Christopher Michael "Chris" Benoit (French pronunciation: [bəˈnwɑ]) (May 21, 1967 – c. June 24, 2007) was a Canadian professional wrestler. He worked for several major promotions, including Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), and held a total of thirty-two championships during his professional wrestling career. Benoit is recognized by WWE as a record-tying five-time WCW/WWE United States Champion, having held the championship twice in WCW, and three times in WWE.[3] He is also recognized by the organization as a two-time world champion: a one-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion and one-time World Heavyweight Champion (tied for third longest reign in history), with both reigns represented by the Big Gold Belt. This renders Benoit one of three men to have held the belt in both WCW and WWE, alongside Bill Goldberg and Booker T.[4][5]