"I just needed to get away from there" - former Tag Team Champion shares how Chris Benoit's death affected him (Exclusive)
Former WWE Superstar Renee Dupree spoke about Chris Benoit's passing and how the incident impacted his career in the WWE.
Dupree was in an exclusive interview with Dr. Chris Featherstone for Sportskeeda Wrestling's UnSKripted podcast. Dupree answered fan questions about his career and his time in the WWE.
Dupree spoke about how his career took a turn after the Chris Benoit incident. The former Tag Team Champion revealed that he wanted to get away from the WWE in 2007.
Dupree also said that he later signed up again with WWE, but his work permit had expired by then.
Here's what Renee Dupree had to say:
"Yeah, when I left [the WWE], I just wanted to, this was right after the Benoit incident, so mentally I just needed to get away from there. The plan was to eventually come back. I was re-signed in 2011. See what happened, in 2007, I was living in Houston, went to Tokyo, and signed a contract. When I came back, my work permit had expired. It was a WWE work permit, so I was refused entry into the United States. At that point, I was so p**sed off. I was like sc**w it, I don't care if I ever go back to the United States."
You can watch the full video here:
Rene Dupree and Chris Benoit were scheduled to have a singles matchup
During the interview, Dupree also told fans about his match with Chris Benoit that never happened. He mentioned that Vince McMahon scrapped the match after seeing his new gimmick with a mustache and robe.
Benoit later went on a strong singles run and also main evented WrestleMania XX with Shawn Michales and Triple H. He defeated Michaels and Triple H in the match to be crowned the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
Confetti rains down from Madison Square Garden after Chris Benoit defeats Triple H and Shawn Michaels for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at Wrestlemania XX https://t.co/m1o5irDIRj
At the time of his passing, Benoit was booked for a match against CM Punk at the Vengeance pay-per-view on June 24, 2007, for the ECW World Championship.
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