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Chris Benoit
The stigma associated with mental illness cannot find hope of dissolution as far as the WWE is concerned given the circumstances surrounding Benoit’s controversial murder-suicide. That however, does not take away from the immense contribution that Chris Benoit afforded the industry.
He is known as one of the finest grapplers to strut his stuff in the squared circle and has is widely regarded as one of the lynchpins of the Ruthless Aggression Era in the WWE. It is indeed ironic to note that he was scripted to win a title on the night when his mental threshold was breached and the travesty occurred. The delicateness of the situation may not be resolved as of present day and Benoit may still find himself conveniently ignored for the time being, but that does not imply that the Rabid Wolverine’s memory or his in-ring exploits have faded from fond fan reminiscence.
His trophy cabinet, although not habituated with championship gold like some other Superstars on this list, does include an impressive array of note. He has captured the World Heavyweight Title only once, but has adorned the US Crown a commanding 5 times along with 4 runs as the IC Champion as well. For headlining Wrestlemania XX with Triple H and Shawn Michaels, he also outlasted 29 other competitors in the Royal Rumble in 2004 after entering at number one!
Every year before the Royal Rumble event, WWE mentions the iconic records that are associated with the 30-man over-the-top-rope match, only for Benoit’s record to be conspicuously absent.
While it is understandable that WWE does not want to embrace his achievements for a fear of a PR nightmare, we as fans can assume the liberty of remembering and honouring one of WWE’s finest wrestlers in this list.
Andre The Giant
Forget the number of titles for a moment, despite the fact that he did win the WWE Title once and the Tag Team Championship once with Haku, but André René Roussimoff’s colossal French influence rang both literally and metaphorically across the landscape of the WWE.
Andre the Giant’s contribution to the industry is best reflected when one examines what the state of the industry would have been had it not been for Andre. Hulkamania may never have evolved into the phenomenon it is, for one.
Considering how intertwined the popularity of Hulk Hogan and the WWE was in the 80’s, perspective is offered unto the momentum that bodyslamming Andre lent Hulkamania’s advent.
The Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal that annually plays out still keeps this icon for the ages relevant in present day WWE, honouring the first giant to ply his trade in the WWE and who marketed the novelty aspect of the WWE admirably to many new viewers.
As Jake “The Snake” Roberts later recounted on his feud with Andre, the giant was very choosy in allowing opponents to attack him. He was afforded the freedom to dictate the spots and he only worked with a wrestler if he was entirely convinced by him.
Andre The Giant stood towering above other men not only in size but also in stature and is one of the fore-most foreign stars to achieve success with the WWE. Naturally, Andre the Giant features in this list of the 10 greatest foreign stars to ply their trade with the company.
