Right off the bat, I'm gonna say that this video isn't about Chris Benoit the murderer,
but the wrestler who many fans watched for two decades as he made his way to the top
of the industry.
Benoit brought an interesting, unique style to the ring with his often technical, yet
high-risk performance.
Though he'll always be defined by his heinous crimes, which are not to be overlooked, Chris
had one hell of a wrestling career, so here is Wrestling Origins: Chris Benoit!
Christopher Michael Benoit was born on May 21st, 1967 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
His family would promptly move to Edmonton, Alberta where he grew up and would call it
his hometown.
Growing up, Benoit was a big wrestling fan and living in Alberta, he would often see
members of the infamous Hart Family wrestle at local event.
He remembered seeing Tom "Dynamite Kid" Billington and Bret Hart at an event when
he was 12, and said they were easily the best performers there.
Chris took up amateur wrestling and amateur bodybuilding when he was younger, but eventually
decided to try his hand and the thing he loved watching so much.
Benoit began his journey by undergoing training in 1985 with Stu Hart, the father of Bret
and Owen.
Chris began competing in Stu's promotion, Stampede Wrestling, making his debut in November
of 1985.
Benoit's ring style clearly emulated his idol Tom Billington, borrowing moves such
as the snap suplex and diving headbutt, and to top it off he initially went by "Dynamite"
Chris Benoit.
Chris would win his first title a year later in 1986 when he defeated Gama Singh, winning
the Stampede British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Championship.
Benoit would continue wrestling in his native Alberta for a few years, and during that time
would capture the International Tag Team Championships 4 times, as well as add 3 more Commonwealth
titles.
He would compete in the promotion until it closed in 1989, but luckily Benoit had already
established himself over in Japan by this point.
In 1986, Chris went to Japan and joined New Japan Pro Wrestling where he was made to train
in the New Japan Dojo.
He improved his skills before debuting a year later under his real name, but since he wasn't
there full time, things didn't really go anywhere.
However, it was in 1989 that Benoit underwent a character change and became The Pegasus
Kid and donned a mask that he eventually came to love despite hating it at first.
Pegasus Kid would make a name for himself by putting on amazing matches with Japanese
legends like Jushin Thunder Liger, Black Tiger, and El Samurai, with some even receiving critical
acclaim.
In 1990, Pegasus Kid would pick up the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title from Liger, before
Jushin took it back.
This would prompt the Kid to reinvent himself as Wild Pegasus, as who he had great success.
He would most notably win the Best of the Super Juniors tournament twice and the Super
J-Cup tournament as well before finally leaving NJPW in 1994.
It's worth mentioning that during his time in Japan, Chris also had a short stint in
WCW in 1992 and 1993, appearing for just a handful of matches.
Also in 1994, Benoit went over to Extreme Championship Wrestling, or ECW.
There he became known as the Crippler and became a top superstar.
In ECW, Benoit was working a match with Sabu in which his opponent broke his neck after
a botch.
Benoit apparently was devastated backstage as he though he may have legitimately paralyzed
Sabu, but luckily he was ok. Paul Heyman, the head of ECW at the time, decided that
the name "Crippler" was more fitting than ever, and eventually he became known as the
Canadian Crippler.
Benoit would win the ECW World Tag Team Championship with Dean Malenko in 1995, his first title
in the US.
He would also join the Triple Threat stable with Shane Douglas, an attempt at recreating
the Four Horsemen, before eventually being forced to leave the company after his work
visa expired.
After heading back to Japan for a short while, Benoit was called upon by WCW in 1995 as part
of a "talent exchange" program with NJPW.
Benoit would be placed in the cruiserweight division where he faced off against many of
his well-known rivals.
Benoit would impress a lot of people with his work, and eventually was approached by
WCW and Ric Flair personally to join the new, reformed Four Horsemen.
Benoit would join Flair, Arn Anderson, and Brian Pillman and continue his "Crippler"
persona.
However, after Pillman left the company for WWE, Chris took over his place in a feud against
WCW booker Kevin Sullivan.
This feud would actually result in Benoit meeting his future wife, Nancy, who was actually
married to Sullivan at the time but having a real affair with Chris…
I don't know it's a bit complicated, but simply put Benoit defeated Sullivan and stole
his wife.
Next, Benoit has a long feud with Booker T, even going all the way in a best of 7 series
with him only to lose in their final match, but both wrestlers became a lot more popular
due to the great series.
After that, Benoit teamed up again with Dean Malenko to defeat Curt Hennig and Barry Windham
to win the WCW World Tag Team Championships before later winning the WCW United States
Heavyweight Championship after forming a stable called The Revolution.
The Revolution was composed of Dean Malenko, Perry Saturn, and Shane Douglas, and they
were formed on the basis of being young, talented wrestlers that weren't being given proper
chances to become stars.
However, Benoit would quit the stable soon after and turn face before winning the Television
and United States belts.
In 1999, Benoit became unhappy with WCW, and despite a push that put him in the main event
scene, Chris left the company after Kevin Sullivan was promoted to head booker.
Alongside him, Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko, and Perry Saturn also left WCW.
This caused issues with his former employer, as they refused to acknowledge his title wins
out of spite, which sent him right into the hands of WWE.
In 2000, Benoit would make his debut in WWE alongside his WCW colleagues in a stable called
The Radicalz.
They were a heel stable that were aligned with Triple H, and Chris would quickly win
his first title at WrestleMania that year, the Intercontinental title, from Kurt Angle.
He would then feud with Chris Jericho, with Benoit winning most their matches until Jericho
beat Benoit at Royal Rumble 2001.
After moving away from his stable, Chris would notably feud with Kurt Angle and tag with
former rival Chris Jericho to win the Tag Team titles from Triple H and Stone Cold before
suffering a neck injury that would sideline him for an entire year.
When he returned in 2002, he joined RAW as a heel, aligning with Eddie Guerrero.
However, he would quickly move over to SmackDown soon after.
Chris would once again win the Tag Team Championships, this time with Kurt Angle, but was unable
to capture the WWE title at Royal Rumble.
Moving forward, Benoit would enter the 2004 Royal Rumble at number one.
At the Rumble, Chris would eliminate Big Show to win and earn a shot at WrestleMania 20
for the World Heavyweight Championship.
This match was supposed to be against Triple H, but it eventually became a Triple Threat
bout also including Shawn Michaels.
Despite failing to win the big one so many times before, Chris Benoit submitted Triple
H with the Crippler Crossface to win the World Heavyweight Championship for the first time.
It was a truly epic and emotional moment, which he celebrated with Eddie Guerrero in
the middle of the ring.
Chris would defend his belt successfully in the rematch, and even became a double champion
by winning the Tag Team belts with Edge.
However, Edge would soon betray him which sparked a feud between the two which culminated
with Edge defeating Chris in a Last Man Standing match after hitting him in the head with a
brick.
Moving forward, Benoit made an appearance at ECW's One Night Stand in 2005 where he
defeated Eddie Guerrero before notably defeating Orlando Jordan at SummerSlam for the US title
in just 25 seconds.
As Champion, he would have another lengthy series of matches against Booker T who took
the belt from him, only for Benoit to win it back at No Way Out and lose it once again,
this time to JBL, at WrestleMania.
After taking some time off to heal up his shoulder, Benoit would return to win the US
Championship again which he would defend against Chavo Guerrero and MVP, eventually losing
it to the latter.
With the 2007 WWE draft, Benoit was picked by ECW where he teamed up with CM Punk, only
to be thrust into a title match with Punk later for the vacant ECW World Championship.
However, Benoit would never make it to that match.
He missed multiple shows on the weekend after saying his wife and son were ill before no-showing
the PPV due to what he called a "family emergency".
On June 25th, 2007, Chris Benoit was found dead along with his wife Nancy and 7-year-old
son Daniel in their home in Georgia.
It was later determined that Benoit murdered both of them, before committing suicide via
hanging.
His wife was tied up before she was killed, and his son was strangled in his bed where
he slept, possibly due to sedatives found in his system.
The official statements claim that severe brain injury from repeated concussions and
serious depression were major contributing factors to the crime.
WWE would host a tribute show for Chris immediately after the news broke with many wrestlers speaking
highly of the Canadian Crippler, but after the circumstances of his death were made public,
WWE distanced themselves from Benoit and have ever since.
Even today, WWE adds a disclaimer to any video featuring Benoit on the Network that further
dissociates themselves from the tragedy.
For what it's worth, there are a number of people, fans and otherwise, who don't
believe Chris was responsible for these heinous crimes, but unfortunately his legacy as a
wrestler will always be overshadowed by his sins.
And that was Wrestling Origins: Chris Benoit.
This was one of the most highly requested videos for this series, so I hope you enjoyed
it.
If you did, leave a thumbs up and subscribe for another episode of Wrestling Origins every
Friday.
As always, thanks for watching and I'll catch you in the next one!
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