Chris Jericho knows some of the best matches of his WWE career will never be celebrated the same way again — and he says that’s exactly how it should be.
During Wrestling Observer Radio, Jericho looked back at the May 21, 2001 episode of RAW, where he and Chris Benoit defeated Steve Austin and Triple H for the WWE Tag Team Titles. Jericho called it one of the biggest nights of his career, with an insane crowd and a finish that looked like it was setting up major singles programs afterward.
The entire night changed when Triple H tore his quadriceps. Jericho recalled that Triple H still insisted on finishing the match, including taking the Walls of Jericho on the announce table despite the injury. Jericho said the original direction coming out of the match was supposed to send Benoit toward Austin while Jericho moved into a program with Triple H.
“The plans were Steve was going to pair off with Chris for the title and I was going to pair off with Triple H, which we had had great chemistry prior to that. We had a great Last Man Standing match in Dallas, the great night in State College, Pennsylvania, when I beat him for the belt and had to give it back. Those matches, as matches, were great. We had great chemistry.”
Triple H’s injury forced WWE to change course, leaving Jericho with an incredible championship victory that immediately became overshadowed by what happened afterward. Jericho described the night as going from one emotional extreme to another.
“He was hurt, and it was like not only does it ruin the night and the moment, but now everything has to change. And that’s when it became a three-way with Chris and I as partners against Steve as the heel, and it just kind of all fell apart from there.”
“It was one of the greatest nights of my career, then followed by not one of the worst, but just one of the biggest kind of deflations, is what you can say. But man, prior to him getting hurt and even prior to going back, that whole last finish was just unbelievable, the reaction.”
The conversation then turned to the uncomfortable reality surrounding Benoit. Jericho acknowledged that the match was once recognized among RAW’s greatest, but Benoit’s 2007 murder-suicide permanently changed the way anything involving him is viewed.
“One of the worst things is that I have so many great matches tied in with Benoit that can never be seen or watched the same way, nor should they be. But it’s like, that’s one of them. That match is almost kind of lost in time. But for that night, it was an all-timer for me for sure.”
Jericho isn’t arguing that those matches should be reclaimed or separated from what Benoit did. His point is that an important piece of his own wrestling career exists in a place where the in-ring accomplishment and what happened years later can never realistically be untangled.
How do you think wrestling history should handle major matches involving Chris Benoit? Let us know where you stand and leave your feedback.
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