10 Topics "Crossface" Movie Needs To Address
5. His First World Title Victory
From 1998 to 2000, WCW took a huge tumble. The onetime most popular wrestling company in the world became a distant second to the WWE juggernaut, with no signs of reversing the trend. As stars left WCW and the company tried different desperate measures to find success, though, Benoit managed to climb up the card.
By the beginning of 2000, he was actually one of the company's top babyfaces. With Goldberg on the shelf and Bret Hart forced to vacate the WCW World Heavyweight Championship due to what would ultimately be a career-ending concussion, Benoit got a shot at the belt.
At Souled Out 2000, Benoit took on Sid Vicious for the vacant championship. Just prior to the show, though, head booker Vince Russo was removed from power and replaced by Kevin Sullivan. The writing was clearly on the wall, and Benoit and friends Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko and Perry Saturn felt that they wouldn't get a fair deal under the new management. They all decided to leave the company.
In order to butter Benoit up, he was actually put over Sid, making the former WWE Champion tap out to become a world champion for the first time. Nevertheless, Benoit still decided to leave WCW with his friends, and his title win marked his last match for the company.