5 things you probably forgot about Chris Benoit

During his 22-years long wrestling career, Chris Beniot worked with different promotions all over the world. He began his wrestling career with Stampede Wrestling in Calgary, Alberta, and then worked for multiple places until he was offered a contract by WWE in 2000.

Benoit was one of the few Superstars in history to once hold a World Championship in both WCW and WWE. He's also the second man in history to become both the WWE and WCW Triple Crown Champion. Chris Benoit's wrestling career is filled with many interesting moments and accomplisments - moments that have been over-shadowed by the circumstances of his death. As time has passed, fans have lost their memory about the things he did as a wrestler - as you can well imagine.

With today's list, let's take a look at a few things that you probably forgot about late Chris Benoit. Let's get started.

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#5 He trained in the Hart Family Dungeon

At the age of 18, Benoit would start his wrestling training at The Hart Family Dungeon

At the age of 12, Chris Benoit attended his first local wrestling event that featured Bret Hart and Tom "Dynamite Kid" Billington. After seeing these two talented performers fight, Benoit grew very fond of them and he decided to follow their footsteps.

With his 18th birthday, Benoit started training at The Hart Family Dungeon, where Superstars stars such as Owen Hart, Chris Jericho, Edge, and many others had trained. After a year of training at the Dungeon, Benoit made his wrestling debut at Stampede Wrestling, a legendary promotion put togetherand run by the Hart patriarch and WWE Hall of Famer Stu Hart.

While working for Stampede, Benoit didn't win many titles, but he certainly learned a lot of things there and experienced many unforgettable moments. Of course, there's one from his debut match when he tried to use the maneuver called diving headbutt before learning how to execute it correctly and ended up botching it.

Though nothing serious happened to him, Benoit did took a hard fall with his face first. Following this mishap, he promised not to use the maneuver before learning how to perform it precisely.

Benoit worked for Stampede Wrestling until it ran out of business in 1989. With this, he parted his ways with the company and went on to work in Japan.

#4 His work for New Japan Pro Wrestling

When did Chris Benoit work with NJPW?

After Stampede Wrestling closed its doors, Benoit started working for New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), where he spent about a year or so working at the company's developmental territory before making his official debut. Under the name The Pegasus Kid, Benoit won several titles and tournaments, and established himself as one of the best Superstars in the company at the time.

While working for NJPW, Benoit had memorable rivalries with the likes of Shinjiro Otani, Black Tiger (aka Eddie Gurerrero), El Samurai, and many others, but Jushin Thunder Liger was one of his toughest opponents. During their year-long feud for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, Liger took Benoit to his limits and challenged his skills at every step - so much so that Benoit had to reinvent himself as Wild Pegasus.

After his feud with Liger came to an end, Chris Benoit won the Best of Super Juniors and Super J-Cup tournament. A few months later, he parted his ways from NJPW and went on to work for WCW until WWE offered him a contract in 2000.

#3 He was a part of The Four Horsemen

When did Chris Benoit become a part of The Four Horsemen?

While working for WCW in 1995, Chris Benoit was approached by Ric Flair, who was looking to reform The Four Horsemen with Arn Anderson, and Brian Pillman - with Benoit as the fourth member. After Benoit gladly joined forces with Flair and others, he was introduced with a new heel gimmick that showed a lot of resemblance with his famous ECW persona: The Crippler.

Benoit and the other three men were involved in rivalries with many Superstars, but they mainly focused on fighting with Hulk Hogan, "Macho Man" Randy Savage, Sting, and Lex Luger. After running together as a team for about two years, all members of The Four Horsemen went their separate ways and didn't come together until a year later.

This time the faction had Benoit, Flair, Steve "Mongo" McMichael, Dean Malenko, while Anderson served as their manager. The four men had a good head start as a team, but in less than eight months, they were separated as a result of a storyline protest over Flair's vision for the team.

A few months later, Benoit ended his WCW career and went on to work for WWE, where a month later, he would win the Intercontinental Championship in a match involving Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle at WrestleMania 16.

#2 He won his debut Royal Rumble match

When did Chris Benoit win the Royal Rumble as the number one entrant?

Almost four years after making his WWE debut, Chris Benoit competed in his first Royal Rumble match. Benoit was the very first entrant, and he spent over an hour in the match - while eliminating a total of six-men, including Big Show, who he, in the end, threw over the top rope to win his first Rumble.

With this win, Benoit was supposed to face Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 20, but soon Shawn Michaels was added into the mix. As a result, Benoit went on to face Triple H and Michaels for the title in a triple threat match at The Show of Shows, where he forced Triple H to tap out to the Crippler Crossface and, with this, he also marked the first time the main event of WrestleMania ended via submission.

Benoit held the title for almost 150 days before losing it to Randy Orton at SummerSlam that year. A few months later, Benoit won the United States Championship after he made Booker T tap out to the Crippler Crossface at No Mercy PPV.

#1 He wanted to open a wrestling school

Why did Chris Benoit want to open a wrestling school?

Chris Benoit always knew how great his in-ring skills were and how athletic he was. Being one of the best technical wrestlers in the world offered him countless opportunities, and, mostly, he made the best of it. Benoit, however, didn't just want to keep his talents to himself, but rather pass it on to the younger generation.

Initially, Benoit never gave much thought to this, but after Eddie Guerrero - who was his best friend - passed away in 2005, it became much more than just a possibility for Benoit to open his own wrestling school.

Benoit even developed business plans, as well as designed merchandise for the school, but things changed greatly when WWE offered him a raise along with a big push and championship run. As a result, Benoit dropped his wrestling school plans, and he started training harder than ever.

A few days later, Benoit, along with his wife Nancy and son Daniel, sadly passed away.