The Tragic Story Of WWE Star Chris Benoit

Chris Benoit made his WWE debut on the January 31, 2000, episode of "Monday Night Raw" alongside Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko, and Perry Saturn, all of whom had joined him in jumping ship from WCW. Together, they were known as the Radicalz, and while the faction didn't last that long, Benoit and Guerrero would go on to enjoy much greater success in singles competition in the coming years. This all culminated at WrestleMania XX in 2004, where the two longtime friends celebrated in the ring as new world champions — Benoit, representing the Raw brand, won the World Heavyweight Championship, while Guerrero, who was affiliated with the SmackDown brand, beat Kurt Angle to take the WWE Championship.

Sadly, Eddie Guerrero died of an enlarged heart on November 13, 2005, aged just 38 years old. It seemed that no one in the WWE locker room was more affected by his death than Benoit, as multiple colleagues recalled on Vice's "Dark Side of the Ring." According to Chris Jericho, Benoit sobbed uncontrollably at Guerrero's funeral and gave him "the most desperate, saddest 'I'm hanging on for dear life' hugs that you could ever get," as quoted by CBR. Guerrero's nephew and former tag teammate, Chavo Guerrero, likewise noted that it was almost like Benoit lost a spouse now that he was, for the first time in his wrestling career, showing emotion to his fellow wrestlers.