Boogie: Not to apologize for those defending Benoit, but I understand how they got the impression of him as a "good guy" before this.
When I was following it (up until about five years ago), most wrasslin fans on the net got their news from three sites run by guys (Dave Meltzer, Dave Scherer, Bob Keller) who had some contacts within the companies.
It was pretty heavy on backstage gossip type stuff, and certain names would crop up more than others. Lots of self-destructive behavior, especially drugs (Davey Boy Smith, Eddie Guerrero, Juvi, Scott Hall, etc.) and guys with problems controlling their aggression (Scott Steiner, Goldberg, Scott Steiner, Sid Vicious, Scott Steiner).
For whatever reasons, incidents with Benoit didn't really show up in the gossip rags, at least from 98-02, so anyone taking them for credible sources would have gotten that impression.
Obviously, some people would much rather construct a Good Guy Who Snapped narrative than recognize that they built up a false image of someone they had never met based on third-hand information. Cognitive dissonance yadda yadda.
spoiler (click to show/hide)
Seriously though, how was the first major wrestler to a double-homicide NOT Scott Steiner? If we had done a pool on that, I'd be out some serious cash.