Chris Benoit
For the song by Insane Clown Posse, see
Chris Benoit (song).
Christopher Michael Benoit (French pronunciation:
[bəˈnwa]; May 21, 1967 – June 24, 2007)
[1] was a Canadian
professional wrestler. During his 22-year career, Benoit worked for numerous promotions including the
World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Entertainment (WWF/WWE),
World Championship Wrestling (WCW),
Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), and
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Industry historian
Dave Meltzer considered him "one of the top 10, maybe even the top 5, all-time greats".
[6]
Chris Benoit

Benoit at an overseas house show in
Thailand, 2007
Born Christopher Michael Benoit
May 21, 1967
Montreal,
Quebec, Canada
Died June 24, 2007 (aged 40)
Fayetteville, Georgia, U.S.
Spouse(s) Martina Benoit (m. 1980;div. 1997)
Nancy Benoit (m. 2000; their deaths 2007)
Children 3
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Chris Benoit
[1]
The Pegasus Kid
[1]
Wild Pegasus
[1]
Billed height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
[1]
Billed weight 220 lb (100 kg)
[1]
Billed from Atlanta,
Georgia
Edmonton,
Alberta, Canada
Trained by Bruce Hart[2][3][4]
Frank Cullen
[1]
New Japan Pro-Wrestling[5]
Debut November 22, 1985
[1]
Benoit held 22
championships between WWF/WWE, WCW, NJPW, and ECW. He was a two-time
world champion, having been a
one-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, and a
one-time World Heavyweight Champion in WWE;
[7][8] he was
booked to win a third world championship at a WWE event on the night of his death.
[9] Benoit was the twelfth
WWE Triple Crown Champion and sixth
WCW Triple Crown Champion, and the second of five men in history to achieve both the WWE and WCW Triple Crown Championships. He was also the
2004 Royal Rumble winner, joining
Shawn Michaels as the only two men to win a
Royal Rumble as the number one entrant.
[10] Benoit headlined multiple
pay-per-views for WWE, including a victory in the World Heavyweight Championship
main event match of
WrestleMania XX in 2004.
[11]
Benoit
murdered his wife and son on June 22, 2007, and hanged himself two days later.
[12][13] Research suggests
depression and
brain damage from numerous
concussionsare likely contributing factors leading to the crime.
[14][15][16]