Nancy Elizabeth Benoit (formerly Daus, Sullivan, née Toffoloni; May 17, 1964 – June 22, 2007) was an American professional wrestling manager and model.
[4] When George Napolitano needed a beautiful young girl for the cover of the June 1984 edition of the pro-wrestling magazine Wrestling All Stars, fellow photographer Bill Otten suggested the 20-year-old Nancy Toffoloni Daus for the role.
She had also been selling programs at the Orlando shows and appeared as Apartment Wrestler "Para" in Stanley Weston's Sports Review Wrestling magazine.
Toffoloni became a part of Kevin Sullivan's stable of kayfabe "Satanists", which also included wrestlers The Lock, Luna Vachon, The Purple Haze, and Sir Oliver Humperdink.
[3] Toffoloni and Kevin Sullivan traveled throughout the United States using the "Satanist" gimmick for promotions such as Angelo Savoldi's ICW and Southwest Championship Wrestling.
She eventually turned on him, aligning herself with Kevin Sullivan and adopting the name "Woman" and becoming the manager of Doom (Butch Reed and Ron Simmons).
In late-1993, Nancy and Kevin Sullivan joined the Philadelphia-based promotion Extreme Championship Wrestling, where she reverted to the ring name "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.
At Hostile City Showdown on April 15, she helped The Sandman defeat Douglas for his second ECW World Heavyweight Championship by striking him in the knee with a Singapore cane, revealing the turn to have been another ruse.
[10] The Sandman's reign lasted until October 28, when he lost to Whipwreck in a ladder match after Stunning Steve Austin prevented Woman from interfering.
On October 28, 1995, 2 Cold Scorpio defeated Rocco Rock to win the ECW World Tag Team Championship, then selected The Sandman as his partner.
On December 29 at Holiday Hell, Whipwreck defeated 2 Cold Scorpio in a singles match with the World Tag Team Championship on the line.
In February at Big Apple Blizzard Blast, Woman announced that she was returning to WCW, parting ways with The Sandman and 2 Cold Scorpio.
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, on WCW 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.
[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 told ABC News it was being investigated as a double murder-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.