Chris Benoit

Christopher Michael Benoit (May 21, 1967 – June 24, 2007) was a Canadian professional wrestler.

He worked for various pro-wrestling promotions during his 22-year career, including most notably the World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Entertainment (WWF/WWE), World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) in the United States of America, New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in Japan, and Stampede Wrestling in his native Canada.

Benoit began his career in 1985, in Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling promotion.

From the beginning, similarities between Benoit and Billington were apparent, as Benoit adopted many of his moves such as the diving headbutt and the snap suplex; the homage was complete with his initial billing as "Dynamite" Chris Benoit.

According to Benoit, in his first match, he attempted the diving headbutt before learning how to land correctly, and had the wind knocked out of him; he said he would never do the move again at that point.

His debut match was a tag team match on November 22, 1985, in Calgary, Alberta, where he teamed with "The Remarkable" Rick Patterson against Butch Moffat and Mike Hammer, which Benoit's team won the match after Benoit pinned Moffat with a sunset flip.

He made his Japanese debut in 1986 under his real name.

The first title Benoit ever won was the Stampede British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Championship on March 18, 1988, against Gama Singh.

During his tenure in Stampede, he won four International Tag Team and three more British Commonwealth titles, and had a lengthy feud with Johnny Smith that lasted for over a year, which both men traded back-and-forth the British Commonwealth title.

In 1989, Stampede closed its doors, and with a recommendation from Bad News Allen, Benoit departed for New Japan Pro-Wrestling.

Upon arriving in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), Benoit spent about a year training in their "New Japan Dojo" with the younger wrestlers to improve his abilities.

While in the dojo, he spent months doing strenuous activities like push-ups and floor sweeping before stepping into the ring.

In 1989, he started wearing a mask and assuming the name The Pegasus Kid.

Benoit said numerous times that he originally hated the mask, but it eventually became a part of him.

While with NJPW, he came into his own as a performer in critically acclaimed matches with luminaries like Jushin Thunder Liger, Shinjiro Otani, Black Tiger, and El Samurai in their junior heavyweight division.

In August 1990, he won his first major championship, the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, from Jushin Thunder Liger.

He eventually lost the title in November 1990 (and in July 1991 in Japan and in November 1991 in Mexico, his mask) back to Liger, forcing him to reinvent himself as Wild Pegasus.

Benoit spent the next couple years in Japan, winning the Best of the Super Juniors tournament twice in 1993 and 1995.

He went on to win the inaugural Super J-Cup tournament in 1994, defeating Black Tiger, Gedo, and The Great Sasuke in the finals.

He wrestled outside New Japan occasionally to compete in Mexico and Europe, where he won a few regional championships, including the UWA Light Heavyweight Championship.

He held that title for over a year, having many forty-plus minute matches with Villano III.

Benoit was inducted into the Stampede Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1995 and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame in 2003.

He was also the 2004 Royal Rumble winner, joining Shawn Michaels and preceding Edge as one of the three men to win a Royal Rumble as the number one entrant.

Benoit headlined multiple pay-per-views for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) including a victory in the World Heavyweight Championship main event match of WrestleMania XX in March 2004.

Due to his murders, Benoit's legacy in the professional wrestling industry is heavily debated.

Benoit has been renowned by many for his exceptional technical wrestling ability.

Prominent combat sports journalist Dave Meltzer considers Benoit "one of the top 10, maybe even [in] the top five, all-time greats" in professional wrestling history.

In a three-day double-murder and suicide, Benoit murdered his wife in their residence on June 22, 2007, killed his 7-year-old son on June 23, and committed suicide on June 24.

Subsequent research undertaken by the Sports Legacy Institute (now the Concussion Legacy Foundation) suggested that depression and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a condition of brain damage, from concussions that Benoit had sustained during his pro-wrestling career were likely contributing factors of the crimes.

Bearing the nicknames The (Canadian) Crippler alongside The Rabid Wolverine throughout his career, Benoit held 30 championships between WWF/WWE, WCW, NJPW, ECW and Stampede.

He was a two-time world champion, Benoit having reigned as a one-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion and a one-time World Heavyweight Champion in WWE; he was booked to win a third world championship at a WWE event on the night of his death.

Benoit was the twelfth WWE Triple Crown Champion and the seventh WCW Triple Crown Champion, and the second of four men in history to achieve both the WWE and the WCW Triple Crown Championships.

His WON induction was put to a re-vote for WON readers in 2008 to determine if Benoit should remain a member of the WON Hall of Fame.

Ultimately, the threshold percentage of votes required to remove Benoit from it was not met.

Benoit was born in Montreal, Quebec, the son of Michael and Margaret Benoit.

He grew up in Edmonton, Alberta, from where he was billed throughout the bulk of his career.

He had a sister who lived near Edmonton.

During his childhood and early adolescence in Edmonton, Benoit idolized Tom "Dynamite Kid" Billington and Bret Hart; at twelve years old, he attended a local wrestling event at which the two performers "stood out above everyone else".

Benoit trained to become a professional wrestler in the Hart family "Dungeon", receiving education from family patriarch Stu Hart.

In-ring, Benoit emulated both Billington and Bret Hart, cultivating a high-risk style and physical appearance more reminiscent of the former (years later, he adopted Hart's own "Sharpshooter" hold as a finishing move).