We have finally reached the conclusion of our series, after we set out on a journey to find the fifteen greatest technical wrestlers in the history of the WWE. There have been many great wrestlers who never signed with the WWE, wrestling legends such as Misawa, KENTA, Tsuruta and so on, who will be placed at the peak of professional wrestling when it comes to outstanding technical wrestlers.
Most of the crop who had performed in the WWE wouldn’t be able to go head to head with these Japanese legends, because of the physicality involved in Japanese wrestling and working stiff to make professional wrestling look ‘real’. These are the ‘wrestlers’ who put the business above their safety, just to provide the fans what they deserve, no matter if they pay 10 bucks or 100.
Today, we take a look at someone who can stand among the very best the industry has to offer, past and present, and claim to be one of the, if not, the very best in this business. He had a passion for the industry like no other, and perhaps, that consumed him in the end. Today, we look back at one of the toughest, and arguably the greatest technical wrestler, not just in the WWE, but in the history of the business, ‘The Crippler’ Chris Benoit.
No matter where you stand about Chris Benoit the person, Benoit the wrestler commanded respect from fans and peers alike. He could walk into an arena where the crowd wasn’t interested but could make them stand on their feet and applaud his prowess by the end of the night. Benoit was one of those rare individuals who cared deeply about a business which has slowly gone out of its roots. Chris Benoit was never a great ‘entertainer’; Chris Benoit was a great ‘wrestler’.
Growing up, the business was all Benoit thought about, as he used to drive with his father for hours from Edmonton to Calgary, where he used to watch the Dynamite Kid wrestle at Canadian Stampede. That was when Benoit knew he wanted to become a professional wrestler, and he started pursuing his dreams, starting at Stampede, then making his way to Japan, where he wrestled as ‘Pegasus Kid’ and ‘Wild Pegasus’.
It was in Japan that Benoit honed his craft, taking on all comers, including Jushin Liger. Benoit won the Super J Cup in ’94, and then headed for the big leagues in the United States. Chris Benoit gained notoriety in ECW as ‘The Crippler’, and with Heyman being very high on Benoit, he was destined for great things before WCW snatched him away. Benoit gained his initial fame in WCW, putting on great matches and soon joined the Four Horsemen.
Later, Benoit went on to have what is critically acclaimed as the greatest feud in the history for the United States title against Booker T, where they had a series of matches for the title. Post feud, Benoit joined “The Revolution”, and his off camera problems with Kevin Sullivan forced him to quit the company. Before he left, WCW tried to keep Benoit by putting the World Heavyweight title on him, but he didn’t want to be a part of WCW.
Benoit, along with his best friends Malenko and Guerrero and Perry Saturn made his debut in the WWF, and they termed themselves as “The Radicalz”. Benoit was immediately pushed, and he put on some outstanding matches with the likes of Chris Jericho, The Rock and Kurt Angle. He won the WWE Intercontinental title and had one of the greatest ladder matches in history along with Chris Jericho for the IC title at Royal Rumble ’01.
Benoit then had to miss out of in–ring competition for a year due to a broken neck, and when he returned, he quickly rose above the tag team division, winning the tag team titles with multiple partners, including Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle and became the number one contender for the WWE title. Chris Benoit faced Kurt Angle at Royal Rumble ’03 in a match, which is regarded as one of the greatest WWE title matches in the history of the company, and although Benoit lost the match, he was given a standing ovation for his efforts.
The ‘Cinderella story’ of Chris Benoit took off in ’04, when he defied the odds by winning the Royal Rumble match after being the number one entrant. At WrestleMania, Benoit won the World Heavyweight title, in what can only be described as the greatest moment in WrestleMania history, and was later embraced by his long time best friend Eddie Guerrero, as both the individuals shed tears of joy after nearly two decades of hard work and sacrifice.
Chris Benoit’s journey to the pinnacle of professional wrestling and ‘sports entertainment’ was anything but easy, and all the hard work and sacrifice paid off with Benoit winning the biggest prize at the grandest stage of them all. Chris Benoit then went through the trauma of losing his best friend, Eddie Guerrero, and took a sabbatical from the WWE. Even though Benoit returned and won the United States title on a couple of occasions, it was obvious that he wasn’t the same. Benoit was scheduled to win the ECW title in ’07, but he was found by the police along with his wife and his son, in their Atlanta home.
Chris has delivered many 5 star matches and was voted as the best technical wrestler for five years by the Wrestling Observer. Chris Benoit was highly under rated accomplishment-wise in the WWE, as he never cared about the titles or the glory. Benoit wanted to make sure that he gave the fans what they paid to see, and that is the absolute best from him.
No matter how big the crowd was, or how small the occasion was, Benoit gave his everything to the fans and to the industry. It’s sad to know that the business will never look at him the way it did before the tragic incidents took place, but the Chris Benoit everyone knew was a stand up human being, who was highly respected by fans and peers alike. As a fan, one cannot deny what Chris Benoit has done for the business, and for that, he tops the list of the greatest technical wrestlers in the history of the WWE.
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