BY MICHAEL GOODPASTER
“Worst Case Scenario” is a new take on the concept of “fantasy booking”. For years professional wrestling fans would spend endless hours of thinking up the coolest things that could happen. Why waste the energy? This only leads to high expectations. “Worst Case Scenario” flips that. Instead of looking through rose colored glasses, let’s take a bi-weekly look at the worst possible scenarios in professional wrestling. I’m not going to be malicious or anything too mean, but I will not refrain from letting my brain come up with the worst possible shit I can. Sadly, it seems the writers and producers of mainstream TV wrestling and the mainstream iPPV level indies are doing the same thing but charging us for it. And now…
“Chris Benoit Inducted into the HOF”
I don’t need to get into the history and the story too much. Chris Benoit was a professional wrestler who was respected and loved by tons of people. He was considered one of the best performers of his time and put on many great matches and gave wrestling fans many great moments. He was a multiple time Champion and had accolades that are Hall of Fame worthy for sure.
Then he went crazy. He killed his young child, his wife, and then himself. The point is a man went crazy and innocent people were killed. The way people see it as “A WRESTLER went crazy and innocent people were killed”. This makes WRESTLING a victim as well. People associate the incident with wrestling. The WWE is a WRESTLING business. So they had to react to this. They basically blacklisted Benoit. His name was removed from everything and his clips were never shown. The time frame he was most successful is now full of holes due to him being scratched from history.
I don’t care if you loved his series with Booker T, his Wrestlemania win, or his tag matches with Kurt Angle. This means nothing. It’s entertainment. Chris Benoit DID NOT WIN ANYTHING. He was a performer. He didn’t really win any titles or anything. His character was written to win a title. His performance was great in this role, but it’s not like he had to overcome foes or face any serious unwanted danger. He was an athletic improve actor who was good at his job. His career was impressive, but his “accomplishments” are bullshit. The idea of him being “Hall of Fame” worthy is bullshit. He did more harm to wrestling than anyone in modern times. The black eye he left on wrestling and the world in general in much much MUCH bigger than some bullshit U.S. Title win over “M.V.P.”
So in reality for Chris Benoit’s career to ever be worthy and acceptable for “Hall of Fame status” something much much MUCH worse would have to happen to overshadow it. That’s the only way. It’s a “worst case scenario” I’d prefer not to consider…
It would probably involve Pandas though.
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