Should Chris Benoit be inducted into the Hall of Fame?

I was reading though twitter earlier and noticed one from JR after being asked if Chris Benoit would ever get inducted into the HOF.

This is what JR had to say.
"Chris Benoit will never be inducted into WWE HOF Great wrestler but horrific ending to his life overrides career."

It's sad to think that he's whole career is overshadowed by what was a tragic ending of his,he's wife and child's lives and obviously the WWE can't be seen to be condoning what he did as it would cause outrage to most people and the negative publicity it will get for it but should what happened outside of wrestling decide whether you go into the HOF or not?

If it does why is Stone Cold in there he was charged with Domestic Abuse towards he's wife surely that's not the reputation WWE wants? Admittedly there is a difference between Murder and Domestic Abuse but surely WWE wouldn't want to be seen alongside a women beater either?

We all know how excellent of a wrestler Chris was weather in NJPW,ECW,WCW or WWE. He has won endless titles around the world in several companies, He had a 5 star match vs Great Sasuke in 94 and has been named best techincal wrestler on 5 separate occasions and was one of the most gifted wrestlers about.


This leads to me to a few questions for you guys

Should Benoit be in the HOF?

Will he be in the HOF?

Should the HOF be decided by what's done in your career?

If not why should others with previous history's been allowed? Bam Bam Bigelow , Eddie Guerrero e.g Drug Abuse, Domestic Abuses etc.



Personally I doubt we'll ever see Chris in the HOF despite how great a wrestler he was if we ever do it won't be for a long long time.




PS: Chris Benoit jokes will be deleted immediately.

Should he: Yes
Will He: No

I cant argue with JR on this one. While one of the best technically, you just can induct a man who murdered his wife and child, albeit under certain circumstances.

As far as Bam Bam and Eddie go, Eddie got clean and conquered his demons, and domestic abuse isnt really on a par with murder.

I don't think he should and I don't think he will. It's safer and a lot more sensible not to induct him then it would to induct him.

JR is right, his career is overshadowed, no matter what, you think of Chris Benoit, you think of the murder-suicide not his ability.

No, unquestionably and unreservedly. However talented he was as a wrestler the events that occurred at his house vastly overwhelm them.
Why should we remember the good in someone when simply put they murdered a child.

We've been here before numerous times....

Unfortunately his crimes completely overshadow his career WWE can't be seen condoning the killing of his wife & young son. For that reason alone he'll never be inducted. Whether its right depends on your own moral viewpoint. Personally I'm with them on this one.

He shouldn't be put in the HOF, and I doubt he ever will. Drug abuse and domestic abuse are completely different to murdering your family. And that is how we will remember the guy, as a killer before a wrestler.

I never liked him as a wrestler anyway, sure he might have had great matches but I just never got him.

Can anyone justify putting him in the hall of fame? Seeing as quite a few people have put yes?

Let's be honest the hof hasn't got anything to do with how good somebodies career was. It is all about further publicity (and consequently money for Vince). Benoit being inducted wouldn't benefit vince financially, in fact it would almost certainly harm him financially due to the bad publicity. Therefore it will never happen.

Should it happen? No as the hof has no credibility anyway, and never will do if people such as savage never get inducted because of past problems with Vince.

Hell no!

What's the first thing you think about when you hear or see Chris Benoit's name?

That right there is the reason why he shouldn't and never will be welcomed into any WWE honour role

Who on earth has voted yes?

Shocked that people actually voted yes!

How any would want to celebrate the career of a person who murdered his wife and 5 year old child is completely beyond me!

WWE are right on this one.

As Billy Connelly once said "Jeffery Dalmer was suppose to be a nice guy...but I wouldn't have him round for dinner"

Benoit was one of my favourite all time wrestlers but what he did will definatly overshadow his career, so he wont be inducted

I voted yes simply for what he did in that ring. Yes outside troubles ended his career to an extremally sad end. But i think he should because of what he did in the ring. He is a very good wrestler and for that should be inducted. But as said when there doing the inducting they cant just keep quiet about what happend. So the WWE would never do it

He won't be inducted. I have spoken that at least he should be aknowledged by the WWE as a former wrestler and also used in say WWE Vintage.

As for HOF I don't think he should be inducted. I would also imagine that wrestlers would find it difficult to speak of him in wrestling terms, like so many posters have said when you mention the name you remember the crime and not the career. If he does ever get inducted it won't be in my lifetime thats for sure.

NickisBHAFC wrote:I voted yes simply for what he did in that ring. Yes outside troubles ended his career to an extremally sad end. But i think he should because of what he did in the ring. He is a very good wrestler and for that should be inducted. But as said when there doing the inducting they cant just keep quiet about what happend. So the WWE would never do it

how many times are you going to disagree with yourself in one post?

Yes he should
But he can't
But he should
But they can't

Hell No!!!! And why anyone would even consider voting yes is beyond me. I dont care how good his wrestling ability was, there are some things bigger than the world of wrestling and this is one of them. To murder an innocent woman and child just because your depressed / in rage / whatever the hell was up with him is down right disgusting. Especially your own family. What did they do to deserve that? Just killing himself would have been selfish but to take the decision to end thier lives is just sick. The guy deserves no plaudits or honours and Im glad the WWE dont even mention his name.

Benoit - great wrestler but I hope he rots in hell and gets no recognition whatsoever.

Shot 21 LCFC wrote:Hell No!!!! And why anyone would even consider voting yes is beyond me. I dont care how good his wrestling ability was, there are some things bigger than the world of wrestling and this is one of them. To murder an innocent woman and child just because your depressed / in rage / whatever the hell was up with him is down right disgusting. Especially your own family. What did they do to deserve that? Just killing himself would have been selfish but to take the decision to end thier lives is just sick. The guy deserves no plaudits or honours and Im glad the WWE dont even mention his name.

Benoit - great wrestler but I hope he rots in hell and gets no recognition whatsoever.

I think Benoit broke his little heart when it happened

I've always been of the belief that he killed Nancy accidently, after that he knew that Daniel would grow up without both of them as he'd no doubt do 20-life for Man1 so made the call to kill him, a mercy killing in his own twisted logic, after that it was suicide or life without perole

Could be true gaff, Ive never really thought of that myself. Still standing by what I said though.

The premise of this question is flawed in my opinion as it is baseed upon the assumption that the hof is a valued and credible achievement, with induction into it being an honoured and sought after accolade.

Since this is not the case, who really cares if person x or person y is inducted. It would not surprise me if the inductees are paid to appear at the induction ceremony - which if true would tell us everything that we need to know about its credibility.

Simple answer - Absolutely not.

As to the above - the credibility of the HOF doesn't enter the equation. His inclusion would reflect on WWE as a brand regardless of the stature of the HOF. It doesn't matter how good he was in the ring; his legacy has been tarnished beyond all repair and he can and, in my opinion, never should be inducted in the HOF.

Celtic you say the credibility of the hof doesn't matter, but then you go on to demonstrate why the hof is not credible because his inclusion would reflect badly on the wwe brand i.e. the hof is part of the wwe brand.

The point I was trying to make is that people are answering this question as if the hof means something. If you take the view that the hof is meaningless then this question doesn't even arise, let alone need to be answered.

hof = business scheme. Therefore if putting benoit in the hof made business sense Vince would do it. It doesn't so he will never do it.

I'd love it to happen as he is one of favourates wrestlers of all time but it'll never happen.

I answered no. I went into detail in another thread about how Chris Benoit's final acts almost extinguished my love of pro-wrestling, but as big a reason as any is that it is called the "Hall of Fame", not "Hall of Infamy".

LivinginItaly wrote:Celtic you say the credibility of the hof doesn't matter, but then you go on to demonstrate why the hof is not credible because his inclusion would reflect badly on the wwe brand i.e. the hof is part of the wwe brand.

The point I was trying to make is that people are answering this question as if the hof means something. If you take the view that the hof is meaningless then this question doesn't even arise, let alone need to be answered.

hof = business scheme. Therefore if putting benoit in the hof made business sense Vince would do it. It doesn't so he will never do it.

No I don't think you get what I was trying to say.

It shouldn't matter if the HOF was viewed as the most accurate and credible reflection of wrestling talent, or as a lowly popularity contest such as the Slammys. He shouldn't be included in it regardless of the level of it. That is the point I was trying to make.

What he did detracts so much from his in ring ability that even if the HOF was conducted by an independent company out with the WWE's influence he would not be included.

The issue about credibility will never be fixed. A HOF being administered by one company will never reflect correctly on an entire industry. It will be too open to personal vendettas (such as the Savage example that you offered.) But if you were to induct a man that murdered his family and then committed suicide you would be damaging it's credibility more than any celebrity induction ever could (That's including the fact that Drew Carey is inducted).

Based on his professional career only then yes - he was one of my favorite in ring wrestlers during a time when I watched both main promotions religiously. However, as others have said what he did doesn't just overshadow his professional achievements, it blows them out of the water. The WWE hof may be a gimmicky event in a gimmicky industry but it still has some credibility - even as someone who likes wrestling I would find it at best in extremely bad taste. As for those who enjoying mocking wrestling then they would be in absolute uproar.

If based on wrestling ability then there is no reson y he shouldnot be included. that is y i voted yes

the-gaffer wrote:I've always been of the belief that he killed Nancy accidently, after that he knew that Daniel would grow up without both of them as he'd no doubt do 20-life for Man1 so made the call to kill him, a mercy killing in his own twisted logic, after that it was suicide or life without perole

Having visited Glasgow I would take gaffer as the absoloute authority of double murder/suicides.

It's interestling to note the Benoit had been inducted to the WON Hall of Fame, prior to the incident, and following a ballot reviewing his entry chose to keep him inducted.

Personally I see no need for Benoit to go into the WWE HOF, it would create an unpleasent backlash for an accolade the has 0% credibility anyways.

No, but I think the WWE should stop pretending he didn't exist.

He deserves to be ignored.

Who?.... :wink:

What about Nancy? She was in WCW for a period, could she be considered?

King Beer wrote:What about Nancy? She was in WCW for a period

I never knew WCW got that vulgar

Marky wrote:

King Beer wrote:What about Nancy? She was in WCW for a period

I never knew WCW got that vulgar

That was Russo's unused "Tampon On a Poll Diva Battle Royal". Winner also gets a shot at the title and a free pregnancy test.

In regards to Benoit, it isn't plausible for him to be inducted for obvious reasons. Anyway, how are you going to induct him and who would want the stigma of inducted him? You can't talk about his death, or even that he "sadly passed away". Therefore you can't touch upon him not being there to pick up the award.

The only hope they have of doing it (if they really wanted to) is to induct him as part of a Radicalz. Can't see that happening either.

Anyway, there are far more deserving people who deserve a HOF, even if Benoit didn't commit the crime he did.

Should Benoit be in the HOF? - Absolutely not. He had a HOF worthy career but all that went out the window the second he murdered his wife and son.


Will he be in the HOF? - I can't see it happening unless Vince decides that he wants a ton of grief from pretty much everybody.


Should the HOF be decided by what's done in your career? - It's a nice thought but WWE's Hall of Fame will only ever be graced by those who are in favour with the McMahon family. And regardless of what you've done in your wrestling career, if you take someone's life you can't be considered for the HOF.


If not why should others with previous history's been allowed? Bam Bam Bigelow , Eddie Guerrero e.g Drug Abuse, Domestic Abuses etc. - Well Bam Bam's not in the HOF and I guess with Eddie Guerrero the fact that he got himself clean and turned his life around before his untimely death worked in his favour. To be honest though, whilst not condoning domestic abuse or drug abuse, they pale in comparison with a double murder.

Thought i'd bump this.

With the announcement that the Four Horsemen are to be inducted into the HOF, do people think this could later lead to Benoit being entered? Will they recognise that he was part of the stable?

I don't think so, I think they're just looking at the Original members, does Flair get a second ring? He featured heavily in the promo, guess he must be done with TNA

Either that or it's the WWE trying to make money off of Flair while he's in TNA.

This thread should be closed down. The simple answer is "no". I cannot start to think how anyone can vote "yes". Insane.

Absolutely no way should he ever be even considdered. The guy was a genius in the ring but after what he did he deserves to be ignored forever. I think Woman should have been in though as a token of respect but that moment has probably gone now.

I wonder if Sid will be involved? It didn't seem it from the promo vid but ya never know.

Chris Benoit was always a favourite of mine, his Royal Rumble victory, and then his Wrestlemania win was one of the best storylines in WWE history.

On his wrestling ability alone he does deserve to be in the hall of fame, and he was a far better wrestler than the majority of the guys already inducted.

But can a man who murdered his own family career realy be celebrated. It's a definate no for me. Those who are saying he should be entered realy need to actually digest what this guy did, he killed a defenceless women and child, with his bare hands.

The guy was clearly evil, and sick in the head, and if anyone realy thinks a man who did what he did, deserves any recognition, then they may be sick in the head aswell.

DDT wrote:Chris Benoit was always a favourite of mine, his Royal Rumble victory, and then his Wrestlemania win was one of the best storylines in WWE history.

On his wrestling ability alone he does deserve to be in the hall of fame, and he was a far better wrestler than the majority of the guys already inducted.

But can a man who murdered his own family career realy be celebrated. It's a definate no for me. Those who are saying he should be entered realy need to actually digest what this guy did, he killed a defenceless women and child, with his bare hands.

The guy was clearly evil, and sick in the head, and if anyone realy thinks a man who did what he did, deserves any recognition, then they may be sick in the head aswell.

I would not go that far. He obviously had mental health issues which could have been caused by a number of reasons. I am not saying it wasn't an evil act. I am saying that he was not a sane individual when he did it.

Some say it wasn't a sanme act, others believe he accidently murdered Nancy during a fit of rage while having the usual domestic, with him then being Sane enough to realise what he did and take his own life and that of his kids too

Without a note no-one will ever truly know what happened that night

Benoit was the only guy willing to take a chair shot to the back of the head. I can see why now.

Im of the ideal that the Benoit who commited the crime was not the same Benoit who had entertained me for years. I believe that the toll of all the chair shots, diving headbutts, and steroids destroyed his mind until he snapped.

Nobody knows for sure how sane Chris Benoit was, though I don't see how that excuses his actions in anyway, or we could excuse half the criminally insane in broadmoor.

I don't see how he could have killed his wife accidentally, as she died from suffocation, from a choke. I'm no expert on this, but I'd imagine killing someone like that isn't quick, in other words, plenty of time for Benoit to realise what he was doing. It wasnt like he hit her once in an act of spare of the moment rage, he would have had to have held her in that choke for quite some time. There was also little sign of a struggle, so she probably wasn't expecting the attack. Afterall Benoit was a very strong guy, I'd imagine he could have quite easily stopped her from struggling.

It's not like Benoit was a model family man beforehand, he had a history of domestic violence, his wife had even threatened to leave him before. So you cant blame it solely on the steroids, or whatever else he was taking. I think you either have it in you or you don't, and no amount of drugs would make a normal guy do what he did.

I dont think you quite understand how the brain works.

I don't think many of us know how the brain works, what I do know is millions of people go insane, and the large majority of those people are not considered a threat.

You average guy does not lose his marbles, and then kill his family. I'm not buying that it was solely down to drugs. They may have triggered it off, but he still had to have it in him in the first place.

Anyone watched the Wrestling with Demon's Documentary about Chris Benoit.

Chris Nowinski a former wrestler he's moved into something about sports injuries and concussions etc had some tests done on Chris's brain after he's death and it came back he had the mind of an 10 year old at best.

It's an excellent watch if you ain't seen it already

he was mentally ill ffs, give him a break.