Editing Chris Benoit (section)

=== Stampede Wrestling (1985–1989) ===
Benoit began his career in 1985, in Stu Hart's [[Stampede Wrestling]] [[Professional wrestling promotion|promotion]]. From the beginning, similarities between Benoit and Billington were apparent, as Benoit adopted many of his moves such as the [[Diving head butt|diving headbutt]] and the [[Suplex#Snap suplex|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 [[Professional wrestling aerial techniques#Sunset flip|sunset flip]].<ref name="archive"/> The first title Benoit ever won was the [[Stampede British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Championship]] on March 18, 1988, against [[Gadowar Singh Sahota|Gama Singh]].<ref name="stampede">{{cite web |url=http://www.wrestling-titles.com/canada/ab/stampede/ab-bc-mh.html |title=Stampede Wrestling British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Title |publisher=wrestling-titles.com |access-date=February 8, 2019 |archive-date=December 1, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101201050422/http://wrestling-titles.com/canada/ab/stampede/ab-bc-mh.html |url-status=live }}</ref> During his tenure in Stampede, he won four International Tag Team and three more British Commonwealth titles,<ref name="Titles">{{cite book |author=Royal Duncan & Gary Will |title=Wrestling Title Histories |publisher=Archeus Communications |edition=4th |year=2006 |isbn=0-9698161-5-4}}</ref> and had a lengthy [[Feud (professional wrestling)|feud]] with [[John Hindley|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, and with a recommendation from [[Allen Coage|Bad News Allen]], Benoit departed for [[New Japan Pro-Wrestling]].