10 Wrestlers Who Walked Out On Live TV

4. Chris Benoit (17 January 2000 - Nitro)

Chris Benoit WCW World Title
WWE Network

This entry could've easily been reworked to fit the entire Radicalz gang, because Eddie Guerrero, Perry Saturn and Dean Malenko all jumped to the WWF with Chris Benoit in January 2000. Their scenarios were a little different though, not least because WCW had just made Benoit the World Champ at Souled Out.

Yes, this was so typical of the promotion.

24 hours later, Benoit informed management that he wouldn't be tricked by their sudden decision to push him as the head boy. He'd wanted to get the hell out of WCW for a while, and couldn't stomach the fact that Kevin Sullivan had been reinstalled as head booker around the place. Banding together, Benoit and his friends elected to walk out.

They'd show up as a group on WWF TV by the end of the same month. The leap didn't really work out for Saturn or Malenko, but both Guerrero and Benoit went on to become World Champions in the WWF/WWE. That, apparently, meant way more to Benoit than WCW's hollow World Title did.

Advertisement
Contributor

Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.