Chris Jericho Says Chris Benoit Documentary Doesn't Glorify A Murderer

As noted earlier today at this link, Vice released a new trailer and synopsis for the two-hour, two-part season 2 premiere for their popular "Dark Side of the Ring" series. The episode will focus on the Chris Benoit tragedy.

AEW star Chris Jericho spoke with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated to promote the episode on the Benoit family tragedy from 2007, and explained his involvement with the project.

"I didn't want to hear how I was glorifying a murderer," Jericho said. "I don't want to hear that I'm ignoring this murder. I wanted to talk, specifically, about his life and times, his intensity, and his successes within the ring.

"We're not glorifying a murderer. We're telling the full story. It was done properly, it was done for the right reasons, and we were able to portray the full story, emphasizing the tragedy that much further."

We noted earlier how the episode will feature Jericho, Chavo Guerrero Jr., Vickie Guerrero, and others. SI revealed that Dean Malenko and his wife were also interviewed for the piece. Chavo helped produce the Benoit episode and Jericho said Chavo is the one who got him involved. He explained how he then got Chris' other son, David Benoit, and Nancy Benoit's sister, Sandra Toffoloni, to participate.

"Chavo Guerrero helped produce it, and he's the reason I decided to do it," Jericho said. "His mindset was, 'If we don't do this properly, it's going to get done anyway. Let's do it for the right reasons and do it the right way.' I think he was spot on with that.

"Chavo was involved, which got me involved, and David Benoit and Nancy's sister were involved, then I was able to get Dean and Dean's wife, and Vickie. Suddenly it became this noble project instead of a hack job, which is what the media tends to do in situations with someone they don't know. We knew the person behind this, not just the murderer."

The episode will also tell the story of Benoit and WWE Hall of Famer Eddie Guerrero, looking at how Guerrero's death affected Benoit.

"There was a huge connection between Chris' life and Eddie Guerrero's life, and his death, so half the story is the story of Eddie and the other half is of Chris," Jericho said. "I think we did the right way of portraying this, reminding everyone there were people behind this, not just sensational murder coverage. There is a story to tell of a friendship and a family, and a guy that was not a monster. This was someone you could trust and that was very respected in the wrestling community amongst his peers."