David Benoit, son of the late Chris Benoit, is set to make his professional wrestling debut on July 18th for Hart Legacy Wrestling in Calgary, Canada. As of right now, the young Benoit will be tag teaming with his father's close personal friend, Chavo Guerrero Jr. Chris Benoit died in 2007 as the result of a murder-suicide in Fayetteville, Georgia. Chris murdered his wife Nancy and young son Daniel in their family home, before hanging himself from a weightlifting machine. The murder and suicide sparked much interest into the long term risks associated with multiple concussions sustained by professional wrestlers. David is the oldest son from Chris Benoit's first marriage to Martina Benoit. The couple also had a daughter, Megan. At the time of the 2007 tragedy, David (14) and Megan (10) were living with their mother Martina. David has long had an interest in following his father's foot steps. He trained for a period of time with Lance Storm in Canada and has also been pictured working out with Harry Smith (Davey Boy Smith's son). He has reportedly attended more than one WWE event in recent years, and according to Bryan Alvarez of Figure Four Weekly, he said the following regarding his experience interacting with the WWE:
"For all you dirtsheets out there and all you fans, it was at a show in Edmonton, two years ago, I sat down in the production office, talking to one of the writers, they said 'Yup, we'll use the Benoit name again. We could do a lot with it.' There's the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth."
Regardless of Benoit's comments, it would seem that the odds are greatly stacked against him when it comes to the WWE using him at any point in time in the future. The company has gone to great lengths to disassociate themselves with his father, so the fact that he looks a great deal like his father and has the same last name will be large hurdles to overcome. The reality might be that work in Japan would be easier to come by for Benoit if he is talented enough in the ring.