A typical circus clown

Clowns are comic performers stereotypically characterized by the grotesque image of the circus clown's colored wigs, stylistic makeup, outlandish costumes, unusually large footwear, and red nose, which evolved to project their actions to large audiences. Other less grotesque styles have also developed, including theatre, television, and film clowns. Peter Berger writes that "It seems plausible that folly and fools, like religion and magic, meet some deeply rooted needs in human society".^[1] For this reason, clowning is often considered an important part of training as a physical performance discipline, partly because tricky subject matter can be dealt with, but also because it requires a high level of risk and play in the performer.^[2]

The humour in clowning comes from the self deprecating actions of the performer, rather than the audience laughing with the performer as is common with other forms of comedy.

The term coulrophobia has been coined to describe those individuals who report a fear of clowns.^[3]

History of clowns[link]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2010)

The most ancient clowns have been found in the Fifth dynasty of Egypt, around 2400 BCE.^[4] Contrary to court jests, clown have traditionally served a socio-religious and psychological role, and traditionally the role of priest and clown have been held by the same persons.^[4][5][6][7]

Clowning was developed from a broad tradition of historical performances, and it is difficult to point out a singular tradition or even a few different ones as being the primary precursors to clowns.^{[citation needed]} However there are a few past prominent forms of entertainment contemporarily linked to clowning as its possible antecedents.

Examples of historical, clown-like comedic performers have been the pantomimus in ancient Greece, the Lazzi of Commedia dell'Arte, bouffons, court jesters, as well as the French mime tradition. On top of this there are many non-European clowning traditions (including clown-like figures in Japanese Kabuki theatre), North American native shaman traditions to consider which may or may not have influenced what we now think of as a clown in the Western world.

Principal types[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Whiteface[link]

A clown with some classic whiteface characteristics; full whiteface, extravagant clothes

A whiteface character does not always wear the classic whiteface makeup.^{[citation needed]} Additionally, a character can wear traditional whiteface makeup and be an auguste.

Classic appearance. Traditionally, the whiteface clown uses "clown white" makeup to cover his or her entire face and neck with none of the underlying flesh color showing. In the European whiteface makeup, the ears are painted red. Features, in red and black, are delicate. He or she is traditionally costumed far more extravagantly than the other two clown types, sometimes wearing the ruffled collar and pointed hat which typify the stereotypical "clown suit".

Character. The whiteface character-type is often serious, all-knowing (even if not particularly smart), bossy and cocky. He is the ultimate authority figure. He serves the role of "straight-man" and sets up situations that can be turned funny.

America's first great white faced clown was stage star George "G.L." Fox. Following in the footsteps of legendary English Joseph Grimaldi, Fox popularised the Humpty Dumpty stories throughout the land in the first half of the 19th century.

Some circus examples include Pipo Sossman, François Fratellini (the Fratellini family), Felix Adler, Paul Jung, Harry Dann, Chuck Burnes, Albert White, Ernie Burch, Bobby Kaye, Jack and Jackie LeClaire, Joe and Chester Sherman, Keith Crary, Charlie Bell, Tim Tegge, Kenny Dodd, Frankie Saluto, Tammy Parish, David Konyot (Circus Barum and The Toni Alexis trio), Jay Stewart and Prince Paul Albert.

Auguste[link]

Typical aspects of an Auguste; white muzzle and eyes

Appearance[link]

The auguste face base makeup color is a variation of pink, red, or tan rather than white. Features are exaggerated in size and are typically red and black in color. The mouth is thickly outlined with white (called the muzzle) as are the eyes. The auguste is dressed (appropriate to character) in either well-fitted garb or in a costume that does not fit – either oversize or too small is appropriate. Bold colors, large prints or patterns, and suspenders often characterize auguste costumes.

Character[link]

The auguste character-type is often an anarchist, a joker, or a fool. He is clever and has much lower status than the whiteface. Classically the whiteface character instructs the auguste character to perform his bidding. The auguste has a hard time performing the given task which leads to funny situations. Sometimes the auguste plays the role of an anarchist and purposefully has trouble following the whiteface's directions. Sometimes the auguste is confused or is foolish and is screwing up less deliberately.

The contra-auguste[link]

The contra-auguste plays the role of the mediator between the whiteface character and the auguste character. He has a lower status than the whiteface but a higher status than the auguste. He aspires to be more like the whiteface and often mimics everything the whiteface does to try to gain approval. If there is a contra-auguste character, he often is instructed by the whiteface to correct the auguste when he is doing something wrong.

Character clown[link]

The character clown adopts an eccentric character of some type, such as a butcher, a baker, a policeman, a housewife or hobo. Prime examples of this type of clown are the circus tramps Otto Griebling and Emmett Kelly. Red Skelton, Harold Lloyd, Buster Keaton, and Charlie Chaplin would all fit the definition of a character clown.

The character clown makeup is a comic slant on the standard human face. Their makeup starts with a flesh tone base and may make use of anything from glasses, mustaches and beards to freckles, warts, big ears or strange haircuts.

North American[link]

Emmet Kelly

The most prevalent character clown in the American circus is the hobo, tramp or bum clown. There are subtle differences in the American character clown types. The primary differences among these clown types is attitude. According to American circus expert Hovey Burgess, they are (in order of class):

• The Hobo Migratory and finds work where he travels. Down on his luck but maintains a positive attitude.
• The Tramp Migratory and does not work where he travels. Down on his luck and depressed about his situation.
• The Bum Non-migratory and non-working.

Emmett Kelly was the preeminent clown of this type. Others include Barry Lubin, Tom Dougherty, Bill Irwin, David Shiner, Geoff Hoyle, Funny Man Poodles, John Gilkey, Eric Davis, Peter Shub, Poodles Hanneford, Bluch Landolf, Larry Pisoni, John Lepiarz, Bobo Barnett, Happy Kellams, Fumagalli, Charlie Cairoli, Bebe^{[disambiguation needed ]}, Jojo Lewis, Abe Goldstein, Rhum, David Larible, Scott Linker, Kenny Raskin, Oleg Popov, Rik Gern, and Bello Nock.^{[citation needed]}

Native American clowning[link]

Many native tribes have a history of clowning. The Canadian Clowning method developed by Richard Pochinko and furthered by his former apprentice, Sue Morrison, combines European and Native American clowning techniques.

In this tradition, masks are made of clay while the creator's eyes are closed. A mask is made for each direction of the medicine wheel. During this process, the clown creates a personal mythology which explores his or her personal experiences and innocences.

Rodeo clown[link]

A rodeo clown is a cowboy, or animal wrangler, dressed in wild costumes. They are used in bull riding riding competitions where their primary job is to distract the bull from the rider when the rider dismounts either at the conclusion of the ride (typically 8 seconds) or by being thrown before the conclusion of the ride. Rodeo clowns are also referred to as bull fighters and cowboy protection within rodeo circles. Rodeo clowns usually work in pairs or in threes and move towards the bull, waving and yelling to attract the bull's attention to themselves as soon as a bull rider dismounts or is thrown from the bull. This action allows the rider to escape to safety. In situations where a rider becomes entangled and unable to free him or herself from the bull, the rodeo clowns put themselves at risk by rushing to the bull and placing themselves between the bull's horns and rider while at the same time attempting to free the rider from bull. Many modern rodeos will showcase rodeo clowns by featuring them in a segment separate from bull riding where the clowns demonstrate their bull fighting prowess by directly confronting bulls, jumping over them and using other specialized evasive maneuvers.

Commedia dell'Arte[link]

(*see Harlequinade)

Archetypal Pierrot and Harlequin as painted by Paul Cézanne

There are two distinct types of clown characters, which originated in Commedia dell'Arte but which still hold some favor today, Pierrot and Harlequin.

Pierrot/Pirouette. Derived from the commedia dell'arte character Pedrolino – the youngest actor of the troupe, deadpan and downtrodden. Although Pedrolino appeared without mask, Pierrot usually appears in whiteface, typically with very little other color on the face. Like Arlecchino, Pedrolino's character changed enormously with the rising popularity of pantomime in the late 19th century, becoming Pierrot. This clown character prefers black and white or other a simple primary color in his or her costume. (le Pierrot is often female, and has also been called "Pirouette" or "Pierrette". When Bernard Delfont was made a life peer, he chose "Pierrot and Pierrette" as the heraldic supporters of his coat of arms.).

The tragic Robert Hunter song "Reuben and Cerise" mentions Pirouette twice, in symbolic colors: <poem>

...Cerise was dressing as Pirouette in white

when a fatal vision gripped her tight

Cerise beware tonight...</poem>

Cerise is Reuben's "true love", but Ruby Claire was a temptress:

<poem>

...Sweet Ruby Claire at Reuben stared

At Reuben stared

She was dressed as Pirouette in red

and her hair hung gently down

</poem>

Both women have names which translate as "red", but Reuben's true love is dressed in pure white. The other, to whom he played his fateful song, is the "lady in red." This symbolism might imply that Reuben was Pierrot's companion, Arlecchino:

Harlequin, or Arlecchino, is a "motley" clown. In the Commedia, Arlecchino always carries a cane with which to strike the other performers, although this cane is normally taken from him by the other performers and used against him. This is believed to be the origin of the slapstick form of comedy. A slapstick (battacio in Italian), is a prop with two flat flexible wooden pieces mounted in parallel so that the two sticks slap together when the implement is struck, causing a slapping sound, exaggerating the effect of a comedic blow. Despite the slapstick, Arlecchino is not malicious, but mischievous, the slapstick being a classic example of carnivalesque phallic imagery (see also the commedia masks' noses).

Like a cross between the characters of Puck and Nick Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Arlecchino is nimble and adept at the same time as being clumsy and dim, and is normally the 'messenger' character in a comedy — the catalyst for mayhem.

Arlecchino has a female counterpart, Arlecchina, or Rosetta, but more often he is in love with the character of Columbina, a straightforward and intelligent maid, who is usually given the prologue and epilogue.

Arlecchino has other derivatives with slightly different features: Traccagnino, Bagattino, Tabarrino, Tortellino, Naccherino, Gradelino, Mezzettino, Polpettino, Nespolino, Bertoldino, Fagiuolino, Trappolino, Zaccagnino, Trivellino, Passerino, Bagolino, Temellino, Fagottino, Fritellino, Tabacchino, whose names could all be considered funny-sounding names, even to an Italian. Arlecchino's name is probably derived from "hellech" plus the diminutive suffix "-ino", meaning little devil. In the same way, "Trufflino" is "Little Truffler", Trivellino is (Arlecchino's) "Little Brother", and so on. The Harlequin often loses much of Arlecchino's character in pantomime, as he becomes more of a ballet character, to a large extent stripped of dialogue and subversive content.

Joseph Grimaldi was the most celebrated of English clowns, his performances made this character central in British harlequinades.

Clowning terminology[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Egg Register[link]

When clowns join Clowns International in England, which claims to be the oldest clown society in the world, they register their individual make-up patterns in the "Egg Gallery". Eggshells are decorated as replicas of the clown's heads, and act as sort of clown copyright for the make-up designs. When a clown dies, his egg is smashed.

Skills[link]

The Clown and the tightrope walker.

In the circus, a clown might perform another circus role:

• Walk a tightrope, a highwire, a slack rope or a piece of rope on the ground.
• Ride a horse, a zebra, a donkey, an elephant or even an ostrich.
• Substitute himself in the role of "lion tamer".
• Act as "emcee", from M.C. or Master of Ceremonies, the preferred term for a clown taking on the role of "Ringmaster".
• "Sit in" with the orchestra, perhaps in a "pin spot" in the center ring, or from a seat in the audience.
• Anything any other circus performer might do. It is not uncommon for an acrobat, a horse-back rider or a lion tamer to secretly stand in for the clown, the "switch" taking place in a brief moment offstage.

Frameworks[link]

Frameworks are the general outline of an act that clowns use to help them build out an act. Frameworks can be loose, including only a general beginning and ending to the act, leaving it up to the clown's creativity to fill in the rest, or at the other extreme a fully developed script that allows very little room for creativity.

Shows are the overall production that a clown is a part of, it may or may not include elements other than clowning, such as in a circus show. In a circus context, clown shows are typically made up of some combination of Entrées, Side dishes, Clown Stops, Track Gags, Gags and bits.

Joey, the Auguste and the ringmaster[link]

In clown duos, Clowns often rely on the Joey & Auguste framework, or Manipulator/Victim. The Ringmaster relationship is the addition of an ur-manipulator, or ur-victim to this chemistry. This often takes the form of a mutual enemy or nemesis. An example of this situation might be as follows:

A husband comes home late, he's drunk, and has a collar covered in lipstick. His wife wants to know where he's been and a manipulator-victim relationship occurs. Suddenly their child enters the scene and the dynamic changes in an attempt to avoid traumatizing him/her. The child wants to know why there's a strange man in their bedroom, and the manipulator-victim dymnamic shifts during the next argument. Then it turns out that the child has constructed this elaborate ruse in order to steal cookies and watch late-night TV without notice, giving him ur-manipulator status.

This is an example of a ringmaster situation. Clowns in the ringmaster position are often character clowns, where Joey and Auguste duos are typically made up of a Whiteface Clown and an Auguste.

Gags, bits and business[link]

"Business" is the individual motions the clown uses, often used to express the clown's character. A "gag" is a very short piece of clown comedy which when repeated within a bit or routine may become a "running gag". Gags may be loosely defined as "the jokes clowns play on each other". Bits are the clown's sketches or routines made up of one or more gags either worked out and timed before going on stage or impromptu bits composed of familiar improvisational material. A gag may have a beginning, a middle and an end to them, or they may not. Gags can also refer to the prop stunts/tricks or the stunts that clowns use, such as a squirting flower.

Menu[link]

Entrées are feature clowning acts lasting 5–10 minutes. They are typically made up of various gags and bits, and usually use a clowning framework. Entrées almost always end with a blow-off. (The blow-off is the comedic ending of a show segment, bit, gag, stunt or routine.)

Side dishes are shorter feature acts. Side dishes are essentially shorter versions of the Entrée, typically lasting 1–3 minutes. Side dishes are typically made up of various gags and bits, and usually use a clowning framework. Side dishes almost always end with a blow-off.

Interludes[link]

"Clown Stops" or "interludes" are the brief appearances of clowns while the props and rigging are changed. These are typically made up of a few gags or several bits. Clown Stops almost always end with a blow-off. Clown stops will always have a beginning, a middle and an end to them. These are also called reprises or run-ins by many and in today's circus they are an art form in themselves, originally they were bits of "business" usually parodying the act that had preceded it. If for instance there had been a wire walker the reprise would involve two chairs with a piece of rope between and the clown trying to imitate the artiste by trying to walk between them with the resulting falls and cascades bringing laughter from the audience. Today they are far more complex and in many modern shows the clowning is a thread that links the whole show together.

Prop stunts[link]

Among the more well-known clown stunts are: squirting flower; the "too-many-clowns-coming-out-of-a-tiny-car" stunt; doing just about anything with a rubber chicken, tripping over ones own feet (or an air pocket or imaginary blemish in the floor), or riding any number of ridiculous vehicles or "clown bikes". Individual prop stunts are generally considered to be individual bits.

Fear of clowns[link]

A depiction of an evil clown, a character depicted in the media, which might cause anxiety to someone with coulrophobia

The term coulrophobia has been proposed to denote an abnormal, exaggerated, or irrational fear of clowns. The term is of recent use but is not commonly used in psychology, and according to one analyst, "has been coined more on the Internet than in printed form because it does not appear in any previously published, psychiatric, unabridged, or abridged dictionary".^[8] In particular, the term is not recognised as a specific disorder by the American Psychiatric Association in its latest categorisation of disorders, nor is it recognised by the World Health Organisation as a valid disorder.

It is common for children to be afraid of disguised, exaggerated, or costumed figures—even Santa Claus.^{[citation needed]} Ute myths feature a cannibalistic clown monster called the Siats.^{[citation needed]} In the Space To Care study aimed at improving hospital design for children, researchers from the University of Sheffield polled 250 children regarding their opinions on clowns;^[9] all 250 children in the study, whose ages ranged between four and sixteen, reported that they found clowns frightening and disliked clowns as part of hospital decor.^[10][11]

Clown costumes tend to exaggerate the facial features and some body parts, such as hands and feet and noses. This can be read as monstrous or deformed as easily as it can be read as comical. Some have suggested, however, that a fear of clowns may stem from early childhood experience, when infants begin to process and make sense of facial features.^{[citation needed]} The significant aberrations in a clown's face may frighten a child so much that they carry this phobia throughout their adult life.^{[citation needed]}

The British arts and music festival Bestival cancelled its planned clown theme in 2006 after many adult ticketholders contacted the organizers expressing a fear of clowns.^[12]

See also[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Clowns

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Clowns

• Bouffon
• Circus clown
• Circus Knie
• Clown car
• Clown society
• Evil clown
• Jester
• List of clowns
• Mime artist
• John Wayne Gacy, a convicted serial killer also known as the "Killer Clown"

References[link]

Notes

Bibliography

Emeli Sandé
Background information
Birth name	Adele Emeli Sandé
Born	(1988-03-10) 10 March 1988 (age 24)[1][2]
Genres	Soul, R&B, pop
Occupations	Singer, musician, songwriter
Years active	2009–present
Labels	Virgin (2010–present)
Website	www.emelisande.com

Adele Emeli Sandé  /sænˈdeɪ/ san-DAY, (born 10 March 1988)^[1] known by her stage name Emeli Sandé, is a Scottish soul and R&B recording artist and songwriter. Sandé first became known to the public eye after she featured on rapper Chipmunk's third single, "Diamond Rings", which gained herself and Chipmunk a first top 10 single on the UK Singles Chart. In 2010, she appeared on Roll Deep star, Wiley's "Never Be Your Woman", which became another top ten hit. Simon Cowell called her "his favourite songwriter at the minute". She has written for a number of artists, including Cher Lloyd, Parade, Susan Boyle, Preeya Kalidas, Leona Lewis, Alesha Dixon, Cheryl Cole, and Tinie Tempah.

In 2010, she signed a publishing deal with EMI Music Publishing. She later announced that Virgin Records had given her a record deal. Sandé released her first solo single "Heaven" in August 2011, which was an instant hit around the globe. Sandé has two number-one singles across the United Kingdom and Ireland with "Read All About It" with Professor Green and "Next to Me". She released Our Version of Events, in February 2012, upon the release the album peaked number one in the UK.^[3]

Early life[link]

Emeli Sandé was born to a Zambian father and English mother. She was raised in Alford, Aberdeenshire.^[4][5] She studied Medicine at the University of Glasgow, but stopped in her fourth year.^[4] She said that education was one of the most important things to her, stating that if her music career failed, she has education to fall back on. Sandé said that her manager, Adrian Sykes, waited patiently since she was 16, saying "Adrian really respects that I want to get an education behind me. He also knows my parents are keen that I finish university."^[6] Sandé has a tattoo of artist Frida Kahlo.^[7] At the age of 11, when Sandé was still in primary school, she wrote her first song for a school talent show.^[7] She spoke "That was the first time I thought I might be a songwriter. I always knew I wanted to be a musician, and I always knew I wanted to write. Because the people I was listening to all wrote. I never thought it was an option to sing anyone else's songs.^[7] The first song we wrote in was called "Tomorrow Starts Again", the song had proper structure, which even had a Middle eight.^[7] At the age of 15, Choice FM invited her to London, United Kingdom to take part in a competition they were holding, the "Rapology". Richard Blackwood also had her down to MTV's Camden studios to sing gospel.^[7] Sandé went to the same secondary school at which her father was a teacher. She said "I hated to be ill and to miss a day because I was so hungry to learn. I was very shy, nerdy and extremely well-behaved. Inevitably, throughout secondary school, it was part and parcel of my identity that I was Mr Sandé’s daughter. No way could I muck about or get into trouble, because it would've got back to him within minutes. And Dad was strict, let me tell you."^[8]

Career[link]

2008–10: Career beginnings[link]

Sandé's sister made a video of her playing the piano and singing to one of her favourite songs, "Nasty Little Lady".^[7] They sent the clip to Trevor Nelson's BBC Urban music competition. Sandé won the show and was offered a record deal, but the management that she met via the competition decided against the deal.^[7] Her parents sent 1Xtra a CD of her songs. Ras Kwame played on his "Homegrown Sessions", and four artists that year were asked to do a show in Soho. She met with Watford-born music producer/writer Shahid Khan aka Naughty Boy,^[9] who has previously worked with Ms Dynamite and Bashy,^[7] and they began writing tracks for artists such as Alesha Dixon, Chipmunk, Professor Green, Devlin, Preeya Kalidas, Cheryl Cole, and Tinie Tempah. Sandé soon signed a record deal with Virgin Records and EMI Records.^[10] In an interview, she said "I was doing a show in London for 1Xtra and I met this guy called Naughty Boy. We got in the studio and we clicked work wise. We just started writing, not necessarily for me, we just thought ‘let's write a pop tune’ and experiment. And we wrote the Chipmunk track and I thought nothing of it. Naughty Boy sent it off to Chipmunk who really liked it and wrote his stuff around it."^[10] She signed a record deal with Virgin Records in 2010. She later signed another deal with EMI Records in early 2011.^[11] Sandé made her singing career debut in 2009 after appearing on the track she wrote for Chipmunk's first debut single, "Diamond Rings". The single charted at No. 6 on the UK Singles Charts, making it Chipmunk and Sandé's first ever Top 10 Hit.^[12] She later appeared on another single singing guest vocals, after collaborating with Wiley on his comeback single "Never Be Your Woman", the single charted at number-eight on the UK Singles Charts becoming Sandé's second consecutive Top 10 Single.^[9] Sandé announced she changed her name from Adele Sandé to her middle name Emeli Sandé due to Adele's growing success. She spoke; "I changed it as soon as Adele came out. I just thought, 'You've kind of taken the [name] now', so I went with my middle name. She was just getting bigger and bigger, so I thought I just really need it."^[13]

[edit] 2011–present: Our Version of Events, international success and songwriting

While making her debut album, Sandé began to work with Tinie Tempah. She co-wrote "Let Go", on which she provided guest vocals. She also started working with Devlin after recording a song titled "Dreamer". Sandé later revealed she would be working on Alesha Dixon's upcoming album, The Entertainer. She co-wrote the hit single "Radio" along with Shahid Khan.^[14] and co-wrote tracks on Cheryl Cole's albums as well as Professor Green's album, which Sandé gave guest vocals on.^[15] Sandé revealed her first solo single would be released in early 2011.^[16] There was some speculation surrounding what track she would release, after many newspapers stated that it would be "Daddy". The first official single from her upcoming debut album was "Heaven" and was released on 14 August 2011.^[17] The song has received positive reviews from blogs such as This Must Be Pop^[18] and Robot Pigeon.^[19]

Sandé at XOYO

She revealed that she is Simon Cowell's favourite song-writer at the moment; due to her writing songs for Leona Lewis and Susan Boyle.^[13] Sandé stated in an interview; she said that she would love to meet Boyle after writing songs for her saying, "I haven’t met her yet. I just sent her the song. I’d love to meet her because I think she is a bit of a rock star." One song that Sandé had cowritten for Boyle will appear on her new album, titled "This Will Be The Year". Leona had heard a couple of songs so we had a week in the studio with her. Leona and I got along really well. Then we had another week together. It was very natural. She recorded a song called Trouble and another called Mountains, so I look forward to hearing them on her album."^[13] It was revealed after Professor Green announced his album tracking list for his album, At Your Inconvenience, that Sandé would feature on the first single from the album, "Read All About It". The single was released in October 2011,^{[dated info]} a week before the album was released.^[20] The pair also performed the song live on The X Factor results show.^[21] She confirmed that "Daddy" would be the second official single released from Our Version of Events. Sandé achieved her first number-one single on the UK Singles Chart after "Read All About" entered at number-one. On 26 November, Sandé performed at the LG ARENA in Birmingham for BRMB 2011. On 15 December 2011, she was named as the Brit Awards Critics' Choice for 2012.^[4][22][23] Sandé`s debut album includes songs written by her and has been reviewed as having "richly melodic, classically powerful, retro-futurist soul-pop songs."^[7] She draws on influences for her music from Nina Simone, Joni Mitchell and Lauryn Hill.^[7] Sandé said that all her songs are about World peace and political issues.^[7]

Sandé said that the key to a good song when songwriting is using "honesty" and "raw emotion" as the best way to write. She said that if she attempts to write something which is "too smart" the creative process will not work for her. "Kill the Boy" was one of the first ideas that came to Sandé's head. She said if she has to work on a song longer than a day, she will not go back to it, as she said it won't work. She went onto say if it was to work, it the idea for the song would be almost instant.^[7] It was announced that she was up for another BRIT Award in 2012, for British Breakthrough Act.^[24] Sandé is currently writing material for the original lineup of Sugababes. On 24 January 2012, Sandé performed a one off gig for Q Magzine at XOYO, London. She was supported by British soul singer Michael Kiwanuka. She recorded a version of David Guetta's "Titanium" and the pair performed the song at NRJ Music Awards in France.^[25][26] Sandé has penned a track for Naughty Boy's upcoming LP entitled "Hollywood" which features soul singer Gabrielle. It is about fame coming and going and will be released in November.^[27]

Personal life[link]

In January 2012, Sandé confirmed that she is engaged to her unidentified, long-term boyfriend.^[28] Her boyfriend has requested not to be identified and Sandé has said he is not in the music industry but that he is a scientist.^[29]

Discography[link]

Albums

• Our Version of Events (2012)

Touring[link]

Headlining

• Our Version of Events tour (2011-2012)

Supporting

• Mylo Xyloto Tour (2011-2012)

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Emeli Sandé

External links[link]

• Official website
• Aberdeen Famous Faces

Chris Benoit
Ring name(s)	Chris Benoit[1] Pegasus Kid[1] Wild Pegasus[1]
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[1]
Weight	220 lb (100 kg)[1]
Born	(1967-05-21)May 21, 1967[1] Montreal, Quebec, Canada[1]
Died	June 24, 2007(2007-06-24) (aged 40) Fayetteville, Georgia, United States[2]
Billed from	Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Atlanta, Georgia
Trained by	Stu Hart[1] New Japan Dojo Frank "Chic" Cullen[1]
Debut	November 22, 1985[1]

Christopher Michael "Chris" Benoit (French pronunciation: [bəˈnwɑ]) (May 21, 1967 – June 24, 2007) was a Canadian professional wrestler whose career and life ended in a murder–suicide. During his professional wrestling career, Benoit worked for such major promotions as Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and the World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Entertainment (WWF/WWE).

Among other accolades, Benoit is a two-time world champion: a one-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, one-time World Heavyweight Champion (tied for third longest reign in history). Both of his world title reigns were represented by the Big Gold Belt: Benoit is one of four men to have held the Big Gold Belt in both WCW and WWE, alongside Bill Goldberg, Booker T and Big Show.^[3][4] He is also a record-tying five-time WCW/WWE United States Champion, having held the championship twice in WCW, and three times in WWE.^[5] The twelfth WWE Triple Crown Champion and seventh WCW Triple Crown Champion, he is the second of four men in history to achieve both the WWF and WCW Triple Crown Championships.

In addition to championships, Benoit won the 2004 Royal Rumble match, joining Shawn Michaels as one of two men to win the match as the number one entrant.^[6] 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.^{[7][8][9][10][11][12][13]}

Chris Benoit murdered his wife and son on June 22, 2007 and subsequently hanged himself on June 24, 2007.^[14][15] Since Benoit's suicide, numerous explanations for his actions have been proposed, including brain damage,^[16] steroid abuse,^[17] and a failing marriage.^[18] Benoit last performed for WWE on their ECW brand. Paul Heyman, head of the original ECW promotion, intended to book Benoit to win the ECW World Heavyweight Championship in 1995 but did not renew his United States Work Visa in time;^[19] twelve years later, Benoit was booked by WWE to win the title in one of three world championship matches at pay-per-view event Vengeance: Night of Champions, which again did not come to fruition due to his death that night.^[20]

Professional wrestling career[link]

Stampede Wrestling (1985–1989)[link]

During his childhood and early adolescence in Edmonton, Benoit idolized Bret Hart^[21] and the Dynamite Kid (Tom Billington, later one-half of WWF tag team champions the British Bulldogs). After viewing countless pirated tapes of Dynamite's legendary matches from Japan against Tiger Mask, Benoit soon decided to join his idol in the wrestling profession. When Benoit was fifteen he met Dynamite for the first time, flexed his biceps, and proclaimed he wanted to be just like him.^[22] Michael Benoit, Chris's father, though not a wrestling fan, nonetheless encouraged his son by buying him a set of weights for strength training and muscle development and, later, by allowing him to drive to Calgary, some three hours away, to train in the Hart family "Dungeon". After years of strenuous training under Bruce Hart, and later under Stu Hart himself, Benoit began his career in 1985, the year Hart promised to make him wait, as it was the year he finished high school, in Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling promotion. It was during this time that Benoit would grow close to Bret Hart, referring to him as a "role model".^[21]

From the beginning, the similarities between Benoit and Billington were uncanny, as Benoit adopted many of his moves such as the diving headbutt and the snap suplex; the homage was complete with his initial billing as "Dynamite" Chris Benoit. According to Benoit, in his first match, he attempted the diving headbutt before learning how to land correctly, and had the wind knocked out of him; he said he would never do the move again at that point. His debut match was a tag team match on November 22, 1985 in Calgary, Alberta, where he teamed with "The Remarkable" Rick Patterson against Butch Moffat and Mike Hammer, which Benoit's team won the match after Benoit pinned Moffat with a sunset flip. The first title Benoit ever won was the Stampede British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Championship in 1986 against Gama Singh. During his tenure in Stampede, he won four International Tag Team and three more British Commonwealth titles,^[23] and had a lengthy feud with Johnny Smith that lasted for over a year, which both men traded back-and-forth the British Commonwealth title. In 1989, Stampede closed its doors later that year, and with a recommendation from Bad News Allen, Benoit departed for New Japan Pro Wrestling.

New Japan Pro Wrestling and independent circuit (1986–1994)[link]

Upon arriving in New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), Benoit spent about a year training in their "New Japan Dojo" with the younger wrestlers to improve his abilities. While in the dojo, he spent months doing strenuous activities like push ups and floor sweeping before stepping into the ring. He made his Japanese debut in 1986 under his real name. In 1989, he started wearing a mask and assuming the name The Pegasus Kid. Benoit said numerous times that he originally hated the mask, but it eventually became a part of him. While with NJPW, he came into his own as a performer in critically acclaimed matches with luminaries like Jushin Liger, Shinjiro Otani, Black Tiger, and El Samurai in their junior heavyweight division.

In August 1990, he won his first major championship, the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, from Jushin Liger. He eventually lost the title in November 1990 (and in July 1991 in Japan and in November 1991 in Mexico, his mask) back to Liger,^[23] forcing him to reinvent himself as Wild Pegasus. Benoit spent the next couple years in Japan, winning the Best of the Super Juniors tournament twice (1993 and 1995). He went on to win the Super J Cup Tournament in 1994, defeating Black Tiger, Gedo, and Great Sasuke in the finals.

Benoit also wrestled outside of New Japan occasionally to compete in Mexico and Europe, where he won a few regional championships, including the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship. He held that title for over a year, having many forty-plus minute matches with Villaño III.

World Championship Wrestling (1992–1993)[link]

Benoit first came to World Championship Wrestling in June 1992, teaming up with fellow Canadian wrestler Biff Wellington for the NWA World Tag Team Championship tournament; they were defeated by Brian Pillman and Jushin Liger in the first round at Clash of the Champions XIX.

He did not return to WCW until January 1993 at Clash of the Champions XXII, defeating Brad Armstrong. A month later, at Superbrawl III, he lost to 2 Cold Scorpio, getting pinned with only three seconds left in the 20-minute time limit. At the same time, he formed a tag team with Bobby Eaton. After he and Eaton lost to Scorpio and Marcus Bagwell at Slamboree, Benoit headed back to Japan.

Extreme Championship Wrestling (1994–1995)[link]

In 1994, Benoit began working with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) in between tours of Japan. He was booked as a dominant wrestler there, gaining notoriety as the "Crippler" after he put Rocco Rock out of action, and proceeded to behave in a cold, calculating, uncaring way towards his opponents. At November 2 Remember, Benoit accidentally broke Sabu's neck within the opening seconds of the match. The injury came when Benoit threw Sabu with the intention that he take a face-first "pancake" bump, but Sabu attempted to turn mid-air and take a backdrop bump instead. He did not achieve full rotation and landed almost directly on his neck. After this match Benoit returned to the locker room and broke down over the notion he might have paralyzed someone, demanding that he go to see Sabu to make sure he was all right; Paul Heyman, the head booker of ECW at the time, came up with the idea of continuing the "Crippler" moniker for Benoit.^[24] From that point until his departure from ECW, he was known as the "Crippler" Chris Benoit. However, when he returned to WCW in October 1995, WCW modified his ring name to the "Canadian Crippler" Chris Benoit. In The Rise and Fall of ECW book, Heyman commented that he planned on using Benoit as a dominant heel for quite some time, before putting the company's main title, the ECW World Heavyweight Championship, on him to be the long-term champion of the company.^[19]

Benoit and Dean Malenko won the ECW World Tag Team Championship from Sabu and The Tazmaniac in February 1995, Benoit's first American title.^[23] After winning, they were initiated into the Triple Threat stable, led by ECW World Heavyweight Champion, Shane Douglas, as Douglas's attempt to recreate the Four Horsemen, as the three-man contingency held all three of the ECW championships at the time (Malenko also held the ECW World Television Championship at the time). The team lost the titles to The Public Enemy that April at ECW's Three Way Dance. Benoit spent some time in ECW feuding with The Steiner Brothers and rekindling the feud with 2 Cold Scorpio. He was forced to leave ECW after his work visa expired; Heyman was supposed to renew it, but he failed to make it on time, so Benoit left as a matter of job security and the ability to enter the United States. He toured Japan until WCW called.^[23]

World Championship Wrestling (1995–2000)[link]

New Japan Pro Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling (WCW) had a working relationship, and because of their "talent exchange" program, Benoit signed with WCW in late 1995 along with a number of talent working in New Japan to be a part of the angle. Like the majority of those who came to WCW in the exchange, he started out in as a member of the cruiserweight division, having lengthy matches against many of his former rivals in Japan on almost every single broadcast. At the end of 1995, Benoit went back to Japan as a part of the "talent exchange" to wrestle as a representative for New Japan in the Super J Cup: Second Stage, defeating Lionheart in the quarterfinals (he received a bye to the quarterfinals for his work in 1995, similar to the way he advanced in the 1994 edition) and losing to Gedo in the semifinals.

Benoit with a fan during his time in WCW.

After impressing higher-ups with his work, he was approached by Ric Flair and the WCW booking staff to become a member of the reformed Four Horsemen in 1995, alongside Flair, Arn Anderson, and Brian Pillman; he was introduced by Pillman as a gruff, no-nonsense heel similar to his ECW persona, The Crippler. He was brought in to add a new dynamic for Anderson and Flair's tormenting of Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage in their "Alliance to End Hulkamania", which saw the Horsemen team up with the Dungeon of Doom, but that alliance ended with Dungeon leader and WCW booker, Kevin Sullivan feuding with Pillman. When Pillman abruptly left the company for the WWF, Benoit was placed into his ongoing feud with Sullivan. This would come to fruition through a dissension between the two in a tag team match with the two reluctantly teaming with each other against The Public Enemy, and Benoit being attacked by Sullivan at Slamboree. This would lead to the two having violent confrontations at pay-per-views, which led to Sullivan booking a feud in which Benoit was having an affair with Sullivan's real life wife and onscreen valet, Nancy (also known as Woman). Benoit and Nancy were forced to spend time together to make the affair look real, (hold hands in public, share hotel rooms, etc.).^[25] This on-screen relationship developed into a real-life affair off-screen. As a result, Sullivan and Benoit had a contentious backstage relationship at best. Benoit did, however, admit having a certain amount of respect for Sullivan, saying on the DVD Hard Knocks: The Chris Benoit Story that Sullivan never took undue liberties in the ring during their feud, even though he blamed Benoit for breaking up his marriage. This would continue for over the course of a year with Sullivan having his enforcers apprehend Benoit in a multitude of matches. This would all culminate in a retirement match at the Bash at the Beach, where Benoit defeated Sullivan; this was used to explain Sullivan going to a behind-the-scenes role, where he could focus on his initial job of booking.

In 1998, Benoit had a long feud with Booker T. They fought over the WCW World Television Championship until Booker lost the title to Fit Finlay.^[23] Booker won a "Best-of-Seven" series which was held between the two to determine a number one contender. Benoit went up 3 to 1 before Booker caught up, forcing the 7th and final match on Monday Nitro. During the match, Bret Hart interjected himself, interfering on behalf of Benoit in an attempt to get him to join the New World Order. Benoit refused to win that way and told the referee what happened, getting himself disqualified. Booker refused that victory, instead opting for an eighth match at the Great American Bash to see who would fight Finlay later that night. Booker won the final match and went on to beat Finlay for the title.^[23] This feud significantly elevated both men's careers as singles competitors, and both remained at the top of the midcard afterward.

In 1999, Benoit teamed with Dean Malenko once again and defeated Curt Hennig and Barry Windham to win the WCW World Tag Team Championship.^[23] This led to a reformation of the Four Horsemen with the tag team champions, Anderson, and Steve "Mongo" McMichael. The two hunted after the tag team championship for several months, feuding with teams like Raven and Perry Saturn or Billy Kidman and Rey Mysterio, Jr. After a falling out with Anderson and McMichael, Benoit and Malenko left the Horsemen; he won the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship^[23] before bringing together Malenko, Perry Saturn, and Shane Douglas to form "The Revolution". The Revolution was a heel stable of younger wrestlers who felt slighted (both kayfabe and legitimate) by WCW management, believing they never gave them the chance to be stars, pushing older, more established wrestlers instead, despite their then-current questionable worthiness of their pushes. This led to the Revolution seceding from WCW, and forming their own nation, complete with a flag. This led to some friction being created between Benoit and leader, Douglas, who called into question Benoit's heart in the group, causing Benoit to quit the group, thus turning face, and having his own crusade against the top stars, winning the Television title one more time and the United States title from Jeff Jarrett in a ladder match. In October 1999 on Nitro in Kansas City, Missouri, Benoit wrestled Bret Hart as a tribute to Owen Hart, who had recently died due to an equipment malfunction. Hart defeated Benoit by submission, and the two received a standing ovation, and an embrace from guest ring announcer, Harley Race.

Despite having many good moments on the undercard of WCW, Benoit had enough of the company's political atmosphere backstage, where he could not thrive at the top of the company.^[26] One last attempt in January 2000 was made to try and keep him with WCW, by putting the vacant WCW World Heavyweight Championship on him by defeating Sid Vicious at Souled Out.^[23] However, due to disagreements with management and to protest the promotion of Kevin Sullivan to head booker,^[27] Benoit left the company the next day alongside his friends Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko, and Perry Saturn, forfeiting his title in the process. He spent the next few weeks in Japan before heading to the WWF.

World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment (2000–2007)[link]

The Radicalz (2000–2001)[link]

Benoit was disqualified from the 2000 King of the Ring for using a chair against Rikishi.

Along with Guerrero, Saturn, and Malenko, Benoit debuted in the WWF as a stable that became known as The Radicalz. After losing their "tryout matches" upon entry, The Radicalz aligned themselves with WWF Champion Triple H and became a heel faction. Benoit quickly won his first title in the WWF just over a month later at WrestleMania 2000, pinning Chris Jericho in a triple threat match to win Kurt Angle's Intercontinental Championship. It was also in this time period that Benoit wrestled in his first WWF pay-per-view main events, challenging The Rock for the WWF Championship at Fully Loaded in July and as part of a fatal four way title match at Unforgiven in September. On both occasions Benoit appeared to have won the title, only to have the decision reversed by then-WWF commissioner Mick Foley due to cheating on Benoit's part.

Benoit simultaneously entered into a long-running feud with Jericho for the Intercontinental title, with the two meeting at Backlash, Judgment Day and SummerSlam; Benoit winning all three matches. The feud finally culminated in Jericho defeating Benoit in a ladder match at the Royal Rumble in January 2001. Benoit won the Intercontinental title three times between April 2000 and January 2001.

Feuding and teaming with Chris Jericho (2000-2001)[link]

In early 2001, Benoit broke away from The Radicalz (who had recently reformed three months earlier) and turned babyface, feuding first with his former stablemates and then with Kurt Angle, whom he wrestled at WrestleMania X-Seven. The feud continued after Benoit stole Angle's cherished Olympic Gold Medal. This culminated in a match at Judgment Day where Angle won a two out of three falls match with the help of Edge and Christian. In response, Benoit teamed up with his former rival Jericho to defeat Edge and Christian in that night's Tag Team Turmoil match.

The next night on Raw in San Jose, California, Jericho and Benoit challenged WWF Tag Team Champions Stone Cold Steve Austin and Triple H for their title. On May 21, 2001, Jericho and Benoit ended their reign and as a result of the win, Benoit aided Jericho in becoming the fourth Grand Slam Champion when he captured the WWE title later in December.

The pair used the win as a springboard to challenge Austin for his world title. Benoit got two title matches the following week, first losing in a manner similar to the Montreal Screwjob in Calgary and then just barely losing to Austin in Benoit's hometown of Edmonton. Unfortunately, Benoit suffered a neck injury in a four-way TLC match that required surgery with Dr. Lloyd Youngblood. Despite this, he continued to wrestle until the King of the Ring, where he was pinned in a triple threat match versus Austin and Jericho. Benoit missed the next year due to his neck injury, missing the entire Invasion storyline.

Raw and SmackDown! (2002-2003)[link]

Benoit at the WWE Tribute to the Troops in 2003.

During the first WWE Draft, he was the third superstar picked by Vince McMahon to be part of the new SmackDown! roster,^[28] although still on the injured list. However, when he returned, he did so as a member of the Raw roster. On his first night back, he turned heel again and aligned himself with Eddie Guerrero, and he feuded with Steve Austin briefly.^[29] He and Guerrero were then moved to SmackDown during a storyline "open season" on wrestler contracts,^[30] with Benoit taking his newly won Intercontinental championship with him.^[31] Rob Van Dam defeated Benoit at SummerSlam and returned the title to Raw.^[32][33]

After returning to SmackDown! on October 20, 2002, he was crowned the first winner of the WWE Tag Team Championship, alongside foe and partner Kurt Angle.^[32][34] In this, Benoit consecutively helped to crown the fifth Grand Slam Champion, as the tag title was the only remaining title Kurt needed. They became tweeners after betraying Los Guerreros.^[35]

Angle won his third WWE Championship from The Big Show at Armageddon,^[36] and Benoit faced him for the title at the 2003 Royal Rumble. Although Benoit lost the match, he received a standing ovation for his efforts.^[37] Benoit returned to the tag team ranks, teaming with the returning Rhyno.^[38] At WrestleMania XIX, the WWE Tag Team Champions, Team Angle (Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin), put their belts on the line against Benoit and his partner Rhyno and Los Guerreros in a triple threat tag team match. Team Angle retained when Benjamin pinned Chavo.^[39]

Benoit then feuded with John Cena and the Full Blooded Italians,^[40][41] teaming with Rhyno occasionally.^[42] In June 2003, the WCW United States Championship was reactivated and renamed the WWE United States Championship, and Benoit participated in the tournament for the belt. He lost in the final match to Eddie Guerrero at Vengeance.^[42] The two feuded over the title for the next month,^[43] and Benoit went on to defeat the likes of A-Train,^[44] Big Show, and Brock Lesnar by submission.^[44] General Manager Paul Heyman had a vendetta against Benoit along with Lesnar, preventing him from gaining a shot at Lesnar's WWE Title.^[45]

World Heavyweight Champion (2004–2005)[link]

When Benoit won a qualifying match for the 2004 Royal Rumble against the Full Blooded Italians in a handicap match with John Cena, Heyman named him as the number one entry, but Benoit swore victory.^[46] On January 25, 2004 Benoit won the Royal Rumble by last eliminating Big Show, and thus earned a world title shot at WrestleMania XX.^[44] As a result of the long-standing Royal Rumble tradition that the winner receives a shot at the world champion at WrestleMania, and with Benoit being on the SmackDown! brand at the time it was assumed that he was going to compete for the WWE Championship. Benoit, however, exploited a "loophole" in the rules and appeared on Raw the following night to challenge World Heavyweight Champion Triple H.^[47] This "loophole" clause has become standard storyline practice, with the Royal Rumble winner being free to choose the title for which he will challenge. 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,^[44] 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,^[44] which eventually resulted in a Triple Threat match between Michaels, Benoit, and the champion, Triple H.^[48]

Benoit with close friend Eddie Guerrero, celebrating their respective World Championships at WrestleMania XX.

On March 14, 2004, at WrestleMania XX, Benoit won the World Heavyweight Championship by forcing Triple H to tap out to his signature submission move, the Crippler Crossface.,^[49] marking the first time the main event of a WrestleMania ended in submission.^[50][51] After the match, an emotional Benoit celebrated his win with the then-reigning WWE Champion Eddie Guerrero. The rematch was held at Backlash in Benoit's hometown of Edmonton. It was Michaels who ended up submitting to Benoit's Sharpshooter, allowing Benoit to retain his title.^[49] The next night in Calgary, he and Edge won the World Tag Team title from Batista and Ric Flair, making Benoit a double champion.^[52]

The three months following his victory at Backlash, Benoit and Edge engaged in a rivalry with La Résistance for the World Tag Team Championship, which saw a series of matches, while simultaneously having confrontations with Kane over the World title. Benoit wrestled in two matches at Bad Blood in his respective rivalries; he and Edge failed to regain their World Tag Team title while he successfully defended the World title against Kane. A month later at Vengeance, Benoit retained the title against Triple H.

On August 15, 2004, Benoit was defeated by Randy Orton for the World Heavyweight Championship at SummerSlam.^[53] Benoit then feuded with Edge (who had turned into a crazed heel with severe anger management problems), leading to Taboo Tuesday where Benoit, Edge, and Shawn Michaels were all put into a poll to see who would face Triple H for the World Heavyweight title that night.^[54] Michaels received the most votes and as a result, Edge and Benoit were forced to team up to face the then tag team champions, La Résistance, in the same night. However, Edge deserted Benoit during the match and Benoit was forced to take on both members of La Résistance by himself. He still managed to win the World Tag Team title.^[53] At Survivor Series, Benoit sided with Randy Orton's team while Edge teamed with Triple H's team, and while Edge was able to pin Benoit after a Pedigree, Orton's team won.^[55]

The Benoit-Edge feud ended at New Year's Revolution.^[56] The feud stopped abruptly, as Edge feuded with Shawn Michaels, and Benoit entered the Royal Rumble.^[57] The two then continued to have matches in the following weeks until the two of them, Chris Jericho, Shelton Benjamin, Kane, and Christian were placed in the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 21. Edge won the match by knocking Benoit off of and smashing his arm with the ladder.^[57] The feud finally culminated in a Last Man Standing match at Backlash, which Edge won with a brick shot to the back of Benoit's head.^[58]

SmackDown! and United States Champion (2005–2006)[link]

On June 9, Benoit returned to SmackDown! after being the first man selected by the SmackDown! brand in the 2005 Draft Lottery and participated in an ECW-style revolution against the SmackDown! heels.^[59][60] Benoit appeared at One Night Stand, defeating Eddie Guerrero. At the end of the night he delivered a flying headbutt to his former WCW boss and former Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff.^[61]

Benoit in September 2005 as the United States Champion

On July 24 at The Great American Bash, Benoit failed to win the WWE United States Championship from Orlando Jordan,^[62] but he faced him in a rematch at SummerSlam. Benoit defeated Jordan in 25 seconds with the Crippler Crossface to win the title.^[62] On the next two editions of SmackDown!, Benoit defeated Jordan by submission in 23.4 seconds^[63] and 22.5 seconds, respectively.^[64] Two weeks later, Benoit defeated Jordan by submission in 49.8 seconds.^[65] Benoit then started wrestling Booker T in some friendly competitions,^[62] but it was all a ploy, as Booker and his wife, Sharmell, cheated Benoit out of the US title on an episode of SmackDown!.^[66]

On November 13, 2005, Eddie Guerrero was found dead in his hotel room. The following night, Raw held a Guerrero tribute show hosted by both Raw and SmackDown! superstars. Benoit was devastated at the loss of his best friend and was very emotional during a series of video testimonials, eventually breaking down on camera.^[67] The same week on SmackDown! (taped on the same night as Raw), Benoit defeated Triple H in a tribute match to his fallen friend. Following the contest, Benoit, Helmsley, and Dean Malenko all assembled in the ring and pointed to the sky in salute of Guerrero.^[68]

After controversy surrounding a US 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 Benoit faced elimination in the series.^[69][70][71] Benoit won the fourth match to stay alive,^[69] but after the match, Booker suffered a legitimate groin injury, and Randy Orton was chosen as a stand-in. Benoit defeated Orton twice by disqualification.^[72][73] However, in the 7th and final match, Orton defeated Benoit with the help of Booker T, Sharmell, and Orlando Jordan, and Booker captured the US title.^[74] Benoit feuded with Orton for a short time,^[75] only to compete against Booker for the US title. Benoit was given one last chance at the US title at No Way Out and won it by making Booker submit to the Crippler Crossface, ending the feud.^[69] Soon after, Benoit defeated Orton in a No Holds Barred match on SmackDown! via Crippler Crossface.

The next week on SmackDown!, Benoit kayfabe broke John Bradshaw Layfield's (JBL) hand (JBL actually needed surgery to remove a cyst).^[76] A match was set up for the two at WrestleMania 22 for Benoit's title, and for the next several weeks, they attacked each other. At WrestleMania, JBL won the match with an illegal cradle to win the title.^[50] Benoit used his rematch clause two weeks later in a steel cage match on SmackDown!, but JBL again won with illegal tactics.^[77] Benoit then entered the King of the Ring tournament, only to be defeated by Finlay in the opening round, after Finlay struck Benoit's neck with a chair and delivered a Celtic Cross.^[78] At Judgment Day, Benoit gained some revenge by defeating Finlay with the Crippler Crossface in a grudge match.^[79][80] On the following edition of SmackDown!, Mark Henry brutalized Benoit during their match, giving him (kayfabe) back and rib injuries and causing him to bleed from his mouth.^[81] Benoit then took a sabbatical to heal nagging shoulder injuries.

On October 8, Benoit made his return at No Mercy, defeating William Regal in a surprise match.^[82] Later that week, he won his fifth United States Championship from Mr. Kennedy.^[83] Benoit then engaged in a feud with Chavo and Vickie Guerrero. He wanted answers from the Guerreros for their rash behavior towards Rey Mysterio, but was avoided by the two and was eventually assaulted. This would lead to the two embarking on a feud with title implications at the coming two pay per views.^[82] The feud would culminate with one last title match as a No disqualification match, which was also won by Benoit.^[84] Afterward, Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP), who claimed that he was the best man to hold the US title, challenged Benoit for the title at WrestleMania 23, where Benoit retained.^[51] Their rivalry continued with similar results again at Backlash.^[85] At Judgment Day, however, MVP gained the upper hand and won the title in a two out of three falls match.^[86]

ECW (2007)[link]

On the June 11 edition of Raw, Benoit was drafted from SmackDown! to ECW as part of the 2007 WWE Draft, after losing a match to Bobby Lashley.^[87] Benoit won his ECW debut match teaming up with CM Punk and defeating Elijah Burke and Marcus Cor Von by disqualification.^[88] On June 19, Benoit wrestled his last match, defeating Burke in a match to determine who would compete for the vacated ECW World Championship at Vengeance.^[89] Benoit missed the weekend house shows, telling WWE officials that his wife and son were vomiting blood due to food poisoning. When he failed to show up for the pay-per-view, viewers were informed that he was unable to compete due to a "family emergency" and he was replaced in the title match by Johnny Nitro. Nitro won the match and became ECW World Champion.^[90] Stephanie McMahon later indicated that Benoit would have defeated Punk for the championship had he been present for the event.^[20]

Personal life[link]

Benoit was born in Montreal, Quebec to Michael and Margaret Benoit, but grew up in Edmonton, Alberta from which he was billed in ring introductions throughout the bulk of his career. Benoit spoke both English and French fluently.^[91] In an interview with Larry King on CNN, Michael Benoit mentioned in passing that Chris had a sister living near Edmonton.

Benoit became good friends with wrestler Eddie Guerrero following a match in Japan, when Benoit utilized an Enzuigiri kick and knocked him out cold. This started a friendship that lasted until Guerrero's death in late 2005. He was also close friends with Dean Malenko as the trio traveled from promotion to promotion together putting on matches, eventually being dubbed the "Three Amigos" by commentators.^[92] According to Benoit, the Crippler Crossface was borrowed from Malenko and eventually caught on as Benoit's signature hold.^[92][93]

Benoit's lost tooth, his top-right lateral incisor, was usually attributed to training or an accident early on in his wrestling career. It actually resulted from an accident involving his pet Rottweiler: one day while playing with the dog, the animal's skull struck Benoit's chin and his tooth "popped out".^[94]

Benoit married twice, having two children by his first wife, Martina: David and Megan.^[95][96] By 1997, that marriage had broken down and Benoit was living with Nancy Sullivan, the wife of WCW booker and frequent opponent Kevin Sullivan. On February 25, 2000, Chris and Nancy's son Daniel was born; on November 23, 2000, Chris married Nancy. It was Nancy's third marriage. In 2003, Nancy filed for divorce from Benoit, citing the marriage as "irrevocably broken" and alleging "cruel treatment"; she claimed that he would break and throw furniture around.^[97][98] She later dropped the suit, as well as the restraining order filed against her husband.^[97]

Death[link]

Wikinews has related news: Professional wrestler Chris Benoit and family found dead Death of Nancy Benoit rumour posted on Wikipedia hours prior to body being found Chris Benoit mystery editor confesses: claims "terrible coincidence"

On June 25, 2007, police entered Benoit's home on a "welfare check" after several missed appointments, leading to concerns.^[99] The officers discovered the bodies of Benoit, his wife Nancy, and their 7-year-old son Daniel at around 2:30 p.m. EDT.^[100] Upon investigating, no additional suspects were sought by authorities.^[101] It was determined that Benoit had committed the murders.^[102]

Over a three day period, Benoit had killed his wife and son before he hanged himself.^[14][15] His wife was bound before the killing. Benoit's son was drugged and likely unconscious before Benoit strangled him.^[103] Benoit then committed suicide with a weight machine.^[102]

WWE canceled the scheduled three hour long live Raw show on June 25, and replaced the broadcast version with a tribute to his life and career, featuring his past matches, segments from the Hard Knocks: The Chris Benoit Story DVD, and comments from wrestlers and announcers.^[104] However, once the details of the murder–suicide became apparent, WWE quickly and quietly began distancing itself from the wrestler by removing merchandise and no longer mentioning him. The June 26 episode of ECW began with Vince McMahon addressing the television audience about the circumstances and announcing that there would be no mention of Benoit that night other than his comments. There was no mention of Benoit at all the following Friday on Smackdown.

Toxicology reports released on July 17, 2007 revealed that at their time of death, Nancy had three different drugs in her system: Xanax, hydrocodone, and hydromorphone, all of which were found at the therapeutic rather than toxic levels. Daniel was found to have Xanax in his system, which led the chief medical examiner to believe that he was sedated before he was murdered. Benoit was found to have Xanax, hydrocodone, and an elevated level of testosterone, caused by a synthetic form of the hormone, in his system. The chief medical examiner attributed the testosterone level to Benoit possibly being treated for a deficiency caused by previous steroid abuse or testicular insufficiency. There was no indication that anything in Benoit's body contributed to his violent behavior that led to the murder–suicide, concluding that there was no "roid-rage" involved.^[105] Prior to the murder–suicide, Benoit had been given illegal steroids not in compliance with WWE's Talent Wellness Program in February 2006. Benoit received nandrolone and anastrozole. During the investigation into steroid abuse, it was revealed that other wrestlers had also been given steroids.^[106][107]

After the double-murder suicide, former wrestler Christopher Nowinski contacted Michael Benoit, father of Chris Benoit, suggesting that years of trauma to his son's brain may have led to his actions. Tests were conducted on Benoit's brain by Julian Bailes, the head of neurosurgery at West Virginia University, and results showed that "Benoit's brain was so severely damaged it resembled the brain of an 85-year-old Alzheimer's patient."^[108] He was reported to have had an advanced form of dementia, similar to the brains of four retired NFL players who had suffered multiple concussions, sank into depression, and harmed themselves or others. Bailes and his colleagues concluded that repeated concussions can lead to dementia, which can contribute to severe behavioral problems.^[109] Benoit's father suggests that brain damage may have been the leading cause of the crime.^[110] He also confirmed that his son was quietly cremated, but what was done with the ashes is not public knowledge.^[111]

In wrestling[link]

Benoit with the Crippler Crossface (Arm trap crossface) on MVP.

Chris Benoit performing a diving headbutt on MVP at WrestleMania 23.

Benoit performing a diving headbutt on Rikishi at King of the Ring 2000.

• Finishing moves
  • Bridging dragon suplex^[1] – 1992–1998; used as a regular move from 1998–2007
  • Crippler Crossface^[1][112] (Arm trap crossface)
  • Diving headbutt^[1][113]
  • Kneeling belly to belly piledriver, sometimes from the second rope^[1] – 1989–1994; used as a regular move thereafter
  • Sharpshooter^[1][114] – 1998–2007
  • Wild Bomb (High speed release powerbomb), sometimes from the top rope^[1] – 1994–2002; rarely used as a regular move thereafter
• Signature moves
  • Back body drop^[114][115]
  • Backhand chop^[114][116]
  • Dragon screw^[115]
  • Figure four leglock
  • Forearm smash
  • Headbutt
  • Lariat^[1]
  • Multiple suplex variations
    • Belly to back^[1][114]
    • Bridging Northern Lights
    • Exploder
    • German^[1][116]
    • Gutwrench^[1]
    • Triple rolling Germans^[1][114]
    • Slingshot
    • Snap^[1]
    • Super^[112]
    • Three Amigos^[114] (Triple rolling verticals) – used as a tribute to Eddie Guerrero
  • Shoulderbreaker – 2001–2003
  • Spinebuster – 1991–1994
  • Springboard clothesline – 1994–1998
  • Suicide dive
• Managers
  • Arn Anderson
  • Ted DiBiase (During his WWF tryout matches in 1995)^{[citation needed]}
  • Shane Douglas
  • Miss Elizabeth
  • Shane McMahon
  • Terri Runnels
  • Woman
• Nicknames
  • "The Rabid Wolverine"
  • "The Crippler"
  • "The Canadian Crippler"
• Entrance themes
  • New Japan Pro Wrestling
    • "Jump (DJ Power Mix)" by Eskimo^[117]
  • Extreme Championship Wrestling
    • "Back in the Saddle" by Aerosmith
    • "Perfect Strangers" by Deep Purple
  • World Championship Wrestling
    • "Scattered"
    • "Coast"
    • "Replica B"
    • "Too Much Information"
  • World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment
    • "Shooter" by Jim Johnston (April 2, 2000–May 27, 2002)
    • "Whatever" by Our Lady Peace (June 17, 2002–June 19, 2007)

Championships and accomplishments[link]

• Cauliflower Alley Club
  • Future Legend Award (2002)
• Catch Wrestling Association
  • CWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time)^[118] – with Dave Taylor

Benoit as United States Champion in 2007. His five reigns (two in WCW and three in WWE) are tied for the most in history.

Benoit in his reign as World Heavyweight Champion in 2004. He is also a one-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, with both reigns represented by the Big Gold Belt.

• Extreme Championship Wrestling
  • ECW World Tag Team Championship (1 time)^[119] – with Dean Malenko
• New Japan Pro Wrestling
  • IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[120]
  • Super J Cup (1994)^[121]
  • Top/Best of the Super Juniors (1993, 1995)^[122]
• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI Feud of the Year (2004)^[123]vs. Triple H
  • PWI Match of the Year (2004)^[124]vs. Shawn Michaels and Triple H at WrestleMania XX
  • PWI Wrestler of the Year (2004)^[125]
  • PWI ranked him #1 of the 500 best singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2004^[126]
  • PWI ranked him #69 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003^[127]
• Stampede Wrestling
  • Stampede British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Championship (4 times)^[128]
  • Stampede Wrestling International Tag Team Championship (4 times)^[129] – with Ben Bassarab (1), Keith Hart (1), Lance Idol (1), and Biff Wellington (1)
  • Stampede Wrestling Hall of Fame^[130]
• Universal Wrestling Association
  • WWF Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^1[131]
• World Championship Wrestling
  • WCW United States Heavyweight Championship (2 times)^[132]
  • WCW World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[133]
  • WCW World Tag Team Championship (2 times)^[134] – with Dean Malenko (1) and Perry Saturn (1)
  • WCW World Television Championship (3 times)^[135]

• World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment
  • World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[136]
  • WWE Tag Team Championship (1 time)^[137] – with Kurt Angle
  • WWE United States Championship (3 times)^[138]
  • WWF/E Intercontinental Championship (4 times)^[139]
  • WWF/E World Tag Team Championship (3 times)^[140] – with Chris Jericho (1) and Edge (2)
  • Royal Rumble (2004)
  • Twelfth Triple Crown Champion
• Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
  • 5-Star Match (1994) vs. Great Sasuke at Super J Cup
  • Best Brawler (2004)
  • Feud of the Year (2004) vs. Triple H and Shawn Michaels
  • Best Technical Wrestler (1994, 1995, 2000, 2003, 2004)
  • Most Underrated (1998)
  • Most Outstanding Wrestler (2000, 2004)
  • Match of the Year (2002) with Kurt Angle vs. Edge and Rey Mysterio
  • Readers' Favorite Wrestler (1997, 2000)
  • Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 2003)²

¹Benoit's reign with the championship isn't officially recognized by World Wrestling Entertainment. No reign prior to December 1997 is recognized by the promotion.^[141]
2Benoit underwent a special recall election in 2008 due to the double murder–suicide of his wife and son. The recall was supported by a majority of 53.6% of voters, but was below the 60% threshold necessary to remove him.

Notes[link]