This guide is made by me as a tribute to one of my favourite wrestlers.

I do not condone the actions that Benoit did at the end of his life.

Despite them being unforgivable, this guide's purpose is solely on how much the man had achieved in his life.

As a side note, some YouTube videos will be restricted to view from YouTube itself and not from the Steam client. Clicking the title of the video will redirect you to the website.

Other than that, I hope you enjoy this guide!

Chris Benoit was born on 21st of May, 1967 in Montreal, Canada, later residing from Edmonton, Alberta, where he grew up in his childhood days. In his early teen years, Benoit had a huge passion for wrestling and idolized British wrestler, Thomas Billington, also known as "The Dynamite Kid". He also grew up watching one of the biggest legends in wrestling, Bret "The Hitman" Hart. When he was 12, he went with his father and grandfather to local wrestling events. Benoit trained to become a professional wrestler in the famous "Hart Dungeon" by the late Stu Hart who was the father of Bret Hart. One of Hart's signature moves, "The Sharpshooter" is a move that Benoit trademarked in his arsenal of wrestling moves he would use growing up as a wrestler.


At the age of 18, Benoit was signed to a local wrestling business in Calgary that was owned by Stu Hart called "Stampede Wrestling". Benoit adopted many of the moves that Dynamite Kid regularly used, like the Diving Headbutt and the Snap Suplex. According to Benoit, he described that he was almost never going to use the diving headbutt move. The first time he used it, he was almost out cold when his head landed almost full impact onto the ring canvas. The first ever Championship Benoit won in his career was the Stampede British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Championship in 1988. In 1989, Stampede went out of business, he then departed from their business and signed with New Japan Pro Wrestling.

When Benoit arrived to the scene in NJPW, he spent a year in the "New Japan Dojo" with many young wrestlers to improve his abilities. In 1986, he finally made his debut. He wrestled many matches during his rookie years under his actual name. In 1989, Benoit brought a new gimmick to develop his character. He started wrestling while wearing a mask and dubbed him self as "The Pegasus Kid". Benoit once mentioned that he never liked wearing the mask, but it became a part of him.


In August of 1990, he won his first major singles championship, when he defeated Jushin Thunder Liger. Eventually, he dropped the title back to Liger in November. Benoit developed his character even further and re-characterized himself as Wild Pegasus. From then he wrestled outside of NJPW occasionally, where he would wrestle in Europe or Mexico. He won the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship, where he had a series of matches with Arturo Menduza, then known as Viillano III.

In 1992, Chris Benoit made his first ever appearance in WCW (World Championship Wrestling). He teamed up with fellow Canadian friend and wrestler, Biff Wellington, where they both competed for the NWA Tag Team Championships. In the first round of the tournament, they lost to Brian Pillman and Jushin Thunder Liger at the pay-per-view Clash of the Champions. Benoit took a long hiatus from WCW until 1993, where he defeated Brad Armstrong. He had a match against 2 Cold Scorpio, where he was pinned only 3 seconds before the 20 minute time limit was expired. He made a short-tenured team up with Bobby Eaton. After he and Eaton lost to Liger and Marcus Bagwell, Benoit headed back to Japan.

In 1994, Benoit arrived to Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). When he was on tour in Japan, he was booked as a very dominant competitor, after he laid out Rocco Rock. Benoit competed in an 8 man tournament to determine the No.1 contender to the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, where he lost to 2 Cold Scorpio in the quarter-finals. At the pay-per-view November 2 Remember, Chris Benoit was in a match against Sabu. Benoit attemped to land a flapjack bump. However, the move was executed incorrectly and Sabu landed awkwardly on the top of his head, breaking his neck in the process. After the match, Benoit broke down in the locker room because he believed he just paralyzed someone for life. Sabu was alright in the following months. Paul Heyman, who was the head booker of ECW at the time had the idea to bring in a new gimmick for Benoit named "The Crippler" after the Sabu incident. Therefore he would be a dominant heel as a way to develop his character further and thus, Benoit had kept the phrase as his signature nickname for the rest of his career.


Benoit teamed up with Dean Malenko, where they eventually won the ECW Tag Team Championships from Sabu and Tazz, which was the first American title Benoit captured. ECW Champion Shane Douglas wanted to recreate the original Four Horsemen with Benoit and Malenko, considering that all men were holding Championships at the time (Malenko was also ECW TV Champion at the time). Benoit spent some time feuding with The Steiner Brothers and even rekindling his feud with 2 Cold Scorpio. Benoit was forced to leave ECW when his work visa expired. Paul Heyman was supposed to renew it, but failed to make it on time. Benoit spent a few months touring in Japan before he officially made his leave.

In 1995, Chris Benoit officially made his return to work full-time in WCW. In his early months, he wrestled with other talent who he worked with in Japan as part of the Cruiserweight division, with the likes of Chris Jericho, Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko and Jushin Thunder Liger. Benoit's first major storyline involved Ric Flair, who asked Benoit to join him and his stable as part of The Four Horsemen, along with Arn Anderson and Brian Pillman. 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".


At this time, Brian Pillman was feuding with Kevin Sullivan until he abruptly left the company for the WWF. Benoit inserted himself into a rivalry with Sullivan. The two men had violent confrontations at several 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 (who was under the ring name "Woman" at the time.) Benoit and Nancy were forced to spend time together in real life to make the affair look real (holding hands in public, share hotel rooms etc). The on-screen relationship had actually turned into a real life affair off-screen, thus, Benoit and Sullivan had a very contentious relationship backstage. At the pay-per-view Bash at the Beach, Chris Benoit defeated Sullivan, forcing him to retire from active competition. This was so it would lead to Sullivan working on a behind the scenes role, and becoming a booker for upcoming shows.

In 1998, Chris Benoit had an intense rivalry with Booker T, feuding over the WCW TV Championship, until Booker T lost the title to Fit Finlay. The two men had a best of seven series matches where the winner would face the champion. Booker T won and also went on to defeat Finlay for the title. In 1999, Benoit tagged with Dean Malenko, where they eventually became WCW Tag Team Champions. Chris Benoit was defeated by Bret Hart in a tribute to Owen Hart who had passed away due to an accident that occured in the WWF pay-per-view Over the Edge. Both men had a huge ovation after the match, and both men payed their respects to each other in honor of Owen Hart.



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 stable lasted a few months before this led to some friction being created between Benoit and leader, Douglas, causing Benoit to quit the group, thus turning face (a good guy). Benoit won the WCW TV Championship and even the United States Championship from Jeff Jarrett in a ladder match. In October 1999 on Nitro in Kansas City, Missouri, Benoit wrestled Bret Hart 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.

In 2000, Benoit did not agree with having to work for WCW with Kevin Sullivan under booking charge. In January, they attempted to keep him in the company by having him win the WCW Championship by defeating Sid Vicious at Souled Out 2000. However, due to disagreements with Sullivan being promoted as head booker, he walked out of the company the next night.

On the January 31st, 2000 episode of WWF RAW, Chris Benoit, along with Dean Malenko, Eddie Guerrero and Perry Saturn, made their WWF debut and attacked the New Age Outlaws (Road Dogg and Billy Gunn) during their tag team match against Steve Blackman and Al Snow. Their stable went by the name "The Radicalz". Later in the night, it was revealed that they were "invited" by Mick Foley (then known as Cactus Jack) to help in his wars against Triple H. The same week on SmackDown, Benoit had his debut match against Triple H, which he lost after being hit with The Pedigree. However, the following week on RAW, The Radicalz turned on Foley and aligned with Triple H and the McMahon-Helmsley faction. On that same night, The Radicalz' Benoit, Malenko and Saturn teamed with Triple H and X-Pac to defeat The Rock, Mick Foley, Rikishi and Too Cool (Grandmaster Sexay and Scotty 2 Hotty), despite interference from a returning Kane and Paul Bearer.

Although Benoit was still apart of the group, he pursued his first singles title. At WrestleMania 2000, he pinned Chris Jericho to win the Intercontinental Championship in a 2-out-of-3 falls match that also involved Kurt Angle with the European Title on the line. Chris Benoit held the Intercontinental Title several times throughout 2000 and feuded over the title with Jericho most the year. In June of 2000, Chris Benoit faced Rikishi in the opening of the King of the Ring tournament, but he got himself disqualified after attacking Rikishi with a steel chair, taking his frustrations out on him after losing the IC title to Rikishi on SmackDown earlier that week.

On the July 3rd 2000 episode of RAW, Benoit challenged Eddie Guerrero for the European Title which ended in a DQ due to interference from Chyna. Benoit nailed Guerrero with the title and then attacked Chyna with the Crossface. Benoit attacked The Rock the same night as he was about to defend the WWF Title against Shane McMahon. The two men aligned and Benoit faced The Rock at Fully Loaded for the title, as well as a Fatal 4 Way match against Rock, Kane and The Undertaker at Unforgiven. In both matches, Benoit had won the title only for the decision to be reversed by WWF Commissioner Mick Foley due to cheating on Benoit's part. At SummerSlam, Benoit defeated Chris Jericho in a 2-out-of-3 falls match. Benoit then faced Triple H in a singles match at No Mercy, leading from tension between Benoit and Stephanie McMahon. Triple H came out victorious.

In the buildup to Survivor Series, Benoit and The Radicalz faced The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Billy Gunn and Chyna. Nearing the end of the match, The Rock attacked Benoit and their brawl spilled backstage. Austin hit the stunner on Eddie Guerrero to win for their team. Backstage, Benoit attacked Rock and waved for backup. A car turned the corner and as it was about to pass by Rock, Rikishi appeared to be in the car and struck The Rock with a sledgehammer as he drove past.

At Survivor Series, Benoit and The Radicalz defeated Billy Gunn, Road Dogg, Chyna and K-Kwik in an elimination match. Later in the show, during the main event between Triple H and Stone Cold Steve Austin, the action spilled backstage. The Radicalz attacked Austin, letting Triple H get away. He was lead to the parking lot and found Benoit, asking him to pursue Austin, until he appeared to be in a forklift and dropped Triple H from 30ft while he was inside a car, ending the show.

At Rebellion, Benoit faced The Undertaker in a losing effort. At Armageddon, Benoit recaptured the Intercontinental Championship from Billy Gunn. In January of 2001 at the Royal Rumble, Jericho would defeat Benoit in a ladder match to win the Intercontinental Championship and end their ferocious rivalry.

At No Way Out, Benoit unsuccessfully challenged Chris Jericho in an IC Title Fatal 4 Way match that also involved Eddie Guerrero and X-Pac. In March 2001, Benoit broke away from The Radicalz after he attacked Eddie Guerrero during his Intercontinental Title match on RAW against Jericho. On the road to WrestleMania X7, Chris Benoit began a feud with Kurt Angle, claiming that he was a better technical wrestler than him. Angle defeated Benoit at WrestleMania X7 but Benoit got revenge when he defeated Angle at Backlash in a 30 minute submission match. Benoit defeated Angle again at Insurrextion in a 2-out-of-3 falls match. On RAW the following night, Benoit managed to get a hold of Angle's gold medals and stole them from him. At one point even stuck them in his pants to keep them "warm". This culminated in a 2-out-of-3 falls match at Judgment Day. Benoit won the first fall by pinfall and Angle won the second by submission. Finally, Angle would defeat Benoit in the 3rd fall which was a ladder match with Angle's gold medals hung above, after Edge and Christian interfered in the match.

In response to Edge and Christian's ambush, Benoit teamed with Chris Jericho to defeat them in a Tag Team Turmoil match that same night and become the No.1 Contenders for the Tag Team Titles. Benoit and Jericho defeated Triple H and Stone Cold Steve Austin the next night on RAW to win the titles. During the match, Triple H suffered a quad injury and was out for the rest of the year. This gave Benoit and Jericho a shot at Austin, who was WWF Champion at the time. On SmackDown the same week, Benoit and Jericho defended the Tag Team Titles in a Fatal 4 Way TLC Match against Edge and Christian, The Dudley Boyz and The Hardy Boyz, and successfully defended the titles. During the match, Benoit injured himself by going through a table as he attempted a diving headbutt on Matt Hardy and was sent to the back. However, he shortly came back to help him and Jericho win the match and retain the titles.

On the May 28th episode of RAW, Chris Benoit challenged Austin for the WWF Championship in his hometown of Edmonton. He was screwed out of the match by Mr. McMahon, mimicking the Montreal Screwjob [en.wikipedia.org] incident. Jericho came out to help Benoit, where they both attacked Austin and McMahon after the match. Benoit had a rematch the SmackDown the same week, but was once again defeated. The SmackDown before King of the Ring, Austin would screw Benoit and Jericho out of the tag team titles against The Dudleyz. At King of The Ring. Austin retained the title against Benoit and Jericho, despite being attacked by a debuting Booker T, who was WCW Champion. This had officially kicked off the Invasion angle.[en.wikipedia.org] A turning point in the match saw Benoit hitting a back suplex on Jericho from the top rope which injured his neck even further. Chris Benoit was out of action for a whole year while he would be undergoing neck surgery. In the process, he missed the entire Invasion angle and WrestleMania X8.

On the May 27th, 2002 episode of RAW, Chris Benoit returned to WWE in his hometown of Edmonton, Alberta where he received a huge ovation. He cut a promo talking about how Vince McMahon drafted him exclusive to SmackDown but couldn't hesitate appearing on RAW in his hometown. Intercontinental Champion Eddie Guerrero interrupted, claiming that Benoit was jealous of Eddie's talent and charisma. He also mentioned how he was going to defeat Rob Van Dam in their ladder match later in the night. Ric Flair came out and demanded Benoit left the arena for he was a SmackDown talent, not Raw, and was escorted out the building by security.

During the IC Title Ladder match between Guerrero and RVD, Benoit came back to the arena with a ticket. Eventually, Eddie lost and Stone Cold Steve Austin came out to attack Guerrero, in response to being attacked by Eddie with a beer bottle at a bar the week before. Shockingly, Benoit attacked Austin and helped Guerrero beat him down. The two then aligned with each other and turned heel.

At King of the Ring, Guerrero faced off against Ric Flair. Benoit came down to interfere in the match, locking in the Crippler Crossface on Flair while the referee was distracted. However, Bubba Ray Dudley interfered to help Flair defeat Guerrero. At Vengeance, Bubba Ray and Spike Dudley defeated Benoit and Guerrero in a Elimination Tables match. The next night on RAW, Benoit defeated Booker T to determine RVD's challenger for the IC Championship the following week on RAW, which Benoit won to win the title.

The next week on RAW, Benoit and Guerrero along with nWo's Kevin Nash, X-Pac and Big Show, defeated the team of Rob Van Dam, Booker T, Goldust, Bubba and Spike Dudley. This was the match where the infamous moment of Kevin Nash tearing his quad took place. Near the end of the match, Show chokeslammed Booker to win for his team. At SummerSlam, RVD defeated Benoit to regain the IC title and take the title back to RAW. On the same week's episode of SmackDown, Benoit and Guerrero teamed up with Kurt Angle to face John Cena, Edge and Rey Mysterio, which they lost after Mysterio rolled up Angle for the win. Benoit and Guerrero remained on SmackDown.

Benoit embarked in another bitter rivalry with Kurt Angle, which turned into a personal animosity for months on. On August 29th, The Undertaker was signed exclusively to SmackDown and defeated Benoit and Angle in a Triple Threat to face Brock Lesnar for the WWE Title at Unforgiven. Benoit faced Angle at Unforgiven, pinning him while having his feet on the ropes. For weeks on SmackDown, Benoit and Angle couldn't stand each other. In a way to fix their working relationship, General Manager Stephanie McMahon put the two together into a tournament for the newly created WWE Tag Team Championships. The pair won the titles at No Mercy 2002 after defeating Edge and Rey Mysterio. After their victory, they became tweeners (a combination of face and heel) after they attacked Los Guerreros (who were heels at the time).

On the Halloween episode of SmackDown, Edge defeated Benoit after being costed the match by Angle. Benoit gained revenge, as later in the show, he costed Angle's match against Eddie Guerrero by hitting Angle in the head with his Tag Team Title. Angle was in search for Benoit in the backstage Halloween party, until he came up from behind and the two brawled with each other throughout the party room. Angle put Benoit through a table with the Angle Slam, while Benoit had a glass bottle in hand and smashed it over Angle's head, knocking him out. The pair were forced to defend their Tag Team Titles on SmackDown the following week against Edge and Rey Mysterio in a 2-out-of-3 falls match. Edge and Mysterio won the titles after Edge executed a Spear on Angle. The team of Benoit and Angle ended when they failed to win back the titles at Survivor Series against Edge and Mysterio and Los Guerreros. Shortly after, Benoit turned face and stayed face for his entire career.

On SmackDown in December, Benoit, Angle, Eddie Guerrero and Edge competed in a Fatal-4-Way elimination match to determine Big Show's No.1 Contender for his WWE Title at Armageddon. Benoit eliminated Guerrero with the Cripper Crossface but was later eliminated by Edge after Guerrero hit Benoit with his Tag Team Title. Angle won the match, last eliminating Edge with an Angle Slam from the top rope. At Armageddon, Benoit defeated Guerrero with the Crippler Crossface.

December 26th on SmackDown, Chris Benoit defeated Big Show in a match to determine Kurt Angle's challenger for the WWE Championship (who defeated Show at Armageddon) at Royal Rumble 2003. Angle defeated Benoit via submission to retain the title, but he received a huge ovation by the audience after the match for his efforts. At No Way Out, Benoit was scheduled to team up with Brock Lesnar and Edge against Team Angle (Kurt Angle, Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin). Edge was found unconscious backstage. Therefore, Benoit and Lesnar fought 2 on 3, and still managed to pick up the win. This officially ended Benoit and Angle's rivalry.

Benoit teamed up with one of his fellow wrestlers and best friends, Rhyno, where they competed for the World Tag Team Championships at WrestleMania 19. They failed to win the titles. Benoit suffered another loss at the hands of John Cena in April of 2003 on SmackDown. They entered a short feud together, and Benoit even mocked Cena by wearing a shirt saying "Toothless Aggression". In May of 2003, Cena and Benoit wrestled another singles match until interference from the Full Blooded Italians (Johnny Stamboli and Nunzio) which forced the match to stop. All 3 men began to assault Benoit until Rhyno and Brian Kendrick came to his aid. Cena and the Full Blooded Italians defeated Benoit, Rhyno and Kendrick at Judgment Day.

In June 2003, the WCW United States Championship was reactivated and was named under the WWE brand instead. A tournament was held on SmackDown to determine who would be the United States Champion at Vengeance in July. Benoit beat Rhyno and Matt Hardy to be in the finals, whereas Eddie Guerrero beat Billy Gunn and Ultimo Dragon. At Vengeance, Guerrero pinned Benoit to win the title after Rhyno interfered in the match, shockingly turning on Benoit by hitting him with the Gore. A SummerSlam rematch was held the next month. Eddie Guerrero retained the title that night by defeating Benoit, Rhyno and Tajiri in a Fatal 4 Way match. In the months of September and October, Benoit wrestled matches against the likes of Rhyno and A-Train, as well as defeating Train at No Mercy.

On the road to Survivor Series 2003, Benoit was asked by his formal rival Kurt Angle to join his team to face the team of Brock Lesnar, A-Train, Big Show, Matt Morgan and Nathan Jones. Despite their differences, Benoit accepted the invitation. Benoit and John Cena led their team to victory. A highlight of the match saw Brock Lesnar tap out to Benoit's Crippler Crossface. Him and Kurt Angle are the only men to make Lesnar tap out in WWE.

On the November 27th episode of SmackDown, a battle royal was held to determine the No.1 Contender to the WWE Champion Brock Lesnar in the following week. Benoit and John Cena were the final men remaining and both eliminated each other. In response to this, the following week, Cena and Benoit had a one-on-one match to determine Lesnar's challenger later that night. More controversy took place when Cena hit the FU on Benoit and pinned him while Benoit's foot was on the rope. As a result, the match was restarted. In the end, Benoit won by making Cena tap out to the Crippler Crossface after interference by Big Show. Later that night, Lesnar defeated Benoit to retain the title. At Tribute to the Troops, Eddie Guerrero defeated Chris Benoit, but both hugged it out after the match to honor the Soldiers of the US Armed Forces.

On the January 1st, 2004 episode of SmackDown, Chris Benoit was forced by Paul Heyman to team with John Cena to face the Full Blooded Italians in order to qualify for the Royal Rumble match. Benoit came backstage to rub it in Heyman's face when Benoit and Cena were successful at winning, Heyman drew Benoit as the #1 entrant into the Rumble by default. However, the following week, Heyman issued another challenge for Benoit, where he was forced to take on the Full Blooded Italians in a "Mini Royal Rumble" match, where he succeeded in winning. The following week, John Cena defeated Rhyno in a stipulation in which if Cena won, he would make Paul Heyman eat soap. Heyman quickly got out of dodge before he was stopped by Benoit. Both men fed Heyman soap, leaving him humiliated in the ring.



At the Royal Rumble, Chris Benoit made history when he became the second ever Superstar to win the match from the #1 entry. He lasted an effort-full 61 minutes and last eliminated Big Show to become victorious. Altough Benoit was a SmackDown superstar at the time, he exploited a "loophole" and was transferred over to RAW so that he could challenge the World Heavyweight Champion Triple H at WrestleMania XX. This was due to Paul Heyman's refusal of Benoit challenging Brock Lesnar for the WWE Title. Benoit's first match since coming back to RAW, he was ordered by General Manager Eric Bischoff that he faced Mark Henry. Benoit won with The Crippler Crossface, with Triple H looking on from ringside.

Originally, it was intended to be a one-on-one match, but Shawn Michaels, who faced Triple H at Royal Rumble for the title, failed to win and believed he deserved a rematch for the title. During a contract signing between Benoit and Triple H, Benoit claimed Michaels didn't deserve another title shot. Michaels hit Sweet Chin Music on Benoit and signed the contract, turning the match into a Triple Threat. The match was forced to be official, demanded by Co-General Manager Stone Cold Steve Austin.

On March 14th, 2004, the night of WrestleMania XX, Chris Benoit achieved his dream of a lifetime. He made Triple H tap out in the middle of the ring and was crowned the new World Heavyweight Champion. After the match, he broke down and threw a huge celebration where he was joined by WWE Champion and close friend of 15 years, Eddie Guerrero. They both hugged it out and concluded the show with one of the best and most emotional WrestleMania main events, if not, the most emotional moments in WWE history.

At the 2004 Draft, the newest acquisition to RAW, Rhyno, had an opportunity to face Benoit for his world title, which he failed to win. At Backlash, Chris Benoit would be defending his World Heavyweight Championship against Triple H and Shawn Michaels in a Triple Threat rematch. Benoit won the match after making Michaels tap to the Sharpshooter to retain the title. As well as after the match ended, the next night on RAW, Benoit received a huge ovation from his hometown fans of Calgary. Later that night, Chris Benoit teamed up with Edge to face Batista and Ric Flair for the World Tag Team Titles. Benoit and Edge won, making Benoit a double champion.



The pair's title reign didn't last long however as a month later, they would drop the titles to La Resistance (Rob Conway and Sylvain Grenier) after Edge accidentally hit Benoit with a spear.. Benoit would end up being in simultaneous feuds with La Resistance and Kane for the Tag and World Titles, respectively. At Bad Blood, Benoit and Edge defeated La Resistance by DQ but didn't win the titles as a result, while he successfully defended his World Title that same night against Kane.

Benoit would then continue his feud with Triple H, defending his World Title against Triple H once again at Vengeance in a winning effort, after interference by Eugene. He defended the title against Triple H one final time in a 60 Minute Iron Man match. Both men were at 3 pinfalls. With only a couple minutes left, Eugene once again interfered and attacked Triple H, in response to being put out of action by Evolution a few weeks prior. Benoit scored the 4th and winning pinfall with only 5 seconds to go and retained the title. Finally, at SummerSlam, Benoit would drop the World Title to Randy Orton, who became the youngest World Heavyweight Champion in history, at the age of 24.

The night after SummerSlam on RAW, Chris Benoit had his World Heavyweight Title rematch against Randy Orton. He lost the match after Orton hit the RKO. After the match, Evolution came out and threw a mock celebration, where they kicked him out of Evolution. Triple H brutalized Orton, hitting him in the head with the title. At Unforgiven in September, Benoit teamed up with William Regal to defeat Batista and Ric Flair.


In October 2004, Benoit, Shawn Michaels and Edge held a debate on RAW to decide who would face Triple H at Taboo Tuesday for the World Heavyweight Championship (who defeated Randy Orton at Unforgiven). They held a poll where the man with the most votes would face Triple H, while the other 2 men would face La Resistance for the World Tag Team Titles. This was a turning point for Edge, who was developing a more cocky and arrogant personality and claimed that he deserved a World Title shot since Benoit and Michaels have had many in the past. Shawn Michaels won the poll but did not defeat Triple H at Taboo Tuesday. On the other hand, Edge and Benoit defeated La Resistance to win the Tag Team Titles once again. Despite being champions, Edge did not trust Benoit as a partner and really only focused on being World Heavyweight Champion. On November 1st, Benoit and Edge were meant to defend their titles against La Resistance, but Edge deserted him and decided to do commentary while Benoit would wrestle 2-on-1. Eventually, Benoit lost and was brutally attacked by Edge after the match, even making him tap out with his own move, The Crippler Crossface.

In November of 2004, Survivor Series was round the corner and the elimination match for the RAW brand was set. Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, Randy Orton and Maven faced off against Triple H, Batista, Edge and Snitsky. Benoit's team won and each member of the team were in control of RAW for the next month.


On November 22nd, it was Benoit's turn to run RAW and scheduled himself into a World Title Steel Cage match against Triple H. However, backstage saw Triple H taken out seemingly from an attack by Batista and as a result, Benoit could not get his World Title opportunity and instead, he challenged Edge in the Steel Cage. Benoit won after Edge inadvertently speared Benoit out of the cage. It was revealed after the match that the Triple H and Batista confrontation backstage was set-up so that Triple H didn't have to defend his title.

The following week, a World Title Triple Threat was scheduled between Benoit, Edge and the champion Triple H. An incident occured where Benoit had Edge trapped in the Crippler Crossface. At the same time, Edge had Benoit down for the pin. The pinfall counted but Edge tapped out at the same time. As a result of this, Triple H would be stripped of the title until New Year's Revolution 2005, where the vacant title would be up for grabs in the Elimination Chamber.

(Due to the obvious circumstances regarding Benoit's death, he does not appear in this video from WWE.)

At New Year's Revolution 2005, Benoit did not successfully win the World Heavyweight Championship. Triple H won back the title when he pinned Randy Orton following the Pedigree. Benoit was scheduled to be in the Royal Rumble match. He and Eddie Guerrero started things off and both managed to score a few eliminations right off the bat. Benoit was later eliminated by Batista and Ric Flair, who entered at #28 and #30 respectively. On the road to WrestleMania, Chris Jericho had the idea to make a ladder match where the winner would get a World Title Opportunity for the next year. Thus, the Money in the Bank Ladder match made it's debut at WrestleMania 21. The 6 participants in the match were Benoit, Jericho, Christian, Edge, Kane and Shelton Benjamin. Edge won the match after a chair shot to the injured left arm of Benoit who was at the top of the ladder.


Benoit and Edge faced off in a Last Man Standing match at Backlash, where Edge defeated Benoit after a shot to the head with a brick. On May 9th 2005, Benoit was facing Tajiri in an ECW Rules match. However, General Manager Eric Bischoff came out and ended the match and announced his plans to destroy ECW [en.wikipedia.org], coming up for the pay-per-view ECW One Night Stand in June. The following week, Benoit faced Edge in a Tables Match, but the match was interrupted by crusaders from RAW who came out to help Edge win the match, most notably, Snitsky. In response, Benoit defeated Snitsky in an ECW Rules match the following week after help from The Dudley Boyz.

On June 9th, Chris Benoit made his return to SmackDown as the #1 pick for SmackDown in the 2005 Draft Lottery. He confronted John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) who claimed that he should be named the champion of SmackDown (in response to WWE Champion John Cena being drafted to RAW). JBL warned Benoit in his promo not to join ECW when RAW and SmackDown invade them at ECW One Night Stand. Benoit challenged JBL to a match later that night. ECW Superstars were at ringside cheering Benoit on. Later in the match, the crusaders of SmackDown came down to the ring and while Benoit had JBL in the Crippler Crossface, Kurt Angle broke the hold and all the Superstars let loose, with ECW coming out on top. At ECW One Night Stand, Benoit defeated his best friend Eddie Guerrero with the Crippler Crossface.

On the June 30th episode of SmackDown, a Six Pack Challenge for the new "SmackDown Championship" was held. Originally, Benoit, JBL, Booker T, Muhammad Hassan, The Undertaker and Big Show were the six men competing, chosen by General Manager Teddy Long the week before. Big Show, who was drafted to RAW that week, was replaced by the newest SmackDown draft pick, Christian. JBL won the match after he last eliminated Christian with the Clothesline from Hell. After the match, Teddy Long revealed that there was no need for a SmackDown Champion and instead, he made JBL the No.1 Contender to the final draft pick for SmackDown, the World Heavyweight Champion, Batista, who defeated Triple H for the title at WrestleMania.



In July on SmackDown, Benoit faced Eddie Guerrero for the last time. The match ended when Guerrero walked out and got himself counted out, before Rey Mysterio, who he was feuding with at the time, attacked him from behind. At The Great American Bash, Benoit challenged Orlando Jordan for his United States Title but failed to win. However, he got his rematch at SummerSlam where Benoit defeated Jordan with the Crossface in 25.5 seconds to win the title, one of the fastest title changes in SummerSlam history. He defeated Jordan the following two weeks. He defeated Jordan in 23.4 seconds the first week, and the following week, he defeated him in 22.5 seconds. After his dominant start to being United States Champion, Benoit rekindled his rivalry with Booker T. He defeated Booker, Jordan, and Christian in a Fatal 4 Way at No Mercy. As what started as friendly competitions, Booker T defeated Chris Benoit on an episode of SmackDown after Booker's wife, Sharmell interfered on behalf of Booker and screwed Benoit out of the match, costing him the title. The following week, when Booker convinced Sharmell to apologise to Benoit, Booker set a trap and attacked Benoit, turning heel.

On November 13th, 2005, Eddie Guerrero passed away in his hotel room. This had a huge impact on the WWE. Guerrero had changed the business forever and became one of the biggest legends in wrestling history. All employees and people who worked with Eddie Guerrero were in disbelief when the news broke out. Most notably, Chris Benoit, who first heard about the news on the phone to Eddie's nephew, Chavo Guerrero the morning Eddie died. On the next night on RAW, after Eddie Guerrero's death, all the superstars stood on stage where they payed their respects as they tolled the bell 10 times. Superstars broke down, including Chris Benoit, who was a friend of Eddie Guerrero for 15 years. Guerrero had a huge impact on Benoit's life, describing how he was the one person he would go to if he had any personal problems he wanted to discuss.

Later in the show, superstars individually spoke on Eddie Guerrero, paying tribute to their fallen friend. Chris Benoit talked about his time working with Eddie, his personal life with Eddie, and all the memories he had with him.


The same week on SmackDown, Chris Benoit faced Triple H in a tribute to Eddie Guerrero. Benoit won and both men hugged it out, mourning over the death of Guerrero. One of Benoit and Guerrero's close friends, Dean Malenko also came out to share the moment.

In late November, Chris Benoit had a rematch against Booker T for the US Title. However, controversy took place as the match ended in a no-contest due to both men being pinned at the same time. The title was therefore vacated and both men had a best-of-7 series of matches, reminiscing their matches from WCW.

Booker T won the first match at Survivor Series. Benoit was defeated once again on the next episode of SmackDown, making Booker T at 2-0. Booker T had 3 straight victories over Benoit when he defeated him once again on the next episode of SmackDown. Benoit started gaining the upper hand, as he defeated Booker T at Armageddon to be 1-3. The next episode of SmackDown, it turned out that Booker T was injured and wasn't cleared to compete. Booker asked Randy Orton to substitute for him in this next match. Benoit won via disqualification after interference from Booker's wife Sharmell. The next episode in January, Benoit won via DQ again but this time from interference by Orlando Jordan. The following week on SmackDown, the final match of the series saw Randy Orton defeating Benoit after Booker (who appeared to be hurt) interfered and attacked Benoit while the referee was down. Orton took advantage to pin Benoit and crown Booker T the winner of the series and the new US Champion.



On SmackDown, during the week leading up to the Royal Rumble, Benoit defeated Randy Orton in an Extreme Rules match. Orton gained revenge when he entered #30 and eliminated Benoit from the Royal Rumble match. The next pay-per-view at No Way Out, Benoit defeated Booker T to win back his United States Championship and ending their feud. On February 24th, Benoit, Rey Mysterio and Bobby Lashley faced JBL, Finlay and Randy Orton. Nearing the end of the match, Benoit broke JBL's hand, which was caught in between the steel steps. JBL took some time off to heal his injuries. At "Saturday Night's Main Event", after a Beer Drinking Contest that JBL cheated in against Stone Cold Steve Austin, JBL threw beer in his face and tried to run away, only for Chris Benoit to come up from behind and throw him back in the ring. Austin drowned JBL in beer and gave him the Stone Cold Stunner.


One night before WrestleMania at the 2006 Hall of Fame, Benoit, along with Rey Mysterio and Chavo Guerrero, inducted the late Eddie Guerrero into the Hall of Fame. At WrestleMania, JBL defeated Chris Benoit to win the US Title by illegally using the ropes for leverage. Benoit cashed in his rematch clause two weeks later on SmackDown where he faced JBL in a Steel Cage. JBL retained the title after delivering a low blow, as well as some interference from Jillian Hall.

The next month, Benoit entered the King of the Ring tournament. His chances weren't great as Benoit lost to Finlay in the opening round of the tournament, after the use of a steel chair. Benoit did gain some revenge however, after he defeated Finlay with the Crippler Crossface at Judgement Day. In his final match before he took a long break, Benoit faced Mark Henry on SmackDown. Henry delivered a brutal onslaught on Benoit, constantly driving him back first into the steel post and even caused him to bleed from the mouth, which forced the match to stop. Benoit took a hiatus for several months to heal off some shoulder injuries.

On October 8th at No Mercy, Benoit defeated William Regal in a surprise return match. Later that week on SmackDown, Mr. Kennedy, the US Champion at the time, cut a promo claiming he had beaten all that is left to beat on SmackDown and wanted to move to RAW. Kennedy said that if there was anyone in the back that wanted to challenge Kennedy for the US title, they got their match. If Kennedy was victorious, he could move over to RAW. Chris Benoit accepted the challenge and defeated Kennedy via the Crippler Crossface. Kennedy was distracted by The Undertaker (Kennedy's rival at the time) who appeared on the stage, with Benoit taking advantage to win the title. Chris Benoit was put into a storyline with Chavo Guerrero, Vickie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio. Guerrero cost Mysterio the World Title at the Great American Bash. Benoit confronted Guerrero for his behaviour against Mysterio and the late Eddie Guerrero. Guerrero attacked Benoit on SmackDown and was scheduled to put the United States title against Chavo at Survivor Series. Guerrero also faced him at Armageddon, where Benoit won both matches.

On the SmackDown leading up to the 2007 Royal Rumble, Benoit defeated The Miz in a normal singles match. He entered the Rumble that Sunday, but was eliminated by The Great Khali. Benoit had engaged in an intense rivalry with Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP). On an episode of Raw in March, John Cena faced Benoit for the final time in a stipulation where Cena's WrestleMania opponent, Shawn Michaels, would bring back a former WrestleMania opponent of his to face Cena. Cena defeated Benoit after making him tap to the STF. Benoit was challenged by MVP to put the United States Championship on the line at WrestleMania 23. Benoit won and retained the title. MVP wanted his rematch at the next pay-per-view Backlash. Benoit retained his title against MVP at Backlash. Benoit and MVP's rivalry did not stop there. The two men had a 2-out-of-3 falls match at Judgment Day where MVP defeated Benoit clean in two straight falls to become the new champion. This was Chris Benoit's final PPV match. Benoit and MVP's rivarly came to an end when Benoit and Batista defeated the team of MVP and Edge at Saturday Night's Main Event.


On June 11th, the night of the 2007 Draft, Chris Benoit faced ECW Champion Bobby Lashley in a losing effort. This meant that ECW got a draft pick from RAW or SmackDown. It turned out that Benoit was the one who would go over to ECW. The next night on ECW, Benoit teamed up with CM Punk to defeat the team of Elijah Burke and Marcus Cor Von. His final ever wrestling match took place the following week, where he defeated Elijah Burke to advance to the finals of a match for the vacant ECW Championship at Vengeance: Night of Champions where he would supposedly face CM Punk (who defeated Marcus Cor Von to also advance) as a result of former champion Bobby Lashley drafting over to RAW and being forced to relinquish the title. The Benoit vs Punk match...never happened...

Chris Benoit's final appearance, 5 days before his death...


On June 24th 2007, the night of the pay-per-view Vengeance: Night of Champions, Benoit did not show up to the event, leaving all the superstars confused and concerned. The one person who stood out confused out of anyone else was Chavo Guerrero, Benoit's close friend and Nephew of the late Eddie Guerrero. Chavo was on the phone to him that morning asking him if he would make it to Beaumont in time (as the pay-per-view was held in Beaumont, Texas). Benoit stated on the phone that he would be missing his flight because his wife and son apparently had "food poisoning" and was coughing up blood. This was used as an excuse due to Benoit not admitting what really happened with them. No reports or updates were given as to why Benoit couldn't make it to the event. The WWE called up the Fayetteville police, asking them to do a welfare check in Benoit's home. As a result, Johnny Nitro was forced to take Benoit's spot to face CM Punk for the ECW Championship. All confused fans in attendance had all sorts of chants going on during the Punk vs Nitro match such as "We want Benoit" or simply "Benoit, Benoit, Benoit".

On the weekend of June 22nd-24th, Chris Benoit, his wife Nancy and his son Daniel were found dead in their home in Fayetteville, Georgia. The police discovered the bodies on the 25th. They reported that Benoit's body was found "slumped" against a weight machine in an upstairs bedroom. They did not know the exact details as to what happened for the next 24 hours. The WWE, close friends and workers, and close family members were absolutely shocked when they heard the news regarding Benoit and his family being found dead. On RAW the next night, WWE had cancelled a storyline where Vince McMahon "died" in a limo explosion, and made a 3 hour tribute show in memorial to the Life and Career of Chris Benoit.

From the tribute show were superstars talking about their memories with Chris Benoit.

During the night of June 25th, it was revealed that the murders of the Benoit family were at the hands of Chris Benoit himself. It was being said that a determining factor to this happening could've been steroids, which were found during the investigations of the bodies. It was revealed that Nancy had been drugged with Xanax, hydrocodone and hydrophone, all found at toxic levels. It was said that on the 22nd, Nancy was strangled by Benoit, on the 23rd, Daniel was unconscious with Xanax, and was confirmed to have been killed by being smothered with a pillow before being strangled. The next day on the 24th, Chris Benoit, after snapping back into reality and realising what he'd done, tied a cord round his neck from his weight machine and hung himself, leaving the wrestling world in utter shock and disappointment. All of this was solely detailed by the police and still unclear whether this was actually true or not.

On Chris Jericho's podcast "Talk is Jericho", Chavo Guerrero described the days leading to Benoit's death.


It is strongly believed by many fans and even by Benoit's father Michael Benoit that repeated damage to Benoit's head played a huge part to the murders that from all the concussions he had, he didn't know what he was doing. He added that his brain was "resemblant of an 85 year old patient with Alzheimer’s." When his brain was being researched by doctors, they later discovered that Benoit suffered with CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy). Reports were made that depression in relation to Eddie Guerrero's death, repeated damage to the brain such has the "Flying Headbutt" move he used in the ring, and drug abuse lead to these actions. As a result of the tragedy, Chris Benoit was blacklisted from the WWE. He was never mentioned again in future broadcasts, never featured in any more promotional videos, all of his merchandise was withdrawn, had all mentioning of him from WWE.com taken down and was also removed from the upcoming video game SmackDown vs RAW 2008. Vince McMahon made some comments regarding Benoit's death on ECW.


This made many fans believe it was the downfall for WWE, after they had to ban chair shots to the head, reduce the levels of drugs used by wrestlers and having the WWE turn PG several months later in order to prevent the company's reputation being hurt.

As a normal person, I can't forgive Chris Benoit for what he did, whether he was at fault for committing these actions or not. However, as a huge fan of his work, he was undoubtedly one of the most hardest working people in the business. He sweat blood and tears and made many sacrifices for the company. He made history all around the world and changed the course of wrestling forever. It is a shame that WWE had no choice but to never acknowledge his achievements in the ring, as the murders will overshadow anything he ever accomplished. Chris Benoit will still go down as one of the biggest legends that any wrestling fan had ever seen step foot into the squared circle, as well as remaining one of my favourite wrestlers ever.

Thank you so much for reading this guide. Despite how long this took to make, I really had a fun time doing it. Please leave any feedback and questions in the comments. This is my first time making a guide like this so apologies if the paragraphs are too much to read in one go. Again, thank you for reading and please give it a rating and favourite. Would appreciate it a lot!

R.I.P Chris Benoit, 1967 - 2007
R.I.P Nancy Benoit, 1964 - 2007
R.I.P Daniel Benoit, 2000 - 2007

Stampede Wrestling (1986-1989)

- 4-time Stampede Wrestling International Tag Team Champion
• Defeated Honky Tonk Wayne Ferris and Ron Starr with Ben Bassarab on March 1st, 1986.
• Defeated Honky Tonk Wayne Ferris and Cuban Assassin with Keith Hart on May 2nd, 1986.
• Defeated Jerry Morrow and Cuban Assassin with Lance Idol on October 7th, 1988.
• Defeated Makhan Singh and Vokkan Singh with Biff Wellington on April 4th, 1989.

- 4-time Stampede British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Champion
• Defeated Gama Singh on March 18th, 1988.
• Defeated Johnny Smith on June 17th, 1988.
• Defeated Johnny Smith on January 13th, 1989.
• Defeated Johnny Smith on July 8th, 1989.


NJPW (1990)

- 1-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion
• Defeated Jushin Thunder Liger at Summer Night Fever II.


CWA (1991)

- 1-time CWA Europameisterschaft im Teamkampf Champion
• Defeated Franz Schuhmann and Mile Zrno with Dave Taylor on December 21st, 1991.


UWA (1991)

- 1-time Light Heavyweight Champion
• Defeated Villano III at Live Event in Naucalpan, Mexico on March 3rd, 1991.


NJPW (1994)

- Super J-Cup: 1st Stage Tournament winner
• Defeated The Great Sasuke in the finals on April 16th, 1994.


ECW (1995)

- 1-time ECW World Tag Team Champion
• Defeated Sabu and Tazz with Dean Malenko at Return of the Funker 1995.


WCW (1995-2000)

- 3-time WCW World Television Champion
• Defeated Booker T at Live Event in Augusta, Georgia on April 30th, 1998.
• Defeated Booker T at Live Event in North Charleston, South Carolina on May 2nd, 1998.
• Defeated Rick Steiner on the September 13th, 1999 episode of Nitro.

- 2-time WCW World Tag Team Champion
• Defeated Curt Hennig and Barry Windham with Dean Malenko at Uncensored 1999.
• Defeated Diamond Dallas Page and Bam Bam Bigelow with Perry Saturn on the June 7th, 1999 episode of Nitro.

- 2-time WCW United States Heavyweight Champion
• Defeated David Flair on the August 9th, 1999 episode of Nitro.
• Awarded the title at Starrcade 1999 due to scheduled opponent Scott Hall being injured and unable to compete.

- 1-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion
• Defeated Sid Vicious at Souled Out 2000.


WWF/WWE (2000-2007)

- 4-time Intercontinental Champion:
• Pinned Chris Jericho in a 2-out-of-3 Falls Triple Threat match involving Kurt Angle with both Intercontinental and European Titles on the line at WrestleMania 2000.
• Defeated Chris Jericho on the May 8th, 2000 episode of RAW.
• Defeated Billy Gunn at Armageddon 2000.
• Defeated Rob Van Dam on the July 29th, 2002 episode of RAW.

- 3-time World Tag Team Champion:
• Defeated the Two-Man Power Trip (Stone Cold Steve Austin and Triple H) with Chris Jericho on the May 21st, 2001 episode of RAW.
• Defeated Batista and Ric Flair with Edge on the April 19th, 2004 episode of RAW.
• Defeated La Résistance (Rob Conway and Sylvain Grenier) with Edge at Taboo Tuesday 2004.

- 1-time (and first ever) WWE Tag Team Champion:
• Defeated Edge and Rey Mysterio with Kurt Angle at No Mercy 2002.

- 2004 Royal Rumble Winner:
• Entered #1 and last eliminated Big Show to win.

- 1-time WWE World Heavyweight Champion:
• Defeated Triple H and Shawn Michaels in a Triple Threat match at WrestleMania XX.

- 3-time WWE United States Champion:
• Defeated Orlando Jordan at SummerSlam 2005.
• Defeated Booker T at No Way Out 2006.
• Defeated Mr. Kennedy on the October 13th, 2006 episode of SmackDown.

- 1-time ECW World Champion: (OBSOLETE)
• Was scheduled to defeat CM Punk for the title at Vengeance: Night of Champions 2007.


- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
• 2004 Wrestler of the Year.
• 2004 Feud of the Year. (vs. Triple H)
• 2004 Match of the Year. (vs. Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels - WrestleMania XX)


- Wrestling Observer Newsletter
• 2004 Best Brawler.
• 1994, 1995, 2000, 2003 and 2004 Best Technical Wrestler.
• 2004 Feud of the Year. (vs. Triple H and Shawn Michaels)
• 2002 Match of the Year. (with Kurt Angle vs. Edge and Rey Mysterio - No Mercy 2002)
• 2000 and 2004 Most Outstanding Wrestler.
• 1998 Most Underrated Wrestler.
• 2003 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Famer.

- Benoit was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada but moved to and grew up in Edmonton, Alberta.

- In 2004, Benoit moved to and resided from Fayetteville, Georgia.

- Benoit spoke both English and French fluently.

- Benoit lost his infamous missing tooth while playing with his pet rottweiler. The dog struck his chin and his tooth "popped out".

- Benoit was good friends with the likes of fellow wrestlers Edge, Booker T, Marc Mero, Johnny Grunge, Bad News Brown and the majority of The Hart Family.

- His closest friends in the business were Eddie & Chavo Guerrero, Chris Jericho, Rey Mysterio and Dean Malenko.