The Best Of The Rest 6.27.07: Volume 2
Posted by Alex Mattis on 06.27.2007
The independents go on hold for a week, we take a last look at Chris Benoit.
I understand that this is only my 2nd column, and I understand that in my mission statement I said that indy wrestling was going to be the name of the game here, but due to the events of Monday I wanted to use this space to remeber the WRESTLER that was Chris Benoit, and even thought the details that continue to pour in and surrounds of his demise are so terrible, the amazing legacy he left in the wrestling world should never been forgotten. He left us with a horrible and disgusting exit, but this column is meant to look at a wrestling perspective of Benoit one last time.
An all time favorite of mine, and one of the best the business has ever seen, Chris Benoit had countless great matches with countless opponents. He was always evolving and never grew stale. He proved that the ability to cut and interview and have charisma wasn't always what made you a superstar. He sacrificed his body repeatedly for the business he loved. He stood up for what he believed it. In an industry where you can easily be broken, Chris Benoit never broke, he never gave up, he knew what he wanted to accomplish and he worked and worked and worked and worked until he achieved he goal. He was someone that the regular fans adored because of his commitment and he was a "Savior for the Smarks," so to speak, because he was such a main player but still brought WRESTLING to the table, nothing fancy just straight up wrestling.
Fashioning himself after the great Dynamite Kid, he worked his way through the ranks in Canada and when given his first break he toured Japan and began to create his legacy. Self admittedly Benoit didn't like his first tour of Japan, but when he returned with a better attitude it turned out to be one of the best things that happened in his career. He was able to hone his craft and get in the ring with some of the best such as Jushin Liger and The Great Sasuke. It was also in Japan where Chris met Eddie and Dean and began their well-known friendship. Upon returning to North America Chris, Eddie, and Dean began their run in ECW and many say this began their revitalization of professional wrestling in the US. These men were putting on amazing wrestling matches in a company known for its violence; it brought much recognition with it. Benoit had some memorable matched against 2 Cold Scorpio during this run, he won the ECW tag team titles with Dean Malenko, and it was in Philly where Chris was given the moniker "The Crippler" after breaking Sabu's neck.
From ECW Benoit began his five year run in WCW. Fairly quickly after his debut he was put into a little group called The Four Horsemen. I always thought that the combo of Flair, Arn, Pillman, and Benoit was the best set of Horsemen other than the original, all the dynamics were there and it just worked. Benoit's first famous feud in WCW was his extremely heated feud with Kevin Sullivan, this brought some realism back to the sport because even Smarky McSmarkerson would say "Sullivan and Benoit really hate each and are going to try to kill one another!" It was a very well done feud and resulted in some good matches. Benoit did many good things during his run with Turner, but after the Sullivan feud his next big program was the Best of Seven Series with Booker T. Benny went on to beat Sid for the WCW World Title, but at that point it seemed like Benoit didn't care about WCW or their title.
Coming to the WWE turned out to be the best decision of Benoit's career as he was able to showcase his abilities and wrestle a fresh new set of opponents. His first big match in the E was against The Rock where Benoit actually won the WWE Title…for about a minute. Gold would be in the future for Chris however, he met a familiar opponent in Chris Jericho multiple times as they battled over the IC title, wrestling was brought back to the forefront when Benoit stepped in the ring with Kurt Angle, and these two never had a bad match. In late 2003 Benoit met Brock Lesnar on more than one occasion coming so close each time to winning the WWE Title. After winning the 2004 Royal Rumble, Benoit achieved his goal and won the World Title at WrestleMania XX. He reigned as champ until the end of the summer of '04. He lost the title to Randy Orton in a seemingly forgotten classic. Orton was still new at the time and worked hard in this match, but Chris Benoit worked his ass off and gave Orton on of his best matches and it made the title win seem important. On this night Benoit passed the torch to Orton. From that point on Benoit knew what was right for the business and was helping to establish the new generation of wrestlers and would help put them over always in a convincing manner and he always worked hard to give the best match possible.
Chris Benoit toured the world putting on great matches with the like of Steve Austin, The Rock, Jeff Jarrett, Triple H, Randy Orton, Fit Finlay, Steven Regal, and so many others. Listing Chris Benoit's great matches could take all day, so as a final tribute to "The Crippler" I give My Top 5 Chris Benoit Matches:
5. Chris Benoit Vs. Shawn Michaels Vs. Triple H - WWE WrestleMania XX - 3/14/2004
The evolution of Chris Benoit came full circle on this night. As a wrestler' you couldn't ask for a bigger way to win the title. You're in the main event of WrestleMania XX, you're wrestling in Madison Square Garden, you're wrestling two of the biggest stars in the company's history, you have an excellent match, and you win clean in the middle of the ring. The image of Chris and Eddie celebrating in the ring after the match is an icon one, and one that will live in WrestleMania history.
4. Chris Benoit Vs. Kurt Angle - WWE Unforgiven - 9/23/2002
While many regard the classic they had at the 2003 Royal Rumble as being the best outing these two have, I always viewed this as my favorite. In a match that had little to no build and on what was a horrible card these two went out and torn the house down. They put on a clinic. Counter after counter, turning the cross face into the ankle lock and vice-versa. Anytime these two stepped in the ring together magic happened. Their rivalry will be remembered for some of the best matches in the US of the past decade.
3. "Wild Pegasus" Chris Benoit Vs. The Great Sasuke - NJPW Super J Cup - 4/16/1994
The main event of what is regarded as one of the greatest wrestling events in history, the Super J Cup. This tourny featured some of the all time best and some of the most influential wrestlers of this era. Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, Eddie Gurrero, Jushin "Thunder" Liger, Hayabusa, The Great Sasuke, and TAKA Michinoku. After a night of great matches, Benoit battled Gedo and Gurrero while Sasuke fought El Samurai and Jushin Liger, these two wrestling a twenty minute five star classic. They told a hell of a story, and showed some serious drive as both of their previous matches had been very physical. This, at this point, was the biggest win in Benoit's career and is still one of his highest accolades.
2. Chris Benoit Vs. Bret Hart - WCW Monday Night Nitro - 10/4/1999
The Owen Hart Tribute match is regarded as many as the best match ever on free TV in the United States, and was a very important match to Bret and Chris. This was an incredibly competitive match and had a lot of passion and emotion in it. Both men worked very hard to put on a match to due the memory of Owen good, and they achieved their goal. Bret and Chris have both said how proud they are of this match and what it meant to them, and you can tell by the effort the put in.
1. Chris Benoit Vs. Chris Jericho - WCW Fall Brawl - 9/15/1996
While this is far from Benoit's greatest match and probably not the best match that Jericho and Benoit had, but is a personal favorite of mine and a very important match to me. I was a nine year old kid watching "Fall Brawl" to find out if Sting had really joined the nWo, but was treated to a match that changed my perception on wrestling. I had seen Chris Benoit on TBS on WCW's "Saturday Night" program, and the one thing I always remembered about him was how hard he hit. Chris Jericho was a new face and this was he first PPV match. I remember being on the edge of my seat for this match, I thought to myself "this is different from anything else I have seen lately." Which it may not have been but at my young impressionable age, this match just hit me like a ton of bricks. The competitive spirit of the matches, the back and forth action, the near-falls, and most of all I remember the intensity. I remember the finish was a belly-to-back suplex off the top rope and when Benoit pinned Jericho he let out a primal scream, it was an image that as always stuck with me.
The end of the amazing career is so confusing and was ended prematurely. I don't know if anyone will know exactly how or more importantly why this happened. People in the mainstream don't understand what it is like for hardcore wrestling fans when wrestlers, especially their favorites, die. We as fans, marks, smarks, whatever you want to call it are very dedicated to professional wrestling and the wrestlers that we like, and one dies it kind of feels like losing a family member. Chris Benoit is no exception, but in this situation so many fans are left asking "Why?" The question and rumors surrounding this tragedy will always linger, and it is so unfortunate that such a great career and what seemed to be a great life had to end this way. There will never be an excuse for what was done. But what I hope I got across in this column is that what will never be questioned is the dedication and legacy Chris Benoit will leave inside the squared circle. I truely believe that there was no way Benoit was in his right mind when he did this. This is just such a hard pill to swallow.
I would like to close by saying that I send all my thoughts and prayers out to the family of Nancy & Daniel Benoit. They're family is who needs the most support right now. Sometimes this world is so confusing. Goodbye Chris, and RIP Nancy and Daniel.
Next Week Preview:
I'll be back on the indy trail next week with:
-A spotlight on Drake Younger
-A preview of Ring Of Honor's two upcoming shows in Japan
-The reasons why you want to own PWG's Battle Of Los Angeles 2006
-And "The Stoppage" with my thoughts from The Ultimate Fight 5 finale and a preview of UFC 73: Stacked
