WWE Hall of Famer JBL recently shed light on the internal conversations within WWE during the tragic events of June 2007 involving Chris Benoit.
In the tragic event, Benoit, his wife Nancy, and their son Daniel lost their lives. Following the tragedy, WWE aired a tribute episode in the memory of the late wrestler.
However, it was later disclosed that Chris Benoit was responsible for the deaths of his wife and son before ending his own life, a revelation which led WWE to completely abstain from mentioning him since then.
On a recent segment of the podcast, “Something to Wrestle With”, JBL shed light on his apprehension during the airing of the tribute episode. He shared that he approached talents like Taker and Steve Austin with his concerns, stating:
“I started pondering, could it be possible that Chris did it? I expressed my concern to Taker, asking him, ‘Could Chris have done it?’ His reaction made me think he was contemplating the same. He suggested we bring this up with Vince. I agreed. Given that Steve [Austin] was the biggest star in the wrestling industry then, and still is, we decided to involve him in the conversation and addressed this concern with Vince.”
JBL remembered how McMahon reacted with rare hesitation when approached by the trio prior to the scheduled tribute episode.
Even though McMahon is renowned for his decisive nature, he seemed uncertain at that moment, verbally expressing his confusion.
“Vince is known for quick thinking, and he responded, ‘John, I’m not sure about the course of action.’ Coming from Vince, these words held weight and it might have been one of the rare times he was at a loss of what to do. I wasn’t sure either. He then added, ‘John, I think we should proceed based on the information we have at the time and adjust if the scenario changes.’”
JBL inferred that McMahon might not have considered the likelihood of Benoit being the perpetrator before he brought it to his attention.
Later in the week, on the ECW show, McMahon openly talked about Benoit’s horrific actions, which marked the last time WWE TV mentioned Benoit by name.