Chris Benoit

New Japan Pro Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling (WCW) had a working relationship, and because of their "talent exchange" program, Benoit signed with WCW in late 1995 along with a number of talent working in New Japan to be a part of the angle. Like the majority of those who came to WCW in the exchange, he started out in as a member of the cruiserweight division, having lengthy matches against many of his former rivals in Japan on pretty much every single broadcast, which received rave reviews from the fans in attendance and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. At the end of 1995, Benoit went back to Japan as a part of the "talent exchange" to wrestle as a representative for New Japan in the Super J Cup: Second Stage, defeating Lionheart in the quarterfinals (he received a bye to the quarterfinals for his work in 1995, similar to the way he advanced in the 1994 edition) and losing to Gedo in the semifinals.
After impressing higher-ups with his work, he was approached by Ric Flair and the WCW booking staff to become a member of the reformed Four Horsemen in 1995, alongside Flair, Arn Anderson, and Brian Pillman; he was introduced by Pillman as a gruff, no-nonsense heel similar to his ECW persona, The Crippler. He was brought in to add a new dynamic for Anderson and Flair's tormenting of Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage in their "Alliance to End Hulkamania", which saw the Horsemen team up with the Dungeon of Doom, but that alliance ended with Dungeon leader and WCW booker, Kevin Sullivan feuding with Pillman. When Pillman abruptly left the company for the WWF, Benoit was placed into his ongoing feud with Sullivan. This would come to fruition through a dissension between the two in a tag team match with the two reluctantly teaming with each other against The Public Enemy, and Benoit being attacked by Sullivan at Slamboree. This would lead to the two having violent confrontations at pay-per-views, which led to Sullivan booking a feud in which Benoit was having an affair with Sullivan's real life wife and onscreen valet, Nancy (also known as Woman). Benoit and Nancy were forced to spend time together to make the affair look real, (hold hands in public, share hotel rooms, etc). This on-screen relationship developed into a real-life affair off-screen. Because of this, Sullivan and Benoit had a contentious backstage relationship at best. Benoit did, however, admit having a certain amount of respect for Sullivan, saying on the DVD Hard Knocks: The Chris Benoit Story that Sullivan never took undue liberties in the ring during their feud, even though he blamed Benoit for breaking up his marriage. This would continue for over the course of a year with Sullivan having his enforcers apprehend Benoit in a multitude of matches. This would all culminate in a retirement match at the 1997 Bash at the Beach, where Benoit defeated Sullivan; this was used to explain Sullivan going to a behind-the-scenes role, where he could focus on his initial job of booking.
In 1998, Benoit had a long feud with Booker T. They fought over the WCW World Television Championship until Booker lost the title to Fit Finlay. Booker won a "Best-of-Seven" series which was held between the two to determine a number one contender. Benoit went up 3 to 1 before Booker caught up, forcing the 7th and final match on Monday Nitro. During the match, Bret Hart interjected himself, interfering on behalf of Benoit in an attempt to get him to join the New World Order. Benoit refused to win that way and told the referee what happened, getting himself disqualified. Booker refused that victory, instead opting for an eighth match at the Great American Bash to see who would fight Finlay later that night. Booker won the final match and went on to beat Finlay for the title. This feud significantly elevated both men's careers as singles competitors, and both remained at the top of the midcard afterwards.
In 1999, Benoit teamed with Dean Malenko once again and defeated Curt Hennig and Barry Windham to win the WCW World Tag Team Championship. This led to a reformation of the Four Horsemen with the tag team champions, Anderson, and Steve "Mongo" McMichael. This led to the two hunting after the tag team championship for several months, feuding with teams like Raven and Perry Saturn or Billy Kidman and Rey Mysterio, Jr. After a falling out with Anderson and McMichael, Benoit and Malenko left the Horsemen; he won the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship before bringing together Malenko, Perry Saturn, and Shane Douglas to form "The Revolution." The Revolution was a heel stable of younger wrestlers who felt slighted (both kayfabe and legitimate) by WCW management, believing they never gave them the chance to be stars, pushing older, more established wrestlers instead, despite their then-current questionable worthiness of their pushes. This led to the Revolution seceding from WCW, and forming their own nation, complete with a flag. This led to some friction being created between Benoit and leader, Douglas, who called into question Benoit's heart in the group, causing Benoit to quit the group, thus turning face, and having his own crusade against the top stars, winning the Television title one more time and the United States title from Jeff Jarrett in a ladder match. Benoit's most notable match of 1999 was with Bret Hart on WCW Nitro on May 1999, in Kansas City, Missouri, as a tribute to Owen Hart, who had recently died due to an equipment malfunction. Hart defeated Benoit by submission, and the two received a standing ovation, and an embrace from guest ring announcer, Harley Race.
Despite having many good moments on the undercard of WCW, Benoit had enough of the company's political atmosphere backstage, where he could not thrive at the top of the company. One last attempt in January 2000 was made to try and keep him with WCW, by putting the vacant WCW World Heavyweight Championship on him by defeating Sid Vicious at Souled Out. However, due to disagreements with management and to protest the promotion of Kevin Sullivan to head booker, Benoit left the company the next day alongside his friends Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko, and Perry Saturn, forfeiting his title in the process. He spent the next few weeks in Japan before heading to the WWF.
Along with Guerrero, Saturn, and Malenko, Benoit debuted in the WWF as a stable that became known as The Radicalz. After losing their "tryout matches" upon entry, The Radicalz aligned themselves with WWF Champion Triple H and became a heel faction. Benoit quickly won his first title in the WWF just over a month later at WrestleMania 2000, pinning Chris Jericho in a triple threat match to win Kurt Angle's Intercontinental Championship.. It was also in this time period that Benoit wrestled in his first WWF pay-per-view main events, challenging The Rock for the title in July 2000 and as part of a fatal four way title match in September. Both times, Benoit appeared to have won the WWF Championship, only to have the decision reversed by then-WWF commissioner Mick Foley due to cheating on Benoit's part.
Benoit simultaneously entered into a long-running feud with Jericho for the Intercontinental title, having the two meet on PPV four times in nine months, exchanging the title back and forth and culminating in Jericho defeating Benoit in a ladder match at the 2001 Royal Rumble. Benoit won the Intercontinental Title three times between April 2000 and January 2001.
In early 2001, Benoit broke away from The Radicalz (who had recently reformed three months earlier) and turned babyface, feuding first with his former stablemates and then with Kurt Angle, whom he wrestled at WrestleMania X-Seven. The feud continued after Benoit stole Angle's cherished Olympic Gold Medal. This culminated in a match at Judgment Day where Angle won a two out of three falls match with the help of Edge and Christian. In response, Benoit teamed up with his former rival Jericho to defeat Edge and Christian in that night's Tag Team Turmoil match.
The next night on Raw in San Jose, California, Jericho and Benoit challenged WWF Tag Team Champions Stone Cold Steve Austin and Triple H for their titles. Jericho and Benoit ended their reign and used the win as a springboard to challenge Austin for his world title (this was the night that Triple H suffered a legit injury by tearing his quadricep muscle while attempting to clothesline Jericho). Benoit got two title matches the following week, first losing in a manner similar to the Montreal Screwjob in Calgary and then just barely losing to Austin in Benoit's hometown of Edmonton. Unfortunately, Benoit suffered a neck injury in a four-way TLC match that required surgery with Dr. Lloyd Youngblood. Despite this, he continued to wrestle until the King of the Ring, where he was pinned in a triple threat match versus Austin and Jericho. Benoit missed the next year due to his neck injury, missing the entire Invasion storyline.
During the first WWE Draft, he was the third superstar picked by Vince McMahon to be part of the new SmackDown! roster, although still on the injured list. However, when he returned, he did so as a member of the Raw roster. On his first night back, he turned heel again and aligned himself with Eddie Guerrero, and he feuded with Steve Austin briefly. He and Eddie Guerrero were then moved to SmackDown during a storyline "open season" on wrestler contracts, with Benoit taking his newly won Intercontinental championship with him. Rob Van Dam defeated Benoit at SummerSlam and returned the title to Raw.
After returning to SmackDown! in October, he was crowned the first winner of the WWE Tag Team Championship, alongside foe and partner Kurt Angle. They became tweeners after betraying Los Guerreros. The two made an impressive combination, but could not stand each other.
Angle won his third WWE Championship from The Big Show at Armageddon, and Benoit faced him for the title at the 2003 Royal Rumble. Although Benoit lost the match, he received a standing ovation for his efforts after a very outstanding match thus making Benoit a full fledged face again. Benoit returned to the tag team ranks, teaming with the returning Rhyno. At WrestleMania XIX, the WWE Tag Team Champions, Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin, put their belts on the line against Benoit and his partner Rhyno and Los Guerreros in a triple threat tag team match. Team Angle retained when Benjamin pinned Chavo.
Benoit then feuded with John Cena and the Full Blooded Italians, teaming with Rhyno occasionally. In June 2003, the WCW United States Championship was reactivated and renamed the WWE United States Championship, and Benoit participated in the tournament for the belt. He beat Rhyno in the first round and then Matt Hardy in the second, before losing the final match to Eddie Guerrero at Vengeance. The two feuded over the title for the next month, and Benoit's popularity ascended to an all-time high as he would go on to defeat the likes of A-Train, Big Show, and Brock Lesnar by submission. General Manager Paul Heyman had a vendetta against Benoit along with Lesnar, preventing him from gaining a shot at Lesnar's WWE Title.
When Benoit won a qualifying match for the 2004 Royal Rumble against the Full Blooded Italians in a handicap match with John Cena, Heyman named him as the number one entry, but Benoit swore victory.[44] On January 25, 2004 Benoit won the Royal Rumble by last eliminating Big Show, and thus earned a world title shot at WrestleMania XX.[42] As a result of the long-standing Royal Rumble tradition that the winner receives a shot at the world champion at WrestleMania, and with Benoit being on the SmackDown! brand at the time it was assumed that he wasgoing to compete for the WWE Championship. Benoit, however, exploited a "loophole" in the rules and appeared on Raw the following night to challenge World Heavyweight Champion Triple H.[45] This "loophole" clause has become standard storyline practice, with the Royal Rumble winner being free to choose which title he will challenge for. With this win, Benoit became one of only two men to enter at #1 and win the Royal Rumble (the other being Shawn Michaels at the 1995 Royal Rumble). Though the match was originally intended to be a one-on-one match, Shawn Michaels, whose Last Man Standing match against Triple H at the Royal Rumble for the World Heavyweight Championship ended in a draw,[42] thought that he deserved to be in the main event. When it was time for Benoit to sign the contract putting himself in the main event, Michaels superkicked him and signed his name on the contract,[42] which eventually resulted in a Triple Threat Match between Michaels, Benoit, and the champion, Triple H.[46]
On March 14, 2004, at WrestleMania XX, Chris Benoit won the World Heavyweight Championship by forcing Triple H to tap out to his signature submission move, the Crippler Crossface., marking the first time the main event of a WrestleMania ended in submission. After the match, an emotional Benoit celebrated his win with the then-reigning WWE Champion Eddie Guerrero. It is considered the biggest win of Benoit's 19-year career, as he won his second official World Championship in the main event of the biggest show of the year. The rematch was held at Backlash in Benoit's hometown of Edmonton. It was Michaels who ended up submitting to Benoit's Sharpshooter, allowing Benoit to retain his title. The next night in Calgary, he and Edge won the World Tag Team titles from Batista and Ric Flair, making Benoit a double champion.
The three months following his victory at Backlash, Benoit and Edge engaged in a rivalry with La Résistance for the World Tag Team Championship, which saw a series of matches, while simultaneously having confrontations with Kane over the World title. Benoit wrestled in two matches at Bad Blood in his respective rivalries; he and Edge failed to regain their World Tag Team title while he successfully defended the World title against Kane.
On August 15, 2004, Chris Benoit was defeated by Randy Orton for the World Heavyweight Championship at SummerSlam. Benoit then feuded with Edge (who had turned into a crazed heel with severe anger management problems), leading to Taboo Tuesday where Chris Benoit, Edge, and Shawn Michaels were all put into a poll to see who would face Triple H for the World Heavyweight title that night. Michaels received the most votes and as a result, Edge and Benoit were forced to team up to face the then tag team champions, La Résistance, in the same night. However, Edge deserted Benoit during the match and Benoit was forced to take on both members of La Résistance by himself. He still managed to win the World Tag Team titles. At Survivor Series, Benoit sided with Randy Orton's team while Edge teamed with Triple H's team, and while Edge was able to pin Benoit after a Pedigree, Orton's team won.
The Benoit-Edge feud ended at New Year's Revolution. The feud stopped abruptly, as Edge feuded with Shawn Michaels, and Benoit entered the Royal Rumble. The two then continued to have matches in the following weeks until the two of them, Chris Jericho, Shelton Benjamin, Kane, and Christian were placed in the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 21. Edge won the match by knocking Benoit off of and smashing his arm with the ladder. The feud finally culminated in a Last Man Standing Match at Backlash. Edge won with a brick shot to the back of Benoit's head.
On June 9, Benoit returned to SmackDown! after being the first man selected by the SmackDown! brand in the 2005 Draft Lottery, and participated in an ECW-style revolution against the SmackDown! heels.[57][58] Benoit appeared at One Night Stand, defeating Eddie Guerrero. At the end of the night he delivered a flying headbutt to his former WCW boss and former Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff.[59]
On July 24 at The Great American Bash, Benoit failed to win the WWE United States Championship from Orlando Jordan, but he faced him in a rematch at SummerSlam. Benoit defeated Jordan in 25 seconds with the Crippler Crossface to win the title. On the next two editions of SmackDown!, Benoit defeated Jordan by submission in 23.4 seconds and 22.5 seconds, respectively. Two weeks later, Benoit defeated Jordan by submission in 49.8 seconds. Benoit then started wrestling Booker T in some friendly competitions, but it was all a ploy, as Booker and his wife, Sharmell, cheated Benoit out of the US title on an episode of SmackDown!.
On November 13, 2005, Eddie Guerrero was found dead in his hotel room. The following night, Raw held a Guerrero tribute show hosted by both Raw and SmackDown! superstars. Chris Benoit was devastated at the loss of his best friend and was very emotional during a series of video testimonials, where he said that he loved Eddie and will never forget him, eventually breaking down on camera. The same week on SmackDown! (taped on the same night as Raw), Benoit defeated Triple H in a tribute match to his fallen friend. Following the contest, Benoit, Helmsley, and Dean Malenko all assembled in the ring and pointed to the sky in salute of Guerrero.
After controversy surrounding a US title defense against Booker T, Theodore Long set up a "Best of Seven" series between the two. Booker T won three times in a row, due largely to his wife's interference, and Chris Benoit faced elimination in the series. Benoit won the fourth match to stay alive, but after the match, Booker suffered a legitimate groin injury, and Randy Orton was chosen as a stand-in. Benoit defeated Orton twice by disqualification. However, in the 7th and final match, Orton defeated Benoit with the help of Booker T, Sharmell, and Orlando Jordan, and Booker captured the US title. Benoit feuded with Orton for a short time, only to compete against Booker for the US title. Benoit was given one last chance at the US title at No Way Out 2006 and won it by making Booker submit to the Crippler Crossface, ending the feud. Soon after, Benoit defeated Randy Orton in a No Holds Barred match on SmackDown! via Crippler Crossface.
The next week on SmackDown!, Benoit kayfabe broke John Bradshaw Layfield's (JBL) hand (JBL actually needed surgery to remove a cyst). A match was set up for the two at WrestleMania 22 for Benoit's title, and for the next several weeks, they attacked each other. At WrestleMania, JBL won the match with an illegal cradle to win the title. Benoit used his rematch clause two weeks later in a steel cage match on SmackDown!, but JBL again won with illegal tactics.
Benoit entered the King of the Ring tournament, only to be defeated by Finlay in the opening round, after Finlay struck Benoit's neck with a chair and delivered a Celtic Cross. At Judgment Day, Benoit gained some revenge by defeating Finlay with the Crippler Crossface in a grudge match. On the following edition of SmackDown!, Mark Henry brutalized Benoit during their match, giving him (kayfabe) back and rib injuries and causing him to bleed from his mouth. Benoit then took a sabbatical to heal nagging shoulder injuries.
On October 8, Benoit made his return at No Mercy, defeating William Regal in a surprise match. Later that week, he won his fifth United States Championship from Mr. Kennedy. Benoit then engaged in a feud with Chavo and Vickie Guerrero. He wanted answers from the Guerreros for their rash behavior towards Rey Mysterio, but was avoided by the two and was eventually assaulted. This would lead to the two embarking on a feud with title implications at the coming two pay per views. The feud would culminate with one last title match as a No disqualification match, which was also won by Benoit.
Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP), who claimed that he was the best man to hold the US title, challenged Benoit for the title at WrestleMania 23, where Benoit retained. Their rivalry continued with similar results again at Backlash. At Judgment Day, however, MVP gained the upper hand and won the title in a two out of three falls match.
On the June 11 edition of Raw, Benoit was drafted from SmackDown! to ECW as part of the 2007 WWE Draft, after losing a match to Bobby Lashley.[86] Benoit won his ECW debut match teaming up with CM Punk and defeating Elijah Burke and Marcus Cor Von by disqualification.[87]On June 19, Benoit wrestled his last match, defeating Elijah Burke in a match to determine who would compete for the vacated ECW World Championship at Vengeance.[88] Benoit missed the weekend house shows, telling WWE officials that his wife and son were vomiting blood due to food poisoning. When he failed to show up for the pay-per-view, viewers were informed that he was unable to compete due to a "family emergency" and he was replaced in the title match by Johnny Nitro. Nitro won the match and became ECW World Champion.[89] Stephanie McMahon later indicated that Benoit would have defeated Punk for the championship had he been present for the event.[11]