Time for WWE and Others to Once Again Acknowledge Chris Benoit Existed

Time for WWE and Others to Once Again Acknowledge Chris Benoit Existed
March 21, 2016
By Ryan Porzl

The story of Chris Benoit's double murder/homicide is well known by now as well the fact that many including the WWE have tried to avoid discussing Benoit and have more or less erased him from the history books. While there was no justifiable reason for his actions, it's still ridiculous to try and pretend that he's never existed. Before I begin this article, I want to set the record straight that I don't agree or condone what Benoit did. However, I do think he did what he did not because he was a monster but because was mentally ill which I go further into.



We'll start with the fact that it's ridiculous and not taken seriously. How many times in the past nine years have we heard jokes regarding the WWE erasing Benoit from history or have pretended he didn't exist? It's really laughable for the WWE to try it. While Benoit committed a horrible deed, you can't make things better by pretending he never existed. It wouldn't be bad if Benoit was some preliminary guy or someone who didn't stick around long but he was employed for seven years and was either an upper midcard or main event star throughout it all. During his seven year run, Benoit was a former world heavyweight champion, main evented Wrestlemania XX, won many titles, and had some of the greatest matches of the early to late 2000s, if not, in WWE history. Even worse is that Benoit spent around a year in ECW and five in WCW where he had big rivalries, moments, matches, and title reigns. To try and erase the history of someone like Benoit is silly because it won't work. It almost insults people's intelligence since longtime fans know he was there and even non wrestling fans who remember the tragedy know he was there since it happened while he was there.

Another reason is why he did it. While there will never be a justifiable reason to do it, Benoit didn't commit the act because he was a horrible person or a cold blooded person but because he was mentally unstable. Following his death, Benoit's brain was examined and it was revealed that it was severely damaged. Despite only being 40 at the time of his death, Benoit 's brain was said to be that of "An 85 Year Old Alzheimer Patient with Dementia". He was diagnosed with C.T.E. (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy) which is a progressive degenerative brain disease. Benoit is also not the only one as there have been incidents with football players suffering depression, harming loved one, and themselves because of the same condition. In fact, some NFL players both active and retired players have even killed loved ones and/or committed suicide in the years following Benoit's suicide and they too showed signs of C.T.E. in post-mortem. Sadly, like many athletes of his time and previous times, Benoit was around before we became aware of how bad concussions can be and suffered many blows to the head all the while having no idea of the dangers especially as they accumulate. What likely made it worse is the fact that Benoit lost a few close friends from the business in the last two years of his life. The brain damage likely made him depressed already but those tragedies made it worse.

Then there's a huge reason why Benoit should not be erased from history because others haven't been erased from history. Yes, in the sports and entertainment world, we've seen people commit murder and murder-suicides and no one tries to erase them. First example is non other than someone many in America know about: Legendary Boxing promoter Don King. Yes, King has killed two men between 13 years. While his first was said to be a justifiable homicide as King shot a man who tried to rob one of his gambling houses, the second wasn't. In 1966, King murdered an employee by stomping him to death due to the employee owing him $600. He was originally charged with second degree murder but was eventually convicted of non-negligent manslaughter and served four years in jail. He eventually received a pardon in 1983. Keep in mind, this all happened before King even began his legendary promoting career as The Rumble in The Jungle didn't happen until 1974. Not only that but he's since been inducted in The International Boxing Hall of Fame. At least Benoit had brain damage, what was King's excuse? Another was Jim Gordon who was a drummer best known for his work in the short lived Eric Clapton band: Derek and the Dominos where he and Clapton co-wrote one of Clapton and the bands signature songs: Layla. Outside of Derek and The Dominos, Gordon was a highly sought after and successful session drummer having drummed on albums of legends such as John Lennon, Carly Simon, Alice Cooper, and Frank Zappa. Unfortunately, Gordon was an undiagnosed schizophrenic and began to hear voices including those of his mother. In June 1983, Gordon would murder his mother by hitting her in the head with a hammer and then stabbed her to death with a butcher knife. A year later, he was sentenced to 16 years to life and continues to serve his sentence in a mental hospital having been denied parole again in 2013. Gordon has largely been forgotten as many in the industry have abandoned him but they haven't erased him from history. To be fair, Gordon isn't the most well known because he was a session drummer for the most part. However, that still hasn't stopped the music industry from bringing him up and even honoring him. That's right, on February 24, 1993, Gordon officially won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Song for Layla as Clapton recorded an acoustic version. While Clapton didn't bring up Gordon during the acceptance speech, he's still an official Grammy winner and articles from papers mentioned Gordon winning and why he wasn't there. At no point has the Grammy demanded people print retractions when they mention Gordon as a Grammy winner and if you go to the Grammy website, go to the search section, look up rock and the 35th annual Grammy Awards, Gordon's name is listed as a winner. Not only that but according to a 1994 article from the Philadelphia Inquirer that was about Gordon, he apparently was even invited to the ceremony even though there was no chance of him getting paroled or being allowed to. Rolling Stone also published an article in 2013 about Gordon's recent parole denial. Finally, there's Gig Young who was a successful actor from the 1940s-1970s mostly known for his supporting roles. During his career, Young won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the movie "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" for the 1969 year. Sadly, he struggled with alcoholism and his career declined in the 70s. In 1978, Young committed a murder-suicide when he shot his fifth wife who he met while filming his last movie: The posthumous Bruce Lee movie Game of Death and then turned the gun on himself. Yet, in spite of the murder-suicide, the entertainment industry didn't erase Young from their history books. The Academy never asked for their oscar back or erased him from their history books and Hollywood didn't remove his star from the Walk of Fame. In fact, as of 2016, the official Oscar YouTube page features a video of Young's Academy Award win and acceptance speech while his Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is still on display.

Finally, there's another individual who officially committed homicide and he's a respected wrestling legend that continues to be honored and is a member of the WWE Hall of Fame among many others. That individual is wrestling legend and promoter Verne Gagne. On January 26, 2009, Gagne, who was a month shy of turned 83 and suffering from Alzheimers Disease as well as Dementia, got into an altercation with a 97 year old man. He shoved the man who fell and would later be hospitalized before dying on February 14th from complications from his injury. The incident would officially be ruled a homicide by the coroner but Gagne was not charged because of his Dementia. So having said all that, my question is what's different? Why is it that we accept Gagne having Dementia and continue to recognize him but shun Benoit despite both suffering brain problems and Dementia? Is it because we can easily accept a near 83 year old man as suffering from dementia but not a 40 year old? Is is because Gagne just pushed a man who succumbed to health complications while Benoit strangled his wife and suffocated his son? Of is it because Gagne's victim was a 97 year old man who lived a long life while Benoit's was a 43 year old woman and a seven year old boy? Whatever the case may be, you can't have it both ways. You can't excuse Gagne while making Benoit a pariah because regardless of the ages of the victims, them, and the methods, at the end of the day, two wrestling legends with brain problems and Dementia officially committed homicide. This isn't meant to be a knock on Gagne or to trash him but I'm making a comparison to Benoit as both had the same issues and committed the same deed.

Last reason to remember Benoit is because his story is one that shouldn't be forgotten. You know the classic saying "Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it". In the years following Benoit's death, there has been a growing concern in American sports regarding concussions and the lasting damage they bring. The wrestling business is one of many that have been trying to step up and prevent permanent brain damage with many companies banning chair shots to the head and benching wrestlers who have concussions. Benoit's story is one to remember as an example of the worst case scenario of what untreated concussions can lead to. It's especially important to remember as wrestling along with many sports have long trained the athletes to suck it up and play as long as they can walk. Benoit's story can be what many young legendary musicians and actors are to drugs and alcohol in that he lost everything young because of it and his story can be a remainder of what happens when you go down that route. You can respect and admire their talent and skills but don't follow their lifestyle choices.

Ultimately, Benoit's final acts weren't right but ignoring him and pretending he didn't exist isn't the answer. I know some will never be comfortable to watch him but I wrote this article for many reasons and the big reason being because I really do believe Benoit was not a heartless evil man but a man who damaged his body in ways he didn't know and eventually went insane. Hopefully as the years go by, we will eventually return to his work and remember him as he was not what he became and his tragic end. Worst case scenario, he should be remembered as a warning for future generations regarding certain damage they're doing to their bodies and the deadly consequences they could lead to.