10 things you probably didn't know about Chris Benoit
It has been over 12 years since the death of Chris Benoit sent shockwaves across the professional wrestling world. To date, The Rabid Wolverine continues to divide opinions amongst wrestling fans -- while some believe that his actions were unpardonable, others think that he should still be remembered as a performer who entertained fans inside the squared circle.
It would be an understatement to say that the incident changed WWE, as the effects are felt to this date. In the aftermath, the company became a lot stricter with its wellness policy and also adopted the PG television approach almost immediately.
In this article, we try to look beyond the tragedy and take a closer glimpse at the man. Here are some of the things that you probably didn't know about Chris Benoit.
#1 Chris Benoit was going to win a championship the day he passed away
Chris Benoit's last wrestling match came against Elijah Bruke on June 19, 2004. The Canadian Crippler would win the bout, allowing him to fight for the vacant ECW World Championship a few days later at the Vengeance pay-per-view. Benoit missed the house shows leading up to the show and the event itself, leading to WWE replacing him with Johnny Nitro. Nitro would defeat CM Punk to win his first ECW Championship.
Many reports have confirmed that Chris Benoit was originally booked to win the ECW World Championship at the event. Thus, him missing Vengeance was a cause of concern for the WWE. Following Chavo Guerrero's revelation of the texts Chris sent him, the promotion requested the police to search Benoit's place, and the rest is history.
#2 The connection with Finn Balor
Back in 1986, Benoit landed in New Japan Pro Wrestling. He made his debut under his name that year in Japan, but three years later, Benoit wrestled under a mask and was known as the Pegasus Kid. He had some notable matches under the gimmick in Japan and went on to earn plenty of respect there.
Super J Cup Final
Chris Benoit/Wild Pegasus
vs
The Great Sasuke
NJPW Super J-Cup: 1st Stage
April 16,1994 https://t.co/7PsdnJD9ct
Fast forward two decades, to the year 2006, and Japan witnessed the second Pegasus Kid – Finn Balor this time as the new wrestler under the mask. As they wrestled with the same mask and name, a lot of comparisons were drawn between Balor and Benoit.
Balor, however, soon dropped the gimmick before becoming a huge name in Japanese wrestling without it.
#3 The reason behind the PG Era
It might not be possible to pinpoint an exact reason as to why WWE went PG; a lot of factors contributed to it. But, as mentioned above, one of the most significant factors was the death of Chris Benoit. The Benoit incident brought in a lot of bad press towards WWE and they immediately took action. Chair shots to the head were banned and blood usage was restricted. Almost a year after Benoit's death, it was also officially announced that WWE was switching from TV-14 to TV-PG. While most fans did not accept this whole-heartedly, from a wrestler's point of view, toning down the danger factor was probably a good thing.
#4 How his friendship with Eddie Guerrero started
#OnThisDay in 2004: @WWE Wrestlemania XX: Chris Benoit beat Triple H & Shawn Michaels in a triple threat match to win the World Title. https://t.co/6TuCggmhHR
The friendship between Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit is something that wrestling fans have always embraced. The emotional WrestleMania XX celebration, where Eddie and Benoit raised their titles high and hugged each other, is still a spine-chilling moment. But while we know about the friendship, not many know how it all started.
During a match in Japan, Benoit used an Enzuigiri kick which knocked Eddie out cold. They became close after the incident and Benoit shared notes about his deep bonding with Eddie in his diary entries as well.
Eddie Guerrero's death had such a huge impact on Benoit that some even suggested that it was Eddie's passing away that was 'the beginning of the end' for Chris Benoit.
#5 Wrestling Observer's Hall of Fame re-election
Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer has always referred to Chris Benoit as a legendary wrestler. In fact, he once said that Benoit is among the top 10 wrestlers of all time, which is why Benoit went into the Wrestling Observer's Hall of Fame in 2003.
However, after the tragedy in 2007, there were some controversies regarding the induction and a recall election was made in the year that followed.
More than 50 percent of the voters wanted Chris Benoit to be out of the Hall of Fame – 53.6 percent to be precise. But Meltzer had set a threshold of 60 percent to remove him, so Benoit remained in the Hall of Fame.
#6 A Dungeon product
The Hart Family Dungeon is one of the most notable wrestling schools in the world. It has produced some great wrestling performers, including the likes of Chris Jericho, Jushin Thunder Liger, Edge, Christian, and Lance Storm, apart from the Hart Family members like Owen, Bret, Natalya, and others.
Chris Benoit also graduated from the illustrious Dungeon. He trained under Stu Hart and was taught a high-risk and physical style. Benoit's professional debut also came at Stampede Wrestling, which is Stu Hart's promotion. He teamed up with Rick Patterson to face off against Butch Moffat and Mike Hammer in his debut match back in 1985.
#7 Benoit got married twice
Whenever the married life of Chris Benoit is mentioned, most people immediately think back to the tragedy and lament that his entire family is dead. But while it is indeed a fact that Benoit's wife and son are no more, he has one other surviving relative.
Before his marriage to Nancy Benoit, Chris was married to Martina Benoit. The two got together in the 80s and divorced in 1997. Benoit had two children from his marriage with Martina – David and Megan.
He married Nancy in November 2000, eight months after the birth of their son, Daniel.
#8 His missing tooth was not because of wrestling
"Toothless aggression" is a phrase that is closely associated with Benoit. His top right lateral incisor was missing for the majority of his career, and the general belief was that Benoit lost this tooth after taking a knock during training or during a match early in his career.
However, as it turns out, Benoit lost his tooth in a bizarre way. The tooth popped out while Benoit was playing with his pet Rottweiler. The dog's skull went crashing into Benoit's chin at some point and this knocked the tooth out.
#9 The wrestling school plan
Eddie Guerrero's death took a big toll on Chris Benoit. He was emotionally wrecked and wanted to quit WWE. It was reported that as an alternative career option, Benoit started planning to open a wrestling school. He even developed business plans and merchandise designs for the school.
But WWE wanted Benoit to stay on the payroll and were planning to give him another championship push. The wrestling school plan never took off due to this offer from WWE. According to Sandra Toffoloni, Benoit started training harder for this new championship run that WWE had promised, putting aside all thoughts about the school.
#10 He was going to die within 10 months
If Chris Benoit hadn't been involved in the double murder-suicide tragedy, he would still have died within ten months of the incident. This shocking piece of information was revealed by Sandra Toffoloni, who is the sister-in-law of Benoit. She had the following to say during an interview with The2count.com:
"Yes, my brother-in-law had concussions, he hit his head for a living and I understand that. But way beyond that, he had a very serious drug and steroid problem. Unfortunately, a lot of athletes still do to this day. It's spiraling out of control. The medical examiner told us after the autopsy that Chris was on his way to death within 10 months. His heart was huge, about three times its normal size, and it was ready to blow up at any moment."
Wrestling legend Chris Benoit's final actions led to him being erased from wrestling history.