This week has seen the 9 year anniversary of the Benoit family murder-suicide tragedy. In the WWE all images and mentions of Chris Benoit have been edited and removed as the company, rightly or wrongly, doesn’t want any association with Chris Benoit. The IWC often take the proverbial out of the edited images, but does Chris Benoit deserve some praise for his accomplishments?
For whatever reason Benoit snapped on that fateful day in late June 2007, it could have been down to his wrestling style, it could have been down to chair shots to the head, it could have been down to steroid abuse, just as much as it could have been down to the neglect by all parties of Benoit’s mental health, or could it have been a combination all of all of the above and the passing of Eddie Guerrero, Ray Traylor & Sheri Martel in quick succession? Truth is nobody will truly know.
However, should Benoit get the high praise his in-ring work fully deserves? Benoit, a man that wrestled for ECW, WCW, WWE and in Japan. The same Benoit that was ranked the best wrestler in the world by PWI n 2004, the same Benoit that won World Titles, and many midcard and tag team titles around the world?
What about his intensity in the ring? His excellent technical ability around the match, his submission moves, his conditioning, his feuds with Eddie Guerrero, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Chris Jericho or Kurt Angle? Or his time when he first joined WWE with Eddie, Dean Malenko & Perry Saturn as The Radicals? Not to mention his excellent work in WCW and Japan.
Benoit has a massive role in the WWE during his time, not many can hold their hands up and say they main evented shows with guys such as Triple H, Shawn Michaels & The Rock, Benoit certainly can. Whilst he never excelled on the microphone his in-ring work put him on a par with the majority of the talent on the roster and that is something I hope people will remember about Chris.
Nobody will ever forget the image from Wrestlemania XX with Chris & Eddie, two long time friends, holding the top championships of the company on the grandest stage of them all. In saying I believe Chris Benoit should be remembered for his in-ring work and accomplishments, I am not saying people should ignore the terrible events around the whole tragedy 9 years ago, however I believe we should try to remember the good things about Chris Benoit just as much as the bad things.
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