WWE has gone out of its way to avoid referring to Chris Benoit in any capacity, using vague terminology whenever Royal Rumble stats or other accomplishments have to be brought up. It’s been this way since 2007, but that changed on the Friday, April 15 episode of WWE SmackDown. It was on that episode that the first Chris Benoit reference in over a decade was uttered, perhaps accidentally, by popular SmackDown commentator Pat McAfee.

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On the Friday, April 8 edition of SmackDown, Butch (formerly known as Pete Dunne) attacked his stablemate Ridge Holland. Stable leader Sheamus later referred to Butch as a “wolverine” to describe his temper and tendency to attack whatever’s in sight. The April 15 episode of SmackDown included a recap of Butch’s attack on Holland, with McAfee referring to Butch as “the rabid wolverine,” which could be taken as a reference to Chris Benoit.

For the uninitiated, Chris Benoit’s nickname in WWE was “The Rabid Wolverine,” so McAfee calling Butch the same thing could be a controversial move. Unless WWE gave McAfee the go-ahead to say it for some reason, one would have to think that this was a complete accident on McAfee’s part, as the company has gone to great lengths to avoid mentioning Benoit in the years since the tragedy.

It will be interesting to see if there’s any fallout from the situation. McAfee’s commentary on SmackDown has proven to be quite popular with fans, and he is clearly in good with his bosses at the company. McAfee was in a featured match at WrestleMania 38 where he defeated Austin Theory and had a segment involving Mr. McMahon and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. Prior to this, McMahon even appeared on McAfee’s radio show. Considering how highly regarded McAfee is by the higherups in WWE, it seems likely that he will be forgiven for the apparent slip-up, but that remains to be seen.

Despite his popularity, McAfee isn’t on the WWE 2K22 roster and doesn’t even appear in the game as a commentator. The WWE 2K22 DLC packs won’t include McAfee either, but perhaps he will appear in the next installment of the franchise.

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Source: Inside the Ropes