sandman's character was estranged from his wife and valet,Peaches, who had left him after he accidentally struck her during a match while temporarily blinded. Woman drove a wedge between The Sandman and Peaches, convincing him that Peaches was cheating on him withTommy Cairo. In keeping with The Sandman's character, Woman would open his beers and light his cigarettes prior to matches. She began carrying aSingapore cane with which she would strike The Sandman's opponents.[3][6][7] AtWhen Worlds Collide on May 14, 1994, Woman and The Sandman lost to Cairo and Peaches in aSingapore Cane match, after which Peaches caned The Sandman in the groin until Woman threw salt in her eyes, enabling The Sandman to regroup and cane Cairo and Peaches.[8]
In mid-1994, The Sandman began feuding withTommy Dreamer after he kissed Woman. The feud culminated in an"I Quit" match on October 1, during which The Sandman was seemingly blinded when Dreamer pushed a lit cigarette into his eye and then caned him in the face. Following the match, Woman left The Sandman, calling him "useless". After Cairo mocked The Sandman, a guilt-stricken Dreamer challenged him to a match atNovember to Remember on November 5. At the same event, Peaches attempted to reconcile with The Sandman. Woman interrupted the reconciliation, caning Peaches and threatening The Sandman. After Dreamer came to the ring to stop Woman, The Sandman revealed that he was not in fact blinded and attacked Dreamer, with his estrangement from Woman a ploy to pit Dreamer and Cairo against one another.[9]
In April 1995 atThree Way Dance, Woman again left The Sandman, aligning herself withShane Douglas. AtHostile City Showdown on April 15, she helped The Sandman defeat Douglas for hissecondECW World Heavyweight Championship by striking him in the knee with a Singapore cane, revealing the turn to have been another ruse. Following The Sandman's victory, Woman began carrying the ECW World Heavyweight Championship to ringside. Throughout mid-1995, she helped The Sandman defend his championship in a series of matches withCactus Jack. In September, she began also managing The Sandman's ally,ECW World Television Champion2 Cold Scorpio. In late 1995, The Sandman began feuding withMikey Whipwreck, during which a controversialstoryline began in which Woman became visiblyaroused while watching The Sandman cane Whipwreck.[10] The Sandman's reign lasted until October 28, when he lost to Whipwreck in aladder match afterStunning Steve Austin prevented Woman from interfering.
On October 28, 1995, 2 Cold Scorpio defeatedRocco Rock to win theECW World Tag Team Championship, then selected The Sandman as his partner. The Sandman regained the ECW World Heavyweight Championship in athree-way dance with Whipwreck and Austin atDecember to Dismember on December 9, giving Woman control of all three championships. On December 29 atHoliday Hell, Whipwreck defeated 2 Cold Scorpio in a singles match with the World Tag Team Championship on the line. The Sandman's third reign as World Heavyweight Champion lasted until January 27, 1996, when he lost toRaven. In February atBig Apple Blizzard Blast, Woman announced that she was returning to WCW, parting ways with The Sandman and 2 Cold Scorpio.
Nancy Sullivan (as "Woman") made her return to WCW on the January 22, 1996 episode ofWCW Monday Nitro as one of many women who stood in the aisle and waved asHulk Hogan andRandy Savage came to the ring. On the February 5 episode ofNitro she turned on Savage during his match withChris Benoit and rejoined Flair,Arn Anderson,Brian Pillman, and Benoit in the then-current incarnation of theFour Horsemen.Miss Elizabeth also managed thestable.
In 1996, Pillman had left the Horsemen, but they addedSteve McMichael and his wifeDebra in June,[3] which didn't sit well with Woman. In her nextangle, the two bickered, not getting along in general. The Four Horsemen were often given interview time onNitro and when it came time for Debra to speak on themic, she'd often go into asoliloquy regarding Woman's looks and fashion sense – usually when the two weren't within the vicinity of each other. Despite the heavy tension, the two managers never had a physical altercation.
Concurrently, she started an on-screen relationship with Benoit, who at the time was involved in a feud with her real-life husband, Kevin Sullivan.[3] On December 7, onWCW Saturday Night, during a post-match interview with Sullivan, a home movie of the couple canoodling in a kitchen was played in front of him. Woman taunted Sullivan by saying, "You can't find me" and "I'm my own woman," while Benoit added: "You consider yourself the master of human chess. Well, my bishop just took your queen". After the video, Sullivan appeared speechless, and his managerJimmy Hart led him off stage.[11] The feud between Benoit and Sullivan saw Woman clashing with Sullivan's then-valetJacquelyn at ringside. In one match, the two ladies were strapped together, took shots at each other, and used the strap connecting them as a weapon against the men.
Eventually, the on-screen relationship developed into a real-life affair off-screen. Because of this, it is often joked that Kevin Sullivan "booked his own divorce".[3][4] The two divorced in 1997. Sullivan lost aretirement match to Benoit; his intent had been to retire from in-ring action and focus onbooking.[3]
Woman's final WCW appearance (and professional wrestling appearance as Woman) took place on May 26, 1997, onMonday Nitro as she accompanied Benoit to the ring for a confrontation with Jimmy Hart regarding the whereabouts of Sullivan, who wasn't in the arena.[12] On the following week's show, Benoit came alone to ringside without her by his side. After managing him for a little over half a year, no reason was given for Woman's sudden disappearance, and she was never mentioned on WCW programming again.[13]
Before her marriage toKevin Sullivan in 1985, Benoit had been married to and divorced from Jim Daus.[3]
In early 1997, while married to Kevin Sullivan, she was having an extramarital affair with Chris Benoit. She and Benoit became engaged later in 1997 after her divorce from Sullivan, although Benoit referred to her as only his fiancée even after they were married.[3] She managed her husband's career from their home inAtlanta.
She gave birth to their son Daniel Christopher Benoit on February 25, 2000.[3] She married Chris on November 23, 2000.[3] In May 2003, she filed for divorce, citing the marriage as "irrevocably broken" and alleging "cruel treatment."[4][14][15] She dropped the suit in August 2003, as well as a restraining order filed on her husband.[4][14]
In December 2006, Nancy Benoit had back and neck fusion surgery withLloyd Youngblood, the same surgeon who had done a 3–hour neck operation on Nancy's husband Chris on June 28, 2001.[16]
After Nancy Benoit's death in 2007,Hustler published nude photographs of her from a shoot taken when she was 20 years old. The length of time between the events caused controversy, causing critics to claim that Hustler ownerLarry Flynt was attempting to capitalize on the event. The family of Nancy Benoit took legal action against Hustler. The appellate court ruled that, "The photographs published by [Flynt] neither relate to the incident of public concern conceptually [the murders] nor correspond with the time period during which Benoit was rendered, against her will, the subject of public scrutiny".[17][18][19]
On June 25, 2007, Nancy, her husband Chris, and their son Daniel were found dead in their home in suburban Atlanta at around 2:30 p.m.[2] It first was reported by the WWE Mobile Alerts service and posted to their official website soon after.[citation needed]
Lieutenant Tommy Pope of the Fayette County Sheriff's Department toldABC News it was being investigated as a doublemurder-suicide,[20] and the police were not searching for any suspects outside of the house, as the instruments of death were located at the scene of the crime.[21]
During a press conference on June 26, Fayette County District Attorney Scott Ballard reported that Chris Benoit had killed his wife and son and committed suicide.[1] ABible was left by Nancy's body, and she died ofasphyxiation.[22] She had bruises on her back and stomach consistent with an attacker pressing a knee into her back while pulling on a cord around her neck.[23] Daniel also died of asphyxiation, without signs of restraint. He had internal injuries to the throat area, but no bruises, indicating he may have been killed by a choke. Benoit killed Nancy on Friday, Daniel on Saturday, then asphyxiated himself with the cord of a weight machine in his basement on Sunday.
A memorial for Nancy and Daniel took place inDaytona Beach, Florida, on July 14, 2007.[24] Both werecremated and their ashes placed instarfish-shapeurns[25] for Nancy's family. Chris was also cremated,[26] but the fate of his ashes has not been publicly revealed.
In January 2024, she was posthumously awardedPro Wrestling Illustrated's (PWI) Stanley Weston Award (Lifetime Achievement) for 2023.[27]
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