Key insights
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JBL has revealed new details about a meeting that took place just before the WWE Chris Benoit tribute show.
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JBL, Undertaker and Stone Cold went to Vince McMahon and posed the scenario that Benoit may have killed his family.
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McMahon ultimately decided to go with the then-new information. The true nature of what happened became clear when the tribute show aired.
Chris Benoit killing his wife, son and then himself will forever be remembered as one of the darkest moments in wrestling history. A time in WWE that was recently brought back into the spotlight when what was going on behind the scenes was reported on Netflix Vince McMahon Documentary. Not knowing all the details of what happened, WWE held a tribute show for Benoit and his family on Raw on Monday following the horrific incident, and JBL detailed a meeting he and other top stars had with McMahon before the The show was broadcast.
JBL questioned whether the tribute show should have happened
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WWE Hall of Famer JBL, the new co-host of the Something To Wrestle podcast, spoke on a recent episode about the atmosphere backstage before Raw following the tragedy. JBL also revealed that even before the details of the incident became known, it occurred to him that Benoit might have been the one who killed his family (H/T to Cult addict for transcription).
I went to [Undertaker] and said, “What if Chris had done it?”. He just looked at me and you could tell the wheels were spinning. He said, “We need to talk to Vince.” I said, “Yeah, we do.”
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JBL and Undertaker recruited Stone Cold on the way to McMahon's office and the three presented McMahon with the scenario that Benoit could be the villain of this heinous crime rather than one of its victims. The tribute show hadn't happened yet, and JBL reveals that it was one of the few times he's seen McMahon virtually frozen, struggling to make a decision.
Vince is a quick mind and said, “John, I don't know what to do.” Vince saying that was maybe the only time in his life that he ever said that. I said, “I don't know.” That's the downside risk.” He said, “John, I think we have to move forward with the information we have now and if it changes, we will change.”
The details that revealed what actually happened became clear as the show aired
Of course, that's exactly what McMahon did, and “Raw,” which aired after the Benoit tragedy, is one of the show's most infamous episodes in its history and one that will never see the light of day again, at least not officially. The details about what really happened to Benoit and his family became clearer while the tribute episode was still airing. McMahon would apologize afterwards and Benoit has barely been mentioned by WWE since.
