Chris Benoit - Purgatory (2007)

Does it seem to anyone else that when people go to WWF/E that time stands still, in a way?

If you followed Benoit's career from the early days, you see there are many defining moments. He was in WWE for a little over seven years, yet all that he had accomplished there could have been condensed down to about two and a half years, and that's being generous.

If you look at the seven years before he went there, there's a ton to speak of. Let's see, that would mean going back to 1993. Between 93 and 00, he wrestled all over the world, won several prestigious tournaments, etc. He continued to establish himself as one of the best in the world, and really began to develop a character in ECW. He was a member of the Triple Threat, held the ECW World Tag Team Title with Dean Malenko, had great matches every time... He competed at the World Peace Festival in South Korea, in front of hundreds of thousands of people. He entered WCW and joined the Four Horsemen, a short time later. Though he was held down, he eventually held every title in WCW (except the cruiserweight title) and had some memorable feuds. There are clearly defined "eras" of his career.

Then, he goes to WWF. From this point on, things just kind of run together. His feud with Jericho, over the IC Title, was memorable as was his World Tag Team Title reign (with Jericho). He even had some decent matches with Angle. Then, he was gone for a year, with the neck injury. After that, it seemed that he'd lost his momentum. They put him in a tag team with Guerrero, which I had high hopes for. It took no time for that to get dropped. The World Title win was spectacular, but the title reign itself was pretty forgettable. I do recall that he was booked weak, in a way. They never really treated him like the champ, and he wasn't even allowed to main event Raw at the time. He never became the focal point of the show. Then they jobbed him clean to a heel, and it was all over. They tossed him the US Title, several times, but the feuds and matches were not memorable, for the most part.

If only they could have given him the World Title at Wrestlemania, in 2001, and let him have his run back then. By the time he left with his injury, he could have already done what he needed to do there. It seemed his career went into a holding pattern in WWE. My train of thought has been derailed by the prospect of eating a warm meal, so I'll have to follow up on this another time.

I just wish he'd have won his titles and had a few decent feuds within the first year and a half, then he could have left for Japan or something. This is from a fan's standpoint and doesn't really regard the money he was making, no matter how poorly he was utilized at times...