Chris Benoit
| Chris Benoit | |
|---|---|
| File:Full BEnoit10.jpg | |
| Born | May 21, 1967 Montreal, Quebec |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | The Pegasus Kid Wild Pegasus Chris Benoit |
| Billed height | 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) |
| Billed weight | 234 lb (109 kg) |
| Billed from | Atlanta, Georgia |
| Trained by | Stu Hart |
| Debut | November 22 1985 |
Christopher Michael Benoît (born May 21 1967 in Montréal, Québec), is a French-Canadian professional wrestler currently wrestling for World Wrestling Entertainment on its SmackDown! brand. Benoit, who grew up in Edmonton, Alberta, is widely known as one of the most technically proficient and skilled wrestlers in the world, and one of the most dedicated employees in the WWE. He trained in Calgary, Alberta under Stu Hart in his "Dungeon" (and later the New Japan Dojo) and became one of the many stars to emerge from Stu's watch, alongside notables like Bret and Owen Hart, Davey Boy Smith, Lance Storm, Chris Jericho, and others. He has held many titles in numerous promotions, the most prestigious being WWE's World Heavyweight Championship.
Early career
Chris began his career in 1985 in Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling promotion. He won several International Tag Team and British Commonwealth titles there, and had an excellent series of singles matches with Johnny Smith, before Stampede's demise in 1989, and at that point he departed for New Japan Pro Wrestling under the name and mask of The Pegasus Kid, the name a tribute to his wrestling hero The Dynamite Kid. He would eventually lose the mask in Mexico and would later change his ring name to simply Wild Pegasus. While with NJPW, he came into his own as a performer in matches with luminaries like Jushin Liger, Shinjiro Ohtani, Black Tiger (Eddie Guerrero), and El Samurai. In 1991, he won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title from Liger, his first major championship. He would eventually lose the title, and his mask, back to Liger. He would go on to win the Super J Cup tournament in 1994 by defeating the likes of Black Tiger and the Great Sasuke, which, to this day, is considered one of the best wrestling cards of all time, solidifying his status as one of the foremost junior heavyweights in the world.
Throughout the time before his run in the United States, he had also competed in Mexico and Germany, where he won a few regional championships. He even had a short run in WCW in the early nineties, but was unsuccessful in gaining any momentum.
Extreme Championship Wrestling
Upon his permanent return to the U.S. in 1995, he signed with Extreme Championship Wrestling. In the time he was with ECW, Benoit dropped his Pegasus gimmick for "The Canadian Crippler", contrary to belief this name was not started from the night he broke the neck of Sabu, Joey Styles cleary calls Benoit "The Crippler" before the incident even happens. He would be promoted as one of the finest wrestlers of the day, and just break his opponents in half. Paul Heyman would have him cut long monologue promos to give him the chance to come out of his shell and to express a tough, dark persona.
Later, he and Dean Malenko won the ECW Tag Team Titles from Sabu and Tazmaniac. After winning, they were initiated into the Triple Threat, led by ECW Heavyweight Champion, Shane Douglas. This created enough excitement to attract the attention of the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling. Benoit would eventually have a few tryout matches for the WWF in the cold in dark matches being managed by Ted Dibiase and was the first choice to play the role of "The Ringmaster". (The role would end up going to "Stone Cold" Steve Austin) After being unable to obtain a proper work visa to compete for ECW and being told that as a WWF competitor he would not be able to work in Japan, Benoit decided that he would return to Japan instead of wrestling in the US until learning about the New Japan/WCW talent exchange. This led to Benoit signing with WCW in late 1995.
World Championship Wrestling
Benoit was quickly was made a member of the reformed Four Horsemen in 1995, alongside Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, and Brian Pillman. When Pillman abruptly left the company for the WWF, Benoit was placed in an ongoing feud with Kevin Sullivan (who was a booker), and booked a feud in which Benoit was having an affair with Sullivan's real life wife Woman. Forced to spend time together to make the affair look real, (hold hands in public, share hotel rooms, etc.) Benoit and Nancy developed feelings for each other and began having a real affair. Nancy left Sullivan and WCW in 1997. Benoit beat Sullivan in a retirement match, but Sullivan continued to use his booking authority to hold Benoit back.
Later that year, Benoit had a rivalry with Booker T. Both men had trained at winning the WCW Television Championship, but both were unsuccessful. This led to a competition to see who would go on to be the number one contender for the title, which would set up the Best-of-Seven series. Benoit won the first three falls, and Booker came back to tie in the next three encounters. Their final match was set before the Great American Bash. While the referee was down, Bret Hart came to interfere on behalf of Benoit, in hopes of him joining the New World Order. Benoit refused, and told the referee what happened, and got himself disqualified. Booker thought it was a hollow victory, so they were to have a match the Bash to see who go on to fight Dave Finlay later that night. Both made a valiant effort with Benoit delivering suplexes and Booker giving a multitude of hard kicks. It ended with a missile dropkick by Booker, and he went on to fight Finlay for the belt later that night. This elevated both men's careers considerably as singles competitors, and both would remain at the top of the midcard with their matches.
In 1999, he resumed teaming with new Horseman and former ECW partner Dean Malenko in a series of WCW World Tag Team Championship matches against Raven and Perry Saturn, and were among the best of the year. Benoit and Malenko defeated Curt Hennig and Barry Windham to win the WCW World Tag Team Championship, and later in 1999 he would win the United States title as well. He formed the "Revolution" team with Malenko, Saturn, and Shane Douglas around this time, highlighting his unhappiness with WCW management.
Benoit's most notable match of 1999 would be his match with Bret Hart on WCW Nitro in October 1999, in Kansas City. The match was a tribute to Owen Hart, in the building where Owen had died. In November, he wrestled Bret in Toronto, Ontario in the finals of a World Heavyweight title tournament. He lost that match, and by January 2000, WCW had made their last try at keeping him, giving him the WCW World Heavyweight Championship at the Souled Out PPV. However, due to disagreements with management and the promotion of Kevin Sullivan to head writer, Chris Benoit left the company, forfeiting his WCW World Title in the process, and the decision was reversed the very next night on Nitro by referee Randy Anderson.
The very next day, Chris Benoit departed for the World Wrestling Federation, appearing on RAW along with Guerrero, Saturn and Malenko, to protest the promotion of Kevin Sullivan as head booker.
World Wrestling Entertainment
Two weeks after being granted their release from WCW, Benoit, Malenko, Saturn and Guerrero made their WWF TV debuts on Raw, coming out of the crowd to attack the New Age Outlaws. They were dubbed The Radicalz. After the group turned heel, Benoit was quickly put into a feud with Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle, and in April 2000 he won his first championship in the WWF, the Intercontinental Title. [[Image:BenoitIC.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Former WWE Intercontinental Chapmion Chris Benoit Because of how often he defended his WWF Intercontinental Title, Chris Benoit has been called the "fightingest" Intercontinental Champion in WWF history. A high-profile feud with The Rock (who was the WWF Champion at the time) filled out the remainder of 2000. In fact, Benoit "won" the WWF title twice during 2000, but both times the decision was reversed both times by then "Commissioner" Mick Foley and the match restarted due to Benoit's cheating.
He remained the Intercontinental Champion into 2001, which he lost the belt to Chris Jericho in a ladder match at the Royal Rumble. He eventually turned face, and had a match against Kurt Angle at WrestleMania X-Seven. The two had a match with a great deal of mat and chain wrestling, but Angle won, via cheating, and started a feud between the two, during which they had a variety of specialty matches. One was an "ultimate submission" match, which Benoit won 4-3, at sudden death overtime. That led to a three falls match at Judgment Day with one fall being a ladder match with Angle's medals suspended above the ring, because Benoit stole them and put them in his pants. Angle won, due to Edge and Christian's appearance. In May, they would have a steel cage match. Benoit was about to win, when Steve Austin closed the door on his face. Angle climbed out the other way for the win.
In May 2001, Benoit would later team with old rival, Chris Jericho, to defeat Triple H and Steve Austin in a match for the WWE World Tag Team Championship. The same week, Vince McMahon booked the new champions in a TLC Match against the masters of the match: Edge & Christian, The Hardy Boyz, and the Dudley Boyz. This would be the first TLC match to be shown on network television, which Jericho and Benoit won. This would also be known as "The Forgotten TLC", because it was a randomly made match to punish Benoit and Jericho. They held on to the titles for a month, before losing it to the Dudley Boyz.
At King of the Ring, Benoit was put in a triple threat for the WWF Championship against the champion, Austin, and former partner, Jericho. In the match, Benoit had landed hard on his neck. Benoit underwent major neck surgery in June of 2001. He ruptured a disc, which fragmented into his spinal column. The injury required spinal fusion surgery, which sidelined Benoit for the rest of 2001. This injury is played on every warning before a WWE PPV or DVD starts.
The Return
During the first WWE Draft he was picked by McMahon to be part of the new SmackDown! roster, although still on the injured list. However, when he returned, he did so as a member of the RAW roster. He, and Eddie Guerrero, were then moved to Smackdown during a storyline "open season" on wrestler contracts, with Benoit bringing his newly won Intercontinental championship with him briefly before Rob Van Dam defeated Jeff Hardy in a Number 1 Contenders match and returned the title to RAW.
After returning to SmackDown!, in October he was crowned the first winner of the WWE Tag Team Titles, alongside foe and partner Kurt Angle. They both turned face again by betraying Los Guerreros. The two made an impressive combination, but they could not stand each other.
Angle won his third WWE Championship from the Big Show, and Benoit faced him for the title at Royal Rumble 2003. Though Benoit lost the match, he received a standing ovation for his efforts after an exciting match. At WrestleMania XIX, the WWE Tag Team Champions, Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin, would have to put their belts on the line against Benoit and his partner Rhyno, and Los Guerreros in a triple threat match. Team Angle retained by pinning Chavo Guerrero Jr.
Benoit stayed at the middle of the card for the next few months, feuding with John Cena and the Full Blooded Italians, and teaming with Rhyno occasionally. In June 2003, the United States Championship was reactivated, and Benoit participated in the tournament for the belt, first beating Rhyno, then Matt Hardy in the second round, but losing the final to Eddie Guerrero. Benoit was now in major title hunts, and had a great rise in popularity. He would defeat the likes of A-Train, Big Show, and Brock Lesnar by submission. General Manager Paul Heyman wanted to hurt Benoit, so he made his life difficult. When he won a Royal Rumble qualifying match, he was placed in the number one spot.
World Heavyweight Champion
On January 25 2004, Benoit won the 2004 Royal Rumble, last eliminating Big Show, and thus earned a WWE Championship title shot at WrestleMania XX. As a result of the long-standing Royal Rumble tradition that the winner receives a shot at the world champion at WrestleMania and the fact that there were effectively two world champions due to the brand split, Benoit exploited a "loophole" in the rules and challenged World Heavyweight Champion Triple H instead of the WWE Champion Brock Lesnar. This "loophole" clause has become standard storyline practice, with the Royal Rumble winner being free to choose which title he will challenge for.
With this win, Benoit became one of only two men to enter at #1 and win the Royal Rumble (Shawn Michaels was the first) and he set the record for being in a Rumble match the longest at 1:01:34, narrowly surpassing Bob Backlund's record of slightly over an hour (1:01:10), while Shawn Michaels' Rumble win, and even surpassing Ric Flair's legendary record of 59:26. However this record would be surpassed by Rey Mysterio two years later, at the Royal Rumble 2006 (Mysterio would enter at #2).
Though the match was originally intended to be a one-on-one match, Shawn Michaels, whose Last Man Standing match against Triple H at the Royal Rumble for the World Heavyweight Championship ended in a draw, thought that he deserved to be in the main event. When it was time for Benoit to sign the contract putting himself in the main event, Michaels superkicked him and signed his name on the contract, which eventually resulted in a Triple Threat Match between Michaels, Benoit, and then champion Triple H. [[Image:Benoit and Guerrero celebrate at WrestleMania XX.jpg|thumb|250px|Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero celebrate after Benoit wins the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XX.]] On March 14 2004, at WrestleMania XX, in what is considered by many to be one of the most memorable moments in WWE history, Chris Benoit won the World Heavyweight Championship by forcing Triple H to tap out to his devestating signature submission move, the Crippler Crossface. It marked the first time the main event of a WrestleMania ended in submission. After the match, an emotional Benoit celebrated his win with his good friend Eddie Guerrero, the then reigning WWE Champion. The two of them came to WWE together and on that day, they were standing in the ring at Madison Square Garden, both of them world champions.
This was Benoit's first official WWE World title win - he had "won" the WWF Title on two occasions, once at Fully Loaded and once at Unforgiven 2000. However, both times the decision was over-ruled. This was Benoit's first real World Heavyweight Title reign in any promotion after a series of controversially reversed decisions in both WWE and WCW. The triple threat was hailed by many fans as one of the year's best matches. The rematch was held at Backlash in Benoit's hometown of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. At one point in the match, with the referee knocked out, Earl Hebner ran in to call the match while Michaels had Benoit in a sharpshooter, a clear reference to the Montreal Screwjob. However, it was Michaels who ended up submitting to Benoit's sharpshooter, allowing Benoit to retain his title.
On August 15 2004, Chris Benoit was defeated by Randy Orton for the World Heavyweight Championship at SummerSlam. His reign had lasted 5 months, with 7 straight pay-per-view victories. Benoit would than fued with Edge, when Edge noshowed at Taboo Tuesday, but Benoit was still able to win the World Tag Team titles. Benoit would side with Randy Orton's team while Edge teamed with Triple H's team, Edge was able to pin Benoit after a Pedigree but Benoits team won. Their rivarly would end at New Years Revolution, where Edge would fued with Shawn Micheals and Benoit would enter the 2005 Royal Rumble. Benoit entered the Money in the Bank show at Wrestlemania 21, where Benoit had the match won but Edge hit him with a steel chair restarting their fued. At Backlash 2005 Edge defeated Benoit after a brick shot.
Return to SmackDown!
On June 9 2005, returned to SmackDown! after being the first man selected by the Smackdown side in the 2005 WWE Draft Lottery. Benoit appeared at ECW One Night Stand, defeating Eddie Guerrero and at the end of the night delivered a flying headbutt to his former WCW boss and former RAW General Manager Eric Bischoff.
United States Championship
On July 24 2005 at The Great American Bash in Buffalo, New York, Benoit failed to win the WWE United States Championship from Orlando Jordan. Benoit faced Orlando Jordan in a rematch for the United States Championship at SummerSlam 2005. Benoit defeated Jordan in 25 seconds with the Crippler Crossface to win the title. On the next two editions of SmackDown!, Benoit defeated Jordan by submission in 23.4 seconds and 22.5 seconds. Two weeks later, Benoit defeated Jordan by submission in 49.8 seconds.
Chris Benoit appeared on RAW on November 14 2005 (taped on the November 13, the same day as the death of Eddie Guerrero), for Guerrero's tribute show hosted by both RAW and SmackDown! superstars. Benoit was devestated at the loss of his best friend Eddie and was very emotional during a series of video testimonials, where he clearly said that he loved Eddie and will never forget him with tears steaming down his face as he broke down in sorrow, which was a testament to the friendship that endured between Benoit and Guerrero throughout both men's careers. The same week on SmackDown! (also taped on the 13th), Benoit defeated Triple H in a remarkable tribute match to his fallen friend. Following the contest, Benoit, HHH, and Dean Malenko all assembled in the ring and pointed to the sky in salute of Guerrero.
After controversy surrounding a title defense against Booker T, Theodore Long set up a "best of seven" series between the two. Booker T won three times in a row, due largely to his wife's interference, and Chris Benoit faced elimination in the series. Benoit would win the fourth match to stay alive, but Booker then suffered a legitimate groin injury. Randy Orton was chosen as a stand-in, and Benoit defeated Orton twice by disqualification. However, in the 7th and final match, Orton defeated Benoit with the help of Booker T, Sharmell, and Orlando Jordan, and Booker T captured the U.S. title. However, at No Way Out, Benoit got revenge on Booker making him tap out to the Crossface to win the United States Championship. This was a rather exciting series.
At WrestleMania 22, Benoit lost the U.S. Championship to JBL. Benoit used his rematch clause on April 14 for JBL's U.S. Championship which was defended in a steel cage he lost after a low blow from JBL.
King of the Ring
Benoit would take part in the 2006 King Of The Ring tournament only to be defeated by Finlay in opening round. At Judgment Day 2006 Benoit would get his revenge and defeated Finlay in a very physical grudge match with the Crippler Crossface.
Benoit hurt his shoulder at a Smackdown event and will take time off. Not much is known apart from that the injury is not long term. This was put into context on television as Mark Henry smashing him. This may lead to a match at either the Great American Bash or Summerslam.
Wrestling facts
Finishing and signature moves
- As Chris Benoit
- Crippler Crossface (Crossface hold)
- Diving headbutt
- Sharpshooter
- Three Amigos (Combination three vertical suplexes)
- Rolling German suplexes
- German Suplex
- Snap suplex
- Back Suplex
- Pendulum Backbreaker
- Backhand chop
- Dragon suplex
- Gutwrench suplex
- High lift belly to back suplex
- Lariat
- High speed powerbomb
- Forearm Tackle
- As Pegasus Kid and Wild Pegasus
Nicknames
- The Crippler
- The Canadian Crippler
- The Rabid Wolverine
- Toothless Aggression
Personal life
Benoit idolized The Dynamite Kid growing up, and stylized himself after him. When he began wrestling, he wrestled as "Dynamite" Chris Benoit, as a tribute to the Kid. He also began using the Diving Headbutt and the Snap Suplex, some of the Kid's trademark moves.
When he was in WCW, Benoit was booked to have an affair with rival Kevin Sullivan's wife Woman aka Nancy Daus. The feud was booked to look as real as possible, and soon became reality. Nancy left Sullivan and the company in 1997. Sullivan used his booking power to get revenge on Benoit, burying him at all turns. This eventually lead to The Radicalz leaving WCW for WWF in early 2000 when Sullivan was given full control of the company. He had his first child with Nancy Daus-Sullivan together on February 25, 2000, a son named Daniel Christopher Benoit. Benoit has a son, David, and a daughter, Megan from his ex-wife.
Trivia
- Chris Benoit's first match was a Tag Team Match on November 22, 1985 for Stampede Wrestling, teaming with Rick Patterson to defeat Butch Moffat & Mike Hammer in Calgary, Alberta.
- Despite the storyline that he is often "passed over" for titles, Benoit has won almost every major WWE and WCW individual title as well as one-half of every major WWE, WCW, and ECW tag team championship. The only titles to elude him thus far are the WWE Championship and the defunct WWE European Championship. He is also the only born Canadian to win the World Heavyweight Championship. Triple H who is the first World Heavyweight Champion is actaully a French-Canadian American born and raised in the United States.
- Benoit's lost tooth is usually credited to training or an accident early on in his wrestling career. It actually resulted from an accident involving his pet Rottweiler. One day, Benoit was struck with the top of the Rottweiler's head beneath his chin, and his tooth "popped out".
- Benoit's entrance theme music is "Whatever", performed by Canadian rock band Our Lady Peace. This song is a vocal version of his earlier WWE theme music, "Shooter". This is a more aggressive version of Dynamite Kid's theme song.
- Although Benoit had been previously introduced as hailing from Edmonton, Alberta, in 2003 Vince McMahon decided that he was to be introduced as "now residing in Atlanta, Georgia", as Benoit had been living there since his time in WCW. The rationale was that American fans would be more likely to get behind him if he were perceived to be American (the same occurred to Chris Jericho when they started introducing him as "born in Manhasset, New York". Still, Benoit received a hometown hero's welcome when he defended the World Heavyweight Championship in Edmonton at Backlash 2004, where he defeated Shawn Michaels and Triple H in a Triple Threat Match.
- Chris Benoit was trained at Stu Hart's Dungeon and New Japan Pro Wrestling's Dojo.
- Chris Benoit is credited for being the first Royal Rumble winner to use the "contract loophole", where the winner can choose to stay on his brand or move to the other brand and fight the brand's respective World Champion.
- Chris Benoit has switched brands more than any other wrestler since the WWE Draft. He has jumped show 4 times, whilst Matt Hardy and Rob Van Dam have jumped show 3 times.
- Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter has gave out ratings of 4 3/4 out of 5 stars to 6 of Benoit's matches in WWE alone, including:
- Benoit vs. Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels (WrestleMania XX; for the World Heavyweight Championship)
- Benoit vs. Kurt Angle (Royal Rumble 2003; for the WWE Championship)
- Benoit and Angle vs. Edge & Rey Mysterio (WWE No Mercy; WWE Tag-Team Championship Tournament Finals)
- Benoit & Chris Jericho vs. The Dudley Boyz vs. The Hardy Boyz vs. Edge & Christian (May 24 2001 edition of SmackDown!; TLC Match for the WWF Tag Team Championships)
- Benoit & Jericho vs. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin & Triple H (May 21 2001 edition of RAW; for the WWF Tag Team Titles)
- Benoit vs. Jericho (Royal Rumble 2001; Ladder Match for the Intercontinental Championship)
- Chris Benoit eliminated the most people in the 2004 Royal Rumble Match by eliminating six (Bradshaw, Mark Henry, Rhyno, Matt Morgan, A-Train, and The Big Show)
Championships and accomplishments
- 1-time World Tag Team Champion (w/ Dean Malenko)
- 4-time British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Champion
- 4-time Stampede Wrestling International Tag Team Champion (1-time w/Bif Wellington)
- 1-Time WCW World Heavyweight Champion
- 2-time WCW United States Champion
- 3-time WCW World Television Champion
- 2-time WCW World Tag Team Champion
- 1-time World Heavyweight Champion
- 4-time WWE Intercontinental Champion
- 2-time WWE United States Champion
- 3-time WWE World Tag Team Champion (w/ Chris Jericho and twice w/Edge)
- 1-time WWE Tag Team Champion (w/ Kurt Angle)
- 1-time WWF Light Heavyweight Champion as The Pegasus Kid
- 2004 Royal Rumble winner
- 1993 Top of the Super Junior tournament
- 1994 Super J Cup tournament
- 1995 Best of the Super Junior tournament
- He is a member of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (inducted in 2003)
- 1994 Best Technical Wrestler
- 5 Star Match: vs. Great Sasuke (Super J Cup '94)
- 1995 Best Technical Wrestler
- 1998 Most Underrated Wrestler
- 2000 Most Outstanding Wrestler
- 2000 Best Technical Wrestler
- 2002 Match of the Year (with Kurt Angle vs Edge and Rey Mysterio)
- 2003 Best Technical Wrestler
- 2004 Most Outstanding Wrestler
- 2004 Feud of the Year (vs Triple H and Shawn Michaels)
- 2004 Best Technical Wrestler
- 2004 Best Brawler
- PWI ranked him # 69 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003.
- He also won three PWI Awards in 2004. He won Wrestler of the Year, Feud of the Year (vs. Triple H) and Match of the Year (vs. Shawn Michaels and Triple H)
- PWI ranked him # 1 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of 2004.
Championship succession
Records
- Chris Benoit is the first person to retain the World Heavyweight Championship belt in an Iron Man Match, as he successfully defended the title against Triple H on the July 26 2004 edition of RAW. Shawn Michaels won the WWF World Championship at Wrestlemania 12 in an Iron Man Match against Bret Hart.
- Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle were the first WWE Tag Team Champions in WWE Smackdown! They lost to Edge and Rey Mysterio.
- Chris Benoit has held every major title in WWE except the WWE and European Championships.
- Chris Benoit became the second person to win the Royal Rumble match with the #1 draw. The first was Shawn Michaels in 1995. Chris Benoit won the Royal Rumble match in 2004, by eliminating Big Show last.
- Chris Benoit is the third shortest WWE World Heavyweight Champion, behind Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio, at a billed height of 5 ft 10 in. Benoit is 5 ft 8.5 legitimately.
- Chris Benoit is the second lightest WWE World Heavyweight Champion (behind Rey Mysterio), at a billed weight of 220 pounds (100 kg.)
- Chris Benoit had the record for staying in a Royal Rumble the longest time, up to the 2006 Royal Rumble match. In the Royal Rumble 2004 (which he won), he stayed in there for 61:34, surpassed by Rey Mysterio's 62:15.
- Chris Benoit won the WWE United States Championship in 25.5 seconds, the shortest match held for that title that resulted in the championship changing owners.
- Chris Benoit was the first person to end a WrestleMania main event match by defeating their opponent using a submission move.
External links
