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Should Chris Benoit ever be inducted into the HOF

2054 Views 39 Replies 39 Participants Last post by  Clique, 
ryaw5385
Look, we know WWE will never do it and I don't blame them. But, can there be a seperation of artist from the art here? In the ring, Benoit was one of the best, but he also did a horrible thing. I am torn here, because I would like to see him in the HOF... But also, don't.

Lemme know what ya'll think
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Interceptor88

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#2 ·
I don't think so. No matter how good he was, you can't have a murderer in the Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame not only celebrates good performers, but also personalities. Even if many of us believe Benoit wasn't a bad guy and went insane when he did what he did, he did it anyway.
 
ryaw5385

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Discussion Starter · #3 ·
Interceptor88 said:
I don't think so. No matter how good he was, you can't have a murderer in the Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame not only celebrates good performers, but also personalities. Even if many of us believe Benoit wasn't a bad guy and went insane when he did what he did, he did it anyway.
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That's true. But Mike Tyson is in the HOF and he is a convicted rapist, so there isn't really consistency there.
 
G

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#4 ·
This is not about having a murderer in the hall of fame. Certainly not from WWE's perspective.

This is about PR, and what WWE can be seen to be celebrating in the public eye. While many can look at the life of Benoit and separate his undeniable wrestling skill from his actions over that final weekend, it is not a position that WWE can take without getting a massive negative reaction from it's advertisers and most of it's fans.

Honestly, that is fine with me. There are enough entries in the Hall Of Fame that make me cringe with embarassment, and Benoit would jump right to the top of that list.

Regarding Mike Tyson (and those like him) ... again, it's about the public perception. The general public, rightly or wrongly, have accepted Tyson back as a movie star and a personality in the public eye. This is not about people's actions, it's about the public's perception.
 
J

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#5 ·
Not no but heck no. It would be a PR nightmare. I believe he is worthy based on his accomplishments but that alone won’t get you in. The killing his wife and child is and was horrific and an automatic disqualification from the HOF.
 
Generic WWE Guy

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#6 ·
No. Austin said it on his podcast once; "How you are as a person comes before how you are as a performer." I don't think there is any doubt that Benoit had a HoF level career but the glaring factors outweigh that.
 
Krokro

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#8 ·
Generic WWE Guy said:
No. Austin said it on his podcast once; "How you are as a person comes before how you are as a performer." I don't think there is any doubt that Benoit had a HoF level career but the glaring factors outweigh that.
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The irony in Austin saying that is something. To answer the question as honestly as possible, Chris Benoit the wrestler is 100% worthy of the Hall of Fame. Chris Benoit the person is not. It is a wrestling Hall of Fame.
 
Strike Force

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#9 ·
Easy answer: it would be the PR version of a kick to the sac, so WWE will never, ever do it.

Benoit might have gotten in if the murders occurred LONG after his wrestling days were over. If he'd committed these crimes when he was 60, WWE might have looked the other way and wedged him into the "legacy" section of a HOF class or something. As it is, he was a full-time performer about to contend for a world title and his actions brought on one of the biggest shitstorms in company history.
 
Scissor Me Daddy-O!!

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#13 ·
ryaw5385 said:
That's true. But Mike Tyson is in the HOF and he is a convicted rapist, so there isn't really consistency there.
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I don't think Tyson should be in the HOF, but what Tyson did is different than what Benoit did. Benoit killed multiple people and himself, personifying the abuse of drugs in the wrestling industry. Time was on the side of Tyson's induction. He was back in commercials and movies and the general public were accepting. I don't know why, because he's a rapist. But, society accepted him again.

Society hasn't accepted Benoit, yet. They may never. WWE PR didn't have to defend inducting Tyson because he was already being accepted socially. Benoit, you have to have to prepare the PR for the following

1) Murder
2) drug abuse
3) Suicide
4) wrestling is fake

I could see him getting inducted in the future as a very sad inductee, but the whole presentation would have to be on mental health and WWE's push to label him as mentally ill.
 
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taker_2004

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#14 ·
I say this as someone who really loved watching Benoit wrestle.

Fuck no. I don't think any carnies who took wrestling way too seriously, including Abdullah the Butcher, Chris Benoit or New Jack, should be inducted into any HoF. None of those fucks knew when enough was enough. And as much as I hate Hogan, if people took more of a cue from him in terms of self-preservation, we might not have all these drug addicts and brain-damaged spot monkeys dying before 50.
 
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