History Wrestling / ChrisBenoit

* {{Curse}}: Some like to point out the fact that in one storyline in one of the ''[[VideoGame/WWEVideoGames Smackdown Vs. Raw]]'' games, Wrestling/EddieGuerrero was involved in a storyline with Wrestling/TheUndertaker that ended in him buried alive. The weekend the game came out... well, Eddie died. A game later, Undertaker said "Your grieving family will have no one but you to blame when the inevitable occurs." to Benoit. The next year, Chris.. well, you know...

Say the name "Chris Benoit" to a wrestling fan, and you will invoke one of two images, if not both: That of one of the greatest professional wrestlers to ever perform in a ring, or that of a man who spent his last days committing a series of heinous crimes that would shake the {{professional wrestling}} industry to its core.

Say the name "Chris Benoit" to a wrestling fan, and you will invoke one of two images, if not both: That of one of the greatest professional wrestlers to ever perform in a ring, or that of a man who spent his last days committing a series of horrendous acts that would shake the {{professional wrestling}} industry to its core.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/628204282_950b6d2788_46.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:The Canadian Crippler (left) with best friend [[Wrestling/EddieGuerrero Latino Heat]]. No moment in Wrestling/WrestleMania history is HarsherInHindsight than this.]]

* LivingEmotionalCrutch: Chris was never the same after Eddie Guerrero died. It's generally agreed upon that Eddie's death is a big part of why that weekend in Atlanta happened (with Benoit's own journals confirming it), though how much in comparison to the multitude of injuries, drug abuse, and deaths of other friends of his that also played a part is something we'll never really know. ''The Dark Side of the Ring'' also showed that another cause could be he strict agenda he had in WWE these years, where getting a rest (or a retirement as his wife Nancy would wanted) and a proper mourning would avoid the tragedy all we know.

** His matches are on the WWE Network, most of which are shown in their original unedited forms. That said, trying to plug his name in the search engine yields little results, and the matches he's featured in never mention his name; for example, his WWE title challenge against Kurt Angle at the 2003 Royal Rumble is titled along the lines of "Kurt Angle in a WWE Championship match".

Wrestling historians and critics have pointed to the Benoit murder-suicide as the catalyst for the company's "PG era", which was a noticeable period of WWE heavily sanitizing its programming. That and WWE's decision to refrain from ever mentioning Benoit again except for title reign records remain points of debate and controversy among pro wrestling fans. Whether it was right to do so or not is a subject with as many different opinions as can be found, and it seems unlikely that a consensus on Benoit will ever truly be reached.

* {{Curse}}: Some like to point out the fact that in one storyline in one of the ''[[VideoGame/WWEVideoGames Smackdown Vs. Raw]]'' games, Wrestling/EddieGuerrero was involved in a storyline with Wrestling/TheUndertaker that ended in him buried alive. The weekend the game came out... well, Eddie died. A game later, Undertaker said "Your grieving family will have no one but you to blame when the inevitable occurs." to Benoit. The next year, Chris.. well, [[FunnyAneurysmMoment you know...]]

** David Benoit, Chris' elder son and the only survivor member of his family, wants to be a wrestler and, even more, getting the name of "Chris Benoit Jr." in-ring, according to [[https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/10741858/wwe-david-chris-benoit-murder/ this interview]] for [[UsefulNotes/BritishNewspapers The Sun]] and later taking part in the 2-episode about his father in ''Series/TheDarkSideOfTheRing'', showing how he has reenchanted of wrestling thanks to Wrestling/AllEliteWrestling.

* LivingEmotionalCrutch: Chris was never the same after Eddie Guerrero died. It's generally agreed upon that Eddie's death is a big part of why that weekend in Atlanta happened (with Benoit's own journals confirming it), though how much in comparison to the multitude of injuries, drug abuse, and deaths of other friends of his that also played a part is something we'll never really know.

* RedeemingReplacement: His son David from his first marriage has expressed a desire to wrestle, possibly even under the name "Chris Benoit Jr." as a way of redeeming his family name in the eyes of the industry. The VICE documentary series ''Dark Side of the Ring'' focused on Benoit while showing the unfair blacklisting David received from the public and the world of wrestling for simply being Benoit's son. So we'll see how that goes. Wrestling/JimCornette is of the opinion that, while David does deserve a shot and that he's also a victim of Chris's actions, the inevitable walking on eggshells that would come with it may be too much.
** It also doesn’t help that even if David were to get a shot, he looks so much like Chris that people would be reminded of him, even if David chose not to use the Benoit name.

* DownerEnding: To his career and [[TearJerker his life.]] To quote Wrestling/ChrisJericho, Benoit loved wrestling and worked really hard to achieve his elite status. But his MurderSuicide not only nullified all his accomplishments, but it nearly destroyed the business he loved dearly.

* FakeNationality: He was briefly billed as being from Georgia rather than Alberta, Canada. This was technically true, as Benoit did live in Atlanta at the time, but, as wrestlers are typically billed from their ({{Kayfabe}} or RealLife) hometown rather than current residence, the clear implication was that he was American.

* LivingEmotionalCrutch: Eddie Guerrero. Chris was never the same after Eddie died. It's generally agreed upon that Eddie's death is a big part of why that weekend in Atlanta happened (with Benoit's own journals confirming it), though how much in comparison to the multitude of injuries, drug abuse, and deaths of other friends of his that also played a part is something we'll never really know.

* NothingIsTheSameAnymore: Benoit's death, and the circumstances surrounding it, was one of the factors that lead to the death of {{Kayfabe}} as it had been up to that point.

** (in WCW): Wrestling/TheFourHorsemen (part of the mid-90s Wrestling/{{n|ewWorldOrder}}Wo-era version with Wrestling/RicFlair, Wrestling/DeanMalenko and Wrestling/SteveMcMichael) and the Revolution

* RedeemingReplacement: His son David from his first marriage has expressed a desire to wrestle, possibly even under the name ''Chris Benoit Jr.'' as a way of redeeming his family name in the eyes of the industry. With the VICE documentary series ''Dark Side of the Ring'' focusing on Benoit and showing the utter hell and unfair blacklisting Davi received from the public and the world of wrestling for simply being Benoit's son, we'll see how that goes, even if there is a small majority willing to let David give it a shot.

* SeriousBusiness: Benoit's dedication to the wrestling business is unparalleled by only few. Several wrestlers have mentioned that he did ''500 squats'' before every show.

* ToothyIssue: The gap in his front teeth is what led to his "Toothless Aggression" FanNickname.

* WhamEpisode: Benoit and his family's death death in June 2007, and the circumstances behind it, shook ProfessionalWrestling to its core.

Say the name "Chris Benoit" to a wrestling fan, and you will invoke one of two images, if not both: That of one of the greatest professional wrestlers to ever perform in a ring, or that of a man who spent his last days committing a series of horrendous acts that would shake the professional wrestling industry to its core.

Weeks later, Benoit, Guerrero, Saturn, and Malenko showed up on ''[[Wrestling/{{WWE}} WWF Raw]]''--they emerged from the live audience to attack several wrestlers. The debuts of Benoit and his fellow ship-jumpers, dubbed "The Radicalz", signaled the beginning of the end of WCW; a little more than a year after The Radicalz debuted in WWE, WCW folded (and was bought by WWE).

Over the next four years, WWE built Benoit up into a main event caliber wrestler. He produced classic matches with the likes of Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin, Wrestling/KurtAngle, Wrestling/EddieGuerrero, and Wrestling/{{Edge}}. His time in ''[=SmackDown's=]'' tag division during 2002 made him part of a trio of teams fans referred to (then and now) as the "[=SmackDown=] Six": Benoit, teaming with Angle, faced the team of Edge and Wrestling/ReyMysterioJr at ''No Mercy 2002'' in what was easily a Match of the Year candidate and arguably one of the greatest tag team matches ever. Those two teams eventually feuded the Guerreros (Eddie and his nephew Chavo), which led to several matches between both the teams themselves and their individual members -- matches that ultimately made ''[=SmackDown=]'' a must-watch show. Around this time, he was named the third person to receive Cauliflower Alley Club's Future Legend Award.

In 2004, Benoit had arguably the best year of his career: He won the Royal Rumble by lasting the entire match (over an hour after having entered #1), he went on to ''[=WrestleMania=] 20'' to win the World Heavyweight Championship in Madison Square Garden in another Match of the Year candidate by making Wrestling/TripleH tap clean to the Crippler Crossface, and he retained the title the next month at ''Wrestling/{{Backlash}}'' by making Wrestling/ShawnMichaels tap to the Sharpshooter in Canada (a symbolic apology to the Canadian crowd for the Wrestling/MontrealScrewjob). Benoit lost the title to Wrestling/RandyOrton at ''[=SummerSlam=] 2004'', but stayed near the main event level for the rest of the year as he feuded with Orton, Edge, and Triple H and continued to vie for the World Heavyweight Championship.

--->'''Vince [=McMahon=]:''' It's not right to pretend he didn't exist. It's one thing to include him as part of a historical perspective, which I believe is OK, and it's another thing to promote him, which is not OK. The situation is very similar to that of O.J. Simpson - despite his controversy, O.J. was still a part of the NFL scene. You can't deny that he existed.

* BrokenPedestal: A very sad case of this after how his life ended.

** Wrestling/TheMiz, on one of his best-worked shoots, talked about how he was excommunicated from the WWE Locker room for over six months because he spilled some crumbs all over a ref's bag. [[note]]The person whose bag he spilled said crumbs was actually Benoit's, who was also the one who actually banished him, first just from House show locker rooms, then from TV locker rooms, then from '''ALL''' locker rooms. WWE had Miz change it from Benoit to JBL, for obvious reasons, which still applied as JBL had also hazed him mercilessly. Unfortunately for Miz, the ban was still in place at the time of Benoit's death, and since the unofficial rules said that only the person who'd banned you in the first place could invite you back in, no one was very eager to lift it in light of Benoit's death. Fortunately, Wrestling/TheUndertaker [[AFatherToHisMen personally intervened]] when he saw Miz changing by himself in the hallway and rescinded the ban, and although he may not have technically had the authority to do so, Taker is not a man many people are [[BullyingADragon inclined to argue with]].[[/note]]

* DownerEnding: To his career and [[TearJerker his life.]]

* LargeHam: Subversion, and possibly the only wrestler of his popularity and success level who wasn't a large ham, and didn't have a manager.
** Benoit had managers throughout his career, just not as a main eventer -- with the possible exception of his brief run with Wrestling/ShaneMcMahon in 2000 as a challenger to the WWF Championship.

** Was noted by many people who knew him for his enduring love of[=/=]addiction to coffee. He also constantly gnawed on coffee straws, according to Wrestling/ChrisJericho. He even had his 25.5-second match against Orlando Jordan at Summerslam 2005 play on a split-screen while he prepared a cup of coffee.

* TheRival: Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle.

* SquashMatch: In the summer of 2005, Benoit had a series of these with Orlando Jordan. The first, which lasted 25 seconds, cost Jordan the United States Championship; the subsequent rematches lasted 23.4, 22.5, and 49.8 seconds. This led to a small RunningGag in which Benoit would test himself on whether he could do something (such as make a cup of coffee or go to the bathroom) faster than he beat Orlando Jordan.
** The reason this happened is that WWE had Jordan beat Benoit semi-cleanly (he used an exposed turnbuckle bolt, but didn't have any outside help). The fan reaction was very, very negative; Jordan hadn't really connected at all, and no one believed that he was anywhere near Benoit's league, so WWE made the decision to give the fans what they wanted.

* WorthyOpponent[=/=]TheRival: Wrestling/KurtAngle and Wrestling/ChrisJericho.

* DentedIron: After a fashion; while Benoit's ''body'' was still in pretty good nick at the time of his death, the multiple concussions and excessive substance abuse his career had brought on him had given him the brain like that of an ''eighty-five-year-old Alzheimer's patient''. That's NotHyperbole either, that was [[ExactWords actually the exact wording of the official autopsy done on his brain]]. Had he lived he would likely be completely mentally incapacitated within 10 years.

* {{Unperson}}: The nature of Chris Benoit's death has caused WWE itself to essentially erase Benoit from history (except in situations where they cannot avoid having his name come up, such as event results and title histories).

** The Best of ''[=SmackDown=]'' DVD set has a video summary for the Fatal 4-Way TLC match from May 2001. Aside from a very short shot at the beginning, Chris Benoit was edited out. He was Tag Champs with Wrestling/ChrisJericho at the time. And on top of that, they won the match. The package almost makes you believe that Wrestling/ChrisJericho beat [[Wrestling/TheDudleyBoys the Dudleys]], [[Wrestling/MattHardy the]] [[Wrestling/JeffHardy Hardys]], and Wrestling/{{Edge}} and Wrestling/{{Christian}} all on his own.

** Even the fans tend to not acknowledge him. On some forums, he'll be referred to as 'Crispen Wah' or 'Kris Penwa' so as not to use his name. Other name replacements include '''[Redacted]''', [[Wrestling/BobHolly Hardcore Holly]] and Wrestling/StevieRichards. This often leads to ridiculous statements such as saying that Wrestlemania XX's main event was a singles match between Shawn Michaels and Triple H which ended in the title being vacated when Hunter started tapping out in the middle of the ring to nothing.

** WhatCouldHaveBeen: At ''Vengeance 2007'', Chris Benoit was slated to win the ECW Championship and later work a program with Wrestling/CMPunk. When he no-showed, Wrestling/JohnMorrison (then called Johnny Nitro) took his place.

The third person to receive Cauliflower Alley Club's Future Legend Award, Christopher Michael Benoit (May 21, 1967 – June 24, 2007) spent his youth idolizing fellow Canadian wrestlers such as [[Wrestling/BretHart Bret "The Hitman" Hart]] and [[Wrestling/DynamiteKid the Dynamite Kid]]. In 1985, at the age of eighteen, Benoit made his wrestling debut in Canada's Stampede Wrestling and make his way all the way down to the tip of North America, wrestling in the Mexican based Lucha Libre Internacional, Wrestling/{{AAA}} and Wrestling/{{CMLL}}. From there, he traveled to various overseas promotions, mainly to defend the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title belt of Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling as "[[MaskedLuchador Pegasus Kid]]", for a number of years, then made his debut in Wrestling/{{ECW}} in 1994. It was in ECW where Benoit became known as "The Crippler": During a match with Wrestling/{{Sabu}}, Benoit performed a back body drop, but Sabu landed on his head and broke his neck. Despite the act being an accident, the "Crippler" nickname stuck with Benoit for the rest of his career.

Over the next four years, WWE built Benoit up into a main event caliber wrestler. He produced classic matches with the likes of Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin, Wrestling/KurtAngle, Wrestling/EddieGuerrero, and Wrestling/{{Edge}}. His time in ''[=SmackDown's=]'' tag division during 2002 made him part of a trio of teams fans referred to (then and now) as the "[=SmackDown=] Six": Benoit, teaming with Angle, faced the team of Edge and Wrestling/ReyMysterioJr at ''No Mercy 2002'' in what was easily a Match of the Year candidate and arguably one of the greatest tag team matches ever. Those two teams eventually feuded the Guerreros (Eddie and his nephew Chavo), which led to several matches between both the teams themselves and their individual members -- matches that ultimately made ''[=SmackDown=]'' a must-watch show.

** Wrestling/TheMiz, on one of his best-worked shoots, talked about how he was excommunicated from the WWE Locker room for over six months because he spilled some crumbs all over a ref's bag. [[note]]The person whose bag he spilled said crumbs was actually Benoit's, who was also the one who actually banished him, first just from House show locker rooms, then from TV locker rooms, then from '''ALL''' locker rooms. WWE had Miz change it from Benoit to JBL, who had also hazed him mercilessly, for obvious reasons. Unfortunately for Miz, since the unofficial rules said that only the person who'd banned you in the first place could invite you back in, no one was very eager to lift it in light of Benoit's death. Fortunately, Wrestling/TheUndertaker [[AFatherToHisMen personally intervened]] when he saw Miz changing by himself in the hallway and rescinded the ban, and although he may not have technically had the authority to do so, Taker is not a man many people are [[BullyingADragon inclined to argue with]].[[/note]]

** [[Wrestling/MikeBucci ECW Wrestler Nova]], who wrestled in WWE as Simon Dean once told a story of how Benoit and JBL pounded on ring announcer [[Characters/WWECommentators Justin Roberts']] hotel door so violently that he prayed Justin was not in there because he was afraid what they would do to him.

* AbortedArc: Just before Benoit's murder-suicide, there was a storyline where Vince [=McMahon=] was presumed dead after his limousine exploded with him inside of it. The "Vince's limo exploding" storyline was immediately dropped cold in the aftermath of Benoit's death. When the truth came out, Vince broke kayfabe in a major way when he appeared [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ri7ZdIahMJg out of character]] on ECW and gave a short statement apologizing for the earlier tribute. Incidentally, this was the last time Benoit's name would [[{{Unperson}} ever be mentioned]] on WWE television.

The next night's ECW show was surreal. Vince [=McMahon=] began the show acknowledging (more-or-less) that WWE had been too hasty regarding paying tribute to Benoit, and that his comments would be the only time Benoit's name was mentioned for the rest of the night. (Years down the road, it became clear that [[UnPerson this was the last time WWE would mention Benoit]] ''[[ExiledFromContinuity at all]]''.) The rest of the show was a series of inter-show matches, all with the typical WWE flair. But anyone who was watching could feel the sense of unease that hung over everything.

** It's been mentioned several times, especially on Chris Jericho's podcast, that Benoit broke down when he heard that Wrestling/BigBossMan had died (they'd met in WCW), crying to the effect of "I can't stand seeing all my friends die anymore!" (Another friend of his and Eddie's had also died a few months prior to Bossman in Mexican wrestler Negro Casas).

** In an interview with ''WWE Magazine'' in 2009, Wrestling/VinceMcMahon stated that he took the O.J. Simpson approach when it comes to mentioning Benoit: it's not okay to promote him, but they can't ignore his accomplishments.

** At about the same time, fellow Canadian {{Face}} Wrestling/ChrisJericho was billed from New York, while Canadian {{Heel}}s were still billed from Canada, suggesting WWE was trying to set up some mildly xenophobic "us-versus-them" subtext.
* FallenHero: To some fans in RealLife. To some wrestlers as well. Pre familicide, Chris Benoit was widely regarded as a "wrestler's wrestler" who did everything right, [[DullSurprise except cut promos]]. After the incident, at best, you can add "protect his head" to the things he didn't do right.

** And while it wasn't a finisher, Benoit popularized the usage of multiple German Suplexes in a row (infamously testing [[Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin Steve Austin's]] surgically repaired neck with an unthinkable 10 Germans in a row in one match).

** Benoit himself fell victim to the Crossface in a Wrestlemania match with Wrestling/KurtAngle. As the two men grappled, Angle eventually caught Benoit in the Crossface, and Benoit got him back a few moments later when he caught Angle in the Angle Lock.

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: A lot of the long-term injuries in Benoit's brain and neck were derived from Benoit's signature diving headbutt and his penchant for taking and giving German Suplexes. In the wake of his death, the WWE began to phase out the German Suplex maneuver in the same way it did for the traditional piledriver.

* AbortedArc: The infamous "Vince's limo exploding" storyline was immediately swept under the rug in the aftermath of Benoit's death, although before the details were fully known. When the truth came out, Vince broke kayfabe in a major way when he appeared [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ri7ZdIahMJg out of character]] on ECW and gave a short statement apologizing for the earlier tribute. Incidentally, this was the last time Benoit's name would [[{{Unperson}} ever be mentioned]] on WWE television.