↑ Benoit's reign with the championship is not recognized by WWE, who does not recognize any reign prior to December 1997.[38]
↑ After Benoit left WCW for the WWF, WCW 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.[40] However, the WWF recognized Benoit's title win, and Benoit's title reign is still listed in the title lineage at WWE.com.[41]
↑ Benoit underwent a special recall election in 2008 due to the double murder-suicide of his wife and son. The recall was supported by a majority of 53.6% of voters, but was below the 60% threshold necessary to remove him.
