User:TrueCRaysball/sandbox/Chris Benoit

Chris Benoit
Born	(1967-05-21)May 21, 1967 Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Died	June 24, 2007(2007-06-24) (aged 40) Fayetteville, Georgia, U.S.
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Chris Benoit Pegasus Kid Wild Pegasus
Billed height	5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Billed weight	234 lb (106 kg)
Billed from	Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Trained by	Stu Hart, New Japan Dojo
Debut	November 22 1985

Christopher Michael Benoit (May 21, 1967 – June 25, 2007) was a Canadian professional wrestler. He is best known for wrestling in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).

On June 25, 2007, Benoit, his wife Nancy, and their 7-year-old son Daniel were all found dead in their Fayetteville, Georgia.

Career

During his youth in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, he was trained by Stu Hart. He wanted to become a wrestler because of Tom Billington, the Dynamite Kid. Chris Benoit began his career in 1985 in Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling promotion. 1989 Stampede Wrestling closed, and Chris went to wrestle in Japan for NJPW. He wore a mask and called himself Pegasus Kid.

In 1990, he won his first major championship, the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, from Jushin Liger. He later lost the title (and his mask) to Liger, He changed his name to Wild Pegasus. As Wild Pegasus he won the Super Juniors tournament in 1993 and 1995.

Benoit left Japan to wrestle in Germany and Mexico. In 1994 he began working for ECW. In ECW he dropped the name Wild Pegasus. After an accident that broke Sabu's neck, he became known as "The Crippler" Chris Benoit.

Benoit worked For WCW staring in 1995. In 1998, he had a feud with Booker T. They fought in a "Best-of-seven-series" for the WCW World Television Championship. Booker won but he would end up loosing the title to Finlay. This fued helped both mens careers.

WWE

In 2000 Benoit began wrestling for the WWE. In 2004 he took part in the Royal Rumble. He entered first and won when he eliminated The Big Show. After winning the Royal Rumble, he fought for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. At WrestleMania XX, he fought against Shawn Michaels and champion Triple H. Benoit won this match by makeing Triple H submit to the Crippler Crossface. At the end of this event, Benoit celebrated in the ring with the WWE Champion Eddie Guerrero. This is looked at as the biggest win in Benoit's Career.

On the June 11 episode of RAW, Benoit was drafted from SmackDown! to ECW as part of the 2007 WWE Draft. Benoit won his first ECW match teaming up with CM Punk and defeating Elijah Burke and Marcus Cor Von.

On June 19, 2007, Benoit wrestled his last match. He beat Elijah Burke in a match to decide who would face CM Punk for the ECW World Championship at Vengeance. Benoit did not appear at the house shows during the weekend of June 23th. He told WWE officials that his wife and son were sick due to food poisoning. When he did not show up for the pay-per-view, viewers were told that it was because of a "family emergency." Johnny Nitro took his place in the title match. Nitro won the match and became ECW Champion.

Promotions

Benoit worked for many different wrestling companies:

• Calgary Stampede Wrestling (CSW)
• Universal Wrestling Association (UWA)
• Coninental Wrestling Association (CWA)
• New Japanese Professional Wrestling (NJPW)
• Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW)
• World Championship Wrestling(WCW)
• World Wrestling Association (WWA)
• World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

Championships and accomplishments

• Catch Wrestling Association
  • CWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Dave Taylor
• Extreme Championship Wrestling
  • ECW World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Dean Malenko
• New Japan Pro Wrestling
  • IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • Super J Cup Winner (1994)
  • Top of the Super Juniors (1993)
  • Best of the Super Juniors (1995)
• Stampede Wrestling
  • Stampede British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Championship (4 times)
  • Stampede International Tag Team Championship (4 times) - with Ben Bassarab (1), Keith Hart (1), Lance Idol (1), and Biff Wellington (1)
  • Stampede Wrestling Hall of Fame
• Universal Wrestling Association
  • WWF Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)¹
• World Championship Wrestling
  • WCW United States Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
  • WCW World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • WCW World Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Dean Malenko (1) and Perry Saturn (1)
  • WCW World Television Championship (3 times)

    

    Benoit's five United States Heavyweight Championship reigns (two in WCW; three in WWE) are tied for the most in history.

• World Wrestling Federation | World Wrestling Entertainment
  • WWE Tag Team Championship (1 time; first-ever champions) - with Kurt Angle
  • WWE United States Championship (3 times)
  • WWF/E Intercontinental Championship (4 times)
  • WWF/E World Tag Team Championship (3 times) - with Chris Jericho (1) and Edge (2)
  • World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • Royal Rumble (2004)
  • Twelfth Triple Crown Champion
• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI Feud of the Year (2004) vs. Triple H
  • PWI Match of the Year (2004) vs. Shawn Michaels and Triple H
  • PWI Wrestler of the Year (2004)
  • PWI ranked him # 1 of the 500 best singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2004.
• Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
  • Best Technical Wrestler (1994, 1995, 2000, 2003, 2004)
  • Most Underrated (1998)
  • Most Outstanding Wrestler (2000, 2004)
  • Match of the Year (2002) with Kurt Angle vs. Edge and Rey Mysterio
  • Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 2003)
  • Best Brawler (2004)
  • Feud of the Year (2004) vs. Triple H and Shawn Michaels

1. ^ Benoit's reign with the championship isn't officially recognized by World Wrestling Entertainment. No reign prior to December of 1997 is recognized by the promotion.