title: J. Cole

text: In 2014, in an interview with Angie Martinez, Cole listed Tupac, The Notorious B.I.G., Nas and Jay-Z as his top four rappers of all time, with André 3000 and Eminem being a toss-up for fifth.


title: J. Cole

text: In August 2013, Cole and Diddy were reportedly involved in an altercation at a 2013 MTV Video Music Awards after party in New York City. Reports said the incident started when Diddy tried to confront rapper Kendrick Lamar over the "King of New York" claim in his "Control" verse. Diddy allegedly attempted to pour a drink on Lamar, and Cole intervened. The two started arguing and Cole and Diddy allegedly got into an altercation, which then led to problems between their respective crews. After a brief scuffle, both crews separated. Ibrahim Hamad, a close friend of Cole's and president of Dreamville Records took to Twitter to address the rumors saying: "The Internet is a crazy place you niggaz reporting shit with no facts, Cole ain't get thrown out no party and he damn sure aint get beat up", he continued saying, "Ain't gon go into details about last night but get the facts right first before you rush to report some shit for some extra blog clicks". A few months after the incident, Cole and Diddy allegedly squashed the beef when both were seen in a video promoting Revolt, joking about the incident.


title: J. Cole

text: Upon the release of "Eyez" documentary in 2016, the songs "Everybody Dies" and "False Prophets" caused controversy within the hip hop community, as many assumed that "Everybody Dies" contained shots aimed at fellow rappers Lil Uzi Vert and Lil Yachty. During an interview with Los Angeles' radio station Power 106, Lil Yachty responded, saying: "I don't listen to J. Cole [but] I definitely listened to it [and] people said he was talking about me. He said 'Lil.' I'm not little. My name has 'Lil' in it but there's a lot of 'Lil' rappers. [It's] either me or Uzi. Honestly, I don't give a fuck." Lil Uzi Vert acknowledged the track, he responded via Twitter on December 2, 2016 by simply tweeting, "Heard some beautiful shit today @JColeNC" People also argued that the first verse on "False Prophets" consisted of direct shots at rapper Kanye West, due to Cole's referencing to West's altering public perception by the media and fans; as well as Kanye's recent hospitalization. Many also presumed that the second verse was directed at rapper Wale, with Cole saying that despite Wale's fourth album receiving fairly positive critical and commercial success, Wale remains misunderstood and slighted by some of his peers. On December 3, Wale released a track, called "Groundhog Day" as a response to "False Prophets", and the pair were spotted together in Raleigh, North Carolina at a North Carolina State University basketball game later that day. Cole spoke on "False Prophets" in an interview with "The New York Times", he said:


title: J. Cole

text: In April 2018, rapper Lil Pump teased a song titled "Fuck J. Cole" produced by fellow rapper Smokepurpp. Media outlets and rappers speculated that the song "1985" from "KOD" was a response to the two, while Cole said in a "Vulture" interview that "It's really a 'shoe fits' situation—several people can wear that shoe." Lil Pump reacted to the song hours after the album's release via Instagram saying, "Wow, you get so much props. You dissed a 17 year old, lame ass jit." Later that day during a concert in Atlanta, Smokepurrp, along with his fans erupted in a chant of "Fuck J. Cole." According to Cole, the target of the song is more general. He said it takes aim at what he sees as the cartoon version of hip-hop, he explained: "If you exclude the top three rappers in the game, the most popping rappers all are exaggerated versions of black stereotypes. Extremely tatted up. Colorful hair. Flamboyant. Brand names. It's caricatures, and still the dominant representation of black people, on the most popular entertainment format for black people, period." On May 4, 2018, as Cole was performing at JMBLYA festival in Dallas, he performed "1985", cutting off the backing track so he could rap his verse a cappella. The crowd erupted in chants of "Fuck Lil Pump" and "Fuck 6ix9ine." Cole immediately shut down the chants telling the crowd, "Don't do that." Cole performed "1985" during his Rolling Loud Festival performance on May 11, 2018 in Miami. During the performance Lil Pump was seen dancing to the song near the stage. On May 25, after Rolling Loud, J. Cole and Lil Pump sat down for an hour-long interview indicating that a supposed beef between the two is over. Cole asked Pump about his "Fuck J. Cole" comments in his music and social media. Pump responds by claiming he had seen his fans commenting it on social media and didn't know why. "But now I kinda get it," he says. "We make different types of music, so people, like... People just like doing that shit." He continues, "It wasn't even serious... I fuck with your shit. It's hard."


title: J. Cole

text: In May 2020, in the midst of the George Floyd protests, rapper Noname made a tweet panning rappers who discussed the struggles of black people in their music but had yet to publicly speak out on social media regarding the protests or Black Lives Matter. The tweet read:


title: J. Cole

text: "Poor black folks all over the country are putting their bodies on the line in protest for our collective safety and y’all favorite top selling rappers not even willing to put a tweet up. niggas whole discographies be about black plight and they no where to be found".


title: J. Cole

text: During the composition of "The Come Up", Cole started his own record label in early 2007 with current label president Ibrahim Hamad. Cole sought for an avenue to release his own music, while Hamad yearned to start a record label, prompting the two to team up to form Dreamville Records. The label is currently distributed by Interscope Records.


title: J. Cole

text: Cole, Omen, and Bas were the label's inaugural artists. The label houses artists including Cole, Omen, Bas, Cozz, Lute, Ari Lennox, JID, and duo EarthGang. In-house producers include Elite, Ron Gilmore, Cedric Brown, and Meez. Dreamville Records has released nine albums, with three certified platinum or higher by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).


title: J. Cole

text: In October 2011, Cole established The Dreamville Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. The Foundation says that it was "created to 'bridge the gap' between the worlds of opportunity and the urban youth" of Cole's hometown of Fayetteville, North Carolina. With volunteers, the Foundation conducts philanthropic activities, such as an annual "Back To School Supply Giveaway" to provide supplies to schoolchildren. The Foundation also launched a book club for young men and sponsored "The Nobody's Perfect Writing Contest and Mother's Day Brunch" for students. It sponsors an annual weekend of Fayetteville community events called the "Dreamville Weekend" that features a discussion with the Young Men's Book Club and Appreciation Dinner and a Career Day panel of African-American professionals in a variety of fields.


title: J. Cole

text: In 2014, Cole purchased his childhood home in Fayetteville, North Carolina, for $120,000 through the Dreamville Foundation. The home had been repossessed from his mother years earlier, while Jermaine was attending college in New York. His plan is to turn the house into a homestead for single mothers and their children to live rent-free.


title: J. Cole

text: In March 2015, Project Panther, the business of Cole's mentor Jay-Z, acquired Aspiro, the owner of the music streaming service Tidal, for a reported $56 million. J. Cole is a minor shareholder of the service, along with 15 other artist stakeholders, including Kanye West, Usher, Alicia Keys, Beyoncé, Rihanna, Madonna, Daft Punk, deadmau5, and Nicki Minaj.


title: J. Cole

text: On April 27, 2018, J. Cole announced the Dreamville Festival, the festival featuring local music, culture, food and art, and also include a mix of up-and-comers and national acts. It is expected to be an annual festival. However, in the wake of Hurricane Florence, the event was postponed from its original date. The festival was rescheduled and held at the historic Dorothea Dix Park in Raleigh, North Carolina on April 6, 2019. The lineup included all of Dreamville's artists as well as SZA, Big Sean, Nelly, 21 Savage, 6LACK, Davido, Teyana Taylor, Saba, Rapsody, and Mez. The Dreamville Festival plans to donate proceeds to the Dorothea Dix Park Convervancy and the Dreamville Foundation.


title: J. Cole

text: In February 2020, J. Cole announced a multi-year footwear and apparel partnership with Puma as an ambassador for the brand. According to the global director of Puma, Cole is involved in product creation, marketing campaigns and cultural guidance. With the announcement, Puma and Cole released a short film for the reimagined "Sky Dreamer" shoes, which debuted during the 2020 NBA All-Star Game.


title: J. Cole

text: On July 31, 2020, PUMA and J. Cole released their debut collaboration shoe, the PUMA RS-Dreamer. Cole commented on the signature shoe saying: "Over the years, basketball shoes have progressed greatly in their level of technology and comfort but have strayed too far away from designs stylish enough for cultural relevancy. The Dreamer hopes to change that reality. The highest level of on-court performance meets the highest level of aesthetic design for daily wear. Once again, you can hoop in the same shoes you wore outside." The launch of the shoe coincided with the restart of the 2019–20 NBA season.


title: J. Cole

text: In a January 2016 interview with director Ryan Coogler, Cole revealed that he was married. His wife, Melissa Heholt, who met Cole while they were students at St. John’s University, is the Executive Director of the Dreamville Foundation. Also in a May 2018 interview with radio host Angie Martinez, Cole stated that he and his wife have a son together. In 2019, he publicly spoke about his son. On July 20, 2020, Cole revealed he has two children. Cole is dual citizen of Germany and United States.


title: Domhnall Gleeson

text: Domhnall Gleeson (; born 12 May 1983) is an Irish actor and screenwriter. He is the son of actor Brendan Gleeson, with whom he has appeared in a number of films and theatre projects. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Media Arts from Dublin Institute of Technology.


title: Domhnall Gleeson

text: During the early stages of his career, Gleeson directed and wrote several short films, garnered a Tony Award nomination in 2006 for his role in the Broadway production "The Lieutenant of Inishmore", and had a supporting role in "Never Let Me Go". He became known to a wider audience for his portrayal of Bill Weasley in the last two entries of the "Harry Potter" film series (2010–2011), Tim Lake in "About Time" (2013), and Russell Allen Phillips in the fact-based war drama "Unbroken" (2014). Gleeson has won three IFTA Awards for his performances in "When Harvey Met Bob" (2010), "Anna Karenina" (2012), and "Frank" (2014).


title: Domhnall Gleeson

text: In the following years, Gleeson received widespread recognition and praise for his performances in several Academy Award-nominated films: Caleb Smith in "Ex Machina" (2014), Jim Farrell in "Brooklyn" (2014), and Captain Andrew Henry in "The Revenant" (2015). He has also starred as General Armitage Hux in the "Star Wars sequel trilogy" (2015-2019). In 2020, he had a main role in the HBO black comedy series "Run". The same year, he was listed at number 21 on "The Irish Times" list of Ireland's greatest film actors.


title: Domhnall Gleeson

text: Gleeson was born the eldest of four boys in Dublin, Ireland. He was raised in Malahide, County Dublin, the eldest son of Mary ("née" Weldon) and actor Brendan Gleeson. He has three brothers: Fergus, Brian (also an actor), and Rory. He attended Malahide Community School, where he performed in school productions of "Grease" and "King Lear". Gleeson later graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Media Arts from the Dublin Institute of Technology.


title: Domhnall Gleeson

text: After graduating, Gleeson began directing and writing for both film and stage. He first appeared in the British television miniseries "Rebel Heart" in 2001 with James D'Arcy and Paloma Baeza. Gleeson made his film debut in Martin McDonagh's short film "Six Shooter" in 2004, which starred his father. The film won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film. He was featured in a small role in the 2005 horror comedy "Boy Eats Girl". In 2006, Gleeson starred in the feature film "Studs", with his father appearing alongside him. He was among the main cast members of RTÉ comedy television series "The Last Furlong" in 2005. Gleeson appeared on the Broadway theatre show "The Lieutenant of Inishmore" at age twenty-three, receiving a Tony Award nomination for his role as the dim-witted Davey. In late 2007, Gleeson played Herbert Pocket in the Hugh Leonard adaptation of Charles Dickens's "Great Expectations" at the Gate Theatre in Dublin. The role was described as being "wittily played" by "Irish Independent" critic Bruce Arnold. Earlier that year he had a role as Bobby in the David Mamet play "American Buffalo", also at the Gate Theatre.


title: Domhnall Gleeson

text: In 2008, Gleeson starred in the one-off RTÉ comedy sketch show "Your Bad Self", which was broadcast on 26 December that year and later developed into a series in 2010. In March 2009, it was confirmed that he had been cast as Bill Weasley in the film "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows". His father, Brendan, plays Alastor Moody in the series. Gleeson had initially been reluctant to act alongside his father in the same film but later changed his mind. In 2006, he said of his acting: "I'd been very certain about not wanting to do the acting thing because of my father. I thought I'd always have the father-son thing of 'He got you the role'." The 2009 HBO television film "A Dog Year" starring Jeff Bridges, featured Gleeson as handyman Anthony Armstrong. Also that year, in the film "Sensation", Gleeson played the role of a young farmer whose "soulless encounter" with a call-girl "develops into a bittersweet love story".


title: Domhnall Gleeson

text: His first release of 2010 was the dystopian romance "Never Let Me Go", starring Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley, and Andrew Garfield. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1" was released in November 2010, with the "Part 2" being released the following July. His portrayal of Bill Weasley, Ron Weasley's older brother, exposed Gleeson to a wider audience. The multi Academy Award nominated Coen Brothers' film "True Grit" featured Gleeson as Moon, a young outlaw. His short comedy film, "Noreen", starring his father and brother, was shown at the Tribeca Film Festival. He portrayed musician Bob Geldof as he organises the 1985 Live Aid concert in the television film "When Harvey Met Bob", which was broadcast on BBC Four on 26 December 2010. Gleeson won the 2011 Ifta Award for Best Actor for his performance in the film.


title: Domhnall Gleeson

text: In the drama "Shadow Dancer", released in August 2012, he played an IRA member whose own sister informs on him to the MI5. Gleeson played landowner Kostya Levin in the historical romance "Anna Karenina", based on the Leo Tolstoy novel. "The Daily Telegraph" critic Tim Robey praised his performance, saying Gleeson "nails Levin’s adorable self-seriousness without sentimentalising what can make him hard work." His final release of 2012 was the science fiction action film "Dredd" starring Karl Urban as the titular Judge Dredd, in which he played an unnamed computer expert working for the gang Dredd battles against.


title: Domhnall Gleeson

text: Gleeson made a guest appearance in "Be Right Back", an episode of the science-fiction anthology series "Black Mirror" in 2013. Starring alongside Hayley Atwell, he played a man who is killed in a car crash, but returns to his lover as a synthetic android clone of himself. Later in 2013, Gleeson starred in "About Time", a romantic comedy written and directed by Richard Curtis. The story follows a young man, played by Gleeson, who uses time travel to win over an American girl, played by Rachel McAdams. Filming took place in London, England, in June 2012. In a largely negative review, Catherine Shaord of "The Guardian" described Gleeson as a "ginger Hugh Grant", although she noted that "The effect, at first, is unnerving; as "About Time" marches on, Gleeson's innate charm gleams through and this weird disconnection becomes quite compelling."


title: Domhnall Gleeson

text: In Lenny Abrahamson's "Frank" (2014), he portrayed Jon, a wannabe musician who joins the band of the eccentric, papier-mâché head-wearing titular character played by Michael Fassbender. Gleeson played a small role as a psychotic killer in the Irish drama "Calvary", starring his father as a Catholic priest who visits him in prison. His last release of 2014, was Angelina Jolie's directorial debut, the war film "Unbroken". In the film, Gleeson portrayed a soldier lost at sea after a plane crash in Pacific Ocean during the Second World War. He lost what he described as a "sizable amount of weight" for the role. Along with his father and brother Brian, Gleeson created and stars in the Immatürity For Charity comedy sketches, which raise money for the St. Francis Hospice in Raheny, Dublin. Gleeson directed and starred in a music video for the Squarehead charity single "2025" in 2014, with all proceeds going to Immatürity For Charity.


title: Domhnall Gleeson

text: 2015 saw Gleeson appear in four films, all of which received Oscar nominations. His first release of the year was the science fiction psychological thriller "Ex Machina", which was filmed at a hotel in Valldalen, Norway in the summer of 2013 and released in January 2015. The film stars Gleeson as a programmer who wins a competition to visit the home of his company's CEO (Oscar Isaac) and test the human qualities of the artificially intelligent humanoid robot Ava, who is played by Alicia Vikander. The film was the directorial debut of "Never Let Me Go" and "Dredd" screenwriter Alex Garland and their third collaboration. "Ex Machina" was met with critical acclaim for its performances, screenplay, direction, and visual effects. In the romantic period drama "Brooklyn", he appeared in a supporting role as a romantic interest of Saoirse Ronan's character, a young Irish woman living in Brooklyn in the 1950s. Gleeson was announced to be a part of the "Star Wars" sequel trilogy in April 2014. The first installment, "", was released in December 2015. Gleeson plays the ruthless General Hux, commander of the First Order's Starkiller Base. Throughout the film, Hux is vying for power with First Order commander Kylo Ren, who is portrayed by Adam Driver. In his last release of the year, Gleeson co-starred in Alejandro G. Iñárritu's western "The Revenant" as fur trader Andrew Henry, with Leonardo DiCaprio portraying fur trapper Hugh Glass. Alongside his brother Brian and his father Brendan, Gleeson starred in a revival of the Enda Walsh play "The Walworth Farce" from January to February 2015. In February 2016, Gleeson narrated the BBC Two nature documentary series "Earth's Greatest Spectacles".


title: Domhnall Gleeson

text: Gleeson played fashion house Burberry's founder, Thomas Burberry, in a short Christmas-themed advertisement film for the company in 2016. He made a guest appearance on the Channel 4 sitcom "Catastrophe" as a recruitment consultant in March 2017. Gleeson then played fictional CIA agent Monty Schafer in "American Made", released in September 2017, starring Tom Cruise as drug smuggler Barry Seal. Also in September, Gleeson had a small role in Darren Aronofsky's psychological horror film "Mother!" in which he shared significant screen time with his brother, starred alongside Christina Applegate and Thomas Haden Church in the independent comedy "Crash Pad", and portrayed Winnie-the-Pooh creator A. A. Milne in the biographical film "Goodbye Christopher Robin". His portrayal of Milne was deemed as being played a "little too stiffly" by BBC critic Nicholas Barber. Gleeson reprised his role as General Hux in "", released in December 2017.


title: Domhnall Gleeson

text: In his first film of 2018, Gleeson co-starred as "National Lampoon" magazine co-founder and writer Henry Beard in the biographical comedy "A Futile and Stupid Gesture", opposite Will Forte as the magazine's co-founder Doug Kenney. Gleeson next starred in "Peter Rabbit" (2018) – based on the stories of the character of the same by Beatrix Potter – as Thomas McGregor, the great-grandnephew and heir to Mr. McGregor. The adaptation received a mixed reception from critics, although "Deadline Hollywood" critic Pete Hammond praised "an appealing Gleeson" for "overcoming the unlikable aspects of Thomas". The film fared better at the box office, grossing over $350 million globally. Gleeson starred alongside his brother and father in the short film "Psychic", which was directed by the latter and premiered in 2018 on Sky Arts.


title: Domhnall Gleeson

text: Also in 2018, Gleeson starred in the supernatural thriller "The Little Stranger", with Ruth Wilson. The story concerns a country doctor (Gleeson) who takes on a patient living in a possibly haunted old estate, where he falls in love with the owner's youngest daughter (Wilson). It was Gleeson's second collaboration with director Lenny Abrahamson, following "Frank". He next featured in a supporting role in the crime drama "The Kitchen" (2019) as an intense Vietnam War veteran who becomes a hitman for the Irish Mob.


title: Domhnall Gleeson

text: In late 2019, Gleeson returned to the role of General Hux in "", the last film of the nine-movie series. He reprised his role as Thomas McGregor in "Peter Rabbit 2" (2021).


title: Domhnall Gleeson

text: In 2022, he starred in the FX on Hulu psychological thriller limited series "The Patient" as Sam Fortner, a serial killer, alongside Steve Carell.


title: Domhnall Gleeson

text: Gleeson shares a love of the English football team Aston Villa with his father Brendan. He described the team's FA Cup semifinal win over Liverpool at Wembley Stadium in 2015, as one of the "great days of my life".


title: Domhnall Gleeson

text: In an April 2020 interview with "The Guardian", Gleeson stated that it never crossed his mind to change his surname at the beginning of his career to stay out of his father's shadow. His reasoning was that his father was not as well-known internationally at that time, and everyone in the Irish film industry already knew of their relationship.


title: Cindy Crawford

text: Cynthia Ann Crawford (born February 20, 1966) is an American model, actress and television personality. During the 1980s and 1990s, she was among the most popular supermodels and a ubiquitous presence on magazine covers, runways, as well as fashion campaigns. She subsequently expanded into acting and business ventures.


title: Cindy Crawford

text: Crawford was born in DeKalb, Illinois, on February 20, 1966, the daughter of Dan Crawford and Jennifer Sue Crawford-Moluf (née Walker). She has two sisters, Chris and Danielle, and a brother, Jeffery, who died of childhood leukemia at age 3. On social media, she has stated that her family had been in the United States for generations and that her ancestry was mostly German, English, and French. She is Christian. Appearing in an episode of "Who Do You Think You Are?" in 2013, she discovered that her ancestors included European nobility and that she was descended from Charlemagne.


title: Cindy Crawford

text: In her sophomore year at high school, she received a call from a local clothing store regarding modeling work, only to discover it was a prank by two of her classmates. However, the following year, another store hired a number of high school girls, including Crawford, to work for them (including a fashion shoot). In her junior year, local photographer Roger Legel, whose duties included photographing a different college girl to be that week's coed in the "DeKalb Nite Weekly", asked to take her picture for the publication; the result was Crawford's first cover. The photo and positive feedback she received were enough to convince her to take up modeling. Initially, she worked with a small agency, which was sold to Elite Model Management shortly after she signed. In 1983, she entered Elite's Look of the Year contest at 17 and made the national finals.


title: Cindy Crawford

text: Crawford graduated from DeKalb High School in 1984 as valedictorian. She earned an academic scholarship to study chemical engineering at Northwestern University, which she attended for only one semester before dropping out to pursue a full-time modeling career. After working for photographer Victor Skrebneski in Chicago, she moved to New York City in 1986 and signed with the Elite New York modeling agency.


title: Cindy Crawford

text: In 1987, Crawford appeared in the opening credits of the Michael J. Fox film "The Secret of My Success". Three years later, she was featured alongside top models Christy Turlington, Linda Evangelista, Tatjana Patitz and Naomi Campbell on the cover of the January 1990 edition of "British Vogue". Crawford and the other four models subsequently appeared in the video for George Michael's hit "Freedom '90" later that year. Subsequently, Crawford played the lost love of Jon Bon Jovi in the 1994 video for his version of "Please Come Home For Christmas", "John Taylor" in the 2011 video for Duran Duran's "Girl Panic" (featuring supermodels as the band, including Naomi Campbell as Simon Le Bon), and Headmistress in the 2015 video for Taylor Swift's "Bad Blood" as part of a cast including Jessica Alba, Selena Gomez, and fellow models Lily Aldridge, Cara Delevingne, Gigi Hadid, Martha Hunt and Karlie Kloss.


title: Cindy Crawford

text: She was frequently featured on the cover of multiple fashion and lifestyle magazines, including "Vogue", "W", "People", "Harper's Bazaar", "Elle", "Cosmopolitan", and "Allure". A partial count in 1998 totalled over 500 appearances. Crawford has walked the runway shows for Chanel, Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, Christian Dior, Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Michael Kors, Todd Oldham, DKNY, and Valentino. Crawford also appeared in many fashion campaigns during her career, including those for Versace, Calvin Klein, Escada, David Yurman, Oscar De La Renta, Balmain, Hermes, Ellen Tracy, Valentino, Bally, Liz Claiborne, Hervé Leger, Halston, Anne Klein, Isaac Mizrahi, Blumarine, Guess, Ink, Gap, and Revlon. She has also worked for Omega, Maybelline, Clairol, Pepsi, and Chilean retail stores Ripley (partner of Macy's).


title: Cindy Crawford

text: In July 1988, she posed nude for "Playboy" magazine in a shoot by photographer Herb Ritts. In October 1998, Crawford returned to the pages of "Playboy" for a second nude pictorial, again taken by Ritts. She was ranked number 5 on "Playboy"'s list of the 100 sexiest stars of the 20th century. A 1997 "Shape" magazine survey of 4,000 picked her as the second (after Demi Moore) most beautiful woman in the world. In 2002, Crawford was named one of the 50 most beautiful people by "People" magazine. In her forties, she claimed No. 26 in the 2006 Hot 100 issue of "Maxim" magazine. She was named No. 3 on VH1's "40 Hottest Hotties of the 90s" and was named one of the "100 Hottest Women of All-Time" by "Men's Health".


title: Cindy Crawford

text: The red Versace dress she wore to the 63rd Academy Awards in 1991 had a major influence on fashion, and many copies and fakes of the dress were produced. In 1992, Crawford—through GoodTimes Home Video and her company Crawdaddy Productions—made an exercise video with Radu Teodorescu named "Cindy Crawford: Shape Your Body"; although criticised by some for being unsafe, it was hugely successful and led to two equally lucrative followups, "Cindy Crawford: The Next Challenge" in 1993 (again with Radu) and "Cindy Crawford: A New Dimension" in 2000; the latter, made with fitness expert Kathy Kaehler and produced not long after Crawford gave birth to her first child, was aimed at new mothers getting back into shape. In 2001, Crawford also made a shorter fitness video aimed at children, "Mini-Muscles with Cindy Crawford and the Fit-wits", an animated production featuring the voices of Crawford (who also appears at the beginning in live action), Radu and Kobe Bryant.


title: Cindy Crawford

text: The inaugural issue of "George", a short lived political magazine in the 1990s, featured Crawford dressed like George Washington on the cover. In 2005, the American Society of Magazine Editors listed it as the 22nd best magazine cover of the last 40 years.


title: Cindy Crawford

text: Crawford has also been on TV and in films. From 1989 to 1995, Crawford was host and executive producer of MTV's "House of Style". In the early 1990s, Crawford starred in the Pepsi and Pepsi Stuff advertising. In 1992, she appeared in Pepsi's Super Bowl commercial, aired during Super Bowl XXVI. In 2016, Pepsi released a remake of the commercial, also featuring Crawford. In 1995, Crawford broke into movies as the female lead in the movie "Fair Game". Her performance was panned by critics—Leonard Maltin commented "In her acting debut, supermodel Crawford makes a good jogger." The film was also a financial failure, with expenses of $50 million and $11 million takings at the box office. In 2001, she costarred as part of an ensemble cast in "The Simian Line". Again the film was not successful or critically acclaimed, but Crawford's acting was not criticized. She has had many lesser roles guest starring on TV and as supporting roles, often playing herself. For example, in 2000, she was one of the celebrities (along with Victoria Silvstedt, Anna Falchi and Megan Gale) playing themselves in the Italian comedy "Body Guards – Guardie del corpo". In the 1990s, Carol Shaw, her make-up artist, named a lipstick color after Crawford as a part of the Lorac Cosmetics lip-wear line.


title: Cindy Crawford

text: In the late 1990s, she made a number of appearances in magician David Copperfield's stage shows, standing in for her fellow supermodel Claudia Schiffer as Copperfield's guest assistant. During these appearances, she took part in a number of different illusions including being levitated, guillotined, and sawn in half in Copperfield's Clearly Impossible illusion. On a number of occasions, she joined Copperfield and Schiffer in a performance of the Double Sawing illusion in which both women were sawn in half and then reassembled with their lower halves swapped.


title: Cindy Crawford

text: Crawford quit full-time modeling in 2000 and now appears only occasionally in fashion magazines. In 2005, Crawford created a line of beauty products with Jean-Louis Sebagh called Meaningful Beauty for Guthy-Renker. Crawford has stated that she regularly receives certain cosmetic procedures, including Botox and vitamin injections. She first saw a plastic surgeon at the age of 29.


title: Cindy Crawford

text: In 2005, Crawford launched a new line of furniture under the "Cindy Crawford Home Collection" name. The collection is manufactured by HM Richards Inc. She assisted in the creation of the line by consulting on the features, colors, or styles that fit the needs of families or reflected her own tastes. She also has a furniture line with Rooms to Go, Raymour & Flanigan and launched a home goods line with J. C. Penney in late 2009.


title: Cindy Crawford

text: In 2009, Crawford was one of many celebrities to be photographed by Deborah Anderson for the coffee table book "Room 23", produced by philanthropist Diana Jenkins. In addition to appearing in the book, Crawford was the cover model and wrote the dedication. "Becoming", a book about Crawford's life and career co-written by Crawford and Katherine O'Leary, was published in September 2015.


title: Cindy Crawford

text: Crawford appeared on the US version of Lipsync Battle reenacting her performance in the bathtub from the George Michael music for Freedom '90, performed by actor Zachary Quinto.


title: Cindy Crawford

text: Crawford and her daughter Kaia appeared together on the cover of the April 2016 issue of "Vogue" Paris. In 2016, she became a spokesperson for Acqua Minerale San Benedetto in Italy. In September 2017, Crawford, along with models Claudia Schiffer, Naomi Campbell, Helena Christensen and Carla Bruni, closed the Versace spring/summer 2018 fashion show, which was an homage to the late Gianni Versace.


title: Cindy Crawford

text: In January 2019, Crawford, along with her husband Rande Gerber, Mike Meldman, Jeff Shell, and Jay Sures announced they would purchase the Hollywood deli, Nate 'n Al, to keep its doors open after three generations of family ownership.


title: Cindy Crawford

text: Crawford was married to actor Richard Gere from 1991 until their divorce in 1995. She married businessman and former model Rande Gerber on May 29, 1998. They have two children, son Presley Walker Gerber (born July 2, 1999) and daughter Kaia Jordan Gerber (born September 3, 2001), the latter of whom has had a successful modeling career.


title: Cindy Crawford

text: In August 2021, the couple sold their home in Trousdale Estates, Beverly Hills, for a reported $13.5 million.


title: Cindy Crawford

text: Crawford is tall with brown hair and eyes. Her measurements are 34–25.5–36". Her trademark is a mole (or "beauty mark") above her upper lip. She is so closely associated with this physical feature that she appeared in an Australian advertising campaign for flavoured milk featuring a TV commercial wherein she "licked off" her own mole. Her resemblance to model Gia Carangi led her to being known as "Baby Gia".


title: Cindy Crawford

text: When Crawford was 10 years old, her three-year-old brother Jeff—whom she continues to praise as "the fourth most influential person in [her] life"—died of leukemia. Since becoming a model, Crawford has made childhood leukemia a focal point of her charity work, donating proceeds of her calendars to medical research. Crawford has been a long-time supporter of the pediatric oncology program at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where Jeff was treated, stating that she believes he received the best care possible. She is also an honorary board member of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation.


title: Cindy Crawford

text: In 2007, she became an official supporter of the Ronald McDonald House Charities and is a member of their celebrity board, called the Friends of RMHC. Crawford is on the honorary committee of the California Wildlife Center.


title: Cindy Crawford

text: In 2021, Cindy Crawford recreated her iconic Pepsi ad with photographer David Yarrow to help raise funds for the American family Children's Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin where her brother, Jeff, was treated for leukemia.


title: Cindy Crawford

text: In 2008, Crawford endorsed Barack Obama for President of the United States. Despite reports, Crawford denied endorsing Mitt Romney for the 2012 election.


title: Daisy Ridley

text: Daisy Jazz Isobel Ridley (born 10 April 1992) is an English actress. She rose to prominence for her role as Rey in the "Star Wars" sequel trilogy: "" (2015), "" (2017), and "" (2019).


title: Daisy Ridley

text: She also appeared in the mystery film "Murder on the Orient Express" (2017), played the title character of the romantic drama "Ophelia" (2018), and has done occasional voice acting, such as the live-action/animated film "Peter Rabbit" (2018) and video games including "Twelve Minutes".


title: Daisy Ridley

text: Daisy Jazz Isobel Ridley was born on 10 April 1992 in the London borough of Westminster, and grew up in Maida Vale. She is the youngest of three daughters born to Christopher Ridley, a photographer, and Louise (née Fawkner-Corbett), who works in internal communications for a bank. She has two older sisters, Kika Rose and Poppy Sophia, as well as two older half-sisters. Her mother's family, the Fawkner-Corbetts, were landed gentry with a military and medical background. Her paternal great-uncle, Arnold Ridley served in the military as well. He separately forged a career as a playwright and actor (and is best remembered for playing Private Godfrey in the sitcom "Dad's Army"). Arnold Ridley's brother, Daisy's grandfather, John Harry Dunn Ridley, OBE, was head of the Engineering Secretariat at the BBC from 1950 to 1965.


title: Daisy Ridley

text: Ridley has stated that while growing up, her favourite film was "Matilda" (1996), referring to the titular character (played by Mara Wilson) as a role model. While not a particularly strong "Star Wars" fan as a youth, she dedicatedly followed the "Harry Potter" series.


title: Daisy Ridley

text: Ridley won a scholarship to Tring Park School for the Performing Arts in Hertfordshire, which she attended from ages nine to eighteen. She then studied classical civilisation at Birkbeck, University of London, before dropping out to focus on her acting career. Prior to being cast in "", Ridley worked for nearly two years as a bartender at two different pubs in London. In 2016, she began studying for a Bachelor of Arts in social science through online courses with the Open University.


title: Daisy Ridley

text: Ridley began her career with minor roles in the television programmes "Youngers", "Toast of London", "Silent Witness", "Mr Selfridge", and "Casualty". She appeared in the short film "Blue Season", which was entered into the Sci-Fi-London 48-Hour Film Challenge. Ridley played the lead in film three of "Lifesaver", an interactive film which was nominated for a BAFTA Award. She also appeared in the music video for Wiley's song "Lights On", playing the character of Kim. Ridley made her film debut in the 2015 British independent horror film "Scrawl", after her scenes from the British comedy film "The Inbetweeners 2" were removed in the final cut.


title: Daisy Ridley

text: In April 2014, the casting of Ridley as Rey, one of the lead characters in "The Force Awakens", was announced. She was cast for the film in February 2014. At the time of her casting she was, according to "Rolling Stone", a "total unknown." Her choice by director J. J. Abrams was seen as a repeat of George Lucas' move of casting relatively unknown actors for the lead roles in the first "Star Wars" film in 1977.


title: Daisy Ridley

text: Ridley began filming her scenes in May 2014 at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, and prior to the film's release in December 2015, she appeared at the launch of a set of "Star Wars" postage stamps issued by the UK postal service Royal Mail, with her character Rey featuring on a stamp along with the droid BB-8. With international revenues of over $2 billion, "The Force Awakens" was a major box-office hit and the highest-grossing film of 2015. Her performance received critical acclaim, with Richard Roeper describing her portrayal as "a breakout performance" and adding "[Harrison] Ford has a terrific father figure chemistry [shared] with Ridley and [John] Boyega".


title: Daisy Ridley

text: Ridley became the executive producer of the documentary "The Eagle Huntress" in January 2016, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on 24 January 2016; she also recorded narration for the film's wide release. Ridley was one of several actors featured on Barbra Streisand's 2016 album "". Along with Anne Hathaway, Ridley and Streisand perform the song "At the Ballet" from "A Chorus Line", with Ridley performing the role of Bebe, one of a trio of dancers hoping to be cast in a forthcoming show.


title: Daisy Ridley

text: In 2017, Ridley portrayed Mary Debenham in "Murder on the Orient Express", an adaptation of Agatha Christie's detective novel of the same name. Directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh, production began in London in November 2016. She also reprised her role as Rey, opposite Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, in "", which was released in December 2017.


title: Daisy Ridley

text: In January 2018, Ridley starred in the titular role in "Ophelia", a reimagining of the Hamlet tale, alongside Naomi Watts and Clive Owen. The project was filmed from April to July 2017 and debuted at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. In February 2018, Ridley voiced the role of Cottontail in "Peter Rabbit", an adaptation of the children's stories of the same name by Beatrix Potter.


title: Daisy Ridley

text: In December 2019, Ridley appeared as Rey in "", the last film in the sequel trilogy. She is not expected to reprise her role again after this film, and is quoted as saying, "I don't think anything could top ["The Rise of Skywalker"] for this character." However, she does show interest in returning as the character if needed, saying "[...] never say never. I’m always open to a revisit. But also the beautiful thing is it’s this wonderful, huge universe with all of these stories that have yet to be told. I think there’s a lot of cool things to be made before any potential revisit." She also saw some truth in her co-star Boyega's claim that she would feel jealous if subsequent films were made with somebody else playing Rey.


title: Daisy Ridley

text: In 2021, Ridley co-starred in the film "Chaos Walking", an adaption of the young-adult novel by Patrick Ness. She played Viola Eade, opposite Tom Holland who played Todd Hewitt. The film was released on March 5, 2021. The film had been delayed occasionally due to poor test screenings that followed the film's reshoots, and later due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It received negative reviews and was a box-office flop.


title: Daisy Ridley

text: She lent her voice to the point-and-click mystery video game "Twelve Minutes", alongside James McAvoy and Willem Dafoe. The game received positive reviews, with Ridley's performance being praised by critics. She also made a surprise appearance in Judd Apatow's 2022 movie, "The Bubble", as Kate, a horny AI. The film received negative reviews.


title: Daisy Ridley

text: Ridley started filming the lead role in "The Marsh King's Daughter" in Ontario, Canada on 7 June 2021. Filming wrapped on 6 August 2021. She has signed on for a sci-fi mystery thriller film called "Mind Fall" with Mathieu Kassovitz attached to direct, and is currently shooting a biopic for Disney+ titled "Young Woman and the Sea" in the role of Gertrude Ederle. In 2021-22 she shot an indie film titled "Sometimes I Think About Dying" in Astoria, Oregon, with Rachel Lambert directing and Ridley additionally serving as a first-time main producer on the project. She will voice a character in the French stop motion animated film "The Inventor", set for release in 2023.


title: Daisy Ridley

text: In May 2022, it was announced that Ridley would star in "Magpie", a contemporary noir thriller written by her partner Tom Bateman, based on Ridley's original story idea, which is set to be directed by Sam Yates. Ridley, Bateman and Kate Solomon of 55 Films act as producers for "Magpie" and describe the film as a "Hitchcockian thriller that will take audiences on a genuine ride". Filming will begin in London in early 2023.


title: Daisy Ridley

text: Ridley resides in Primrose Hill, London. Since 2017, she has been in a relationship with actor Tom Bateman, whom she met on the set of "Murder on the Orient Express".


title: Daisy Ridley

text: In 2016, Ridley revealed she had been diagnosed with endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome at age fifteen, requiring her to undergo multiple laparoscopic surgery procedures. She states that her condition left her feeling low in self-confidence due to acne which followed. Ridley is a vegan.


title: Daisy Ridley

text: Following the 2016 Teen Choice Awards, which paid tribute to victims of gun violence, Ridley posted on both Instagram and Facebook an anti-gun violence message. Her post prompted backlash from the public, with critics accusing Ridley of hypocrisy in reference to the violence depicted in her "Star Wars" films. Because of this, she deleted her social media accounts, but briefly returned to Instagram, claiming the reason for the deletion was because she had "a busy few months ahead [and] so wanted less distractions". She reiterated this statement in 2017, saying that social media is "highly unhealthy for people's mental health," including hers. Ridley further commented on the topic in a 2019 interview, vowing never to return to social media. She said:


title: Daisy Ridley

text: On 4 April 2022, Ridley returned to Instagram again after six years of being off the platform. In her first post, she is seen sipping tea and engaging in self-care "refreshed, recharged, and ready for what I'm calling my 'Year of Yes'". Ridley was welcomed back to Instagram by her "Orient Express" co-star Leslie Odom Jr. and Chewbacca actor Joonas Suotamo.


title: FIFA Club World Cup

text: The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the "Fédération Internationale de Football Association" (FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 2000 as the FIFA Club World Championship. It was not held from 2001 to 2004 due to a combination of factors in the cancelled 2001 tournament, most importantly the collapse of FIFA's marketing partner International Sport and Leisure (ISL), but since 2005 it has been held every year, and has been hosted by Brazil, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Qatar. Views differ as to the cup's prestige: it struggles to attract interest in most of Europe, and is the object of heated debate in South America.


title: FIFA Club World Cup

text: The first FIFA Club World Championship took place in Brazil in 2000, during which year it ran in parallel with the Intercontinental Cup, a competition played by the winners of the UEFA Champions League and the Copa Libertadores, with the champions of each tournament both recognised (in 2017) by FIFA as club world champions. In 2005, the Intercontinental Cup was merged with the FIFA Club World Championship, and in 2006, the tournament was renamed as the FIFA Club World Cup. The winner of the Club World Cup receives the FIFA Club World Cup trophy and a FIFA World Champions certificate.


title: FIFA Club World Cup

text: The current format of the tournament involves seven teams competing for the title at venues within the host nation over a period of about two weeks; the winners of that year's AFC Champions League (Asia), CAF Champions League (Africa), CONCACAF Champions League (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL Libertadores (South America), OFC Champions League (Oceania) and UEFA Champions League (Europe), along with the host nation's national champions, participate in a straight knock-out tournament. The host nation's national champions contest a play-off against the Oceania champions, from which the winner joins the champions of Asia, Africa and North America in the quarter-finals. The quarter-final winners go on to face the European and South American champions, who enter at the semi-final stage, for a place in the final.


title: FIFA Club World Cup

text: Real Madrid hold the record for most titles, having won the competition on four occasions. Corinthians' inaugural victory remains the best result from a host nation's national league champions. Teams from Spain have won the tournament seven times, the most for any nation. The current world champions are Chelsea, who defeated Palmeiras 2–1 after extra time in the 2021 FIFA Club World Cup Final.


title: FIFA Club World Cup

text: The first club tournament to be billed as the Football World Championship was held in 1887, in which FA Cup winners Aston Villa beat Scottish Cup winners Hibernian, the winners of the only national competitions at the time. The first time when the champions of two European leagues met was in what was nicknamed the 1895 World Championship, when English champions Sunderland beat Scottish champions Heart of Midlothian 5–3. Ironically, the Sunderland lineup in the 1895 World Championship consisted entirely of Scottish players – Scottish players who moved to England to play professionally in those days were known as the Scotch Professors.


title: FIFA Club World Cup

text: The first attempt at creating a global club football tournament, according to FIFA, was in 1909, 21 years before the first FIFA World Cup. The Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy was held in Italy in 1909 and 1911, and contested by English, Italian, German and Swiss clubs. English amateur team West Auckland won on both occasions. The idea that FIFA should organise international club competitions dates from the beginning of the 1950s. In 1951, FIFA President Jules Rimet was asked about FIFA's involvement in "Copa Rio", the competition created by the Brazilian FA with a view to being a Club World Cup (a "club version" of the FIFA World Cup), and Rimet stated that it was not under FIFA's jurisdiction since it was organised and sponsored by the Brazilian FA. FIFA board officials Stanley Rous and Ottorino Barassi participated personally, albeit not as FIFA assignees, in the organisation of Copa Rio in 1951. Brazilian side Palmeiras beat Italian side Juventus in Maracanã Stadium with over 200 thousand spectators, being considered by many the first Club World Cup Champion. Rous' role was the negotiations with European clubs, whereas Barassi did the same and also helped form the framework of the competition. The Italian press regarded the competition as an "impressive project" that "was greeted so enthusiastically by FIFA officials Stanley Rous and Jules Rimet to the extent of almost giving it an official FIFA stamp." Because of the difficulty the Brazilian FA found in bringing European clubs to the competition, the "O Estado de S. Paulo" newspaper suggested that there should be FIFA involvement in the programming of international club competitions saying that, "ideally, international tournaments, here or abroad, should be played with a schedule set by FIFA". Still in the 1950s, the "Pequeña Copa del Mundo" (Spanish for "Small World Cup") was a tournament held in Venezuela between 1952 and 1957, with some other club tournaments held in Caracas from 1958 onwards also often referred to by the name of the original 1952–1957 tournament. It was usually played by four participants, half from Europe and half from South America.


title: FIFA Club World Cup

text: The "Tournoi de Paris" was a competition initially meant to bring together the top teams from Europe and South America; it was first played in 1957 when Vasco da Gama, the Rio de Janeiro champions, beat European champions Real Madrid 4–3 in the final at the Parc des Princes. The victory was hailed in France and Brazil as a "best of Europe X best of South American" club match as it was Real Madrid's first intercontinental competition as European champions (the Madrid team played the 1956 "Pequeña Copa del Mundo", but confirmed their participation in the Venezuelan tournament before becoming European champions). In 1958, Real Madrid declined to participate in the Paris competition claiming that the final of the 1957/58 European Cup was just 5 days after the Paris Tournoi. On October 8, 1958, the Brazilian FA President João Havelange announced, at a UEFA meeting he attended as an invitee, the decision to create the Copa Libertadores and the Intercontinental Cup, the latter being a UEFA/CONMEBOL-endorsed "best club of the world" contest between the champion clubs of both confederations.


title: FIFA Club World Cup

text: Real Madrid won the first Intercontinental Cup in 1960, and titled themselves "world champions" until FIFA stepped in and objected, citing that the competition did not include any other champions from the other confederations; FIFA stated that they can only claim to be intercontinental champions of a competition played between two continental organisations in which no other continents had the opportunity to participate. FIFA stated that they would prohibit the 1961 edition to be played out unless the organisers regarded the competition as a friendly or a private match between two organisations. The same year the Intercontinental Cup was first played, 1960, FIFA authorised the International Soccer League, created ("along the lines of the 1950s Copa Rio") with a view to creating a Club World Cup, with ratification from Sir Stanley Rous, who then had become FIFA President.


title: FIFA Club World Cup

text: The Intercontinental Cup attracted the interest of other continents. The North and Central America confederation, CONCACAF, was created in 1961 in order to, among other reasons, try to include its clubs in the Copa Libertadores and, by extension, the Intercontinental Cup. However, their entry into both competitions was rejected. Subsequently, the CONCACAF Champions' Cup began in 1962.


title: FIFA Club World Cup

text: Due to the brutality of the Argentine and Uruguayan clubs at the Intercontinental Cup, FIFA was asked several times during the late 1960s to assess penalties and regulate the tournament. However, FIFA refused each request. The first of these requests was made in 1967, after a play-off match labelled "The Battle of Montevideo". The Scottish Football Association, via President Willie Allan, wanted FIFA to recognise the competition in order to enforce football regulation; FIFA responded that it could not regulate a competition it did not organise. Allan's crusade also suffered after CONMEBOL, with the backing of its President Teofilo Salinas and the Argentine Football Association ("Asociación del Fútbol Argentino"; AFA), refused to allow FIFA to have any hand in the competition stating:


title: FIFA Club World Cup

text: René Courte, FIFA's General Sub-Secretary, wrote in 1967 an article shortly afterwards stating that FIFA viewed the Intercontinental Cup as a "European-South American friendly match". This was confirmed by FIFA President Sir Stanley Rous. With the Asian and North American club competitions in place in 1967, FIFA opened the idea of supervising the Intercontinental Cup if it included those confederations, with Stanley Rous saying that CONCACAF and the Asian Football Confederation had requested in 1967 participation of their champions in the Intercontinental Cup; the proposal was met with a negative response from UEFA and CONMEBOL. The 1968 and 1969 Intercontinental Cups finished in similarly violent fashion, with Manchester United manager Matt Busby insisting that "the Argentineans should be banned from all competitive football. FIFA should really step in." In 1970, the FIFA Executive Committee proposed the creation of a multicontinental Club World Cup, not limited to Europe and South America but including also the other confederations; the idea did not go forward due to UEFA resistance.


title: FIFA Club World Cup

text: In 1973, French newspaper "L'Equipe", who helped bring about the birth of the European Cup, volunteered to sponsor a Club World Cup contested by the champions of Europe, South America, North America and Africa, the only continental club tournaments in existence at the time; the competition was to potentially take place in Paris between September and October 1974, with an eventual final to be held at the "Parc des Princes". The extreme negativity of the Europeans prevented this from happening. The same newspaper tried once again in 1975 to create a Club World Cup, in which participants would have been the four semi-finalists of the European Cup, both finalists of the Copa Libertadores, as well as the African and Asian champions; once more, the proposal was to no avail. UEFA, via its president, Artemio Franchi, declined once again and the proposal failed. The idea for a multicontinental, FIFA-endorsed Club World Cup was also endorsed by João Havelange in his campaigning for FIFA presidency in 1974. The Mexican clubs América and Pumas UNAM, and the Mexican Football Association, demanded participation in the Intercontinental Cup ("either as the American-continent representantives in the Intercontinental Cup or as part of a UEFA-CONMEBOL-CONCACAF new Intercontinental Cup") after winning the 1977/1978 and 1980/1981 editions of the Interamerican Cup against the South American champions; the request was unsuccessful.


title: FIFA Club World Cup

text: With the Intercontinental Cup in danger of being dissolved, West Nally, a British marketing company, was hired by UEFA and CONMEBOL to find a viable solution in 1980; Toyota Motor Corporation, via West Nally, took the competition under its wing and rebranded it as the "Toyota Cup", a one-off match played in Japan. Toyota invested over US$700,000 in the 1980 edition to take place in Tokyo's National Olympic Stadium, with over US$200,000 awarded to each participant. The Toyota Cup, with its new format, was received with scepticism, as the sport was unfamiliar in the Far East. However, the financial incentive was welcomed, as European and South American clubs were suffering financial difficulties. To protect themselves against the possibility of European withdrawals, Toyota, UEFA and every European Cup participant signed annual contracts requiring the eventual winners of the European Cup to participate at the Intercontinental Cup, as a condition UEFA stipulated to the clubs' participation in the European Cup, or risk facing an international lawsuit from UEFA and Toyota. In 1983, the English Football Association tried organising a Club World Cup to be played in 1985 and sponsored by West Nally, only to be denied by UEFA.


title: FIFA Club World Cup

text: The framework of the 2000 FIFA Club World Championship was laid years in advance. According to Sepp Blatter, the idea of the tournament was presented to the executive committee in December 1993 in Las Vegas, United States by Silvio Berlusconi, AC Milan's president. Since every confederation had, by then, a stable, continental championship, FIFA felt it was prudent and relevant to have a Club World Championship tournament. Initially, there were nine candidates to host the competition: China, Brazil, Mexico, Paraguay, Saudi Arabia, Tahiti, Turkey, the United States and Uruguay; of the nine, only Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Brazil and Uruguay confirmed their interest to FIFA. On 6 June 1999, FIFA selected Brazil to host the competition, which was initially scheduled to take place in 1999. Manchester United legend Bobby Charlton, a pillar of England's victorious campaign in the 1966 FIFA World Cup, stated that the Club World Championship provided "a fantastic chance of becoming the first genuine world champions." The competition gave away US$28 million in prize money and its TV rights, worth US$40 million, were sold to 15 broadcasters across five continents. The final draw of the first Club World Championship was done on 19 October 1999 at the Copacabana Palace Hotel in Rio de Janeiro.


title: FIFA Club World Cup

text: The inaugural competition was planned to be contested in 1999 by the continental club winners of 1998, the Intercontinental Cup winners and the host nation's national club champions, but it was postponed by one year. When it was rescheduled, the competition had eight new participants from the continental champions of 1999: Brazilian clubs Corinthians and Vasco da Gama, English side Manchester United, Mexican club Necaxa, Moroccan club Raja Casablanca, Spanish side Real Madrid, Saudi club Al-Nassr, and Australian club South Melbourne. The first goal of the competition was scored by Real Madrid's Nicolas Anelka against Al-Nassr; Real Madrid went on to win the match 3–1. The final was an all-Brazilian affair, as well as the only one which saw one side have home advantage. Vasco da Gama could not take advantage of its local support, being beaten by Corinthians 4–3 on penalties after a 0–0 draw in 90 minutes and extra time.


title: FIFA Club World Cup

text: The second edition of the competition was planned for Spain in 2001, and would have featured 12 clubs. The draw was performed at A Coruña on 6 March 2001. However, it was cancelled on 18 May, due to a combination of factors, most importantly the collapse of FIFA's marketing partner International Sport and Leisure. The participants of the cancelled edition received US$750,000 each in compensation; the "Real Federación Española de Fútbol" (RFEF) also received US$1 million from FIFA. Another attempt to stage the competition in 2003, in which 17 countries were looking to be the host nation, also failed to happen. FIFA agreed with UEFA, CONMEBOL and Toyota to merge the Intercontinental Cup and Club World Championship into one event. The final Intercontinental Cup, played by representatives clubs of most developed continents in the football world, was in 2004, with a relaunched Club World Championship held in Japan in December 2005. All the winning teams of the Intercontinental Cup were regarded by worldwide mass media and football's community as "de facto" "world champions" until 2017 when FIFA officially ("de jure") recognised all of them as official club world champions in equal status to the FIFA Club World Cup winners.


title: FIFA Club World Cup

text: The 2005 version was shorter than the previous World Championship, reducing the problem of scheduling the tournament around the different club seasons across each continent. It contained just the six reigning continental champions, with the CONMEBOL and UEFA representatives receiving byes to the semi-finals. A new trophy was introduced replacing the Intercontinental trophy, the Toyota trophy and the trophy of 2000. The draw for the 2005 edition of the competition took place in Tokyo on 30 July 2005 at The Westin Tokyo. The 2005 edition saw São Paulo pushed to the limit by Saudi side Al-Ittihad to reach the final. In the final, one goal from Mineiro was enough to dispatch English club Liverpool; Mineiro became the first player to score in a Club World Cup final.


title: FIFA Club World Cup

text: Internacional defeated defending World and South American champions São Paulo in the 2006 Copa Libertadores finals in order to qualify for the 2006 tournament. At the semi-finals, Internacional beat Egyptian side Al Ahly in order to meet Barcelona in the final. A late goal from Adriano Gabiru kept the trophy in Brazil. It was in 2007 when Brazilian hegemony was finally broken: AC Milan won a close match against Japan's Urawa Red Diamonds, who were pushed by over 67,000 fans at Yokohama's International Stadium, and won 1–0 to reach the final. In the final, Milan crushed Boca Juniors 4–2, in a match that saw the first player sent off in a Club World Cup final: Milan's Kakha Kaladze from Georgia in the 77th minute. Eleven minutes later, Boca Junior's Pablo Ledesma would join Kaladze as he too was sent off. The following year, Manchester United would emulate Milan by beating their semi-final opponents, Japan's Gamba Osaka, 5–3. They saw off Ecuadorian club LDU Quito 1–0 to become world champions in 2008.


title: FIFA Club World Cup

text: United Arab Emirates successfully applied for the right to host the FIFA Club World Cup in 2009 and 2010. Barcelona dethroned World and European champions Manchester United in the 2009 UEFA Champions League Final to qualify for the 2009 Club World Cup. Barcelona beat Mexican club Atlante in the semi-finals 3–1 and met Estudiantes in the final. After a very close encounter which saw the need for extra-time, Lionel Messi scored from a header to snatch victory for Barcelona and complete an unprecedented sextuple. The 2010 edition saw the first non-European and non-South American side to reach the final: TP Mazembe from the Democratic Republic of Congo defeated Brazil's Internacional 2–0 in the semi-final to face Internazionale, who beat South Korean club Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma 3–0 to reach the final. Internazionale went on to beat Mazembe with the same scoreline to complete their quintuple.


title: FIFA Club World Cup

text: The FIFA Club World Cup returned to Japan for the 2011 and 2012 edition. In 2011, Barcelona comfortably won their semi-final match 4–0 against Qatari club Al Sadd. In the final, Barcelona would repeat their performance against Santos; this is, to date, the largest winning margin in the final of the competition. Messi also became the first player to score in two different Club World Cup finals. The 2012 edition saw Europe's dominance come to an end as Corinthians, boasting over 30,000 travelling fans which was dubbed the ""Invasão da Fiel"", travelled to Japan to join Barcelona in being two-time winners of the competition. In the semi-finals, Al-Ahly managed to keep the scoreline close as Corinthians' Paolo Guerrero scored to send the "Timão" into their second final. Guerrero would once again come through for Corinthians as the "Timão" saw off English side Chelsea 1–0 in order to bring the trophy back to Brazil.


title: FIFA Club World Cup

text: 2013 and 2014 had the Club World Cup moving to Morocco. The first edition saw a Cinderella run of host team Raja Casablanca, who had to start in the play-off round and became the second African team to reach the final, after defeating Brazil's Atlético Mineiro in the semi-final. Like Mazembe, Raja also lost to the European champion, this time a 2–0 defeat to Bayern Munich. 2014 again had a decision between South America and Europe, and Real Madrid beat San Lorenzo 2–0.


title: FIFA Club World Cup

text: The 2015 and 2016 editions once again saw Japan as hosts for the 7th and 8th time respectively in the 12th and 13th editions of the FIFA Club World Cup. The 2015 edition saw a final between River Plate and FC Barcelona. FC Barcelona lifted their third FIFA Club World Cup, with Suarez scoring two goals and Lionel Messi scoring one goal in the Final. One notable thing that occurred in the 2015 tournament was that Sanfrecce Hiroshima made it to third place, the farthest ever achieved by a Japanese club. This record would not last though, as the 2016 edition saw J1 League winners Kashima Antlers making it to the Final (outscoring rivals 7–1), against Real Madrid. A Gaku Shibasaki inspired Kashima attempted to win their first FIFA Club World Cup (a feat never done by any club outside of Europe and South America), but were denied by Real Madrid, who won 4–2 in extra time, thanks to a hat-trick by Cristiano Ronaldo.


title: FIFA Club World Cup

text: The UAE returned to host the event in 2017 and 2018. 2017 involved the likes of Real Madrid becoming the first team in Club World Cup history to return to the tournament to defend their title. Real Madrid became the first team to successfully defend their title after defeating Grêmio in the Final, all while eliminating Al Jazira in the Semi-Finals. Al-Ain was the first Emirati team to reach the Club World Cup final, as well as the second Asian team to reach the final in the 2018 edition. Real Madrid defeated Al-Ain 4–1 in the final, to win their fourth title in the competition and to become the first team ever to win it three years in a row and four times in total in the tournament's history. Thus, Real Madrid extended their international titles to seven after winning the 2018 edition (counting their three Intercontinental Cup titles and four Club World Cup titles).


title: FIFA Club World Cup

text: On 3 June 2019, FIFA selected Qatar as the host of both the 2019 and 2020 events. Gonzalo Belloso, the Deputy Secretary General and development director of CONMEBOL, had said earlier that the 2019 and 2020 editions will both be held in Japan. The 2019 edition saw Liverpool defeat Flamengo to win the competition for the first time. In the 2020 edition, Bayern Munich beat Tigres UANL 1–0, completing their sextuple. The 2021 tournament was won by Chelsea, who defeated Palmeiras 2–1 after extra time for their first title.


title: FIFA Club World Cup

text: In late 2016, FIFA President Gianni Infantino suggested an expansion of the Club World Cup to 32 teams beginning in 2019 and the reschedule to June to be more balanced and more attractive to broadcasters and sponsors. In late 2017, FIFA discussed proposals to expand the competition to 24 teams and have it be played every four years by 2021, replacing the FIFA Confederations Cup.


title: FIFA Club World Cup

text: The new tournament with 24 teams was supposed to start in 2021 and would have included all UEFA Champions League winners, UEFA Champions League runners-up, UEFA Europa League winners, and Copa Libertadores winners from the four seasons up to and including the year of the event, with the remainder qualifying from the other four confederations. Along with a new UEFA Nations League competition, revenues of $25 billion would be expected during the period from 2021 to 2033. The first tournament would have been played in China; however, the tournament was cancelled due to scheduling issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: FIFA Club World Cup

text: On 16 December 2022, FIFA announced an expanded tournament that would have 32 teams and start in June 2025. The International Federation of Professional Footballers and World Leagues Forum both immediately criticized the proposal.


title: FIFA Club World Cup

text: Africa's best representatives were TP Mazembe from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Moroccan club Raja Casablanca, which finished second in 2010 and 2013, respectively. Asia's best representatives were Kashima Antlers from Japan and Al-Ain from the United Arab Emirates, finishing second in 2016 and 2018, respectively. North America's best result was Mexican team Tigres UANL, which earned a second-place finish in 2020. These five clubs are the only sides from outside Europe and South America to reach the final.


title: FIFA Club World Cup

text: Auckland City from New Zealand earned third place in 2014, the only time to date that an Oceanian team reached the semi-finals of the tournament.


title: FIFA Club World Cup

text: As of 2012, most teams qualify to the FIFA Club World Cup by winning their continental competitions, be it the AFC Champions League, CAF Champions League, CONCACAF Champions League, Copa Libertadores, OFC Champions League or UEFA Champions League. Aside from these, the host nation's national league champions qualify as well.


title: FIFA Club World Cup

text: The maiden edition of this competition was separated into two rounds. The eight participants were split into two groups of four teams. The winner of each group met in the final while the runners-up played for third place. The competition changed its format during the 2005 relaunch into a single-elimination tournament in which teams play each other in one-off matches, with extra time and penalty shoot-outs used to decide the winner if necessary. It featured six clubs competing over a two-week period.There were three stages: the quarter-final round, the semi-final round and the final. The quarter-final stage pitted the Oceanian Champions League winners, the African Champions League winners, the Asian Champions League winners and the North American Champions League winners against each other. Afterwards, the winners of those games would go on to the semi-finals to play the European Champions League winners and South America's Copa Libertadores winners. The victors of each semi-final would play go on to play in the final.


title: FIFA Club World Cup

text: With the introduction of the current format, which now has a fifth place match and a place for the host nation's national league champions, the format slightly changed. There are now four stages: the play-off round, the quarter-final round, the semi-final round and the final. The first stage pits the host nation's national league champions against the Oceanian Champions League winners. The winner of that stage would go on the quarter-finals to join the African Champions League winners, the AFC Champions League winners and the CONCACAF Champions League winners. The winners of those games would go on to the semi-finals to play the UEFA Champions League winners and South America's Copa Libertadores winners. The winners of each semi-final play each other in the final.


title: FIFA Club World Cup

text: The trophy used during the inaugural competition was called the "FIFA Club World Championship" Cup. The original laurel was created by Sawaya & Moroni, an Italian designer company that produces contemporary designs with cultural backgrounds and design concepts. The designing firm is based in Milan. The fully silver-coloured trophy had a weight of and a height of . Its base and widest points are long. The trophy had a base of two pedestals which had four rectangular pillars. Two of the four pillars had inscriptions on them; one contained the phrase, "FIFA Club World Championship" imprinted across. The other had the letters "FIFA" inscribed on it. On top, a football based on the 1998 FIFA World Cup ball, the Adidas Tricolore, can be seen. The production costs of the laurel was US$25,000. It was presented for the first time at Sheraton Hotels and Resorts in Rio de Janeiro on 4 January 2000.


title: FIFA Club World Cup

text: The tournament, in its present format, shares its name with the current trophy, also called the "FIFA Club World Cup" or simply "la Copa", which is awarded to the FIFA Club World Cup winner. It was unveiled at Tokyo on 30 July 2005 during the draw of that year's edition of the competition. The laurel was designed in 2005 in Birmingham, United Kingdom, at Thomas Fattorini Ltd, by English designer Jane Powell, alongside her assistant Dawn Forbes, at the behest of FIFA. The gold-and-silver-coloured trophy, weighing , has a height of . Its base and widest points are also measured at exactly . It is made out of a combination of brass, copper, sterling silver, gilding metal, aluminium, chrome and rhodium. The trophy itself is gold plated.


title: FIFA Club World Cup

text: The design, according to FIFA, shows six staggered pillars, representing the six participating teams from the respective six confederations, and one separate metal structure referencing the winner of the competition. They hold up a globe in the shape of a football – a consistent feature in almost all of FIFA's trophies. The golden pedestal has the phrase, "FIFA Club World Cup", imprinted at the bottom.


title: FIFA Club World Cup

text: At the end of each Club World Cup, awards are presented to the players and teams for accomplishments other than their final team positions in the tournament. There are currently three awards:


title: FIFA Club World Cup

text: The winners of the competition are also entitled to receive the FIFA Champions Badge; it features an image of the trophy, which the reigning champion is entitled to display on its first-team kit only, up until and including, the final of the next championship. The first edition of the badge was presented to Milan, the winners of the 2007 final. All four previous champions were allowed to wear the badge until the 2008 final, where Manchester United gained the sole right to wear the badge by winning the trophy.


title: FIFA Club World Cup

text: Each tournament's top three teams receives a set of gold, silver or bronze medals to distribute to their players.


title: FIFA Club World Cup

text: The 2000 FIFA Club World Championship was the inaugural edition of this competition; it provided US$28 million in prize money for its participants. The prize money received by the clubs participating was divided into fixed payments based on participation and results. Clubs finishing the tournament from fifth to eighth place received US$2.5 million. The club who would eventually finish in fourth place received US$3 million while the third-place team received US$4 million. The runner-up earned US$5 million while the eventual champions would gain US$6 million.


title: FIFA Club World Cup

text: The relaunch of the tournament in 2005 FIFA Club World Championship saw different amounts of prize money given and some changes in the criteria of receiving certain amounts. The total amount of prize money given dropped to US$16 million. The winners received US$5 million and the runners-up US$4 million, with $2.5 million for third place, US$2 million for fourth, US$1.5 million for fifth and US$1 million for sixth.


title: FIFA Club World Cup

text: For the 2007 FIFA Club World Cup, a play-off match between the OFC champions and the host-nation champions for entry into the quarter-final stage was introduced in order to increase home interest in the tournament. The reintroduction of the match for fifth place for the 2008 competition also prompted an increase in prize money by US$500,000 to a total of US$16.5 million.


title: FIFA Club World Cup

text: Like the FIFA World Cup, the FIFA Club World Cup is sponsored by a group of multinational corporations. Toyota Motor Corporation, a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Toyota, Aichi, Japan, was the Presenting Partner of the FIFA Club World Cup until its sponsorship agreement expired at the end of December 2014 and was not renewed. Because Toyota was an automobile manufacturer and the main sponsor of the tournament, Hyundai-Kia's status as a FIFA partner was not active with respect to the Club World Cup prior to 2015. However, the other FIFA partners – Adidas, Coca-Cola and Visa – retained full sponsorship rights. From 2015 to 2022, the tournament will be presented by Alibaba Cloud of the Alibaba Group.


title: FIFA Club World Cup

text: The inaugural competition had six event sponsors: Fujifilm, Hyundai, JVC, McDonald's, Budweiser and MasterCard.


title: FIFA Club World Cup

text: Individual clubs may wear jerseys with advertising, even if such sponsors conflict with those of the FIFA Club World Cup. However, only one main sponsor is permitted per jersey in addition to that of the kit manufacturer.


title: FIFA Club World Cup

text: Toni Kroos has won the FIFA Club World Cup five times, which is the record for the most by any player. Cristiano Ronaldo holds the record of being the overall top goalscorer in FIFA Club World Cup history (7 goals). Mohamed Aboutrika, Hossam Ashour and Wael Gomaa are the players with the most appearances in the competition (11 games each).


title: FIFA Club World Cup

text: Real Madrid have won the FIFA Club World Cup a record four times, achieving seven club world championships in total, also a record. Real Madrid also have the most wins (8) without losses, and most total goals scored in the competition (32). Auckland City have participated in the most different tournaments (9), while Al Ahly have played the most matches in the competition (18).


title: FIFA Club World Cup

text: Like most international football tournaments, the FIFA Club World Cup has featured official songs for each tournament since 2005. Unlike most larger tournaments, such as the FIFA World Cup, the songs consist mainly of J-pop, as most of the FIFA Club World Cups were held in Japan.


title: FIFA Club World Cup

text: Since its inception in 2000, the competition, despite its name and the contestants' achievements, has received differing reception. In most of Europe it struggles to find broad media attention compared to the UEFA Champions League and commonly lacks recognition as a high-ranking contest. In South America, however, it is widely considered the highest point in the career of a footballer, coach and/or team at international club level. In Brazil and Argentina, the tournament is seen as a continuity of the Intercontinental Cup, creating a tension point around the year when both cups were held, 2000. It is hotly debated whether the title of "2000 World Champion" is rightfully Corinthians' (Brazil) or Boca Juniors' (Argentina). The debate is further fuelled by the rivalry between the two countries and club rivalry within each of two South American nations.


title: FIFA Club World Cup

text: The competition is also criticised, mainly by the European press and fans among others, for its format, which favours the UEFA and CONMEBOL teams, since their representatives start in the semi-finals and can only meet each other in the final match. In Europe the tournament is almost ignored by the mass media. The opening up of the global market in football has changed the balance. These days the best South Americans (and the stars from all the other continents) are usually playing for the European teams. It is also criticised for its poor organisation, the poor reception among the local fans for the matches not featuring any European or South American team, FIFA's decision to select the competition's host based on economic deals and not on their footballing merit on the international stage (with the exception of Brazil which hosted the first edition) such as Japan, Morocco, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar (the latter two also causing concern for non-sport related reasons, such as human rights records), and the poor economic benefits for the winning team, regarded as inferior than any Super Cup prizes.


title: Chris Benoit

text: Christopher Michael Benoit (; May 21, 1967 – June 24, 2007) was a Canadian professional wrestler. He worked for various pro-wrestling promotions during his 22-year career including most notably the World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Entertainment (WWF/WWE), World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) in the U.S. and for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in Japan.


title: Chris Benoit

text: Bearing the nicknames "The (Canadian) Crippler" alongside "The Rabid Wolverine" throughout his career, Benoit held 22 championships between WWF/WWE, WCW, NJPW, and ECW. He was a two-time world champion, having been a one-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, and a one-time World Heavyweight Champion in WWE; he was booked to win a third world championship at a WWE event on the . Benoit was the twelfth WWE Triple Crown Champion and seventh WCW Triple Crown Champion, and the second of four men in history to achieve both the WWE and WCW Triple Crown Championships. He was also the 2004 Royal Rumble winner, joining Shawn Michaels and preceding Edge as one of three men to win a Royal Rumble as the number one entrant. Benoit headlined multiple pay-per-views for WWE, including a victory in the World Heavyweight Championship main event match of WrestleMania XX in March 2004.


title: Chris Benoit

text: In a three-day double-murder and suicide, Benoit murdered his wife in their residence on June 22, 2007, killed his 7-year-old son on June 23, and committed suicide on June 24. Subsequent research undertaken by the Sports Legacy Institute (now the Concussion Legacy Foundation) suggested that depression and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a condition of brain damage, from numerous concussions that Benoit had sustained during his professional wrestling career were both likely contributing factors of the crimes.


title: Chris Benoit

text: Due to his murders, Benoit's legacy in the professional wrestling industry has remained incredibly controversial and heavily debated. Benoit has been renowned by many for his exceptional technical wrestling ability. Prominent combat sports journalist Dave Meltzer considers Benoit "one of the top 10, maybe even [in] the top five, all-time greats" in pro-wrestling history.


title: Chris Benoit

text: Benoit was inducted into the Stampede Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1995 and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame in 2003. His WON induction was put to a referendum-style re-vote for WON readers in 2008 to determine if he should remain a member of the WON Hall of Fame. Ultimately, the threshold percentage of votes required to remove Benoit was not met and he still remains in that Hall of Fame.


title: Chris Benoit

text: Benoit was born in Montreal, Quebec, the son of Michael and Margaret Benoit. He grew up in Edmonton, Alberta, from where he was billed throughout the bulk of his career. He had a sister living near Edmonton.


title: Chris Benoit

text: During his childhood and early adolescence in Edmonton, Benoit idolized Tom "Dynamite Kid" Billington and Bret Hart; at twelve years old, he attended a local wrestling event at which the two performers "stood out above everyone else". Benoit trained to become a professional wrestler in the Hart family "Dungeon", receiving education from family patriarch Stu Hart. In-ring, Benoit emulated both Billington and Bret Hart, cultivating a high-risk style and physical appearance more reminiscent of the former (years later, he adopted Hart's trademark "Sharpshooter" hold as a finishing move).


title: Chris Benoit

text: Benoit began his career in 1985, in Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling promotion. From the beginning, similarities between Benoit and Billington were apparent, as Benoit adopted many of his moves such as the diving headbutt and the 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 sunset flip. The first title Benoit ever won was the Stampede British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Championship on March 18, 1988, against Gama Singh. During his tenure in Stampede, he won four International Tag Team and three more British Commonwealth titles, and had a lengthy feud with 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 Bad News Allen, Benoit departed for New Japan Pro-Wrestling.


title: Chris Benoit

text: Upon arriving in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), Benoit spent about a year training in their "New Japan Dojo" with the younger wrestlers to improve his abilities. While in the dojo, he spent months doing strenuous activities like push-ups and floor sweeping before stepping into the ring. He made his Japanese debut in 1986 under his real name. In 1989, he started wearing a mask and assuming the name The Pegasus Kid. Benoit said numerous times that he originally hated the mask, but it eventually became a part of him. While with NJPW, he came into his own as a performer in critically acclaimed matches with luminaries like Jushin Thunder Liger, Shinjiro Otani, Black Tiger, and El Samurai in their junior heavyweight division.


title: Chris Benoit

text: In August 1990, he won his first major championship, the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, from Jushin Thunder Liger. He eventually lost the title in November 1990 (and in July 1991 in Japan and in November 1991 in Mexico, his mask) back to Liger, forcing him to reinvent himself as Wild Pegasus. Benoit spent the next couple years in Japan, winning the Best of the Super Juniors tournament twice in 1993 and 1995. He went on to win the inaugural Super J-Cup tournament in 1994, defeating Black Tiger, Gedo, and The Great Sasuke in the finals. He wrestled outside New Japan occasionally to compete in Mexico and Europe, where he won a few regional championships, including the UWA Light Heavyweight Championship. He held that title for over a year, having many forty-plus minute matches with Villano III.


title: Chris Benoit

text: Benoit first came to World Championship Wrestling in June 1992, teaming up with fellow Canadian wrestler Biff Wellington for the NWA World Tag Team Championship tournament; they were defeated by Brian Pillman and Jushin Thunder Liger in the first round at Clash of the Champions XIX.


title: Chris Benoit

text: He did not return to WCW until January 1993 at "Clash of the Champions XXII", defeating Brad Armstrong. A month later, at SuperBrawl III, he lost to 2 Cold Scorpio, getting pinned with only three seconds left in the 20-minute time limit. At the same time, he formed a tag team with Bobby Eaton. After he and Eaton lost to Scorpio and Marcus Bagwell at Slamboree, Benoit headed back to Japan.


title: Chris Benoit

text: In August 1994, Benoit began working with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) in between tours of Japan. He was booked as a dominant wrestler there, gaining notoriety as the "Crippler" after he put Rocco Rock out. In his first appearance, Benoit competed in a one-night eight-man tournament for the vacant NWA World Heavyweight Championship, losing to 2 Cold Scorpio in the quarter-finals match.


title: Chris Benoit

text: At November to Remember, Benoit accidentally broke Sabu's neck within the opening seconds of the match. The injury came when Benoit threw Sabu with the intention that he take a face-first "pancake" bump, but Sabu attempted to turn mid-air and take a backdrop bump instead. He did not achieve full rotation and landed almost directly on his neck.


title: Chris Benoit

text: After this match Benoit returned to the locker room and broke down over the possibility that he might have paralysed someone. Paul Heyman, the head booker of ECW at the time, came up with the idea of continuing the "Crippler" moniker for Benoit. From that point until his departure from ECW, he was known as "Crippler Benoit". When he returned to WCW in October 1995, WCW modified his ring name to "Canadian Crippler Chris Benoit". In "The Rise and Fall of ECW" book, Heyman commented that he planned on using Benoit as a dominant heel for quite some time, before putting the company's main title, the ECW World Heavyweight Championship, on him to be the long-term champion of the company.


title: Chris Benoit

text: Benoit and Dean Malenko won the ECW World Tag Team Championship - Benoit's first American title - from Sabu and The Tazmaniac in February 1995 at Return of the Funker. After winning, they were initiated into the Triple Threat stable, led by ECW World Heavyweight Champion, Shane Douglas, as Douglas's attempt to recreate the Four Horsemen, as the three-man contingency held all three of the ECW championships at the time (Malenko also held the ECW World Television Championship at the time). The team lost the championship to The Public Enemy that April at Three Way Dance. Benoit spent some time in ECW feuding with The Steiner Brothers and rekindling the feud with 2 Cold Scorpio. He was forced to leave ECW after his work visa expired; Heyman was supposed to renew it, but he failed to make it on time, so Benoit left ECW in August 1995 as a matter of job security and the ability to enter the United States. He toured Japan until WCW called.


title: Chris Benoit

text: New Japan Pro-Wrestling 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 angle. Like the majority of those who came to WCW in the exchange, he started out in as a member of the 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: 2nd Stage, defeating 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 Gedo in the semifinals.


title: Chris Benoit

text: 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 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 booker, 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, and Benoit being attacked by Sullivan at Slamboree. This led to the two having violent confrontations at pay-per-views, which led to Sullivan booking a feud in which Benoit was having an affair with Sullivan's real-life wife and onscreen valet, 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.).


title: Chris Benoit

text: 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 "" 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 enforcers apprehend Benoit in a multitude of matches. This culminated in a retirement match at the 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.


title: Chris Benoit

text: In 1998, Benoit had a long feud with Booker T. They fought over the WCW World Television Championship until Booker lost the title to Fit Finlay. 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 "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. 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 to see who would fight Finlay later that night. Booker won the final match and went on to beat Finlay for the title. This feud significantly elevated both men's careers as singles competitors, and both remained at the top of the midcard afterward.


title: Chris Benoit

text: In 1999, Benoit teamed with Dean Malenko once again and defeated Curt Hennig and Barry Windham to win the WCW World Tag Team Championship. This led to a reformation of the Four Horsemen with the tag team champions, Anderson, and Steve "Mongo" McMichael. The two hunted after the tag team championship for several months, feuding with teams like Raven and Perry Saturn or Billy Kidman and Rey Mysterio Jr.


title: Chris Benoit

text: After a falling out with Anderson and McMichael, Benoit and Malenko left the Horsemen; he won the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship before bringing together Malenko, Perry Saturn, and Shane Douglas to form "The Revolution".


title: Chris Benoit

text: The Revolution was a heel stable of younger wrestlers who felt slighted (both kayfabe and legitimate) by WCW management, believing they never gave them the chance to be stars, pushing older, more established wrestlers instead, despite their then-current questionable worthiness of their pushes. This led to the Revolution seceding from WCW, and forming their own nation, complete with a flag. This led to some friction being created between Benoit and leader, Douglas, who called into question Benoit's heart in the group, causing Benoit to quit the group, thus turning face, and having his own crusade against the top stars, winning the Television title one more time and the United States title from Jeff Jarrett in a ladder match. In October 1999 on "Nitro" in Kansas City, Missouri, Benoit wrestled Bret Hart as a tribute to Owen Hart, who had recently died due to an equipment malfunction. Hart defeated Benoit by submission, and the two received a standing ovation, and an embrace from guest ring announcer, Harley Race.


title: Chris Benoit

text: Benoit was unhappy working for WCW. One last attempt in January 2000 was made to try to keep him with WCW, by putting the vacant WCW World Heavyweight Championship on him by defeating Sid Vicious at Souled Out. However, due to disagreements with management and to protest the promotion of Kevin Sullivan to head booker, Benoit left the company the next day alongside his friends Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko, and Perry Saturn, forfeiting his title in the process. WCW then refused to acknowledge Benoit's victory as an official title reign, and Benoit's title reign was not listed in the title lineage at WCW.com. However, the WWF recognized Benoit's title win, and Benoit's title reign is still listed in the title lineage at WWE.com. Benoit spent the next few weeks in Japan before heading to the WWF, who acknowledged his WCW World Heavyweight Championship win and presented him as a former world champion.


title: Chris Benoit

text: Along with Guerrero, Saturn, and Malenko, Benoit debuted in the WWF as a stable that became known as The Radicalz. After losing their "tryout matches" upon entry, The Radicalz aligned themselves with WWF Champion Triple H and became a heel faction. Benoit quickly won his first title in the WWF just over a month later at WrestleMania 2000, pinning Chris Jericho in a triple threat match to win Kurt Angle's Intercontinental Championship. It was also in this time period that Benoit wrestled in his first WWF pay-per-view main events, challenging The Rock for the WWF Championship at Fully Loaded in July and as part of a fatal four-way title match at Unforgiven in September. On both occasions Benoit appeared to have won the title, only to have the decision reversed by then-WWF commissioner Mick Foley due to cheating on Benoit's part. Benoit simultaneously entered into a long-running feud with Jericho for the Intercontinental title, with the two meeting at Backlash, Judgment Day and SummerSlam; Benoit winning all three matches. The feud finally culminated in Jericho defeating Benoit in a ladder match at the Royal Rumble in January 2001. Benoit won the Intercontinental title three times between April 2000 and January 2001.


title: Chris Benoit

text: In early 2001, Benoit broke away from The Radicalz (who had recently reformed three months earlier) and turned face, feuding first with his former stablemates and then with Kurt Angle, whom he wrestled and lost to at WrestleMania X-Seven. He gained some amount of revenge after beating Angle in an "Ultimate Submission" match at Backlash. The feud continued after Benoit stole Angle's cherished Olympic Gold Medal. This culminated in a match at Judgment Day where Angle won a two out of three falls match with the help of Edge and Christian. In response, Benoit teamed up with his former rival Jericho to defeat Edge and Christian in that night's Tag Team Turmoil match.