Chris Benoit

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Christopher Michael Benoit CanadaCanada
Chris Benoit 2007

Chris Benoit 2007
Data
Ring name Chris Benoit
Pegasus Kid
Wild Pegasus
Additions to names The Rabid Wolverine
The Crippler
The Canadian Crippler
height 1.77 m
Fighting weight 105 kg
birth May 21, 1967
Montreal , Quebec
death June 24, 2007
Fayetteville , Georgia
Announced from Atlanta , Georgia
Trained by Stu Hart
debut 1st December 1985

Christopher "Chris" Michael Benoit (born May 21, 1967 in Montreal , Québec , Canada , † June 24, 2007 in Fayetteville , Georgia , USA ) was a Canadian wrestler . He was considered an all-round athlete who mastered all fighting styles (European, Japanese, American, Mexican), and was regarded by experts as one of the most technically skilled wrestlers. Chris Benoit held titles in several wrestling promotions.

Life

Chris Benoit at Wrestlemania XX (with Eddie Guerrero )

Chris Benoit grew up in Montreal before his family moved to Edmonton , Alberta , Canada in 1979 . Here he came into contact with wrestling for the first time. The Calgary- based event Stampede Wrestling fascinated Benoit, especially his role model Tom Billington, who competed as the "Dynamite Kid". Then Benoit's future career aspiration was clear.

After completing his training, he was also involved in Japanese doctorates for a while and spoke fluent Japanese after his return from Japan .

During his time at WCW, he met his future wife, Nancy, who was married to "Taskmaster" Kevin Sullivan at the time. The two had a son named Daniel; also had Chris Benoit two other sons from a previous marriage with one of Bremen originating Germans .

On June 25, 2007, Chris Benoit, his wife Nancy, and their son Daniel were found dead in their Fayetteville home . The official investigation found that Chris Benoit first killed his wife and son and then committed suicide within three days.

Career

Stampede wrestling

After high school, Chris Benoit began training with Stampede owner Stu Hart in 1985 . Benoit started his career in the same year at the Stampede Wrestling Promotion , where he was allowed to hold several titles. In between he also took part in Japanese doctorates and was known there as the masked Pegasus Kid . In 1989 Stu Hart had to sell his doctorate because of the excessive competition from Vince McMahon's WWF and Benoit had to look for a new employer.

Independent

Since Benoit had good experience in Japan, he moved there. There he won the International Wrestling Grand Prix tournament in 1990. Further guest appearances in Mexico and Japan followed, this time as the unmasked Wild Pegasus .

NWA Tri-State Wrestling Alliance

In 1991 Benoit was also signed for a time with the Tri-State Wrestling Alliance . There he played numerous matches and was able to develop and slowly perfect his personal wrestling style.

Catch Wrestling Association

At the end of the same year 1991 Chris Benoit was active in Germany and Austria. At the Catch Wrestling Association he was tag team champion with Dave Taylor. He met a German woman and they both married. This marriage resulted in two children.

World Championship Wrestling

After further engagements, Chris Benoit went to WCW in 1993 . However, he never got beyond the status of a noble jobber here , as Benoit endeavored to fulfill his obligations in Japan on the side. In Japan, in contrast to the USA , he was able to record successes, such as winning the Super J tournament in April.

Extreme Championship Wrestling

Unsatisfied with this solution, Benoit joined Extreme Championship Wrestling in 1994 . Together with Shane Douglas and Dean Malenko , he formed the “Triple Threat” group, which has now achieved cult status with fans. This is where he got his long-standing nickname "The (Canadian) Crippler" when he accidentally inflicted a serious neck injury on Sabu during a match.

With the Malenko Tag Team he became co-holder of the ECW Tag Team title.

World Championship Wrestling

With their technically based style and daring wrestling maneuvers, "Triple Threat" also attracted promoters from other wrestling leagues, including Eric Bischoff , who had taken over Ted Turner's World Championship Wrestling. The team Douglas, Malenko and Benoit now signed up in Atlanta . Douglas, Malenko and Benoit, now very close friends in real life, vowed that they would not switch to WWF (in 2000, Malenko and Benoit were supposed to break this promise, whereupon Douglas broke their friendship).

Benoit made his debut at WCW in November 1994. He had his first pay-per-view match at World War III , where he got a US title match against Kensuki Sasaki. Although Chris Benoit always offered consistently good wrestling matches at WCW, the great career breakthrough was denied him. This "slowing down" of Benoit is attributed by some observers to the long-time boss booker and wrestler Kevin Sullivan , who had a great backstage influence. They both got into a feud in 1996 and Chris Benoit had to move in with Sullivan's wife. But this storyline fell through when Benoit and Sullivan's wife fell in love and filed for divorce . As a result, Chris Benoit was almost written from the storyline and was only allowed to play insignificant matches.

During 1996, Chris Benoit took the place of Brian Pillman in the Stable Four Horsemen , which until then consisted of Ric Flair , Arn Anderson and ex-footballer Steve McMichael. As part of this group, he had his first major feud against Sullivan, which resulted in a street fight at The Great American Bash .

In 1998, Booker T won Chris Benoit the WCW World Television Championship . However, an elbow injury and the required surgery forced him to take several months off. Only at the end of the year did he return as a member of the newly formed Four Horsemen (Dean Malenko, Ric Flair). With Malenko he then formed a tag team again.

In the summer of 1999 he was briefly allowed to win the WCW US title from David Flair and finally had to cede it to Sid Vicious .

Then Chris Benoit was part of the group "Revolution" together with Dean Malenko, Perry Saturn and ex- ECW colleague Shane Douglas and fought both with and against them. During this time the slow rise of Benoit should begin, as the now financially troubled WCW was in upheaval and Benoit was now considered one of the big draft horses.

The declining WCW had meanwhile brought back Kevin Sullivan as the new chief booker to save the league. Immediately the old conflict between the two broke out again. Together with his colleagues Dean Malenko, Perry Saturn and Eddie Guerrero , he left the WCW as the reigning champion and ended his more than four years of working hours.

World Wrestling Entertainment

Everyone was drawn to the big competition World Wrestling Federation . The four ex-WCWers debuted on RAW on January 31, 2000 when they appeared on the show. They turned right on the side of Mick Foley in the match against D-Generation X . Chris Benoit was later allowed to take the WWE Intercontinental Championship from Kurt Angle .

In a match at the King of the Ring event , he suffered a severe neck fracture and again had to take a break for several months.

In June 2002 Benoit returned to active ring events. Shortly thereafter, he formed a tag team with Kurt Angle and became WWE Tag Team Champion with him . The connection and the title reign did not last long, however, and at the Royal Rumble 2003 the two faced each other again in a WWE Championship title match. As part of the roster, Chris Benoit appeared for the SmackDown! Squad and was allowed to fight against Eddie Guerrero at Vengeance for the reintroduced US title .

In Wrestlemania (2004) Benoit received the heavyweight title for the first time when he was allowed to defeat Triple H and Shawn Michaels in the main event. After six months he had to give his belt to Randy Orton at SummerSlam .

At the Friday Night SmackDown edition of October 10, 2006, he was allowed to win the WWE United States title from Mr. Kennedy , which he had to surrender to MVP on Judgment Day 2007 .

On June 11, 2007, Chris Benoit was drawn from SmackDown to the ECW during a three-hour special broadcast from RAW and should henceforth compete for their roster. There he had his last match on June 19, 2007, which he was able to win by giving up the Sharpshooter against Elijah Burke. With this victory he secured a title match for the vacant ECW World Title . This match he should win on June 24, 2007 at the WWE major event Vengeance against CM Punk . However, Benoit left two days beforehand because he (according to official information) received a call in which he learned of a family emergency.

death

At around 2:30 pm local time on Monday, June 25, 2007, Chris Benoit, his wife Nancy, and their seven-year-old son Daniel were found dead at their property in Fayetteville, Georgia . The police had been asked by the WWE to check on Benoit after he had sent five text messages with strange content to two WWE employees on Friday, June 22, but they did not receive them until Sunday. These SMS had the following content:

  • “ C, S. My address is 130 Green Meadow Lane. Fayetteville Georgia. 30215 "(sent 4 times)
  • “ The dogs are locked in the pool area. The door on the garage side is open . "( Sent once)

14 hours before the police found Nancy Benoit, an anonymous user pointed out her death in the English language Wikipedia . This user later admitted his hint with regret as an act of vandalism, which absolutely accidentally expressed the reality that had actually occurred.

The three bodies were found in different rooms:

  • Nancy Benoit was tied hand and foot in the living room. She was fully dressed and wrapped in a towel. She was strangled with a cable; blood was also found under her head.
  • Daniel Benoit lay lifeless in the bed of his nursery. Like his mother, he died of suffocation. Puncture marks were found on the child's body during the autopsy. As it became publicly known only after his death, he suffered from fragile X syndrome , which is why his parents injected him with drugs prescribed by the doctor.
  • Chris Benoit was found hanged in his basement training room.

Police believe Benoit killed his wife after an argument on Friday June 22nd and his son the following Saturday morning. He committed suicide on Sunday, June 24, in the gym suicide .

In an interview with ESPN.com, Scott Ballard, the district attorney for Fayetteville, announced that Benoit had indeed sent two text messages to Chavo Guerrero over the weekend . In the first he wrote that his wife and son were sick, in the second that the side door of the garage was open and the dogs were outside.

The planned RAW live show on the same day was canceled and a "Tribute to Chris Benoit" special was broadcast instead. There WWE wrestlers and employees, including his close friends Chavo Guerrero , Dean Malenko and Edge, spoke about Chris Benoit. During the show, his biggest matches and footage from his WWE-produced DVD Hard Knocks were shown.

The WWE subsequently distanced itself completely from Benoit by removing all promotional items that are directly associated with him from the offer, deleting his profile and removing the press release so that his name is only mentioned in the title history. Also, TNA has its previously removed posted condolences on their website.

At the beginning of "ECW on SciFi" on June 26, 2007, WWE owner Vince McMahon justified the holding of the special for Chris Benoit by saying that the WWE was not aware of the circumstances of his death at the time it was broadcast. He also announced that Chris Benoit will no longer be mentioned on World Wrestling Entertainment programs until further notice . In the meantime, even Benoit's name was deleted from nearly finished DVDs by subsequent sound editing, and already existing DVDs with him were taken out of sale.

On September 5, 2007, the results of Chris Benoit's brain examination were published. His father Michael Benoit had commissioned the renowned West Virginia University to examine the brain after the body was released by the authorities , and also asked the Sports Legacy Institute for help. At a press conference held jointly with the institute's director Julian Barnes, he announced that the examinations had found that Chris Benoit's brain at the time of his death resembled that of an 85-year-old Alzheimer's patient. This condition is a consequence of the longstanding chronic concussions that Benoit suffered in the ring. West Virginia University's post-mortem examinations showed a severe form of chronic traumatic encephalopathy with damage to all four cerebral lobes and the brain stem. Benoit's father expressed the suspicion that this damage could be the cause of the double homicide.

successes

title

Awards

Web links

Commons : Chris Benoit  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ "Benoit probe ends: He alone killed wife, son" ( Memento of the original from February 18, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ajc.com
  2. ↑ Vandalism-motivated claim about the death of Nancy Benoit 14 hours before her body was found, documented on Wikinews , June 28, 2007
  3. ↑ Fox News : Benoit Death Notice Posting May Have Been Coincidence ( Memento of the original from July 1, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , June 29, 2007 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.foxnews.com
  4. ^ Wrestler Chris Benoit Brain's Forensic Exam Consistent With Numerous Brain Injuries . Science Daily. September 6, 2007. Accessed January 12, 2019.
  5. ↑ Benoit's Brain Showed Severe Damage From Multiple Concussions, Doctor and Dad Say . In: Good Morning America . ABC News . September 5, 2007. Accessed January 12, 2019.
  6. ↑ Brain Study: Concussions Caused Benoit's Rage . WSB Atlanta. Archived from the original on November 16, 2007. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
personal data
SURNAME Benoit, Chris
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Benoit, Christopher Michael (full name); Wild Pegasus (ring name); Pegasus Kid (ring name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian wrestler
DATE OF BIRTH May 21, 1967
PLACE OF BIRTH Montreal , Quebec, Canada
DATE OF DEATH June 24, 2007
Place of death Atlanta , Georgia, USA