Arguably the biggest controversial incident in wrestling history happened over the course of a three day period of June 22 - June 24, 2007 when the world found out that WWE superstar Chris Benoit committed suicide but not only before he brutality he murdered his wife, Nancy Benoit, who was 43 at the time and his 7-year-old son, Daniel during a weekend long suffering event in Fayetteville, Georgia. Devastated and left wondering why, the wrestling world lost one of the very best technically sound wrestlers of all time but now have the imagery of him being a monster that took out his family. With no true indication nor understanding why this happened, everyone involved were shocked, horrified, and felt frightened that the WWE superstar would ever do such a thing to his own family and to himself. With that, even with a successful professional wrestling career, should Benoit still even be credited for what he did within the business by getting a spot in the Hall of Fame?
On June 22nd, 2007, Chris would murder his wife, Nancy first on this three day spree on his. A combination of duck tape and coaxial cables were used to keep Nancy down while Benoit strangled her to her death. The very next day, 7-year-old Daniel was suffocated in his bedroom by his father. Though suffocation was his true death, xanax was also found in his system and was unlikely unconscious during the act of the cause of his untimely death. After the murders, Benoit would call and send several text messages to coworkers within the WWE including Chavo Guerrero and Scott Armstrong. With these calls and messages, they were concerned with the well being of Benoit due to him not sounding like himself. On the fateful day of June 24th, 2007, Benoit would take his own life by hanging himself with a cable cord from a lat pulldown machine and turning it into a noose and the wrestler would then be gone
Although Benoit was a great wrestler during his time, it may be a reach to say that he’s Hall of Fame worthy to some fans solely based on his actions outside of the ring. It’s tough to imagine anyone with the accolades and amazing moments in the wrestling business that Benoit has, not being rewarded by being in the Hall. However, why reward someone that did such a horrific crime? That will continue to be one of biggest debates and questions in wrestling forever based on the actions of Benoit during those three days. The actions soon after the deaths of Nancy, Daniel, and Chris by the WWE were reasonable. Despite the fact that Chris Benoit was an amazing performer, Vince McMahon and the company felt like they needed to “distance” themselves from Benoit and the whole unfortunate situation.
By removing Benoit content from video games, taped shows, any type of past mentions of him were all gone. Even in vignettes and promos of past superstars that went up against Benoit, his face isn’t involved whatsoever. Business wise, it’s understandable and wise of the company to do this because the Benoit case was huge and the company didn’t want to lose any sponsors or deals due to the actions of the former superstar. All in all, Benoit was a great wrestler; however, there’s consequences to every action. After 17 years, Benoit still hasn’t been mentioned on WWE programming and he is known as the “one who should not be mentioned” from wrestling fans. Truthfully, after all these years later, it’s for the best for both sides for the company and the family of Chris. May all involved continue to rest.
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