Benoit (eBook)

Chris Benoit was a man in search of an identity when he arrived in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) in 1994. He'd had his international successes, particularly in Japan, and had stuck a tentative toe into the North American waters on occasion, but he had never established any sort of a beachhead. ECW was a wild place, with wrestlers using baseball batswrapped in barbed wire and tables set alight with lighter fluid. But strangely, the rabid fan base of the Philadelphia-based promotion appreciated the finer arts of professional wrestling as well. Benoit, with his crisply executed, technically sound maneuvers, fit in perfectly. The passion he had for his craft was obvious. Equally clear was his lack of confidence on the microphone, the missing direction in his career. Pro Wrestling Illustrated had even noted Benoit's 'dry image' in a 1994 scouting report: 'Lack ofglitziness hurts him in the eyes of some U.S. promoters.' He would find both confidence and direction thanks to anunfortunate accident. It was November 5, 1994, the big November to Remember show, and he was taking on one of the most wild high fliers on ECW's roster of misfits and castoffs, 'The Homicidal, Genocidal, Suicidal' Sabu. Like Benoit, Sabu had a burning desire for pro wrestling. Born Terry Brunk, his uncle was Ed Farhat, better known for the terror he struck as The Sheik, a headliner from the 1950s to the 1970s. What should have been a routine, though fierce, battleended in near tragedy when Sabu fell awkwardly, landing on top of his head. He suffered a bruised spine and nerve damage. Benoit cried in the dressing room, worried for his friend. He left Philadelphia that night, not knowing that Sabu's neck was all but broken. He followed up once he returned to Edmonton, calling ECW boss Paul Heyman, who was over the moon with excitement. 'It's great, you're going to be called The Crippler. This is awesome, we're going to make so much money,' Benoit recalled Heyman telling him excitedly. All the while he just wanted to know the status of his friend. Benoit still grappled with the potentially lethal mistake years later. 'Things do happen, accidents do happen. I think the people that I work with know me, and the people that know me personally know I'd never take advantage of a situation or someone in the ring like that,' he said. 'They know that it was a mistake. Things happen. It's a physical, contact sport, and injuries are going to happen.' Still, he would admit to liking The Crippler nickname: 'It grew on me and I'm proud of it.' The accident led to the persona of The Crippler - and itwasn't really that far off from Benoit's real personality. He was a no-nonsense guy who took his craft seriously. You messed with him, there could be serious repercussions. He wasn't one for distractions either and had an excellent ability to focus. 'When I have a goal, I try to have tunnel vision to that goal,' he once said.