'What if he did it?' WWE Hall of Famer JBL on talking to Vince McMahon about Chris Benoit tribute show
WWE paid tribute to Chris Benoit on RAW, celebrating his career, but the grief over the death of one of the most beloved wrestlers turned into anger after it emerged that it was not a case of natural death but a double murder-suicide.
The death of former WWE wrestler Chris Benoit in 2007 still remains one of the most shocking incidents in the world of pro wrestling. Benoit, his wife Nancy, and their 7-year-old son Daniel were found dead inside their home on 25 June 2007, after WWE requested a "welfare check" on him due to his no-show at an event where he was scheduled to perform.
CREDIT: WWE
WWE paid tributes to Chris Benoit
As was customary, WWE paid tribute to Benoit on the next episode of RAW, celebrating his career. But the grief over the death of one of the most beloved wrestlers turned into anger after it emerged that it was not a case of natural death but a double murder-suicide.
A shocked WWE cancelled the further broadcast of the tribute on SmackDown and also scrubbed references to Benoit from its website and shows.
CREDIT: WWE
How JBL felt something was wrong
WWE Hall of Famer JBL has now opened up about how some wrestlers, including himself, had doubts about Benoit's death.
¡°I went to Taker [Undertaker] and said, ¡®What if Chris did it?¡¯ He just looked at me, and you could tell that the wheels were spinning. He said, ¡®We need to talk to Vince.¡¯ I said, ¡®Yeah, we do.¡¯ As we go to Vince, Steve [Austin] was the biggest name in wrestling history at the time and still is. He grabbed Steve and said, ¡®Steve, come with us. We gotta talk to Vince,¡¯¡± JBL told the Something To Wrestle With podcast.
CREDIT: WWE
JBL, Undertaker and Steve Austin met Vince
JBL, the Undertaker, and Austin then went to Vince's office with their apprehensions, and the response of the WWE Chairman left them even more confused.
"Vince looked at me, and I¡¯ve never seen a man that was so indecisive in my life. I¡¯ve never seen Vince like that. I don¡¯t know if he had thought about it before," JBL recalled.
According to JBL, Vince acknowledged that he didn¡¯t know what to do next and decided to go ahead with the tribute show.
¡°He said, ¡®John, I think we have to go with what information we have now, and if it changes, we¡¯ll change,¡¯¡± JBL said.
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Bobins Abraham is the Assistant News Editor at Indiatimes. He has more than twelve years of experience in TV and digital journalism. An avid student of history and geopolitics, he is a conservationist and environmentalist at heart. He writes on environment, sustainability, human-animal conflict and more.
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