All Elite Wrestling’s Chris Jericho will be narrating the upcoming premiere of Dark Side of the Ring. Season 2 begins with a documentary focused on the Chris Benoit tragedy. Given the controversial nature of the subject, Jericho stressed that neither he nor the show is “glorifying a murderer.”
“I didn’t want to hear how I was glorifying a murderer. 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,” Jericho explained to SI.com.
“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.”
Chris Jericho On Chris Benoit & Eddie Guerrero’s Friendship
Jericho shared how the episode will also cover the death of Eddie Guerrero. He explained that the connection between Benoit and Guerrero made it impossible to tell a full story without mentioning both wrestlers.
“[…] half the story is the story of Eddie and the other half is of Chris. 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.”
Chavo Guerrero’s Involvement
According to Chris Jericho, Chavo Guerrero was instrumental in the production of the episode. He noted how Chavo helped produce it and is the reason he agreed to be a part of the show.
“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.”
He continued, “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.”
Dark Side of the Ring airs on VICE TV on Tuesday nights. Season 2 starts next week with a two-hour special.
