Christopher Michael "Chris" Benoit (French pronunciation: [bəˈnwɑ]) (May 21, 1967 – c. June 24, 2007) was a Canadian professional wrestler. He worked for several major promotions, including Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), and held a total of thirty-two championships during his professional wrestling career. Benoit is recognized by WWE as a record-tying five-time WCW/WWE United States Champion, having held the championship twice in WCW, and three times in WWE. He is also recognized by the organization as a two-time world champion: a one-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion and one-time World Heavyweight Champion, with both reigns represented by the Big Gold Belt. This renders Benoit one of three men to have held the belt in both WCW and WWE, alongside Bill Goldberg and Booker T.
In addition to championships, Benoit also won the 2004 Royal Rumble, joining Shawn Michaels as one of two men to win the match as the number one entrant. Described by WWE as "a favorite among WWE fans for his unbelievable athleticism and wrestling ability", Benoit was widely regarded as one of the most popular, respected and gifted technical wrestlers in history.
On June 24, 2007, Benoit murdered his wife and son and subsequently hanged himself. Since Benoit committed suicide, numerous explanations for his actions have been proposed, including concussions, steroid abuse, and a failing marriage. He was booked to win his third world championship, the ECW World Championship, in one of three world championship matches at WWE's pay-per-view event Vengeance: Night of Champions on the weekend of his death.
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