Written June 30, 2011 by Ray The Rambler
(This column is a re-post from 2011. My full opinion is not stated. Bare in mind this was written 2 years ago. I slightly edited it, though. The writing isn’t very good and that’s because it was a couple years ago. Have a read and let me know what you think.)
Today marks the sixth anniversary of the tragic deaths of the Benoit family. So I will be talking about anything from his debut in wrestling to his death. Pay attention for those of you who didn’t know Benoit that much. So lets begin this column on ‘’ The Rabid Wolverine’’.
Chris Benoit was born on May 21st, 1967, in Montreal in Canada. He was trained by Stu Hart in the infamous Hart Family Dungeon. He grew up idolizing the Dynamite Kid and based his ring style off of the Dynamite’s. He made his debut in 1995 wrestling in the Canada based Stampede Wrestling promotion.
During his career he had won 32 Championships from promotions including New Japan ProWrestling, Extreme Championship Wrestling, World Championship Wrestling, and finished out his career with World Wrestling Entertainment. It took 20 years until he finally won the world title and went on to win it a second time. (When World Titles had prestige). In began in 2004, with WWE, he won the Royal Rumble match, and is one of two superstars to win the match from entry number one; other being Shawn Michaels. Benoit had gained recognition as being one of the most respected, talented and technical Superstar in the WWE. His last WWE appearance was with the ECW brand, run by Paul Heyman.
Accomplishments:
ECW, WCW, & WWE/WWF Title History:
WWF/WWE
World Heavyweight Championship
3/14/04 WrestleMania XX – beat Triple H and Shawn Micheals
Intercontinental Title
4/2/00 WrestleMania 2000 – beat Chris Jericho & Kurt Angle
5/8/00 Raw – beat Chris Jericho
12/10/00 Armageddon – beat Billy Gunn
7/29/02 Raw – beat Rob Van Dam
U.S. Title
8/21/05 SummerSlam – beatOrlandoJordan
2/19/06 No Way Out – beat Booker T
10/13/06 SmackDown – beat Ken Kennedy
World Tag Team Title
5/21/01 Raw – with Chris Jericho beat Steve Austin & Triple H. This is the match where Triple H tore his quad muscle.
4/19/04 Raw – with Edge beat Ric Flair & Batista
10/19/04 Taboo Tuesday – with Edge beat La Resistance
WWE Tag Team Title
10/20/02 No Mercy – with Kurt Angle beat Edge & Rey Mysterio to win the tournament for the new title
WCW
WCW World Championship
1/16/00 Souled Out – beat Sid to win the vacant title. Benoit left WCW after this match.
U.S.Championship
8/9/99 Thunder – beat David Flair
12/19/99 Starrcade – won title via forfeit
Television Championship
4/30/98 Thunder – beat Booker T
5/2/98 Nitro – beat Booker T
9/13/99 Nitro – beat Rick Steiner
WCW World Tag Team Championship
3/14/99 Uncensored – with Dean Malenko beat Barry Windham & Curt Hennig
6/10/99 Thunder – with Perry Saturn beat Bam Bam Bigelow & Kanyon
ECW Tag Team Titles
2/5/95 – with Dean Malenko beat Sabu & The Tazmaniac
I loved watching Chris Benoit wrestle. He was one of the last to have that hard-knock style of wrestling. Sadly, none of his in ring ability is remember. To the majority of pro wrestling fans he’s know as a murderer. It’s a shame because for so many years he gave it his all to us.
On June 25, 2007, Chris and his family were found deceased in their home. When I found out that day, I was in shock; a cold shiver went down my spine. I was sad and was curios what happened. So I made sure I tuned in for the following Raw after his death, the whole show was a tribute to Benoit celebrating his colorful and successful career. They didn’t say what happened to him and his family on the show. The following ECW show, Vince McMahon announced that we will never hear the name Benoit on WWE programming again. Now all of a sudden, Chris Benoit’s name has transitioned from color to black and white. So it was just a matter of time until we found out what happened, he murdered his family and later killed himself.
When I found out what he done, I didn’t quite know what to expect. I didn’t believe or I couldn’t imagine that Chris Benoit would do this terrible. However, I don’t think it was fair that WWE completely forgot his legacy. Benoit still dedicated 20 years of his life to pro wrestling. For the last 6 years now, not once have we heard the name ‘’Chris Benoit’’ which is unfair in my opinion. Are we suppose to forget about epic moments like him winning the Royal Rumble in 2004 and lasting 62 minutes? The answer should be no, but WWE think not. Saying that I completely understand why WWE won’t ever mention his name again.
Opinions on this topic are strong and I want to know them so leave your feedback below please. Thanks for reading ramblers!
Ringsidehustle.com 
Chris Benoit was probably the greatest wrestler who ever lived, and he’ll always be remembered by wrestling fans, but the nature of his crimes are just too horrific to ever forgive, and it’s unwise to expect WWE to honour him in any way.
It wasn’t just a crime of passion or a minor felony, it was the premeditated double homicide of his wife and son. I doubt any international company would want to associate themselves with someone like that.
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I’m not disagreeing with you. The column was written 2 years ago and my opinion has changed dramatically since then. WWE are protecting their company image (and pro wrestling in a way) by not honouring his name. I don’t blame them and I would probably do the same.
I did not have time to write an updated column but I will someday on this matter.
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I’ve read some books and watched a documenty on the Benoit murders and what was said was that Benoit’s brain was so damaged that he wasn’t really himself when the murders happened.
Something similar happened with Verne Gagne. Wikipedia says, “On January 26, 2009, Gagne got into an altercation with Helmut Gutmann, a 97-year old resident of the facility (Gagne was living in a health care facility because of his Alzheimer’s disease), who fell and broke his hip. Neither man had any recollection of the incident. Gutmann was admitted to the hospital, and died on February 14 from complications from the injury. On March 12, 2009, the Hennepin County Prosecutor’s office officially announced that Gagne will not be criminally charged as a result of the death. Because of Gagne’s dementia, he lacked the mental capacity necessary to have intended to harm Gutmann.”
Benoit’s brain was examined and there was severe brain damage. It was reported that he had the brain of a man aged 80 or older with “very severe” Alzheimer’s disease.
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Yep I remember reading tones of stuff on it. I must have spent 8-9 hours reading stuff on it.
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I remember when Benoit died. I was in the middle of my 5+ year wrestling break, but I was coaching little league baseball and one of the coaches mentioned Benoit that died. And I remember it being a huge news story that you couldn’t avoid whether you watched wrestling or not. I’m surprised it’s been only six years. It feels a lot longer than that.
I watched Benoit wrestle in WWF from 2000 to 2001 (I watched a little bit of WWF/E in 2002 but I don’t remember watching much of Benoit during that year) and I never thought of him as a great wrestler. That was back when my favorite wrestlers were Rock, Austin, Foley and Triple H. I didn’t look at guys like Benoit, Jericho and Guerrero as the most valuable guysin WWF because of their work rate…they were just mid-card guys to me. I respected Kurt Angle, but that was because of his work on the mic, not his work in the ring. Now I have more appreciation today for guys like Tyson Kidd, Christian, Daniel Bryan, Cody Rhodes and others. If watched/appreciated wrestling from 2000 to 2007 like I do now, I think Benoit would be one of my favorite wrestlers because I consider Daniel Bryan to be the best worker in wrestling right now and his style is very similar to Benoit.
As for the topic of Benoit’s history in WWE being erased, I think when WWE does their DVDs or focuses on the top WWE moments, they shouldn’t omit matches/moments just because Benoit was there. I think a Money in the Bank DVD is coming out and that first MitB match that had Benoit should definitely be on the DVD. A couple Benoit matches have been on WWE DVDs since the murders, but the commentary was edited. I don’t think the commentary needed to be edited. Anything complimentary said about Benoit during the matches was said BEFORE the murders.
I really don’t have any problems watching any Benoit matches today because I was never a huge fan of him when he was alive and I wasn’t paying close attention to wrestling during the months before and after he died so it’s not something that’s hard to watch because of what happened six years ago.
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It was one of the biggest news stories of the year with the worlds media. I get what you’re saying about appreciating wrestlers. I would have seen most of his stuff in WWF and a small bit from WCW and for the most part I loved his hard-hitting style.
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It’s scary to think that he had the brain of an 85 year-old with Alzheimer’s. I can’t enjoy what he did, but I see why he would damage his brain like that. It’s really a mixed bag for me.
With what happened to him mentally, I get sad when Daniel Bryan does the head-butt off the top rope. I can’t enjoy the move.
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Honestly, the move doesn’t bother me. I’m sure Benoit wasn’t the first person to do it anyway. I have no problem watching his old matches either.
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Well, they said moves like that , being done every match helped damage his brain. I wish DB would use it less.
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Someone asked a person (I think the person was John Canton or maybe it was a 411mania guy) why does WWE allow Bryan to do the headbutt like Benoit and the reply was that Bryan does a much better job getting his hands down than Benoit did. Benoit would do the move without really protecting his head much and Bryan does the headbutt in a way that his hands are the first thing to hit the mat. I forget the exact reply, but Bryan doesn’t do the headbutt the exact way Benoit did it and Bryan’s version is safer.
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Good to hear.
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http://www.411mania.com/wrestling/columns/285537/Ask-411-Wrestling-05.29.13:-Flair-vs.Hart,-Vince-vs.-Media,-Public-Enemy-vs.-Acolytes,-More.htm
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Had no idea, thanks.
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Benoit in my eyes is and will always be a legend in the industry of professional wrestling, he was the best technical wrestler to grace a ring.
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He certainly was one of the best! This can be looked at so many ways it’s unbelievable.
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Does anybody have any suggestions for the website? The promo, segments, Match of the week are noted.
The Raw column will be published soon hopefully. Johnny will be reviewing SD from now on. We’re going to hold a competition to see how long he can last, winner will get a DVD. SD column = cursed. lol.
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Perhaps different sections(listed at top of page)? They would work like your wrestling jokes page. They could be about different topics with people chatting in the comments. Wrestling(general), sports, jobs(Started my new one today!), politics, movies, tv, music, advice, etc.
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Congratulations on your new job! I hope it works out well for you. Tell the other workers to come and read here! Lol. I love that idea and with them at the top of the page, all the focus is will still be on wrestling so it won’t damage the wrestling content. I have that noted and I will think about how to arrange it. Thanks!
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Thanks! I have a better chance of working for the company, not the temp agency.
There are hundreds of people who work there, so I don’t get much of a chance to talk about wrestling, but if it ever comes up, I’ll be sure to spread the word.
Yeah, the subject idea came from questions people might have that, but don’t want to write a whole column(favorite food, top 5…, sick family member, etc.). Plus, by bringing in different subjects, readers could provide a link to that topic page while at other sites, bringing in more readers.
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That’s great. Glad things are working out for you.
Yeah it’s a great idea. I have thought about adding variety to WR for a while but didn’t quite know the best way to do it! I will try to make a couple miscellaneous sections within the next coupe weeks!
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I don’t if there’s a price or how much, but you might want to require Disqus for your comments as well. It works with WordPress. And you’d be linked in with 411mania, EW, CNN, etc. that all use it. It could bring in even more readers. Plus, it’s a very organized way to comment, making it easier for you to manage your site. Here’s the link, if curious…
http://disqus.com/
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I want Disqus! But cannot use it on this WordPress system, trust me I have tried to get it. I emailed WP, went to their forums etc and it’s not possible sadly. I will be updating everything hopefully at the end of the summer and I will definitely be trying to get Disqus.
The thing that annoys me is that we are doing really well with readers but getting them to comment is hard. Especially with the WordPress system. But using Disqus would definitely get more commentators.
We have 112 WordPress websites following us on WordPress, nearly 200 email subscribers and thousands of readers every month. Over 5K followers on Twitter and 322 likers on Facebook…which we barely use so that’s good. We’re doing really well and I’m trying to structure the website better and stuff which does help.
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Good luck. *guy nod* ‘Night.
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