The former WWE champion speaks about the impact Chris Benoit's death left on his career at the company.
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Former WWE tag team champion Renee Dupree was rocked by the double-murder and suicide by former star Chris Benoit. The death propelled Dupree to get away from the company in 2007 after bodies of Benoit, his wife Nancy, and seven-year-old son Daniel were recovered from an apartment in Fayetteville, Georgia upon request of a ‘welfare check’ made to the police officers by WWE. It was later determined that the WWE star had committed the murders before taking his own life. His wife and son were also drugged during the course of time.
Dupree parted ways from WWE to join Japanese promotion ‘Hustle’. He was known under the name “René Bonaparte” in Japan and also won a fight against former WWE star Tajiri. He was, however, re-signed by the company in 2011 but his work permit had expired by then which disallowed him from rejoining the brand.
“Yeah, when I left [the WWE], I just wanted to, this was right after the Benoit incident, so mentally I just needed to get away from there. The plan was to eventually come back. I was re-signed in 2011. See what happened, in 2007, I was living in Houston, went to Tokyo, and signed a contract. When I came back, my work permit had expired. It was a WWE work permit, so I was refused entry into the United States. At that point, I was so p**sed off. I was like sc**w it, I don’t care if I ever go back to the United States,” Dupree said in an exclusive interview with Dr. Chris Featherstone for Sportskeeda Wrestling’s UnSKripted podcast.
His match with Benoit never took place as WWE chairman Vince McMahon scrapped it due to his new gimmick which saw him in a moustache and robe.
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Benoit, meanwhile, would continue his singles run and also took on Shawn Michales and Triple H in WrestleMania XX. He had defeated the DX generation to earn the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
Dupree later fought in the TNA X Division Championship between 2013 and 2014. He returned to the independent circuit in 2015 where he made his Wrestle-1 appearance for the Canadian Wrestling Federation (CWF) and defeated Tyson Dux.
He also toured with his father, who is the promoter of Canadian Maritimes wrestling Emile Duprée, for the promotion of the Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling from May 2015 through August 2015.
He later appeared for What Culture Pro Wrestling, GNW Canadian Championship, Canadian Wrestling Federation Tag Team Championship, Singapore Pro Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Noah in his illustrious career.
