WWE legend Stone Cold Steve Austin talks about Chris Benoit

I think almost everybody on the face of this planet who is over the age of 17 years old knows exactly who Stone Cold Steve Austin is.

I would be a little surprised if anybody younger than knew who he was. But if you don’t, then he happens to be one of the greatest WWE Champions/wrestlers of all time. He was known for sticking it to the man and doing whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted.

He was a huge part of the WWF Attitude Era and Monday Night Wars between themselves and the WCW. Stone Cold kept fans tuned in on Monday nights just to see what he was going to do next. He’s actually the reason why I decided to stick with the WWE.

I was a fan of both brands when I was younger but I was always a huge fan of Steve Austin ever since the gimmick debuted at King of the Ring in 1996.

Now moving our focus from Stone Cold to the main topic of this article, Chris Benoit. A man who lived up to the Ruthless Aggression era with his brutal in ring style. Benoit was one of those guys who always had an entertaining match. Yeah he did what he did, which in a way over shadowed his professional wrestling career to some.

When I found out Chris Benoit died, I standing my kitchen getting ready to cook. My Father, who knows I’m a huge WWE fan, called me and told me to turn on WWE RAW. I was about ready to turn it on anyways because I never really missed an episode. There stood Vince McMahon in the middle of the ring.

I believe it was a week after Vince staged his ‘death’ with the limousine exploding when he shut the door. Vince broke the news to the WWE Universe and a bunch of memories and video montages followed after that. The show was canceled that night after the news broke but eventually took a different turn after details of Chris Benoit’s death surfaced.

It was an episode off ECW if I can remember correctly where Vince McMahon announced that the company will no longer mention Benoit’s name. This would then follow to him being cut from WWE video games, merchandise, DVD/Blu Rays and anything else related to the company.

Now back to Stone Cold Steve Austin. Austin has his own podcast now and was asked about Benoit during one of his shows. Here’s what he had to say about Benoit:

"“Well first and foremost, what I think about Chris Benoit is that guy was one of the most nicest guys I ever met in my life. He’s one of the most talented, hard working cats I’d ever seen in the squared circle. Anybody who knew Chris would tell you those exact two things. That guy loved the damn wrestling business, he was born to be a wrestler and was absolutely phenomenal. Drawing a lot of his influence from The Dynamite Kid, he blazed a path as the Pegasus Kid and his legacy as The Crippler Chris Benoit was just one hellacious career.”  “One night, Chris ended up killing his wife and his kid. That is an act so terrible and horrible I can’t even comprehend or guess as to what happened in that house. That will always overshadow any accomplishment Chris had in the ring. He’ll never be in the Hall of Fame, it will just never happen. His career will speak for itself but his record as a human being, his first and foremost, and those actions will never be forgotten. That’s my feelings on that, we don’t even need to talk about the Hall of Fame. Speaking for myself, Chris Benoit as the person I knew, loved him. Chris Benoit as a wrestler, loved him. Chris Benoit as the person who did what he did, unforgivable. Bottom line.”  – via NoDQ.com."

You can catch Stone Cold Steve Austin’s podcast by clicking here. The episodes are uncut and very entertaining. Austin has always been known to be outspoken, so you know he doesn’t hold back any punches on his own show.