Professional Wrestler Chris Benoit Part II

 

United States Champion (2005–2007)

On June 9, Benoit was drafted to the SmackDown! brand after being the first man selected by SmackDown! in the 2005 Draft Lottery and participated in an ECW-style revolution against the SmackDown! heels. Benoit appeared at ECW One Night Stand on June 12, defeating Eddie Guerrero.

On July 24 at The Great American Bash, Benoit failed to win the WWE United States Championship from Orlando Jordan, but won a rematch at SummerSlam on August 21 in 25 seconds. Benoit then won three consecutive matches against Jordan in less than a minute. Benoit later wrestled Booker T in friendly competitions, until Booker T and his wife, Sharmell, cheated Benoit out of the United States title on the October 21 episode of SmackDown!.

On November 13, Eddie Guerrero was found dead in his hotel room. The following night, Raw held a Guerrero tribute show hosted by both Raw and SmackDown! wrestlers. Benoit was devastated at Guerrero's death and was very emotional during a series of video testimonials, 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 Guerrero. Following the contest, Benoit, Triple H, and Dean Malenko all assembled in the ring and pointed to the sky in salute of Guerrero.

After controversy surrounding a United States Championship match against Booker T on the November 25 episode of SmackDown!, Theodore Long set up a "Best of Seven" series between the two. Booker T won three times in a row (at Survivor Series on November 27, the November 29 SmackDown! Special, and the December 9 episode of SmackDown!), due largely to Sharmell's interference, and Benoit faced elimination in the series. Benoit won the fourth match to stay alive at Armageddon on December 18, but after the match, Booker T suffered a legitimate groin injury, and Randy Orton was chosen as a stand-in. Benoit defeated Orton twice by disqualification on the December 30 and January 6, 2006, episodes of SmackDown!. However, in the seventh and final match, Orton defeated Benoit with the help of Booker T, Sharmell, and Orlando Jordan, and Booker T captured the United States Championship. Benoit feuded with Orton for a short time, before defeating Orton in a No Holds Barred match on the January 27 episode of SmackDown! via the Crippler Crossface. Benoit was given one last chance at the United States Championship at No Way Out on February 19 and won it by making Booker T submit to the Crippler Crossface, ending the feud.

The next week on SmackDown!, Benoit (kayfabe) broke John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL)'s hand (JBL actually needed surgery to remove a cyst). A match was set up for the two at WrestleMania 22 on April 2 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 on the May 5 episode of SmackDown!, after Finlay struck Benoit's neck with a chair and delivered a Celtic Cross. At Judgment Day on May 21, Benoit gained some revenge by defeating Finlay with the Crippler Crossface in a grudge match. On the following episode 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 and final 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 behaviour towards Rey Mysterio, but was avoided by the two and was eventually assaulted. This led to the two embarking on a feud with title matches at Survivor Series on November 26 and Armageddon on December 17; Benoit won both matches. The feud culminated with one last title match as a No disqualification match on the January 19, 2007 episode of SmackDown!, which was also won by Benoit. Later, Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP), who claimed that he was the best man to hold the United States title, challenged Benoit for the title at WrestleMania 23 on April 1, where Benoit retained. Their rivalry continued with Benoit defeating MVP again at Backlash on April 29. At Judgment Day on May 20, however, MVP gained the upper hand and defeated Benoit to win the title in a two out of three falls match, thus ending the feud. Benoit would wrestle MVP one last time on the June 2 episode Saturday Night's Main Event, in a winning effort in a tag-team match where Benoit partnered with Batista and MVP partnered with then-World Heavyweight Champion Edge.

ECW (2007)

On the June 11 episode of Raw, Benoit was drafted from SmackDown! to ECW as part of the 2007 WWE draft after losing to ECW World Champion Bobby Lashley. In his debut on the ECW brand, Benoit teamed up with CM Punk in a tag team match against Elijah Burke and Marcus Cor Von, in which Benoit and Punk won. On the June 19 episode of ECW, Benoit wrestled his final match, defeating Elijah Burke in a match to determine who would compete for the vacated ECW World Championship at Vengeance on June 24. Since Lashley was drafted to Raw, he had vacated the title.

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 Vengeance, 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, who defeated Punk to become ECW World Champion. The crowd spent the majority of the match chanting for Benoit. It would be revealed in the following days that Benoit had murdered his wife Nancy and son Daniel before committing suicide.

WWE executive Stephanie McMahon later indicated that Benoit would have defeated CM Punk for the ECW World Championship had he been present for Vengeance. Professional wrestler and MMA fighter Bob Sapp, whom WWE had tried to sign up before a contract dispute with K-1 rendered it impossible, reported he would have been put into an oncoming angle with Benoit in case he would have been able to debut.

Professional wrestling style

Benoit included a wide array of submission holds in his move-set and used a crossface, dubbed the Crippler Crossface, and a sharpshooter as finishers. He also used a diving head-butt to finish off opponents. The diving head-butt, which saw the deliverer leap off the top rope and land head first on the opponent, was partially blamed for the head trauma that caused Benoit to commit his crimes. Another of Benoit's trademark moves was three rolling German suplexes. This move would later be mimicked by multiple other wrestlers, including Brock Lesnar who uses it as Suplex City.

Benoit was renowned for his high-impact technical style. Former WWE rival Kurt Angle said in a 2017 interview that "he has to get to be in the top three of all time."

Professional wrestling games

1997       WCW vs. the World         First US video game appearance

1997       WCW vs. nWo: World Tour         

1997       Virtual Pro Wrestling 64 Only released in Japan

1998       Shin Nippon Pro Wrestling: Toukon Retsuden 3 Only released in Japan

1998       WCW Nitro        

1998       WCW/nWo Revenge     

1999       WCW/nWo Thunder      

1999       WCW Mayhem Last WCW video game appearance

2000       WWF No Mercy                First WWF/E video game appearance

2000       WWF SmackDown! 2: Know Your Role   

2001       With Authority!                Cover athlete; Online game

2001       WWF Road to WrestleMania      

2001       WWF SmackDown! Just Bring It

2002       WWF Raw          

2002       WWE WrestleMania X8

2002       WWE Road to WrestleMania X8

2002       WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth     

2003       WWE Crush Hour            

2003       WWE WrestleMania XIX               

2003       WWE Raw 2       

2003       WWE SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain             

2004       WWE Day of Reckoning

2004       WWE Survivor Series      Cover athlete

2004       WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw        

2005       WWE WrestleMania 21  Cover athlete (PAL version)

2005       WWE Aftershock              Cover athlete (PAL version)

2005       WWE Day of Reckoning 2             

2005       WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw 2006              

2006       WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007                Last video game appearance

Championships and accomplishments

Cauliflower Alley Club

Future Legend Award (2002)

Catch Wrestling Association

CWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Dave Taylor

Extreme Championship Wrestling

ECW World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Dean Malenko

New Japan Pro-Wrestling

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

Super J-Cup (1994)

Top/Best of the Super Juniors (1993, 1995)

Super Grade Junior Heavyweight Tag League (1994) – with Shinjiro Otani

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

Feud of the Year (2004) vs. Triple H

Match of the Year (2004) vs. Shawn Michaels and Triple H at WrestleMania XX

Wrestler of the Year (2004)

Ranked No. 1 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2004

Ranked No. 69 of the top 500 greatest wrestlers in the PWI Years in 2003

Stampede Wrestling

Stampede British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Championship (4 times)

Stampede Wrestling International Tag Team Championship (4 times) – with Ben Bassarab (1), Keith Hart (1), Lance Idol (1), and Biff Wellington (1)

Stampede Wrestling Hall of Fame (1995)

Universal Wrestling Association

WWF Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

World Championship Wrestling

WCW World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

WCW World Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Dean Malenko (1) and Perry Saturn (1)

WCW World Television Championship (3 times)

WCW United States Heavyweight Championship (2 times)

Seventh WCW Triple Crown Champion

World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment

World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

WWE Tag Team Championship (1 time, inaugural) – with Kurt Angle

WWE United States Championship (3 times)

WWF/WWE Intercontinental Championship (4 times)

WWF/World Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Chris Jericho (1) and Edge (2)

Royal Rumble (2004)

WWE Tag Team Championship Tournament (2002) – with Kurt Angle

12th Triple Crown Champion

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Best Brawler (2004)

Best Technical Wrestler (1994, 1995, 2000, 2003, 2004)

Feud of the Year (2004) vs. Shawn Michaels and Triple H

Match of the Year (2002) with Kurt Angle vs. Edge and Rey Mysterio at No Mercy

Most Outstanding Wrestler (2000, 2004)

Most Underrated (1998)

Readers' Favorite Wrestler (1997, 2000)

Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 2003)

Personal life

Benoit spoke both English and French fluently. He married twice, and had two children (David and Megan) with his first wife, Martina. By 1997, that marriage had broken down, and Benoit was living with Nancy Sullivan, the wife of the WCW booker and frequent opponent Kevin Sullivan. On February 25, 2000, Chris and Nancy's son Daniel was born; on November 23, 2000, Chris and Nancy married. It was Nancy's third marriage. In 2003, Nancy filed for divorce from Benoit, citing the marriage as "irrevocably broken" and alleging "cruel treatment". She claimed that he would break and throw furniture around.  She later dropped the suit as well as the restraining order she had filed.

Benoit became good friends with fellow wrestler Eddie Guerrero following a match in Japan, when Benoit kicked Guerrero in the head and knocked him out cold.

Benoit was also close friends with Dean Malenko, as the trio traveled from promotion to promotion together putting on matches, eventually being dubbed the "Three Amigos" by commentators. According to Chris Benoit, the Crippler Crossface was borrowed from Malenko and eventually caught on as Chris Benoit's finishing hold.

Benoit's lost tooth, his top-right lateral incisor, was commonly misattributed to training or an accident early on in his wrestling career. It actually resulted from an accident involving his pet Rottweiler: one day while playing with the dog, the animal's skull struck Benoit's chin, and his tooth "popped out".

Death

Wikinews has related news:

Professional wrestler Chris Benoit and family found dead

"Chris Benoit Voice Message"

This is a voice message left by Chris Benoit for Michael Parker. According to the police, the message was left at approximately 1:57 PM on Saturday, June 23, 2007. The police report states that Benoit was calling Parker regarding a situation where Parker had allegedly been mistreated in some work-related dealings.

On June 25, 2007, police entered Benoit's home in Fayetteville, Georgia, when WWE, Benoit's employers, requested a "welfare check" after Benoit missed weekend events without notice, leading to concerns. The officers discovered the bodies of Benoit, his wife Nancy, and their 7-year-old son Daniel at around 2:30 p.m. EDT. Upon investigating, no additional suspects were sought by authorities. It was determined that Benoit had committed the murders. Over a three-day period, Benoit had killed his wife and son before committing suicide. His wife was bound before the killing. Benoit's son was drugged with Xanax and likely unconscious before Benoit strangled him. Benoit then committed suicide by hanging himself on his lat pulldown machine.

WWE canceled the scheduled three-hour-long live Raw show on June 25 and replaced the broadcast version with a three-hour tribute to Benoit's life and career, featuring his past matches, segments from the Hard Knocks: The Chris Benoit Story DVD, and comments from wrestlers and announcers.

Toxicology reports released on July 17, 2007, revealed that at their time of death, Nancy had three different drugs in her system: Xanax, hydrocodone, and hydromorphone, all of which were found at the therapeutic rather than toxic levels. Daniel was found to have Xanax in his system, which led the chief medical examiner to believe that he was sedated before he was murdered. Benoit was found to have Xanax, hydrocodone, and an elevated level of testosterone, caused by a synthetic form of the hormone, in his system. The chief medical examiner attributed the testosterone level to Benoit possibly being treated for a deficiency caused by previous steroid abuse or testicular insufficiency. There was no indication that anything in Benoit's body contributed to his violent behaviour that led to the murder-suicide, concluding that there was no "roid-rage" involved. Prior to the murder-suicide, Benoit had illegally been given medications not in compliance with WWE's Talent Wellness Program in February 2006, including nandrolone, an anabolic steroid, and anastrozole, a breast cancer medication which is used by bodybuilders for its powerful antiestrogenic effects. During the investigation into steroid abuse, it was revealed that other wrestlers had also been given steroids.

After the double-murder suicide, neuroscientist and retired professional wrestler Christopher Nowinski contacted Michael Benoit, Chris's father, suggesting that years of trauma to his son's brain may have led to his actions. Tests were conducted on Benoit's brain by Julian Bailes, the head of neurosurgery at West Virginia University, and results showed that "Benoit's brain was so severely damaged it resembled the brain of an 85-year-old Alzheimer's patient." He was reported to have had an advanced form of dementia, similar to the brains of four retired NFL players who had multiple concussions, sank into depression, and harmed themselves or others. Bailes and his colleagues concluded that repeated concussions can lead to dementia, which can contribute to severe behavioural problems. Benoit's father suggests that brain damage may have been the leading cause.

Once the details of Benoit's actions became apparent, WWE made the decision to remove nearly all mentions of Chris Benoit from their website, future broadcasts, and all publications.

Notes

 Benoit's reign with the championship is not recognized by WWE, who does not recognize any reign prior to December 1997.

 After Benoit left WCW for the WWF, WCW refused to acknowledge Benoit's victory as an official title reign, and Benoit's title reign was not listed in the title lineage at WCW.com. However, the WWF recognized Benoit's title win, and Benoit's title reign is still listed in the title lineage at WWE.com.

 Benoit underwent a special recall election in 2008 due to the double murder-suicide of his wife and son. The recall was supported by a majority of 53.6% of voters, but was below the 60% threshold necessary to remove him.