Matt Hardy Recalls Ominous Day WWE Told Roster About Chris Benoit's Death

Real-life tragedy struck WWE in June 2007 when it was discovered that Chris Benoit had murdered his wife Nancy and son Daniel before taking his own life. Initially, WWE officials apparently were only aware that Benoit and his family were dead. This led to plans for the angle on "Raw" that followed up on Vince McMahon's limousine explosion being scrapped. Things changed very suddenly, according to Matt Hardy, who recalled that everything already being in place for McMahon's "funeral" made the day even creepier.

"I remember how eerie it was that day," Hardy said on "The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy." "[Benoit had] been gone the whole weekend," which led to Hardy subbing for him during a house show main event that weekend. This only served to make things stranger, as Benoit wasn't known to miss work. Then the initial talent meeting started. "We've been walking around all day long," he continued. "There's caskets, different shots they're going to do about Vince, all these wreathes everywhere, flowers, like it really is a funeral home. So many weird, eerie vibes as we're going to be doing the show that followed Vince's explosion."

Then Hardy saw The Undertaker and his wife, Michele McCool, emerge. McCool had tears in her eyes. Figuring Undertaker had been given the heads up, that's when he realized Benoit was dead. Shortly thereafter, they learned his family was as well. Plans for the show immediately changed. McMahon and the higher-ups broke the news, with Hardy being asked to do a testimonial for Benoit. He declined, as did others, because the circumstances of the deaths weren't known.

"It was a very sad day, obviously. Extremely sad," Hardy stated. "Just remarkably eerie in every way possible."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy" with a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.