Chris Jericho Has Dedicated His WrestleKingdom Match Tonight To Chris Benoit And That's A Bit Weird!
I’m sure a lot of you know that I’m pivoting a bit from wrestling this year to more MMA/movies/nerdy shit, but this was so peculiar I had to mention it. Chris Jericho will be wrestling Kenny Omega (the best wrestler in the world) at WrestleKingdom tonight, and he’s dedicating that match to his late friends Eddie Guerrero…and Chris Benoit.
If you’re unaware, Chris Benoit was a wrestler who was a very prominent gaijin (foreigner) in New Japan in the late 80s/early 90s, and he also murdered his wife and son and skirted all responsibility and killed himself in 2007, making this dedication just a bit problematic. Jericho was best friends with Benoit for a few decades, and still talks about him glowingly, not condoning or defending his actions, but instead focusing all attention elsewhere, to Benoit’s positives. Jericho has said over and over again that he knew Chris Benoit, and something (a combination of brain damage and roid rage, ALLEGEDLY) must have come over him on that day for him to commit those murders because it was unlike him. Uhhh, ya think?
Kenny Omega has to feel so uncomfortable here. Does he bomb and underperform so there’s not an all-time great match associated with Chris Benoit? Really hinders the triple threat match between Shawn Michaels and Triple H at WrestleMania 20. Maybe he dedicates the match to a super nice guy like Chris Pratt to even things out? I don’t know. I’ve never gone through anything like having your best friend do something so heinous, so I can’t really speak on the matter and judge Chris Jericho for how he talks about Benoit, or how he’s dedicating something to him, but it just rubs me the wrong way. I feel it’s glorifying a murderer.
If you’re looking to watch WrestleKingdom overnight, the easiest way is on their streaming service: NJPWWorld. Should begin with their battle royal at 2am EST, and lead you to 5 or 6 in the morning. You have the Robbie Fox guarantee that this will be an absolutely amazing show that will blow all of your expectations away.