I can see why Heyman would've wanted Benoit as champion if he stayed. It's funny, it seems like Benoit was always meant to be tied to the title either near the begining and end of his career.
He was a reliable hand when all else failed. Benoit was gifted the World title in his final days with WCW because they could not afford for him to leave, he left and in a few years would be apart of the now infamous SmackDown 6 under Paul Heyman’s creative. He got drafted to the main show, won a Rumble and became the World champion within a few months when RAW became the HHH show. He put over a young Orton and through his final years floated in the mid card with a great US title run here and there. Putting over the likes of MVP. It’s very true what you said, because within the last week of his life he was scheduled against Punk for the ECW world title. He was very much a talent seen as a great carrier to a brand, suffering, prospering or just growing.
@@InaudibleSlinky Infamous in the sense that they all became bigger stars through that spotlight. Eddie and Chris would soon hold the big one for the first time in WWE. Edge would soon find himself in the same position, just later on down the line. Angle and Rey would cement themselves as legends as well for different styles of wrestling. And Chavo would go on to become a highlight as well.
benoit was and still is one of the greatest wrestlers ever, and probably my favorite of all time. Was when i was a kid, and still is to this day. thanks for the video.
People forget that Benoit was consistently one of the best workers of the 90s and 00s. Easily a contender for the Top 5 of that two decade period. Even in WWE when he was older, that match he had with Lesnar on Smackdown was phenomenal. One of many amazing matches and feuds he had with WWE.
Benoit is a tough subject. What he did to his family was terrible. But being a fan of his back in the day I can understand the sentiment of not wanting him to be completely erased from history.
@@jamespaul6315 many people have said erase him from history and never talk about him about him again. They agree with wwe trying to erase him they don’t mention him on anything not even a documentary about Randy orton winning his first world title. And how is it glorifying anything when you just talk about what he did in wrestling
Benoit was 1 of the best to ever lace up the boots. Unfortunately during his time no one thought about the repercussion of head damage. It didn't help that a headbutt off the ropes was 1 of his finishers. Man wrestled concussed half the time and didn't even know and nobody really cared, they just wanted the show to go on. Between that and the roid allegations, it's all a recipe for disaster. He shouldn't be deleted and forgotten. I think they did this to avoid any fault. Wrestling was a dirty business back in the day. This was extremely unfortunate and possibly avoidable.
Its a real shame that it took arguably one of the greatest technical wrestlers to ever live doing something that unfortunately overshadows all his accomplishments for head injuries to be taken as serious as they should've been in the first place. I'm not condoning what Chris did, but when you look into it theres a lot of evidence out there that seems fishy enough that we'll never know what exactly happened in 2007. All you just said plus the fact Chris's best friend Eddie died not even two years earlier wasn't doing Chris any favors. It sucks we're only gonna be able to imagine how dream matches like Benoit vs Danielson would go(I mention Brian cause when you think about it they're a lot in common. Both use the crossface, both used the diving headbutt, both were told they'd never be world champion just to win a world title in a triple threat match at Wrestlemania, etc). But at the end of the day a tragedy happening was the only way concussions and mental health issues were gonna be taken more seriously in wrestling. Thats literally the only positive thing to come out of the double murder suicide because the chances of anything similar happening again are slim to nonexistent
@@TheUndeadOhioan1999 The detectives figured out EXACTLY what happened. They are experts. To them, the Benoit crime scene was just one of several murder scenes they had investigated that week, they know what they're doing, they're professionals. What they say happened is exactly what happened. The lucky b*stard managed to get himself a tribute show out of it. He's coming out ahead regarding "memorials" as it is.
We should be able separate an actor from a charter. most people think the know what CTE does but straight up misunderstand everything and confidently speak on it like an expert online. CTE is very similar rabies especially if you stack them at the same time and late stages is like meningitis symptoms in rabies aka zombie disease. Marks unironically blindly trust carnies and some random local cops from the past over health experts, law experts, his own friends and family and don't research or fact check what the carnies say Chris is at fault for his health negligence leading to the end of his family not for the crime nor is their malice in it, it's just very cruel how they went out so people think more emotionally over logically therefor not learning from the terrible event meaning it will likely happen again wasting their sacrifices.
@DinoDAngelo-q9l nobody forced him to wrestle through head injuries or take steroids for the majority of his life. He ALONE is responsible for his actions deserves to be hated for being a child killer.
@@Roger-ug6bp I'm trying really hard to understand what you're trying to say. But all i can think of is "He murdered his wife and child but at least he treated people of different ethnic backgrounds equally" and thats way too stupid to be what you meant. Im not trying to be a dick, i just dont understand what you're trying to say.
@@Roger-ug6bp I'm trying really hard to understand what you're trying to say. But all i can think of is "He murdered his wife and child but at least he treated people of different ethnic backgrounds equally" and thats way too stupid to be what you meant. Im not trying to be a dick, i just dont understand what you're trying to say.
That mid to late '94 to early '97 is absolute peak ECW. It was like a variety show with a bit of everything for everyone. Comedy, technical, high flying, brawling, hardcore. And I dare argue it excelled at each aspect pretty good. Benoit was very much 1 of the reasons that era was so great to watch.
Benoit in ECW was insane. People forget that he was experiencing severe CTE and that was the reason behind the murder suicide he committed. Was a really sad story for Woman and their son.
It’s insane how many people think CTE=To child murder, like he isn’t THE ONLY person in the world to suffer from mental health issues and head injuries.
@@theitfactorjameswheezer2852 This. The first thing that goes from severe brain damage isn't "sanity", it's the body. The body would wither first. These cte excuses are just that, little excuses.
WWF and fans were shitting on ECW back in the day just how theyre shitting on AEW now. The point is, without OTHER promotions, talent doesn't grow as diverse. Just look at all the greats ECW brought.
As a scramble to cover for a wrestler nearly dying, the stuff they did after Sabu broke his neck was impressively competent. More down to the backstage guys' responses, but Benoit basically turning heel then and there knowing the crowd would turn on him for Sabu's injury was also very smart.
Always treat Benoit as a Dark Tale. His in ring work is absolute and is worthy of hall of fame status. Sadly, a lot of things he did is not only a product of his own doing, but as a thing of wrestling as a whole. Learn from history, or else it will repeat itself.
I respect you for covering his run. Whilst nothing can excuse what he did, you can’t deny he was a great wrestler, and whether you like it or not, his name will always be ingrained in wrestling history and prowess, so trying to sweep his ability under the rug in that regard won’t do any favours. I like Chris Benoit the wrestler, but not the monster who committed such atrocious acts.
7:56 Hack was a friend of mine and used to sleep on my couch after working shows in Ocala when I was training there. He told us he sh*t his pants when Benoit dropped him on the ropes. 😂 RIP Hack. That might have been why the match ended so quickly.
@@kevthegoat8774 He kept working indy shows, was with TNA'S security team, not sure after that. The last picture I have with him is at an Indy show in Fernandina. He was riding with Tomko at the time and Tomko's spoon incident happened a few months after that.
On the topic of 911 interjecting himself into the match and actually pinning someone : 911 was the panic button of ECW, in case of emergency, you send out 911 to stall for time and/or cover for whoever is hurt. It just sort of became the norm, if 911 was sent out during a match, he’s in the match now, no questions asked. He was SOOOOO fucking over in the Arena that no-one would question it. Any excuse to see him chokeslam people 🤷♂️🤣
THIS was how I was introduced to the former Pegasus Kid, as I was getting back into wrestling as a teenager. The walk down memory lane was a good one today; thank you for sharing this 🥲
1:30 Chad Austin's little friend was The Rockin' Rebel who had his own fucking Benoit moment a few years ago. What an odd coincidence. Luckily the child was spared in this one.
Here's a factoid for you! Chris Benoit was nearly signed by the WWF as Owen Hart's mystery partner for Wrestlemania XI. He unfortunately didn't get signed and Yokozuna was picked as Owen Hart's tag team partner.
This video perfectly encapsulates why I laugh when anyone says ECW was nothing but garbage, violent, spot fest wrestling. From '94 until probably sometime in '99, ECW always had some of the best workers, technicians and athletes on North American soil and if they didn't its because Bischoff stole them. Despite that, Heyman was incredible rotating guys in throughout the years to replace the guys that left for guaranteed money. I'd say from 1994-1996 ECW probably had more amazing technical matches than WWF & WCW combined.
Respect you way more for covering Benoit. He was a phenom. Nobody deserves to be "erased from history". We all remember him anyways: there is no reason to live in a state of denial.
@@david-468 Benoit was a dangerous man who decided to explore his dangerous side at it's most extreme, he planned out a cover up, but realised along the way he was messy, he knew what would happen to him, so he decided to kill his child on day 2 and then pluck up the courage to take his own life on day 3. Stop lionising this tosser.
It’s so crazy to see Scott Steiner and how good he was back before he became big papa pump. I remember watching the Steiner bros when I was a kid and had forgotten how agile he was. By the time he was big papa pump he could hardly move, I was still a fan just saying to trade that athleticism to be freakishly huge with the roided out physique seems like bad trade…
Chris Benoit was a really great wrestler. He was what Will Ospreay, Kenny Omega and others want to be now. Not tall, but stocky, technical and with charisma. He and Eddie Guerrero are two huge losses to wrestling, they could have given so much more to the wrestling world, but.... It's hard to turn a blind eye to the way things ended in Chris' life, but to deny his talent, work ethic and the legacy he left behind is impossible. Paul Heyman said the right things about Chris Benoit, that if you judge him as a wrestler, he is definitely in the top 5 in history. But. There's always that "but."
that's all the more reason to keep the historical record alive. It serves as a warning about head trauma and the demands of the industry. Deleting it does disservice to his victims as Nancy was around longer than him and a good manager. He should never be in the hall of fame or anything like that, however.
I don’t think you quite understand that everything after Sabu breaks his neck at November to Remember 94 is an on the fly audible to cover for the main event being ruined.
It's crazy how so many legends made only one or two appearances in ECW. Guys like Rosey, One Man Gang, Konnan, Scott Hall and LA Parka all appeared in ECW.
1:29 Not So Fun Fact: Chad Austin's friend was long time Philly Indy wrestler/promoter The Rockin Rebel. Just like Benoit, he would end up murdering his wife then killing himself afterwards.
You have to do a 2 Cold Scorpio video. He wrestled for every major promotion around the world. He taught himself how to wrestle and he invented the 450 splash. He`s the most underrated pro-wrestler of all time.
top 5 workers and tbh wwe erased him to avoid fault because lets be honest everybody and wrestler around him told us he's a sweetheart but brain damage is just too cruel
Benoit was my favorite wrestler after Rock and Austin left the industry. I used to be one of thise simps that defended his honor because of his severe CTE. As I get older i realize that this is a convenient spon and his history of abuse is probably the more important detail. He was a terrible person long before his brain deteriorated. Hes the reason i have a whole back day in the gym twice every week though. Lats, Traps, Teres and Delts of a greek god.
I agree. I can see it both ways regarding the things you commonly hear about him. He is sympathetic from the angle of how far he came in his career considering he got into it so young, and he overcame his short height. He's also sympathetic because Eddie Guerrero was a wonderful guy, and the bond they had seemed really deep and I think it would've stayed positive if Eddie had not died. I think we can all sympathize with that loss and grief, and the idea of such loss really eating someone up from inside. But from the angle of, he was abusing Nancy before this even happened, plus he killed his son who was helpless and looked up to him, he's a scumbag and 100% deserves the scorn coming at him. I really feel the need to emphasize so much how amazing Nancy was, and her death was a bigger loss to wrestling than that of "Chris Beniot's wife". What he did to her memory is almost as bad as what he did to her in her life. I have no problem with the dissonance here, people are human. "The idea of Chris Beniot", the inspo really just came from the character. That can still be emulated without him. Short guy against the odds, technical fighter, there's many others who have those qualities beside just him, and while I empathize with his pain, using it as an excuse to murder his family is weak, cowardly, abusive, evil, and most of all selfish. If he has only taken himself out, that would've been pretty bad but at least it's like "oh he's no longer in pain". That has nothing to do with Nancy or Daniel. They could've had a life without him and they were denied that. It is abuser "if I can't have you no one can" logic through and through. He had the body of a greek god and the life of a greek tragedy I guess.
A majority of Benoit's career is that he was one of the most hardest workers in the room. As much as WWE and almost any other wrestling promotion would love to wipe Chris Benoit's wrestling history off the face of the earth after he committed that tragedy, they really can't completely, considering how much Chris put in the business and because of that devotion these wrestling companies had extreme faith in Benoit to put world titles on him at the time, become strongly attached to other legendary wrestlers histories, like Ric Flair and the Four Horsemen and including him in merchandise before the tragic event.
Thank you so much for saying what you did about whitewashing history. It's absolutely ridiculous people try to do that with Benoit. You can enjoy his matches while being horrified at his actions. What does plugging your ears and pretending he didn't exist accomplish? You sure as hell aren't hurting him and if nothing else you are hurting the positive memories of those he competed against since he was an undeniably great wrestler. Thank you Hawk for having the guts to be as objective as you can and not feigning outrage. I still gladly watch Benoit matches all the time because I'm mature enough to know doing that is in no way justifying his actions at the end. I think if we all could do that it would be for the best. Don't hide from the past. Learn from it.
Chad Austin little friend is a wrestler called Rockin rebel he was a local wrestler in Pennsylvania and and was a promoter who let other people use his license to run shows and he was usually booked on those shows because of that but just like Chris Benoit he committed a terrible thing that not a lot of people talk about him anymore because he killed his wife and turned the gun on himself and left their twins without their parents because of what he did
You can’t prevent wrestlers from taking hits to the head. Benoit was already a crazy person before wrestling. He beat his ex wife before Nancy and had angry issues. Benoit did what he did due to a crippling marriage, Eddie dying, drugs and etc . Diving headbutt, dementia aand other bs had nothing to do with it. Benoit is trash as a person but a excellent wrestler
Yeah early ECW from around 1992 to 1996 was like an Indy promotion where they had there homegrown names and talents that were local like Sabu, Taz, Raven, 2 Cold Scorpio, Tommy Dreamer, Sandman, Steven Richards, 911, Axl Rotten, Mike Awesome, Mikey Whipwreck, and The Public Enemy. But they also relied on imports via working with other promotions or free agents/freelancers like Shane Douglas, Terry Funk, Cactus Jack, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko, Steve Austin, Brian Pillman, The Steiner Brothers, Konnan, Rey Mysterio, Psychosis, Juventude, Chris Jericho, Ron Simmons etc etc. It wasn’t until going into 1996 was when you start to see ECW becoming a full on 3rd biggest American promotion with talents like RVD, The Dudley’s, Saturn and Kronus, New Jack and Mustafa, Balls Mahoney, Chris Candido, Lance Storm etc etc starting to show up in 1996 and heading into 1997.
I wouldn’t consider Raven homegrown or local. He was in wwf before ECW. I would say he became a star in ECW when he became Raven. Im not trying to argue just love talking wrestling
@@billjohnson8956 I know but ECW and Paul Heyman as well as Raven himself made the Raven character in ECW. Yes he worked as Johnny Polo in WWF and his original wrestling name Scotty Flamingo in WCW before his ECW run. So while Raven wasn’t homegrown in a sense I do consider him slightly homegrown as ECW is where he and Heyman created the character Raven. It’s why I see RVD as an ECW homegrown guy technically, even though he worked as Robbie V in WCW for a cup of coffee before he got to ECW, as it was ECW where we saw the RVD we all know and love.
Too man concussions, lead too him having his last act. I truly think in his head he was in a wrestling match and accidently killed his family. He snapped out of it and hung himself. Sad ending. He shouldn't be erased. Great episode.
That maych with al anow i never knew existed but after seeing the highlights and finding a full version of the match its definitely the best match al snow had and in my top 10 benoit matches
Chad Austin's friend in the Match 1 is fellow Murder/Suicide Wife Killer Rockin' Rebel. Weird to see them together. Edit. Did you seriously just call the Shah of ECW a scrub? Those are fighting words.....
@@ricardonb6375 He should do another one b/c youtube is flooding my feed w/ Stevie Richards content the past couple months... I don't even watch them but for some reason videos about him and by him are flooding the algorithm
Your opening words about censorship is spot on Markyd, thank you. We need to learn from history so we don’t make the same mistakes, not pretend those mistakes never happened, censorship doesn’t solve anything.
Benoit's very first match in the WWF was in 1995 and was actually a loss to Bob Holly. Can't recall if it was in the house show circuit or a dark match.
benoit and dynamite kid show´s that a diving headbutt as a finisher and still give 110% in all matches is not the best idea. it could follow later to a bad ending.
If you only saw Tazz wrestle in WWE, it's easy to not know how good he was in ECW. He was called the human suplex machine for a reason.
A proper fued with Beniot wouldve been incredible.
Pity by the time he got to wwe he acquired all the ring rust he could've had
Because he was dangerous and dropped guys on their necks
Bc it was literally the only thing he could do 😂☠️
Tazz 💤😴
I will never not pop for Jeff Hardy being appalled at someone stealing his Swanton Bomb Finishing Maneuver, man.
My friend Shannon...
It gets me everytime, even when i know to expect it.
Rocco rock is a hilarious one😂
The inner monologue Jeff hardy segments were some of the best things I’ve ever seen in wrestling
Every. Dang. Time. Maaaan.
Benoit took scary ass unprotected bumps. Little wonder why his brain was so fried towards the end
He was technically sound like Owen or Brett, but reckless as Darby with his body. Chris was "Owen Allin" 😂
@@AnneHathawayRules except benoit was actual wrestler and darby just stunt monkey with spots that barely makes sense but he got talent
@@LordDeBahs stunt monkey 😂
Bro has never seen a darby match in his life and has only seen the spots 😂 @@LordDeBahs
Dynamite Kid was Benoit before Benoit.
I can see why Heyman would've wanted Benoit as champion if he stayed. It's funny, it seems like Benoit was always meant to be tied to the title either near the begining and end of his career.
He was a reliable hand when all else failed. Benoit was gifted the World title in his final days with WCW because they could not afford for him to leave, he left and in a few years would be apart of the now infamous SmackDown 6 under Paul Heyman’s creative. He got drafted to the main show, won a Rumble and became the World champion within a few months when RAW became the HHH show. He put over a young Orton and through his final years floated in the mid card with a great US title run here and there. Putting over the likes of MVP. It’s very true what you said, because within the last week of his life he was scheduled against Punk for the ECW world title. He was very much a talent seen as a great carrier to a brand, suffering, prospering or just growing.
@@ryanlashtonHow was the Smackdown six 'infamous'?
@@InaudibleSlinky Infamous in the sense that they all became bigger stars through that spotlight. Eddie and Chris would soon hold the big one for the first time in WWE. Edge would soon find himself in the same position, just later on down the line. Angle and Rey would cement themselves as legends as well for different styles of wrestling. And Chavo would go on to become a highlight as well.
benoit was and still is one of the greatest wrestlers ever, and probably my favorite of all time. Was when i was a kid, and still is to this day. thanks for the video.
People forget that Benoit was consistently one of the best workers of the 90s and 00s. Easily a contender for the Top 5 of that two decade period. Even in WWE when he was older, that match he had with Lesnar on Smackdown was phenomenal. One of many amazing matches and feuds he had with WWE.
Without a doubt one of the best to ever do it. You can see his impact on many wrestlers' talent today.
Benoit is a tough subject. What he did to his family was terrible. But being a fan of his back in the day I can understand the sentiment of not wanting him to be completely erased from history.
He murdered a child and woman. Why glorify him
You can’t erase history and nor you shouldn’t
@@pleaseshutup7053 nobody says erase it, just dont glorify a child murderer. Its not hard?
@@jamespaul6315 many people have said erase him from history and never talk about him about him again. They agree with wwe trying to erase him they don’t mention him on anything not even a documentary about Randy orton winning his first world title. And how is it glorifying anything when you just talk about what he did in wrestling
Separate the art from the artist
Benoit was 1 of the best to ever lace up the boots. Unfortunately during his time no one thought about the repercussion of head damage. It didn't help that a headbutt off the ropes was 1 of his finishers. Man wrestled concussed half the time and didn't even know and nobody really cared, they just wanted the show to go on. Between that and the roid allegations, it's all a recipe for disaster. He shouldn't be deleted and forgotten. I think they did this to avoid any fault. Wrestling was a dirty business back in the day. This was extremely unfortunate and possibly avoidable.
Its a real shame that it took arguably one of the greatest technical wrestlers to ever live doing something that unfortunately overshadows all his accomplishments for head injuries to be taken as serious as they should've been in the first place. I'm not condoning what Chris did, but when you look into it theres a lot of evidence out there that seems fishy enough that we'll never know what exactly happened in 2007. All you just said plus the fact Chris's best friend Eddie died not even two years earlier wasn't doing Chris any favors. It sucks we're only gonna be able to imagine how dream matches like Benoit vs Danielson would go(I mention Brian cause when you think about it they're a lot in common. Both use the crossface, both used the diving headbutt, both were told they'd never be world champion just to win a world title in a triple threat match at Wrestlemania, etc). But at the end of the day a tragedy happening was the only way concussions and mental health issues were gonna be taken more seriously in wrestling. Thats literally the only positive thing to come out of the double murder suicide because the chances of anything similar happening again are slim to nonexistent
@@TheUndeadOhioan1999 The detectives figured out EXACTLY what happened. They are experts. To them, the Benoit crime scene was just one of several murder scenes they had investigated that week, they know what they're doing, they're professionals. What they say happened is exactly what happened.
The lucky b*stard managed to get himself a tribute show out of it. He's coming out ahead regarding "memorials" as it is.
We should be able separate an actor from a charter.
most people think the know what CTE does but straight up misunderstand everything and confidently speak on it like an expert online.
CTE is very similar rabies especially if you stack them at the same time and late stages is like meningitis symptoms in rabies aka zombie disease.
Marks unironically blindly trust carnies and some random local cops from the past over health experts, law experts, his own friends and family and don't research or fact check what the carnies say
Chris is at fault for his health negligence leading to the end of his family not for the crime nor is their malice in it, it's just very cruel how they went out so people think more emotionally over logically therefor not learning from the terrible event meaning it will likely happen again wasting their sacrifices.
@DinoDAngelo-q9l nobody forced him to wrestle through head injuries or take steroids for the majority of his life. He ALONE is responsible for his actions deserves to be hated for being a child killer.
Still is..
What he did is unforgivable
But
Who he was in the ring was and still is UNDENIABLE
Well put 👍
At least he wasn't a racist so I can still enjoy his matches.
@@Roger-ug6bp I'm trying really hard to understand what you're trying to say. But all i can think of is "He murdered his wife and child but at least he treated people of different ethnic backgrounds equally" and thats way too stupid to be what you meant. Im not trying to be a dick, i just dont understand what you're trying to say.
@@Roger-ug6bp I'm trying really hard to understand what you're trying to say. But all i can think of is "He murdered his wife and child but at least he treated people of different ethnic backgrounds equally" and thats way too stupid to be what you meant. Im not trying to be a dick, i just dont understand what you're trying to say.
@@Roger-ug6bpbut killing your wife and child is worse then racism
As soon as I heard the words "swanton bomb", I started laughing something fierce.
That was before Jeff Hardy started compiling a list of suspects.
Benoit was one of the greatest wrestlers ever.
No matter what happened, dude was a unit in the ring, the top 5 best workers.
crazy
HBK, Angle, Macho Man, Taker, Sting, Lesnar, etc
Ricky Steamboat, Rick Flair, Bret Hart, AJ Styles, Kurt Angle
Bret Kurt hbk Benoit Eddie mr. Perfect Bryan Danielson Jericho steamboat Shelton Benjamin my top 10
Benoit was a beast in ECW. maybe more so than Taz.
That powerbomb on Sabu was WICKED AF!
People really tend to forget that Benoit was already doing pretty awesome stuff in New Japan before going over to ECW.
Pegasus kid
That mid to late '94 to early '97 is absolute peak ECW. It was like a variety show with a bit of everything for everyone. Comedy, technical, high flying, brawling, hardcore. And I dare argue it excelled at each aspect pretty good. Benoit was very much 1 of the reasons that era was so great to watch.
..."Paul Heyman manages to let Chris Benoit's Canadian visa expire..."
Vintage Heyman?
Benoit in ECW was insane. People forget that he was experiencing severe CTE and that was the reason behind the murder suicide he committed. Was a really sad story for Woman and their son.
he is a really good wrestler and his matches are entertaining, still doesn't change from what he did
It’s insane how many people think CTE=To child murder, like he isn’t THE ONLY person in the world to suffer from mental health issues and head injuries.
Nobody is saying that. They are just saying that it has a hand in what happened.
Obviously.
@@theitfactorjameswheezer2852 This. The first thing that goes from severe brain damage isn't "sanity", it's the body. The body would wither first. These cte excuses are just that, little excuses.
He was murdered actually.
WWF and fans were shitting on ECW back in the day just how theyre shitting on AEW now.
The point is, without OTHER promotions, talent doesn't grow as diverse. Just look at all the greats ECW brought.
He took too many shots to the head and lost his mind, but he wasn't always a monster.
He was always trash. Eddie dying and his marriage was crippling cause what Benoit did. Benoit has always been a wife beater
He was a well known bully backstage
Not an excuse though
You don’t know that
@@KC_OnTheTrackLike no, it's actually probably a contributing factor.
As a scramble to cover for a wrestler nearly dying, the stuff they did after Sabu broke his neck was impressively competent. More down to the backstage guys' responses, but Benoit basically turning heel then and there knowing the crowd would turn on him for Sabu's injury was also very smart.
Always treat Benoit as a Dark Tale. His in ring work is absolute and is worthy of hall of fame status. Sadly, a lot of things he did is not only a product of his own doing, but as a thing of wrestling as a whole. Learn from history, or else it will repeat itself.
Wrestling is better for it
Was my favourite wrestler, made me want to better myself, thank you for this video, it helps knowing he is still remembered in some way.
I respect you for covering his run. Whilst nothing can excuse what he did, you can’t deny he was a great wrestler, and whether you like it or not, his name will always be ingrained in wrestling history and prowess, so trying to sweep his ability under the rug in that regard won’t do any favours. I like Chris Benoit the wrestler, but not the monster who committed such atrocious acts.
Rob Van Dam, known as Robbie V at the time, in WCW. He had 11 matches.
All jobber matches lol
7:56 Hack was a friend of mine and used to sleep on my couch after working shows in Ocala when I was training there. He told us he sh*t his pants when Benoit dropped him on the ropes. 😂 RIP Hack. That might have been why the match ended so quickly.
What did he do after leaving the Wrestling business? It's insane that he was only 21 here yet looks in his 40's.
@@kevthegoat8774 He kept working indy shows, was with TNA'S security team, not sure after that. The last picture I have with him is at an Indy show in Fernandina. He was riding with Tomko at the time and Tomko's spoon incident happened a few months after that.
On the topic of 911 interjecting himself into the match and actually pinning someone : 911 was the panic button of ECW, in case of emergency, you send out 911 to stall for time and/or cover for whoever is hurt.
It just sort of became the norm, if 911 was sent out during a match, he’s in the match now, no questions asked. He was SOOOOO fucking over in the Arena that no-one would question it.
Any excuse to see him chokeslam people 🤷♂️🤣
THIS was how I was introduced to the former Pegasus Kid, as I was getting back into wrestling as a teenager. The walk down memory lane was a good one today; thank you for sharing this 🥲
Taz doesn’t get the respect he deserves as a wrestler. I even met him in person, very approachable, unlike other wrestlers (buhbuh ray)
1:30 Chad Austin's little friend was The Rockin' Rebel who had his own fucking Benoit moment a few years ago. What an odd coincidence. Luckily the child was spared in this one.
Here's a factoid for you! Chris Benoit was nearly signed by the WWF as Owen Hart's mystery partner for Wrestlemania XI. He unfortunately didn't get signed and Yokozuna was picked as Owen Hart's tag team partner.
Finally a Stevie Richards video
in singles competition no less lmao
we really need a stevie video
This video perfectly encapsulates why I laugh when anyone says ECW was nothing but garbage, violent, spot fest wrestling. From '94 until probably sometime in '99, ECW always had some of the best workers, technicians and athletes on North American soil and if they didn't its because Bischoff stole them. Despite that, Heyman was incredible rotating guys in throughout the years to replace the guys that left for guaranteed money. I'd say from 1994-1996 ECW probably had more amazing technical matches than WWF & WCW combined.
Respect you way more for covering Benoit. He was a phenom.
Nobody deserves to be "erased from history". We all remember him anyways: there is no reason to live in a state of denial.
CM Punk said it himself, he's not being erased, he just stopped being promoted
Absolutely. Cover the real history, all of it, or don't cover it at all.
Well considering he was murdered and it was covered up, especially
@@david-468 Benoit was a dangerous man who decided to explore his dangerous side at it's most extreme, he planned out a cover up, but realised along the way he was messy, he knew what would happen to him, so he decided to kill his child on day 2 and then pluck up the courage to take his own life on day 3. Stop lionising this tosser.
@@TheRealAhoy he really has been erased
I highly recommend watching Eastern Championship Wrestling truly a interesting time for the company seeing the birth of Extreme
It’s so crazy to see Scott Steiner and how good he was back before he became big papa pump. I remember watching the Steiner bros when I was a kid and had forgotten how agile he was. By the time he was big papa pump he could hardly move, I was still a fan just saying to trade that athleticism to be freakishly huge with the roided out physique seems like bad trade…
I've heard Al Snow referred to as "The Best-Kept Secret in Wrestling." That match with Benoit proves it. It's a crime that he was used so poorly.
Chris Benoit was a really great wrestler. He was what Will Ospreay, Kenny Omega and others want to be now. Not tall, but stocky, technical and with charisma.
He and Eddie Guerrero are two huge losses to wrestling, they could have given so much more to the wrestling world, but....
It's hard to turn a blind eye to the way things ended in Chris' life, but to deny his talent, work ethic and the legacy he left behind is impossible.
Paul Heyman said the right things about Chris Benoit, that if you judge him as a wrestler, he is definitely in the top 5 in history. But. There's always that "but."
Benoit 18:38 doing a Frankensteiner off the top ropes damn ECW was really where the big boys play
Would’ve loved to see a longer run in ECW for the Steiners. A match between them and the Eliminators in ‘96 would’ve been epic
You can't separate his career from his actions when there a link to the murders.
that's all the more reason to keep the historical record alive. It serves as a warning about head trauma and the demands of the industry. Deleting it does disservice to his victims as Nancy was around longer than him and a good manager. He should never be in the hall of fame or anything like that, however.
@@LethalBubbles yeah but you don't glorify it , make excuses for it or separate from it
@@LethalBubbles I don't mind a cautionary advisory towards it
Not sure how I missed this channel must have 20k plus hours of watching wrestling on TH-cam but definitely subscribed today bros 😅😅
I don’t think you quite understand that everything after Sabu breaks his neck at November to Remember 94 is an on the fly audible to cover for the main event being ruined.
I didn’t realize smiley was in ecw either, truly underrated wrestler!! In my opinion
It's crazy how so many legends made only one or two appearances in ECW. Guys like Rosey, One Man Gang, Konnan, Scott Hall and LA Parka all appeared in ECW.
Scott Steiner and chris technical wrestling was so great man. Scott was one of the best wrestlers and characters
1:29 Not So Fun Fact: Chad Austin's friend was long time Philly Indy wrestler/promoter The Rockin Rebel. Just like Benoit, he would end up murdering his wife then killing himself afterwards.
There are so many moves onto the head that look seriously dangerous in ECW. A Spike Dudley compilation makes you 😨
Dusty Rhodes on ecw!!
You have to do a 2 Cold Scorpio video. He wrestled for every major promotion around the world. He taught himself how to wrestle and he invented the 450 splash. He`s the most underrated pro-wrestler of all time.
Better than ever to do a Scorpio video now with the controversy
Whenever my boss calls me in as I walk in I always play the wwe Benoit theme music in my head
top 5 workers and tbh wwe erased him to avoid fault because lets be honest everybody and wrestler around him told us he's a sweetheart but brain damage is just too cruel
Mark,thanks for this.Truly. 👍👍
Benoit was my favorite wrestler after Rock and Austin left the industry.
I used to be one of thise simps that defended his honor because of his severe CTE.
As I get older i realize that this is a convenient spon and his history of abuse is probably the more important detail.
He was a terrible person long before his brain deteriorated.
Hes the reason i have a whole back day in the gym twice every week though.
Lats, Traps, Teres and Delts of a greek god.
I agree. I can see it both ways regarding the things you commonly hear about him.
He is sympathetic from the angle of how far he came in his career considering he got into it so young, and he overcame his short height. He's also sympathetic because Eddie Guerrero was a wonderful guy, and the bond they had seemed really deep and I think it would've stayed positive if Eddie had not died. I think we can all sympathize with that loss and grief, and the idea of such loss really eating someone up from inside.
But from the angle of, he was abusing Nancy before this even happened, plus he killed his son who was helpless and looked up to him, he's a scumbag and 100% deserves the scorn coming at him. I really feel the need to emphasize so much how amazing Nancy was, and her death was a bigger loss to wrestling than that of "Chris Beniot's wife". What he did to her memory is almost as bad as what he did to her in her life.
I have no problem with the dissonance here, people are human. "The idea of Chris Beniot", the inspo really just came from the character. That can still be emulated without him. Short guy against the odds, technical fighter, there's many others who have those qualities beside just him, and while I empathize with his pain, using it as an excuse to murder his family is weak, cowardly, abusive, evil, and most of all selfish. If he has only taken himself out, that would've been pretty bad but at least it's like "oh he's no longer in pain". That has nothing to do with Nancy or Daniel. They could've had a life without him and they were denied that. It is abuser "if I can't have you no one can" logic through and through.
He had the body of a greek god and the life of a greek tragedy I guess.
Fun fact: “little friend” at 1:36 is Rockin Rebel who also killed himself and his wife
Im glad you did this Beniot video one of my favorite wrestlers, yes it was awful what he did but he was so talented!
The Diamonds in the Rough: Elix Skipper, The Diamond Man and the master of the cab driver slam David Young
A majority of Benoit's career is that he was one of the most hardest workers in the room. As much as WWE and almost any other wrestling promotion would love to wipe Chris Benoit's wrestling history off the face of the earth after he committed that tragedy, they really can't completely, considering how much Chris put in the business and because of that devotion these wrestling companies had extreme faith in Benoit to put world titles on him at the time, become strongly attached to other legendary wrestlers histories, like Ric Flair and the Four Horsemen and including him in merchandise before the tragic event.
I believe that little friend in the Chad Austin match was Rockin Rebel who ironically also killed his wife and himself. Also 14:20 "Pubic Enemy" lol
Here b4 this gets deleted 😂
Same
Benoit is one of the best (if not the best) at making a wrestling match look like a real fight. The keyfabe was very strong in him!
2 Cold Scorpio was awesome
In his prime he was a real talent. Very underrated performer imo 👍
damn, now I want to see one of the Steiners in ECW
Jesus benoit vs 2 cold scorpio. What a match in retrospect
A Damn solid match
Ended up being a terrible human in the end. Still what a machine. His entrance theme is still part of my workout playlist.
They have that Al Snow match in great quality on the Hard Knocks dvd.
I agree with Hawk. White washing history doesn't help anything or anyone. We can't hide from reality. Love the channel.
An objective final year of ECW roster vs 2015 TNA roster video could be interesting.
Thank you so much for saying what you did about whitewashing history. It's absolutely ridiculous people try to do that with Benoit. You can enjoy his matches while being horrified at his actions.
What does plugging your ears and pretending he didn't exist accomplish? You sure as hell aren't hurting him and if nothing else you are hurting the positive memories of those he competed against since he was an undeniably great wrestler.
Thank you Hawk for having the guts to be as objective as you can and not feigning outrage. I still gladly watch Benoit matches all the time because I'm mature enough to know doing that is in no way justifying his actions at the end. I think if we all could do that it would be for the best. Don't hide from the past. Learn from it.
I dont understand why any decent human being wants to glorify a child killer
This
TH-cam CM Punk at Comic Con talking about Benoit, he makes sense
Chad Austin little friend is a wrestler called Rockin rebel he was a local wrestler in Pennsylvania and and was a promoter who let other people use his license to run shows and he was usually booked on those shows because of that but just like Chris Benoit he committed a terrible thing that not a lot of people talk about him anymore because he killed his wife and turned the gun on himself and left their twins without their parents because of what he did
Benoit got he hooked on wrestling back in WCW and got me into body building and backyard wrestling, later Mic Foley became another hero.
Chief Morley (val Venis) for ring of the hawk since we are being controversial today lol
@04:48 that snap suplex was perfect dynamite kid emulation 🤌🤌
From what I remember Benoit built his body just like dynamite kid
14:31 "Pubic Enemy"😂
You are right
Erasing the past doesn’t solve anything. Just learn from it
He should be used as a cautionary tale to young wrestlers about taking hits to the head and what it can cause.
You can’t prevent wrestlers from taking hits to the head. Benoit was already a crazy person before wrestling. He beat his ex wife before Nancy and had angry issues. Benoit did what he did due to a crippling marriage, Eddie dying, drugs and etc . Diving headbutt, dementia aand other bs had nothing to do with it. Benoit is trash as a person but a excellent wrestler
@@jasontodd1896exactly.
He's not been erased, that's impossible, he's not being promoted, there's a difference.
To be fair, Austin beat his wife too.
I hope Benoît is always remembered for his great wrestling work, and as a warning of what head injuries can do to a person. Never forget.
Yeah early ECW from around 1992 to 1996 was like an Indy promotion where they had there homegrown names and talents that were local like Sabu, Taz, Raven, 2 Cold Scorpio, Tommy Dreamer, Sandman, Steven Richards, 911, Axl Rotten, Mike Awesome, Mikey Whipwreck, and The Public Enemy.
But they also relied on imports via working with other promotions or free agents/freelancers like Shane Douglas, Terry Funk, Cactus Jack, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko, Steve Austin, Brian Pillman, The Steiner Brothers, Konnan, Rey Mysterio, Psychosis, Juventude, Chris Jericho, Ron Simmons etc etc.
It wasn’t until going into 1996 was when you start to see ECW becoming a full on 3rd biggest American promotion with talents like RVD, The Dudley’s, Saturn and Kronus, New Jack and Mustafa, Balls Mahoney, Chris Candido, Lance Storm etc etc starting to show up in 1996 and heading into 1997.
I wouldn’t consider Raven homegrown or local. He was in wwf before ECW. I would say he became a star in ECW when he became Raven. Im not trying to argue just love talking wrestling
@@billjohnson8956 I know but ECW and Paul Heyman as well as Raven himself made the Raven character in ECW.
Yes he worked as Johnny Polo in WWF and his original wrestling name Scotty Flamingo in WCW before his ECW run.
So while Raven wasn’t homegrown in a sense I do consider him slightly homegrown as ECW is where he and Heyman created the character Raven.
It’s why I see RVD as an ECW homegrown guy technically, even though he worked as Robbie V in WCW for a cup of coffee before he got to ECW, as it was ECW where we saw the RVD we all know and love.
Too man concussions, lead too him having his last act. I truly think in his head he was in a wrestling match and accidently killed his family. He snapped out of it and hung himself. Sad ending. He shouldn't be erased. Great episode.
Benoit is one of my favorite in ring workers of all time it's nice to see a video of his wrestling skills
That maych with al anow i never knew existed but after seeing the highlights and finding a full version of the match its definitely the best match al snow had and in my top 10 benoit matches
His ring work is truly legendary. Definitely one of the greats
"We have to learn to separate the things he did from his career." Thank you
R.I.P. Benoit family.
Damn, his backne was brutal back then. Tanner did a lot to let people cover that up later on.
that opening had me thinking there had been a cock-up and you were going to tear into russo again.
the irony is the first match 2 out of the 3 people involved un a lived their family in real life as well as themselves
Chad Austin's friend in the Match 1 is fellow Murder/Suicide Wife Killer Rockin' Rebel. Weird to see them together.
Edit. Did you seriously just call the Shah of ECW a scrub? Those are fighting words.....
I've seen a lot of Swantons in my day and Rocco Rock (R.I.P) was no swan.
Smiley in ECW? This video just got 10 times better.
grats on keeping the historical record alive
Should of waited till today to drop this happy Canada Day lol
Great video... you should do one on Stevie Richards since his TH-cam channel is blowing up
I think he already did Stevie Richards during his WCW and TNA run.
@@ricardonb6375 He should do another one b/c youtube is flooding my feed w/ Stevie Richards content the past couple months... I don't even watch them but for some reason videos about him and by him are flooding the algorithm
Your opening words about censorship is spot on Markyd, thank you.
We need to learn from history so we don’t make the same mistakes, not pretend those mistakes never happened, censorship doesn’t solve anything.
Can honestly say after decades of watching wrestling this is the first time I've ever heard of Ray Odyssey
Man, there’s no holding me back.
Benoit is one of the goats of wrestling.
A chris benoit video in 2024 is diabolical 😂😂
Benoit, regardless of what he may or may not have done, is the GOAT. no one made it feel more real than him
@@BandyMane unfortunately Benoit the person shamed Benoit the wrestler
@@Jajanken98why because a crime org killed half his family and the corrupt police blamed him?
@@david-468 Thank you. I needed a good belly laugh.
But appreciated.
framed. Awesome video, the Jeff Hardy part was fire
Should have put this out on the 24th.
Benoit's very first match in the WWF was in 1995 and was actually a loss to Bob Holly. Can't recall if it was in the house show circuit or a dark match.
benoit and dynamite kid show´s that a diving headbutt as a finisher and still give 110% in all matches is not the best idea. it could follow later to a bad ending.
He was and still is my favorite wrestler of all time. I WILL LIVE AND DIE ON THAT DAMN HILL