Chris Benoit was a Canadian WWE entertainer and professional wrestler. His controversial figure in WWE could also be seen out of the ring. Chris was considered as one of the top 10 greatest wrestlers of all-time. His wrestling determination to become one of the greatest wrestlers in the world was his career’s powerhouse. Chris had earned his name and fame for high flying actions, strength, and powerful wrestling skills. However, the career he dreamt of having was barely complete, before coming to a halt when he hung himself in the basement of the house in 2007.
Died
Chris Benoit died on June 24, 2007, at the age of 40, in his home at Fayetteville, Georgia, United States due to suicide by hanging.
Sun Sign
Gemini
Nationality
Education
He attended the Archbishop O’Leary Catholic High School, where he participated and won several bodybuilding and wrestling championships.
Manager
He was signed with WWE.
Girlfriend / Spouse
Chris had dated –
- Martina (1988-1997) – Chris married Martina in 1988. Together they had 2 children, son David Benoit and daughter Megan Benoit. The couple parted ways in 1997.
- Nancy Sullivan (1997-2007) – Nancy Sullivan was the ex-wife of WCW booker Kevin Sullivan. Chris and Nancy had a son Daniel (February 25, 2000-June 22, 2007). On November 23, 2000, the couple got married. Soon after, in 2003, Nancy had filed for divorce stating that he would break the furniture and treated her cruelly. However, she dropped all charges and went back to living with him quietly right until the day she and her son were murdered by him. On June 22, 2007, Chris strangled her and suffocated his son in the house and hung himself 2 days later.
Sexual Orientation
Straight
Distinctive Features
Large-Muscular Body
Brand Endorsements
Chris had appeared in several WWE commercials.
Best Known For
- His death-defying set of skills in the ring
- Winning 22 championships
- Being one of WWE’s most controversial wrestlers of all time
First Wrestling Match
Chris Benoit made his professional wrestling debut in a tag team match on November 22, 1985, at Stu Hart’s Stampede Wrestling Promotion. He won the match after pinning his opponent with a sunset flip.
He made his Japanese debut in 1986. Later, he started wearing a mask and went by the name ‘The Pegasus Kid’.
Chris won his first Intercontinental Championship at Wrestlemania 2000, against .
Personal Trainer
At the age of 12, Chris began exercising. He believed in building a bulky muscular body.
Chris was taught how to wrestle by wrestlers Bruce Hart and Frank Cullen. He even attended training at the New Japan Dojo at the age of 18, where he learned various strenuous workouts including push-ups and floor sweeps.
During Wrestling
- Finishing Moves
- Diving Headbutt
- Sharpshooter
- Second Rope Tombstone Piledriver
- Signature Moves
- Crippler Crossface
- Top Rope Gutwrench Suplex
- Top Rope Diving Leg Drop
- Dragon Suplex
- Gutwrench Suplex
- High Lift Belly-to-Back Suplex
- Lariat
- High-Speed Powerbomb
- Rolling German Suplexes
- Trademark move: Backhand Chop
- Snap Suplex
Chris Benoit Facts
- At WrestleMania XIX, Benoit wore a t-shirt that read toothless aggression. This name came from an occasion involving a rottweiler dog’s head hitting Benoit’s chin and snapping his tooth right out, hence the name toothless.
- In the past, he was featured in the WCW magazine.
- In 2017, a food manufacturing company “Walkers” got football star to feature the worst selfie in a Twitter promotion called the “” and Chris Benoit’s picture was selected as an offensive face.
- According to Wrestling Observer and journalist Dave Meltzer, Chris was one of those wrestlers who possessed an unbelievable set of skills.
- Chris was best friends with former wrestler Eddie Guerrero. Their friendship began after Chris knocked him out with an Enzuigiri kick on the head.
- At the age of 12, Chris started taking interest in wrestling and wanted to be like former legendary wrestlers “Dynamite Kid” Billington and .
- In 1985, Chris Benoit had billed himself as “Dynamite” at Calgary, Alberta.
- In 1986, Benoit won his first-ever prestigious title in a match against wrestler Gama Singh at the “Stampede British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Championship”.
- In 1990, Chris made his major debut entrance at the New Japan Pro-Wrestling Championship and won IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship in a match against Japanese wrestler Jushin Thunder Liger.
- In June 1992, Chris began wrestling at the WCW arena.
- In 1999, Chris won his first WCW tag-team championship title against Curt Hennig and Barry Windham.
- In January 2000, Chris resigned from WCW as he was unhappy with the management. He left along with wrestlers Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko, and Perry Saturn.
- In 2000, Chris and his wrestling companions (the four of them) joined WWF as The Radicals.
- In 2001, Chris had suffered a neck injury at a four-way TLC match, which actually made him cry at the hospital as he was afraid that he might never get back in the ring.
- In 2002, Chris got the greatest honor of being recognized as the third wrestler to be picked by to represent Smackdown.
- In 2002, his dedication in the ring started a whole new era in WWE history. The Attitude era came to an end which ultimately gave rise to the Ruthless Aggression era. He was considered as the face of the era.
- In 2003, Chris Benoit was inducted into the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame.
- In January 2005, he won the Royal Rumble title at WrestleMania XX against . He became the 2nd wrestler to have won the Royal Rumble as the first was .
- On March 14, 2004, at the WrestleMania XX, Chris Benoit made history by winning the World Heavyweight Championship against . It was the first time that submission was used to win an important match at WrestleMania.
- He was to be inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2019 but was not considered later on by WWE due to his murder-suicide case.
- On June 22, 2007, Chris had strangled his wife Nancy to death. Sources also said that she was found in a pool of blood wrapped in the towel. The same day, he murdered his son 7-year-old son Daniel and placed Bibles beside their bodies.
- On June 24, 2007, two days after he had murdered his wife and son, Chris hung himself in the basement of his house from a weight machine.
- On June 25, 2007, the bodies of his family and himself were found in his house. The police had come to run a check to see if everything was fine as Chris had not been attending any calls and missed a couple of matches.
- On June 24, 2007, an anonymous user had updated Chris Benoit’s Wikipedia profile in which he mentioned about the death of Nancy. The same was later posted on Wikinews. The IP address of the user was located just three miles from the WWE headquarter.
- Chris’s father gave his brain to scientists to study so as to know the reason for his son’s murder-suicide. According to the study, it was found that Chris had succumbed to due to several blows to the head.
- According to experts, the reason leading to Chris’s murder-suicide was anabolic steroids that were found at his home during the investigation.
- WWE removed all the information and videos from their database and public sites after Chris’s death.
- After killing his family, Chris continued to attend phone calls and on one such occasion told WWE officials that his wife and son were sick and had been vomiting blood due to food poisoning.
- According to his post-mortem reports, Chris had a heart that was three times bigger than normal. His body was pumped with steroids 10 times more than the minimal level, and his brain structure was like an 85-year-old’s with dementia.
- He was not on social media.
Featured Image by Dali Almarri / Instagram
Facts of Christopher Michael Benoit
- Gender Male
- full nameChristopher Michael Benoit
- middle nameMichael
- nicknamesThe Pegasus Kid, Wild Pegasus, The Canadian Crippler, The Rabid Wolverine, Toothless Aggression
- birthplaceMontreal, Quebec, Canada
- Date of Birth May 21, 1967
- Age 57 years 5 months
- Horoscope Gemini
- Lucky Number 4
- Lucky Stone Agate
- Lucky Color Yellow
- Best Match for Marriage Leo, Aquarius, Libra
- ethnicity / ethnic backgroundWhite
- nationalityCanadian
- religionCatholicism
- net worth$1.1 million
- professionActor, Professional Wrestler
- weight100 kg or 220 lbs
- height5 ft 11 in or 180.5 cm
- hair colorDark Brown
- eye colorBlue
- body type / buildMuscular
- high schoolArchbishop O’Leary Catholic High School
- motherMargaret Benoit
- fatherMichael Benoit
- sistersLaurie Benoit