Former WWE Star Speaks on Losing Pieces of His Legacy Tied to Chris Benoit

While that has relaxed somewhat in recent years, you'll still be hard-pressed to find any official recognition of Benoit from WWE.

The virtual disappearance of Benoit from WWE records has implications for the WWE legacy of former superstar MVP, who won his first United States Championship from Benoit at Judgment Day 2007 — just one month before Benoit's death.

When asked how that makes him feel on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, MVP said, "It's weird because Chris Benoit and I had a really close relationship. A lot of people don't realize. He was my favorite wrestler."

How Benoit and MVP Became Close

MVP's route to WWE was nothing but ordinary. After serving nine and a half years in federal prison, MVP made his way into professional wrestling, signing with WWE in his early thirties. Before debuting on SmackDown in 2006, MVP credits Benoit with offering him $1,000 to help him buy suits for his gimmick.

"When he came back from his neck injury, I was the one who was having private workouts with him. He campaigned to work with me to drop the US Title to me. So, he was such a huge impact on my career. He was my friend and my mentor."

How MVP Processed Benoit's Death

Reflecting on Benoit's death, MVP told Van Vliet, "I've been to that house. I've played with Daniel. I used to lace his boots up, and we'd play in the ring together. So I was absolutely heartbroken."

MVP feels that learning about CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) and that Benoit's brain was "like that of a 70-year-old man" from Dr. Bennet Omalu, helped him understand what happened. "It helped me," MVP said, "because now I was able to understand. In no way am I making it OK, but it helped me."

Other Stars' Legacies Affected by Benoit

Randy Orton won his first World Heavyweight Championship from Chris Benoit at SummerSlam 2004, but you'll never hear WWE acknowledge that.

Kurt Angle spoke about his best matches being against Benoit.

Triple H and Shawn Michaels' WrestleMania XX Triple Threat main event ended with Benoit and Eddie Guerrero sharing the ring in an emotional embrace. Benoit was a core star of the Attitude and Ruthless Aggression eras.

For MVP, he feels that his Judgment Day 2007 victory over Benoit is his "favorite match."

That match would be Chris Benoit's final PPV match.