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WWE Hall of Famer The Undertaker recently praised former World Heavyweight Champion Chris Benoit while discussing his Mount Rushmore of small guys.
The career of Chris Benoit and the tragedy that was the end of his life remains a taboo topic in the world of pro wrestling, especially within the WWE Universe. Fans and wrestlers may discuss the controversial wrestler at times, but for the most part, WWE has erased him from history, and they still choose not to discuss him.
During the latest episode of his podcast Six Feet Under with Mark Calaway, The Undertaker discussed Benoit and named his top WWE small guys. The list includes guys under six feet tall, who he believes he always had classics with.
The Hall of Famer also said he preferred working with smaller guys as they could tell a better big guy vs. smaller guy story. The Dead Man added that it takes a special kind of wrestler to work with someone his size. He then named the following to his Mount Rushmore of smaller wrestlers: AJ Styles at #4, Chris Benoit at #3, Kurt Angle at #2, and Eddie Guerrero at #1.
"My #3, I'm going to go with 'The Crippler' Chris Benoit. Again, a wrestling machine, he just could go, he was that guy. He was not a big guy at all, but when he got going, man, you forgot... you forgot that he was such a small guy in stature. Yeah, he was jacked, but he was not that big of a dude. He was like a wolverine in the ring. From bell to bell, you had to have wheels to keep up with him and the things that he did were solid, strong, made sense," said The Undertaker.
The Hall of Famer continued:
"I didn't get enough chances to work with him... I worked with him a few times and had some really outstanding matches with him. I did know when I worked with Chris that I needed to put my track shoes on because it was going to be go-time." [From 1:44 to 2:42]
The first-ever Taker vs. Benoit singles match came on an August 14, 2000, episode of RAW, which the former won by DQ.
WWE fans react to recent "Benoit Is Back" announcement
Chris Benoit was in the news again earlier this month as pro wrestling fans reacted to a soccer-related announcement.
Benoit Badiashile is a player for the Chelsea Football Club in the UK. After being off the field for 172 days, he made his big return earlier this month to help Chelsea FC defeat the Blackburn Rovers.
The team celebrated the comeback by declaring "BENOIT IS BACK! [star-struck emoji]" to their fans on X.
As you might imagine, many of the reactions were from WWE fans who first thought of the pro wrestler with the same name when they saw the Chelsea FC announcement.
What do you think of WWE's stance on Chris Benoit? Do you agree with The Undertaker's Mount Rushmore of smaller wrestlers? Sound off in the comments below!
Please credit Six Feet Under with Mark Calaway and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling if you use the quote from this article.
A WWE Hall of Famer called out AEW fans HERE
