A Tribute to "The Crippler" Chris Benoit

A TRIBUTE TO "THE CANADIAN CRIPPLER" CHRIS BENOIT:

As I sit here to type this, i, still, am in shock. Chris Benoit is dead, and as facts begin to trickle in, this strange case gets more and more surreal. Benoit, the Benoit I've watched for over a decade, was a man who commanded respect. A man who never relied on gimmicks. What you saw was what you got - and what you got was 100% badass, a man who was born and bred to wrestle, a machine, who honed his craft, emphasis on CRAFT, to the point where for the last decade Benoit was undeniably the best in the business. From all accounts, he was a consummate professional, a man who was a role-model for many, a connection between wrestling's colorful past and its future.

Chris Benoit, to me, exemplified GREATNESS. In the wrestling ring, he was a modern day Bruce Lee. The sheer artistry that he brought to a fight was breathtaking to behold. The fire in Benoit's eyes was almost scary to see. I don't know if any one person better embodied the word "intensity." Benoit was a wrestler that us fans who were passionate about the business quickly singled out as one of the true greats. Not only was he a master ring technician, but Benoit had an in-ring style that was violently beautiful. When Benoit delivered a knife-edge chop, it was with a resounding force that echoed across the arena. For anyone who scoffed at wrestling and dismissed it as "fake," I would hold up any Chris Benoit match. When you see Benoit deliver a chop, there is NO WAY to watch his hand smack some poor sap's chest and not see just how much that had to hurt. When Benoit delivered a snap suplex, he did it with just the right snap that made the move seem all the more effective. His moves were high impact to the extreme. The triple-German - devastating. The flying headbutt - had to have hurt like hell every time. The patented suicide dive - hardcore before hardcore was cool. The crippler crossface - one of the classic submission maneuvers, simple yet effective, when it was locked in, an opponent was guaranteed to tap out.

I first noticed Chris Benoit back in the mid-90's in WCW. At the time, WCW was rising to prominence on the backs of 80's legends enjoying a second act. Big, epic storylines dominated the day - Hulk Hogan and the NWO. Guys like Hogan, Kevin Nash, and Roddy Piper were wrestling in the main events, and they brought boat loads of charisma and the nostalgia-factor to be sure, but equally if not more exciting was the undercard at the time, which was bursting at the seems with up and coming talent. Every Monday, my brother and I tuned in and, even as we watched guys like Hogan and Randy Savage, we were introduced to a whole new crop of superstars in the making - Chris Jericho, Booker T, Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio, Dean Malenko - and Chris Benoit. Benoit was just sick, and I mean that in the best way possible. He was "silent but violent," "the Rabid Wolverine," "the Canadian Crippler." His actions spoke loud and true. And he was so good, so fun to watch, that it didn't matter if the show as a whole was good or not, as long as there was a Benoit match on the card, there was something to look forward to.

I can't even count the number of superstars who when you look at their careers, one of their Top 5 matches, if not their best match, came when facing Chris Benoit. Benoit had the amazing talent that few others have ever had - like a Ric Flair, Bret Hart, or Shawn Michaels, he could have a great match with ANYONE. If you couldn't have a god match with Benoit, it was time to reexamine your career choice. Offhand, so many great matches come to mind. Fights against Booker T, Steve Austin, The Rock, Chris Jericho, Ric Flair, Eddie Guerrero, Shawn Michaels, Kurt Angle, Bret Hart, and the list goes on and on and on. The sad part is that in many ways Benoit was the last of a dying breed. He grew up in Alberta, Canada idolizing the stars of Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling, most especially the legendary Dynamite Kid. In fact, Benoit's style was an ongoing tribute othe Dynamite, and the similarities between them are remarkable to watch in a side by side comparison. But Benoit was a true disciple - he studied in the real-life School of Hard Knocks - Stu Hart's infamous Dungeon. And Benoit carried on the amazing tradition of Dynamite Kid, of Stu Hart, of Bret Hart - a mastery of technical wrestling, a pride for tradition, an "excellence of execution," to borrow a phrase. Not only was he a student of the Dungeon, but Benoit was a Horseman. In WCW, when the legendary faction reformed under Ric Flair and "The Enforcer" Arn Anderson, there was only one guy on entire WCW mid-90's roster who was a 100% legitimate and natural fit for the prestigious group - and that guy was Benoit. He embodied everything that made the Four Horsemen legendary - class, prestige, technical excellence, hard-nosed toughness and ruggedness. I think that, over they ears, Flair and Anderson had a lot of resentment for some of the guys that were shoehorned into reformed incarnations of the Horsemen. But if there's one guy that both accepted into the group with open arms and the utmost level of respect - again, it was Chris Benoit. Seeing Benoit as a member of the Horsemen is what cemented him for me as a legend in his own time.

But while many of us hardcore fans long respected and "marked out" for Benoit and his five star matches, there was still a tremendous glass ceiling that prevented him from attaining the top spot in the business. But still, slowly but surely, Benoit could not be ignored. After Owen Hart died, Bret "The Hitman" Hart decided to return to the ring and put on a special tribute match to his late younger brother. Without hesitation, Bret chose Benoit as his opponent for the tribute. I vividly remember watching this bout on Monday Nitro and being in total awe of what I was seeing. In the wake of a tragedy, us fans were treated to a reminder of what was great about professional wrestling, not to mention one of the all-time great contests between a legend, Bret Hart, and a then-legend in the making in Chris Benoit.

Benoit continued to defy his critics by going to the WWE along with his fellow "Radicalz" from WCW and garnering even more title wins and racking up an increasing number of amazing matches. But the pinnacle was at Wrestlemania 20, when Benoit beat two mainstream stars in Shawn Michaels and HHH to win the world title on the grandest stage of him all. The show ended with Benoit celebrating in the ring, joined by his longtime friend Eddie Guerrero. For years, both had been fan favorites, but huge underdogs. They were undersized, underhyped, and held back by politics, red tape, and bad business. To think of the emotion of that moment now, with both best friends now deceased, is just unbearably sad. But the fact remains - that climactic moment of Wrestlemania 20, with Benoit finally, FINALLY a world champion, is one of the all-time most memorable moments in the history of the business.

The list of classic Chris Benoit matches and moments goes on and on and on. Here are some of the best that come to mind immediately, some of my personal favorites:

- Chris Benoit vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin, in Edmonton, Alberta Canada. This match, on free TV, was one of the best I've ever seen. The crowd was going nuts for the hometown hero, and Benoit delivered, pulling out an amazing sequence that saw him deliver TEN consecutive German suplexed to Austin.

- Benoit and Chris Jericho vs. Stone Cold and HHH - This match was just symbolic of the underdog vs. the establishment. As Benoit and Jericho sought to pull of the upset of the year, you could almost feel the glass ceiling shattering. The heat for this match was off the charts.

- Any Benoit vs. Malenko match - In WCW, any time these two fought, it was a total treat. Malenko was a master technician on par with Benoit, and every match they had was like a chess match of holds and counter-holds.

- Benoit vs. Booker T, Best of Seven series - In WCW, these two had a classic rivalry that delivered, every week, an instant-classic, tat left fans on the edge of their seats wondering who would come out on top, and how. A lot of times its boring to see the same two guys go at it over and over, but not in this case.

- Benoit vs. Angle in a cage - When Kurt Angle came to WWE, he was clearly a legend in the making, and the clear dream match was Angle vs. Benoit - the Olympic Gold medalist vs the Rabid Wolverine. These two had a number of matches that were just SICK, none more so than their RAW cage match, which saw suplexes, headbutts, and moonsaults from the top of the cage, and just brutal, bloody, classic battles.

- Benoit vs. Bret Hart - the two had one of my all time favorite matches when they locked up in tribute to Owen - the match is textbook perfect - it builds to a crescendo, tells a story, has a great finish, and elicits genuine emotion. The two also had a great match for the WCW title that saw Bret Hart win.

- Benoit vs. The Rock - it was an awesome image - Benoit with the Great One locked in the crossface, screaming "tap! Tap! TAP!" and The Rock screaming in pain. This match made even fans who had dismissed Benoit stand up and take notice.

- Any Benoit vs. Flair match - From the WCW days to WWE, these matches always had a "passing of the torch" type feel as the two Horsemen tied up. The thing with both Benoit and Flair is that they give you 110% whether it's a PPV or a C-list show like the old WCW Saturday Night.

- Benoit vs. Shawn Michaels vs. HHH at 'Mania - One of the all-time classics, this match was the crowning achievement in Benoit's illustrious career, the match that finally saw Benoit recognized as The Best, as World Champion. When Benoit ascends that top rope, with championship gold in his eyes, man, you get chills every time.

- Benoit vs. Anybody - Benoit had great matches with ANYONE. From William Regal to Eddie Guerrero to Shawn Michaels to Edge to Jericho to Devon Storm, any Benoit match - you knew he'd deliver the goods, night in night out, the man was a machine, a workhorse, a prodigy. At only age 40, he was already one of the greatest of all-time, and never had a bad match with anyone.

It's just so sad, so tragic, so surreal, to see sucha consummate professional, a man who was a Champion in every sense of the word, go so suddenly. A guy who had the Heart of A Champion, a sense of pride and class and dignity, who quietly and without unnecessary flash ascended the ladder and became The Best. I saw Chris Benoit perform in person many times - at house shows, at Wrestlemania, against Eddie Guerrero and in his first WWE pay-per view as part of the Radicalz, in Hartford, CT. But man, I wish I could see him one more time. A true legend, Benoit was real, legit, and quite simply The Best.