Tarnish On A Legend
By: Lekisha F. Oliver-Burdine
Posted: Tuesday, June 26, 2007 @ 9:35 AM ET

Heartbreak and sadness crept through the wrestling world with the announcement on Monday afternoon. The passing of Chris Benoit, Nancy Benoit and Daniel Benoit has sent a shockwave through the wrestling sport.

From early reports, it had appeared that there may have been a tragic accident in the suburban Atlanta, Georgia, home, but then more information became available.

Possible double murder/suicide has left tarnish on the legacy that was Chris Benoit.

But looking back through the legacy, one has to wonder why would this former World Wrestling Entertainment champion and his loving family would be gone so soon.

Before the results will be released, the past has painted a very grand photo of both Nancy and Chris Benoit. With Benoit starting out in Calgary in 1985, a shining career would string out all over the globe. Taking on Stampede wrestling and the Hart dungeon shaped Chris to be one of the strongest pure wrestlers in the sport today. That training held on through the entire year of touring through Japan as the Pegasus Kid where he met some of his closest friends, like Eddie Guerrero, and had some of his toughest battles in the ring, including the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title from Jushin Liger.

Extreme Championship Wrestling brought Benoit back into the mainstream of the western hemisphere. The stint in ECW would bring him more notoriety with his strength in the ring, but also bringing him more relationships that would continue until his death. Notably that of Dean Malenko.

Next came World Championship Wrestling.

Benoit would start his four-year run as the Crippler and as one of the Four Horsemen. Through title runs as the United States Champion, Tag Team Champion, Television Champion and then to the WCW Heavyweight Champion when he defeated Sid Vicious in January 2000. Before too long, the politics of backstage forced Benoit, along with Eddie Guerrero, Perry Saturn and Dean Malenko to head to World Wrestling Entertainment.

In January 2000, the contract was signed and the Radicalz made their way into WWE history. With runs as the Intercontential champion, tag team champions and the United States Champion, the world title would soon be in the future of Benoit. By winning the Royal Rumble in 2004, Benoit concreted his shot at headlining WrestleMania 20 at Madison Square Garden in a triple-threat match against Shawn Michaels and the reigning champion Triple H. That night would change the history of Benoit and his close friend Eddie Guerrero. With both men taking the titles that night, a new legacy and a new chapter had been written in their books.

But what of the personal side of Chris Benoit?

During his run at World Championship Wrestling, Benoit had started to be managed by Woman, also known as Nancy Sullivan. Sullivan, who at the time was married to “The Taskmaster” Kevin Sullivan, started seeing Benoit as more than just one she managed. They would eventually marry and have one son, Daniel. Along with their youngest, Benoit also had two more children that were not present in Atlanta over the weekend.

Through all the prayers and all the hopes for the family, we hope that the legacy that it took Chris Benoit over two decades to create would be forever blemished. More information about this tragedy will be released throughout the week.

Please continue to pray and keep them in your thoughts.

God bless Chris Benoit.

God bless Nancy Benoit.

God bless Daniel Benoit.

May you rest in peace.

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