A professional wrestler. Stands 5'10" and weighs approximately 220 pounds. Hailing from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, Benoit trained in the legendary Hart Dungeon.
He worked for much of his pro career in Japan, wrestling as the Pegasus Kid for New Japan Pro Wrestling. He won the 1994 Super J-Cup competition (widely considered the greatest professional wrestling event in history) by
beating the Great Sasuke in the finals. Afterwards, he returned to the United States and was hired by Extreme Championship Wrestling.
He tried out with the World Wrestling Federation in 1995, but failed to impress the brass there. He went to work in the other major pro wrestling company, World Championship Wrestling, soon afterwards. He became a member of the Four Horsemen, establishing himself as a great heel within the company.
In late 1999, Benoit and others became dissatisfied with the situation in WCW, which had been deteriorating rapidly for months. Objecting to Kevin Sullivan being given booking powers, who Benoit had real-life heat with, rumors of a mass exodus were leaked. Benoit was given the WCW World Title to entice him to stay with the company... and then promptly left the company along with Perry Saturn, Dean Malenko, and Eddie Guerrero. All four were given unconditional releases by WCW.
In February of 2000, the four of them showed up in the WWF, forming a new heel group called the Radicalz. He was elevated to the main event that summer when he had a great series of Pay-Per-View matches with The Rock, who
was the WWF Champion at the time. He came close to winning the strap several times, but it eluded him.
His most memorable feud has been with Chris Jericho (good friends in real life); the two feuded on and off for Benoit's entire first year in the WWF. A close second has been Kurt Angle, and the three of them (Benoit, Jericho, Angle) had a terrific three-way match at Wrestlemania 2000 with both the European and Intercontinental Championships on the line.
He turned face in early 2001, actually teaming up with Jericho to win the WWF Tag Team Championship from HHH and Stone Cold Steve Austin and again be pushed into the main event. The two of them started challenging Austin for the WWF Championship, culminating in a great three-way match at the 2001 King of the Ring. Benoit was unfortunately injured during that period, looking to miss 3-6 months.
Career Highlights
- WWF Intercontinental Champion
- WWF Tag Team Champion
- WCW World Tag Team Title
- WCW US Title
- WCW TV Title
- 1994 Super J-Cup Champion
Editor's note: Chris Benoit committed suicide on June 24, 2007, after he killed his wife and son.