A man that changed wrestling forever. A man that murdered his wife and son. A man that created a legacy and destroyed it. Ladies and Gentleman, I have two words for you. Chris Benoit.

At a recent TNA show in the UK, Kurt Angle mentioned Benoit’s name when he talked about some of his memories wrestling in the UK. As expected, it got a mixed reaction - a reaction that got absolutely slated on the internet the next day. Many were disgusted. Simply, how the hell could a minority cheer for Benoit?

If you had read the roundtable on the site this week, you will see the opinion is split even on this site also. Let’s not make any ridiculous assumptions here - what Chris Benoit did was unbelievably wrong. He took the life of his young son and wife before committing suicide. That alone, whether Benoit was a wrestler or not, is something that nobody should cheer. It takes a sick, twisted man to commit such a brutal and horrific act. Nobody is saying what Benoit did is right.

However, there is one thing that does bother me. How can a fan sit here and vent his anger at my decision to applaud Benoit’s wrestling ability? Why should I be scared to mention this guys name?

The whole Benoit story is anything but a fairytale. Having watched and admired the Canadian for more than a decade, the whole wrestling world was left stunned by the events last year. I must admit, I’ve failed to read anything into it since the tragedy. There are various stories about what happened on the weekend -mainly involving how he murdered his wife and son - but I fail to read into it. It’s an absolute sick and twisted story.

When Angle mentioned Benoit at the house show, I knew immediately the type of response it would get that night. The show at Liverpool had one of the hottest crowds I’ve ever seen. It was similar to the original ECW One Night Stand - it was unbelievable. So, it was to be expected when Angle name checked Benoit that the crowd in Liverpool would either erupt into a frenzy of boo’s, a number of cheers or a mixture of the two. I stayed silent, but the crowd in Liverpool went wild.

That got me thinking - is it acceptable to cheer this guy based on his wrestling ability? After all, that is the only excuse people can have for cheering this monster.

I have no guilt in applauding Benoit’s in ring work but it bothers me when people say “how dare you cheer this guy”. So, people aren’t allowed to cheer his matches with Angle? Yes, Chris Benoit has been removed from history, but does this mean his match with Angle has to be erased? No. It shouldn’t be erased. I’m sure Kurt Angle doesn’t look at that match and say, “well you know, it did contribute to my neck problems..but what the hell..let’s forget about it!”

If you have checked out the roundtable this weekend, you will know I feel very strongly about the whole situation. I hate thinking about it but Benoit is an absolute disgrace. No question. That said, it pisses me off the way people are so quick to jump on wrestling fans back when they mention him and his matches. I enjoyed his matches back then and that will never change - despite the guy murdering his wife and child.

It took me a while to write this column and I think I’ll wrap it up here. It’s already grating on me how stupid this whole Benoit talk is. As much as we try to forget, it is impossible. WWE can do all they want to remove Benoit from history but the fact remains - he was a vital part of the WWE’s success over the last decade. Nobody should feel embarrassed to cheer his matches.

Maybe I sit here and applaud because that weekend last year was the final piece of my wrestling adventure over. I can’t bear to watch it. WWE, and even TNA, is crap at the minute. That whole Benoit incident might have changed this wrestling business forever. I certainly don’t remember it being as entertaining without him. Of course, I shouldn’t credit him for being a part of that success - he is no longer part of history.

Martin Smith
martin@wwepreview.com