Chris Benoit’s son was set to make his debut in wrestling, but AEW star Chris Jericho put a stop to that.
David Benoit was due to wrestle on July 18th, 2014 for Hart Legacy Wrestling in Calgary, Canada. The promotion was run by the family of Bret “The Hitman” Hart, a close friend of Chris Benoit.
David Benoit was due to wrestle in a tag team match against another of his father’s friends, Chavo Guerrero. However, the match was called off and, as of this day, he has still yet to make his debut in wrestling.
Chris Benoit, the father of David, is one of the most controversial figures in wrestling history. In the ring he was one of the all time greats, bringing a technical soundness and unrivalled intensity that made him a premier in-ring athlete.
Benoit was a former Royal Rumble winner and former World Champion in WWE, and a legend of wrestling whoever you asked.
However, he soiled what was a great career on June 24th, 2007. Chris Benoit murdered his wife, Nancy and his son, Daniel (not the son referred to in this article) before killing himself.
The murders took place over a weekend but were not discovered until the 24th after Benoit missed a WWE Pay Per View event.
Benoit famously texted his friends “The Dogs Are In The Enclosed Pool Area” prior to his death. One of those close friends was Chavo Guerrero, who was slated to team with Benoit’s son David, in the latter’s debut match in wrestling.
It would have been a fitting first match for Chris Benoit’s son. David had been long estranged from his father’s world of wrestling and only reunited with his family on his father’s side thanks to Chris Jericho and the Dark Side Of The Ring TV Show.
Chris Benoit’s Son Wrestling?
Due to the nature of his father’s passing and his family name (not to mention just how much David Benoit looks like his father), Chris Benoit’s son would never, ever get a look in in WWE.
Wrestling on the independents, as many other wrestlers do once they are trained, seemed his only option.
However, the only issue with that was his lack of training. The young son of The Rabid Wolverine had not done any wrestling training and had failed to accept the help from the likes of Chris Jericho to train him.
Once WWE Legend and AEW Star Chris Jericho got wind that he was going to be in the match with Chavo Guerrero, he shut it down at once. As reported by Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
He wrote that Chris Jericho got in touch with the Hart Legacy promotion and was “furious” with them for advertising this because he knew that David wasn’t a trained wrestler.
Chavo Guerrero then assured Jericho that he had been told Benoit had been trained and the promoters tried to argue that he wouldn’t actually be wrestling and would just be involved in an angle.
This was not enough for Le Champion, who pulled him from the card. To this day, David Benoit has yet to step inside a wrestling ring and work a match.
He has said that he intends to train as his father did, even taking up his name and be known as Chris Benoit Jr. However, that would likely be a non-starter for most promoters, should he even get trained in the first place.
Future for David Benoit
8 years on and nothing has changed for Chris Benoit’s son. It is sad to see the son of a legend clearly struggling in the shadow of his infamous father.
Hopefully with the help of legends like Chris Jericho and Chavo Guerrero by his side, David Benoit can forge a path for himself in what he is passionate in, be that pro-wrestling or anything else.
He has once again claimed he will wrestle a match soon, most recently in an interview in 2021.
He claimed he was set to wrestle a match as “Chris Benoit Jr“, even making his own “tights with the claws” in an homage to his late father. However, whether that bout will ever come to fruition remains to be seen.
Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit
Chris Jericho had a close relationship with Chris Benoit. He was inspired by his fellow Canadian as he broke into the business and the pair later became friends, during their time in WCW and WWE.
Jericho considered him one of his best friends, alongside Eddie Guerrero and Dean Malenko.
He felt incredibly saddened by his friends’ death. However, he still went on national TV to defend the use of steroids in his death and tried to figure what really happened.
Jericho couldn’t believe what Benoit did, but ultimately believed the reports and considered that his friend was not in his right mind when he killed his wife and son.
You can read about Chris Jericho’s relationship with Chris Benoit and his reaction to The Rabid Wolverine’s death in his second book, entitled “Undisputed: How to Become World Champion in 1,372 Easy Steps“.
Chris Benoit Jr
Chris Benoit’s son, David, has spoken about how he wants to wrestle in the future, and has a specific name picked out.
With his full name being David Chris Benoit, he has the legal right to wrestle under the name “Chris Benoit”.
The son of the late former World Heavyweight Champion has claimed that he wants to wrestle under the name Chris Benoit Jr, paying homage to his father who has been long forgotten in wrestling (for good reason).
Speaking with Chris Van Vliet, Davis Benoit reveals how he wants to wrestle under the name Chris Benoit Jr, and even has the same tights as his father already made up, and ready to go.
“I have his middle name. I can legally use it if I want to.
Yeah [I would wrestle as Chris Benoit Jr]. I think that would be cool. I got the tights with the claw.”
However, at the time of writing, David Benoit has still not learnt to wrestle, and has yet to have his first wrestling match.
