Christopher Michael Benoit was a Canadian professional wrestler. He was best known for his work with ECW, NJPW, WWE, and WCW. He is a former grand slam champion. Benoit has been one of the few wrestlers to win a championship in ECW, NJWP, WCW, and WWE.
In 1985, Benoit began his wrestling career at Stampede Wrestling. After winning the Stampede World Championship, Benoit moved to NJPW. Initially, Benoit spent a year training at their dojo. In 1990, he won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. He won the Best of Super Juniors tournament on two occasions.
In 1992, he began working for WCW and teamed up with Biff Wellington. In 1994, Benoit began working for ECW. Benoit was working as a dominant heel and defeated several known names in the company. In 1995, he and Dean Malenko won the ECW World Tag Team Championship from Sabu and Taz. In August, he left the company due to work visa issues.
After signing with WCW, Ric Flair approached him to join The Four Horsemen. Later, he began feuding with Kevin Sullivan. At Bash at The Beach, Benoit defeated Sullivan in a retirement match. After the feud, he began chasing the WCW Television Championship. Benoit and Booker T had a best of seven series, which was eventually won by Booker T. In 1999, he and Maleko won the WCW World Tag Team Championship.
After Malekon left, he won the WCW United States Championship and formed a new stable called The Revolution. The stable consisted of Malenko, Perry Saturn, and Shane Douglas. Even though Benoit won another United States and Television Championship, he was not happy with the booking. In 2000, he defeated Sid Vicious to win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. After winning the title, the stable left the company.
The stable appeared on WWF as The Radicalz and Benoit quickly won the Intercontinental Championship from Chris Jericho. Benoit spent the rest of the year fighting for the WWF and Intercontinental Championship, where he won two more Intercontinental Championships. In 2001, he began working the tag team division where he teamed up with Kurt Angle and Chris Jericho. He won the WWF Tag Team Championship with Chris Jericho.
During the Draft, Benoit was moved to SmackDown where he began teaming up with Kurt Angle. He and Angle defeated Rey Mysterio and Edge to become the inaugural WWE Tag Team Champions. At Survivor Series, they lost the title to Los Guerreros. At Royal Rumble, Benoit faced Angle for the WWE Championship and lost. The match is regarded as one of the best matches of Royal Rumble.
At WrestleMania XIX, he teamed up with Rhyno to face Team Angle and lost. After Mania, he began feuding with Guerrero for the United States Championship and lost. Later, he began feuding with Brock Lesnar and eliminated him during the traditional Survivor Series match. In 2004, Benoit won the Royal Rumble match.
Benoit moved to RAW and challenged Triple H for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. At WrestleMania XX, he defeated Triple H and Shawn Michaels to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Benoit spent his time facing new talent and eventually dropped the title at SummerSlam against Randy Orton. Benoit spent the remaining year feuding with Edge and Triple H.
In 2005, they drafted him to SmackDown. At ECW One Night Stand, he defeated Eddie Guerrero. At SummerSlam, he won the United States Championship. Benoit lost the title to Booker T in October. On SmackDown, Benoit feuded with Booker T, Randy Orton, and JBL for the United States Championship. At WrestleMania XXII, he lost the title to JBL.
In 2006, Benoit defeated Mr.Kennedy to win the United States Championship. After winning the title, he began feuding with MVP. At WrestleMania XXIII, he defeated MVP. They faced on two more occasions where MVP won the title. In June, Benoit was drafted to ECW. He was scheduled to face and win the ECW Championship before his tragic passing away.
