There are numerous names out there who aren’t in the WWE Hall of Fame and may get there one day, but a lot of them are long overdue. One of those who has never had his name read at an induction ceremony is former World Heavyweight Champion Chris Benoit. After the actions taken by Benoit before taking his own life, an induction is highly unlikely, but a former SmackDown General Manager feels he deserves it.
Vickie Guerrero recently spoke with Chris Van Vliet about a number of topics and most notably was the legacy of her family. Of course, she spoke about her late husband, Eddie Guerrero, and plenty of other topics, but some of the really interesting things were the comments she made about Benoit.
In 2000, Benoit and Guerrero made their WWE debut alongside Dean Malenko and Perry Saturn after defecting from WCW. The group was known as The Radicalz and they were associated with one another for quite a long time before splitting up and going their own separate ways.
During his time in WWE and WCW, Benoit won a number of different titles, but many people no longer see those as accomplishments due to his horrific actions. In 2007, Benoit killed his wife and their 7-year-old son before taking his own life in a horrible double murder-suicide.
Many people think they he deserves nothing in terms of wrestling recognition, but Vickie Guerrero feels differently.
Judging by the things he did in WWE, WCW, and other promotions around the world, Benoit would have easily been a Hall of Famer. Vickie Guerrero still believes that he deserves to be inducted due to all that he did in and for wrestling.
“He was a talented wrestler and he had his own legacy, I think that it shouldn’t be ignored and it’s sad how things turned out, but I would like to see him inducted into the Hall of Fame.”
If people look back on his career and see the things that Chris Benoit did in the ring and throughout his time in professional wrestling, he’s easily WWE Hall of Fame worthy. It’s just the fact that no one is going to ignore the things he did in his final days on this Earth.
Vickie loved the person that Benoit was before all of that and still loves him to this very day. She knows he had love for her and the entire Guerrero family too, but that is always going to be overshadowed.
“It’s a sad situation. I loved Chris Benoit. His family was our family. His wife Nancy, we were close friends and their son Daniel and we were all really close. I wasn’t there when it happened and I don’t understand why it happened, but I still love him. Aside from all of that he loved us and he respected us.”
Many of today’s newer wrestling fans may not even know who Chris Benoit is, but those who watch wrestling through the 1990s and 2000s are very familiar with him. His talent in the ring and his work ethic were unmatched, but none of that matters any longer in the eyes of millions. Induction into the WWE Hall of Fame would be deserved for his wrestling career, but it’s something that is very likely to never happen.