3. June 24, 2007: Chris Benoit's Double-Murder And Suicide
Before this event took place, Chris Benoit was scheduled to win the ECW Championship in WWEs new version of the extreme brand. But when Benoit never showed up for the event, despite numerous calls from friends and co-workers, the title went to Johnny Nitro instead. Later, Benoit, his wife Nancy, and their son Daniel, were found dead in their Atlanta home. When the circumstances of Benoits were revealed in greater detail, WWE and Vince McMahon experienced a media $#1#-storm the likes of which McMahon will never forget. As soon as the headline WWE wrestler kills wife and son, hangs self were released, WWE had to deal with enormous backlash and a lot of hostility from mainstream society. All of the traditional opponents of pro wrestling had new fuel for their criticisms, while wrestling fans were shocked that a man like Chris would have committed such a heinous crime. Years later, Benoits name is never to be spoken of, his contributions to WWE history are virtually non-existent, and he remains one of the most polarizing figures in WWE, to the point where fans often engage in heated debates over his life and legacy. Whatever the aftermath, June 24, 2007 was a very bad day for WWE. The wrestling world lost a great athlete, WWE had to deal with even more criticism than before, and for some fans, it was a hard time to call themselves wrestling fans to begin with.
Alexander Podgorski is a writer for WhatCulture that has been a fan of professional wrestling since he was 8 years old. He loves all kinds of wrestling, from WWE and sports entertainment, to puroresu in Japan.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Queen's University in Political Studies and French, and a Master's Degree in Public Administration. He speaks English, French, Polish, a bit of German, and knows some odd words and phrases in half a dozen other languages.
