Former WWE star Jimmy Wang Yang recently opened up about the 2007 Chris Benoit murder-suicide during an interview with Cheap Heat Productions, sharing his deeply conflicted feelings and why he wants nothing to do with Benoit’s wrestling legacy.
Benoit, a former World Heavyweight Champion, murdered his wife Nancy and seven-year-old son Daniel before taking his own life in June 2007 — one of the darkest moments in wrestling history. For Yang, the horrific crime has completely erased any respect he once had for Benoit’s in-ring accomplishments.
“Usually I say no comment to this person,” Yang admitted. “I don’t care anything about his wrestling ability now. What he did disqualifies him to me as a wrestler.”
Yang recalled the moment WWE Chairman Vince McMahon announced the news to the locker room:
“Vince announced what happened. He said he found Chris dead along with his wife and his kid. I looked directly at Brian Kendrick and said, ‘Yep, he finally did it, huh?’ Like, he finally snapped and did that horrible act. And Brian—we both thought the same thing from our previous experience with him.”
At first, Yang said he tried to rationalize the situation, hoping there had been another explanation:
“After that I was like, ‘No, I don’t want to think that.’ He did have this mansion in Atlanta — maybe somebody robbed him and killed him and his family. It was crazy mixed emotions at that time.”
The following day, WWE decided to air a tribute show for Benoit on Monday Night RAW, before the full details of the incident were known. Yang, however, felt uneasy about participating.
“My gut felt weird. I’m like, I don’t know if I want to do a tribute match to Chris Benoit. I need to see more facts about what happened. During the day, things started to leak out, and I no-showed SmackDown because I didn’t want to be part of anything associated with what happened.”
Yang acknowledged that his decision initially got him into trouble with WWE management — but once the full details of the tragedy emerged, his stance was understood.
“I just didn’t feel comfortable. I had a bad feeling about what happened. I no-showed SmackDown and kind of got in trouble, but then it got cleared after everything came out. I just didn’t want to be part of it.”
For Jimmy Wang Yang, Benoit’s actions will always overshadow his once-revered career.
“Personally, I don’t give a sh*t what wrestling match he did or all this other stuff. I don’t care. The last thing he did — that’s what sticks with me.”
The Benoit tragedy remains one of the most shocking and haunting moments in professional wrestling history — one that, as Yang’s comments show, still leaves a deep mark on those who lived through it.
