↑ (And) Too Little Too Late?

Rob Van Dam defeated Benoit at SummerSlam to lose the WWE Intercontinental Championship. Benoit was forced to spend more time with Nancy to make the affair appear non-fictional (holding hands in public, sharing hotel rooms, etc.). In the 6-1 win over Panama, Trippier left the field 20 minutes from time, but did assist John Stones' opening goal. Benoit broke the record for most time spent in a Rumble with 1:01:34, sweeping Ric Flair's 1992 record of 59:26. Benoit and Rhyno lost. Chris Benoit tag teamed up with the returning Rhyno after his final loss to Angle and at WrestleMania XIX they took on champions Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin and "Los Guerreros" (Eddie & Chavo Guerrero). Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle met again in a now famous steel cage match on an episode of Raw on June 11, 2001, with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin stopping Benoit from winning, most notably by attacking him with a folding chair.

Benoit won a qualifying match for the Royal Rumble against the "Full Blooded Italians" in January 2004, after which Heyman named him the 1st entrant for the traditional 30-wrestler Royal Rumble. This "loophole" clause was a standard for storylines, leaving the Royal Rumble winner free to choose which title holder to challenge. In 1889 the club was a founding member of the Lancashire League but left the league after one season to become founding members of The Combination. Together with him, brighton jersey Simon Davies also made the switch to the North London club. In July 2022, he signed a four-year contract with Burnley FC, the club where Manchester City legend Vincent Kompany had just become a trainer. After returning to Friday Night SmackDown! A month later, Benoit and Jericho lost the title belts to "The Dudley Boyz", on an episode of Friday Night SmackDown! Benoit and co's move marked a major step for WWE in winning the Monday Night Wars against rival promotion WCW. Two years after the promotion, Liverpool became champions of England again. A year later, Chelsea showed interest again and signed an agreement with Everton, but it was Tottenham Hotspur who signed Pienaar.

The rental period of Adrián Ortolá, Domingos Duarte, Pablo Marí, Didier Moreno, Matías Nahuel and Carlos Fernández had ended. It was Benoit's first world title, but he nevertheless left the company. Paul Heyman then retaliated against Benoit, denying him a shot at Lesnar's WWE Championship. Benoit's popularity then reached a new high and he defeated wrestlers such as A-Train, Big Show and Brock Lesnar via submission. Benoit took on Angle at the Backlash event in a 4-3 sudden death Iron Man submission match. This is a slow train of the Renfe that connects Sant Vicenç de Calders (via Vilafranca del Penedès) with Barcelona and Manresa. After matchday 34, Deportivo had a five-point lead over FC Barcelona. Angle again defeated Benoit at the Judgment Day event in a "Two out of Three Falls match" due to interference from Edge and Christian (Note: first wrestler to score two points in two – if possible three – straight matches wins). Because of all this, Sullivan and Benoit had a rocky relationship behind the scenes and even though he defeated Sullivan in the latter's final match, Benoit believed that Sullivan continued to exploit his role as an authority figure in WCW (his role as a bookie).

This match, with its great dynamic between these four complementary wrestlers, is considered one of the greatest all-time in the history of the Monday Night Raw program, even though the WWE has been unable or unwilling to promote it since Benoit's death. But he was in turn defeated by Angle when it really mattered, namely for the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble event in January 2003. The match continues as one of the best in federation history. After the very turn of "The Radicalz" – which saw Benoit kicked out of the group – Benoit almost immediately got involved in a storyline alongside Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle, in which Benoit captured his first WWF championship, the WWF Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 2000 in a famous "Triple Threat match" against Angle and Jericho. In fact, Benoit also "won" the WWF Championship twice in 2000 at the time, but each time the decision was reversed by then "Commissioner" Mick Foley because Benoit allegedly "cheated".