5 years ago today.....
 

Chris Benoit.

:'(

Hard to believe it has been 5 years.....

That's so weird.

I was watching his theme earlier and i forget how cool it was.

That guy took wayyyyy too many bumps in the ring.. it's kind of sad..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6g4D4dStmY

I know it wouldn't be right given the final curtain that was given, but WWE should come to terms with the fact that he did exist in the history books.

Wasn't a huge fan of him as a main eventer. Awesome fighting for the IC/US Title though. Guys like him were made to steal the show from the upper-midcard but be boring as hell if they get overpushed.

Also, not really a fan of the whole murder thing.

Ehhh. Fuck him. He killed his family.

Not trying to flame or be a troll. He was a great wrestler, but his history does not deserve to be celebrated.

Dunno, I still believe he wasn't 'himself' when he killed his family. What he did was the absolute worst, but I like to remember him by his career up to then. We're all entitled to our own opinions on it though, and I hope this thread doesn't turn into a massive flame/troll war.

I go back and forth on this. Yes, he killed his family - an unforgivable, despicable, unthinkable, inhuman act.

But knowing what we know about brain injuries that we didn't know (but suspected) half a decade ago, I now actually wonder whether I can still hold a grudge against him knowing that it wasn't really "him" doing it. His body committed those vile acts, but his mind had deserted him.

It's a very difficult position to be in as someone who was a huge fan of his work, because I want him to be recognized for his accomplishments, but he'll probably also carry that "asterisk" forever.

Yeah, what loopy said.

Yeah, look at what happened to junior seau.

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Chris Benoit: The TPWW thread

That brings back some pretty bad memories.

I disagree with this. One thing shouldn't have bearing on the other.

For example, say what you want about OJ, but it doesn't erase his history of being a great football player. Same case here.

20+ years of wrestling history isn't negated simply because of one deplorable act at the end of his life.

This, of course, doesn't mean it's excusable. By the way, it feels silly that everyone always needs to preface this point so they don't get crapped all over... like we are excusing the murder part. Not the case. Just saying the murder didn't go back and change the fact that he had a legendary best of 7 with Booker T in WCW, or had some damn classic matches in WWE, or more or less put MVP on the map, or even help the idea that "vanilla midget" mat wrestlers can be believable world champions instead of being exclusively 6'6" power move "hosses".

It would be kind of like if we all found out that former President Ronald Reagan became a serial rapist near the end of his days. Would we then destroy all evidence of his movies, and his political career all the way through his presidency because we found this out? Would we have no 40th president... just skip right from Carter to Bush Sr. with 8 years unaccounted for?

Again, one thing has nothing to do with the other. I was actually a Benoit fan. Doesn't make me "pro-murderer" because he wasn't one at the time. Doesn't suddenly make his matches with Angle or Jericho less good in hindsight. Doesn't stop him from being over, selling merch, and being a highly touted worker. The only thing it truly does is make it sad and haunting to know what he will eventually end up doing later; what's on the horizon for him and his family.

He may have killed his family, but watching Mania 20 gives me goosebumps everytime..... same goes for the WWE produced tribute that aired the night after.....

Benoit's theme song used to give me goosebumps every time I listened to it from the memory of WrestleMania XX. Don't think I've listened to the song since, but I'm sure the goosebumps would be gone.

RIP Nancy and Daniel.

I agree with the whole "one thing doesn't have to do with the other thing". The difference is while you might say "Yeah he murdered his wife and kid... but fuck he was a great wrestler" I would say "Yeah he was a great wrestler... but fuck him for murdering his wife and kid."

That part kinda outshines the wrestling part. I can acknowledge that he was a great wrestler. If he was a great plumber, I'd acknowledge he was a great plumber. But in the end, the most notable thing to me is "He was a murderer". And because of that, I'm with Triple Naitch on the fact that his life doesn't deserve to be celebrated. Being good at his occupation suddenly doesn't matter.

I actually can't really watch Benoit matches anymore. My mind instantly goes to "Fuck this murderer". But that's more of just a personal "weirdness" I get watching them.

Maybe I should try watching some of his heel matches and see if my hatred makes him losing to a face while the crowd cheers more enjoyable. Hmm...

this promo is still one of my favorites

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Again, not defending him for murdering his wife and kids.

Takes the luster off what he did in the ring, but it doesn't completely evaporate it from the face of time and history either.

Considering his brain was jello....

What flavor?

I still like to know how he was able to fool WWE that there wasn't a huge problem brewing. How he was able to fake being normal awhile the CTE was scrambling his mind to the point in which it snapped.

I don't think people should blame Benoit for what he did, but the choices he made that brought it about.

I remember hearing reports from back in the day that they wanted him to stop using the headbutt and the german suplexes after his neck injury. I feel that his problems really stemmed from the fact that he chose the wrong wrestler to emulate in his career: the Dynamite Kid.

This is why I cringe every time Daniel Bryan does the diving headbutt and am baffled WWE still allows it.

In a sad way, if what happened with Benoit hadn't of happened, I don't believe WWE would have the wellness policy it has today. Not that it's close to perfect, but the fact it took a murder-suicide for Vince to looks at things just seems wrong.

Jerry Sandusky, OJ Simpson, Chris Benoit.

All three belong in the same sentence.

I did enjoy Chris' work when he wrestled though.

wrong.

Take Sandusky out of there he's lower than those two.

I think raping young boys is far worse than killing.

inb4 people debating about which is worse

I'd like to say for the record I now regret not voting for St. Jimmy for King of the Wrestling Forum, but I didn't vote for RP either.

I also like how my question was moved, but the suggestion of making a murder suicide into a comedy storyline was left intact.

Didn't they make an episode of the Shield based on it?

That Wrestlemania triple-threat is my favourite match of all time. As a long-time Benoit fan since 1994 (he's still one of my favourites today, based obviously on his in-ring work), I had such a huge emotional investment in that match, I had a tear in my watching him and Eddie hug with their titles. Absolutely mind-blowing that that happened eight years ago!!! Still feels 'new' to me.

I remember the day this happened, I came home from my night shift and had a text from a mate telling me "Benoit has been murdered", and my heart literally skipped a beat. Was planning on going to bed, but ended up on the internet for like, three hours or something, just reading different reports, speculation and TPWW posts. Was probably the most surreal thing to ever occur in the world of pro wrestling, and I really wish it didn't. :(

What loopy said.

I think this, after losing Eddie as well is what turned me off wrestling. It got too "real"

Didn't particularly enjoy him as a wrestler anyway, nevermind as a killer. There's much better main event murderers out there.

Who?

lol

Chris Benoit Tribute

Only took 17 days. Quite impressed.

Page 11 of the wrestling forum thread, a theory emerges that Vince McMahon could have done it because Benoit never showed up for the ECW Title match.

My thoughts too. I empathise that his mind was practically mush by that point, and that it may not have been 'him' in those final days, but he should always be accountable for what he did, regardless of what reasoning there was behind it.

That was brought in around early 2006, it was introduced 2 or 3 months after Eddie Guerrero's death.