WATERLOO - Late former World Wrestling Entertainment pro wrestling champion Chris Benoit was considered for inclusion in an upcoming July 13 pro wrestling card at Waterloo's Young Arena, months before murdering his wife and young son and killing himself at their home near Atlanta last week.

Mike Chapman, director of the Dan Gable International Wrestling Institute and Museum in Waterloo, said he and pro wrestling legend Harley Race had considered seeking out Benoit for the July 13 card, to be held in conjunction with the museum's annual induction of new members to its George Tragos/Lou Thesz Hall of Fame for pro wrestlers.

"In fact, we were considering making him (Benoit) our headliner," said Chapman. "That's one of the names that came up immediately. He was looked upon as one of the best pure wrestlers in the past 50 years. And now, sad to say, he's got the word 'murderer' attached to his name. That's a stigma no one can overcome."

Benoit appeared in a WWE house show in the UNI-Dome in 1999.

Chapman, a professional and amateur wrestling historian, had dinner with Benoit four years ago at a wrestling recognition dinner in Las Vegas. Chapman was sitting with Tragos/Thesz Hall of Fame co-namesake Lou Thesz when Benoit approached them.

"He called me 'Mr. Chapman' and he called Lou 'Mr. Thesz,' " Chapman recalled, "He could not have been any more refined, polite reserved. For a superstar, he was as pleasant and as polite and as articulate and respectful as you can imagine.

"I've talked to a lot of people in the last week who are in pro wrestling and are just unable to comprehend that Chris Benoit would have done something like this," Chapman said. "I've heard a lot of talk about steroids. I think steroids might have played a role. But I agree with Bret Hart there has to be more than that." He was referring to retired WWE wrestler Bret "The Hitman" Hart's comments following Benoit's death.

"There's the incredible road schedule that wrestlers are subjected to; the terrible toll their bodies take the way they dive onto tables and chairs and cement. And in the back of their minds, some of them feel this is all going to end way too soon because their bodies can't hold up," Chapman said. "Their spouses put pressure on them to cut back and the industry puts pressure on them to go all the more. These have been problems in professional wrestling for 100 years."

Chapman said the Tragos/Thesz Hall of Fame would not change its selection criteria based on either Benoit's death or the circumstances surrounding the premature deaths of a large number of other professional wrestlers.

"We're not at the point where we're going to make judgments about how people passed away," Chapman said. "But murder," as in Benoit's case, "is a whole different ball game."

The 2007 induction class includes "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig, who was found dead at age 44 in a Florida hotel room in 2003. While medical examiners listed acute cocaine intoxication as the cause of his death, Hennig's father, 2006 Tragos/Thesz Hall of Famer Larry "the Axe" Hennig, said that a lethal combination of steroids and painkillers contributed to his death. Curt Hennig also was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame this year.

The elder Hennig and the deceased wrestler's son, Joe Hennig, will be at the Tragos/Thesz activities and Joe Hennig will be part of the July 13 pro wrestling card, put together as part of Harley Race's World League Wrestling promotion. Others on the card include current WWE superstar Trevor Murdoch and former WWE and World Championship Wrestling star and University of Oklahoma wrestling and football star Steve "Dr. Death" Williams, also a 2007 Tragos/Thesz Hall of Fame inductee.

"We're putting on a family-type show, reminiscent of what wrestling was like in the '60s," Chapman said. "That's what Harley (Race) believes in too."

More information about the event and induction ceremonies may be obtained by contacting the museum at (319) 233-0745 or www.wrestlingmuseum.org

Contact Pat Kinney at (319) 291-1484 or Pat.Kinney@wcfcourier.com