Editing Chris Benoit (section)

==== The Four Horsemen (1995&ndash;1999) ====
[[New Japan Pro-Wrestling]] (NJPW) 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 [[List of professional wrestling terms#A|angle]]. Like the majority of those who came to WCW in the exchange, he started out in as a member of the [[cruiserweight (professional wrestling)|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#1995|Super J-Cup: 2nd Stage]], defeating [[Chris Jericho|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 [[Keiji Takayama|Gedo]] in the semifinals.

[[File:Lisa and Chris Benoit.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1|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 (professional wrestling)|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 [[List of professional wrestling terms#B|booker]], [[Kevin Sullivan (wrestler)|Kevin Sullivan]] feuding with Pillman. When Pillman abruptly left the company for the WWF, Benoit was placed into his ongoing feud with Sullivan. This came 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 (professional wrestling)|The Public Enemy]], and Benoit being attacked by Sullivan at [[Slamboree 1996|Slamboree]]. This led to the two having violent confrontations at [[pay-per-view]]s, which led to Sullivan booking a feud in which Benoit was having an [[affair]] with Sullivan's real-life wife and [[Kayfabe|onscreen]] [[List of professional wrestling terms#V|valet]], [[Nancy Benoit|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.).<ref>[http://www.metafilter.com/62384/Chris-Benoit-19672007 Chris Benoit (1967–2007) profile] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171202041755/https://www.metafilter.com/62384/Chris-Benoit-19672007 |date=December 2, 2017 }}, MetaFilter.com; accessed June 30, 2015.</ref>

This onscreen relationship developed into a real-life affair offscreen. As a result, Sullivan and Benoit had a contentious backstage relationship at best, and an undying hatred for each other at worst. 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 continued for over the course of a year with Sullivan having his [[enforcer (professional wrestling)|enforcers]] apprehend Benoit in a multitude of matches. This culminated in a [[retirement match]] at the [[Bash at the Beach 1997|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.

[[File:Chris Benoit 1999 (03).jpg|thumb|right|upright|Benoit in 1999]]
In 1998, Benoit had a long feud with [[Booker T (wrestler)|Booker T]]. They fought over the [[WCW World Television Championship]] until Booker lost the title to [[Dave Finlay|Fit Finlay]].<ref name="Titles"/> 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 [[WCW Monday Nitro|''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 (professional wrestling)|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 1998|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.<ref name="Titles"/> 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]].<ref name="Titles"/> This led to a reformation of the Four Horsemen with the tag team champions, Anderson, and [[Steve McMichael|Steve "Mongo" McMichael]]. The two hunted after the tag team championship for several months, feuding with teams like [[Raven (wrestler)|Raven]] and [[Perry Saturn]] or [[Billy Kidman]] and [[Rey Mysterio Jr.]]