Remembering Chris Benoit 1967-2007
Thinking about Chris Benoit, I thought about great wrestling. On June 25th 2007 one of the greatest wrestlers of all time tragically died. I remember watching Chris Benoit when he came to WCW in 1994. At the time I was still into the big name wrestlers like Hogan, Savage and Flair. As I kept tuning into Nitro every week Benoit consistently had great matches. It made me appreciate other guys more like Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko, and Chris Jericho.
When Chris Benoit joined the Horsemen in 1995, I knew he was something special. If you’re in company with Ric Flair and Arn Anderson you have done something right. Benoit was just as good as any of the original horsemen. I will never forget the battles he with William Regal, Fit Finlay, and Booker T. Chris and Booker had the greatest Best of 7 series that any sport has ever seen. They took it to each other 7 matches in a row. Another great moment is when Chris won the WCW Tag titles with Dean Malenko. They made a great tag team. WCW was only the beginning for Chris.
In 2000, Chris jumped to WWE, with Eddie, Dean, and Perry Saturn. Chris made an impact right away taking on Triple H his first night on TV. He then won the Intercontental title at Wrestlemania 2000 against Jericho and Angle. My favorite three memories of Chris Benoit are when he and Jericho won the tag titles in Calgary against Austin and Triple H, and then they competed in a 4 team TLC match 3 days later. My second favorite moment is when he faced Kurt Angle in 2003 at the Royal Rumble in one of the greatest matches ever. My third favorite memory is when he won the World title in 2004 at Wrestlemania 20. I remember my friend Noah Lott telling me that it was well deserved. I’ll always remember the sight of Chris and Eddie in the ring together at the end of Wrestlemania 20
Chris Benoit will always be remembered as a wrestler who brought intensity, passion and great wrestling everytime he went out to the ring. He also in my opinion set the standard for WCW/WWE United States title. He held that title with pride and dignity and made it credible title. Chris you will be remembered forever. Long live the rapid wolverine and the Canadian crippler. We miss you Chris.
Hollywood Joe Williamson
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