By Michael Lewis

Oddly, even before the toxicology report was released, the WWE issued a statement declaring that “steroids were not and could not be related to the cause of death.” Two days later Vince McMahon appeared on the Today show, where he stated that the tragedy couldn’t have been ’roid rage, because the murders were “an act of deliberation.” McMahon called Chris Benoit, a man he had elevated to hero status, “a monster.”

In the most glaring attempt by the WWE to seize on an alternative explanation for Benoit’s rampage, Jerry McDevitt, the WWE’s outside attorney, told the Associated Press two days after the murders that the Benoits had been arguing because Nancy wanted Chris to stay at home more because Daniel had Fragile X syndrome—a genetically passed form of mental retardation and autism. McDevitt said that he learned about the Benoits’ struggles from friends and relatives of the Benoits. Major media outlets such as Fox News ran McDevitt’s story, presenting the Fragile X angle as all but fact.

In reality, none of Daniel’s medical records indicate any form of serious disability, and family members adamantly refuted the Fragile X theory. McDevitt later admitted that he had heard about the Fragile X story from a caller on a radio talk show who claimed Benoit had spoken to her. No one corroborated her story.

Benoit’s fellow wrestlers in the WWE were quick to toe the company line. On Larry King Live, WWE champion John Cena and others scoffed at reports that the company’s wrestlers still used steroids and other drugs. The industry’s most vocal defender was a WWE wrestler named Ken Kennedy, who lashed out at the media on his Web site for falsely portraying current WWE wrestlers as “babbling idiots who are all addicted to steroids, drugs, alcohol, etc.”

Only weeks later Kennedy’s name appeared on a list of 14 WWE wrestlers who investigators said had recently purchased steroids through Signature Pharmacy, an Orlando-based company that drug enforcement agents had raided in February. One of the other wrestlers on the list was Chavo Guerrero.

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64 wrestlers under the age of 50 have died since 1987, including eight that made the world take notice.

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The raid established that WWE wrestlers were buying human growth hormone and steroids like nandrolone and stanozolol well after the February 2006 start of the Talent Wellness Program testing policy. Reeling from the revelation, the WWE suspended 10 wrestlers, but the organization’s problems may just be beginning.

The families of both Benoit and his wife are expected to sue the WWE, and Rep. Cliff Stearns of Florida has called for Congressional hearings this winter to look into the WWE’s steroid policy and why so many wrestlers die young. “I have heard from former professional wrestlers that the abuse of steroids and other drugs is rampant in the industry,” says Stearns, “and I believe that congressional scrutiny could lead to action.”

Whether or not the lawsuits and hearings will fundamentally change the industry is unknown, but former WWE standouts like Mero believe that one man could quickly end the culture of drugs, steroids, and death.

“Vince McMahon is the most powerful man in this industry,” Mero says. “If he wanted to change things, he could make it happen tomorrow, and everyone would fall in line.”

For fans of the WWE, it is now almost as if Chris Benoit never existed. Except for historical records, many of his matches and DVDs have been removed from the company’s Web site, as has any mention of his life or career. His name hasn’t been mentioned once on WWE television since late June. Most retailers who sold Benoit merchandise immediately took it off their shelves. One week after the tragedy, a fan looking for answers held up a sign at a WWE event: Why? it read.

 WWE officials quickly confiscated that, too.