Chris Benoit: Six Years Later

I got to meet Benoit in early 2007, months before his death

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

It's been nearly two years since I've written a blog specifically about Chris Benoit and the days leading up to his death and the murders of his wife, Nancy and young son, Daniel.  My thoughts have not changed in that time either.  While the last couple of days of Benoit's life were heinous, I still can't look past the fact that he was one of the most gifted athletes to ever step into a wrestling ring.

I really struggle with that mindset at times.  I ask myself regularly if someone who I wasn't a fan of committed the same acts, how would I feel.  This is where the "wrestling hypocrite" comes out in me.  And let's face it, we all have a little (or a lot) of the hypocrite in us.

The WWE has for the most part taken Benoit out of their history books.  I was surprised to see him included in the first volume of the WWE Encyclopedia.  I don't know if he's in the latest edition.  Chad and I have discussed before how the company would have handled things had Benoit faced the Undertaker at a Wrestlemania.  I suspect they'd continue to edit him out of those highlights, just like they do with the first Money in the Bank ladder match.

I found this online, sums my thoughts up the best.

While Benoit seems to be gone from the website and DVD releases, (his name was edited out of Ric Flair's Hall of Fame speech in 2008), I can't help but notice a lot of similarities between Benoit and current WWE superstar Daniel Bryan.  The diving headbutt, the "No (or is it Yes) Lock", and his dives through the ropes remind me of the Rabid Wolverine.

So as I've always done, I won't celebrate the monster who killed his wife and son and then himself.  Instead, I'll remember one of my favorites and continue to wonder "What if" on many aspects of his troubled life.  Rest in Peace, Nancy, Daniel, and Chris.