What if the Benoit family tragedy never happened?
The way in which Chris Benoit’s life came to a close is one of the biggest black eyes pro wrestling has ever endured. While there are those conspiracy theories that suggest all is not what it seems, the prevailing narrative is that Benoit killed his wife and son before committing suicide. Exact motives and context remain fuzzy, though the general sense is that Benoit had mental issues related to head injuries over an extended period of time that facilitated his tragic final choices.
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Benoit was still under WWE contract when his life came to an end. That meant his death reflected on the company, and also means that WWE had to change plans for what he was going to do as a wrestler and what would happen for the wrestlers around him. This article takes a moment to speculate about an alternative reality. What if the Benoit family tragedy hadn’t happened at all in 2007?
#5 CM Punk’s trajectory changes
When fans think of CM Punk now, it’s hard not to think of his year-plus WWE Championship run, his ugly split from WWE, and his MMA endeavors. Had he not established a foundation in WWE’s version of ECW, though, these more noteworthy developments may never have come to pass.
Punk was a popular new star on the ECW landscape, but by all accounts, management had mixed feelings on him. He was booked to wrestle Chris Benoit for the vacant ECW Championship the weekend Benoit died, and the general consensus was Punk would lose (and maybe battle his way to beating the veteran champ way down the road). With Benoit out, WWE plugged John Morrison in as a substitute. Punk has openly suggested in interviews that his matches with Morrison were no good, which in and of itself affected Punk’s path because the Benoit match probably would have been pretty great. Moreover, Punk would end up taking the title off Morrison months later because of the champ’s Wellness Policy issues—another turn in Punk’s story.
So what would have happened for Punk if all had gone as planned with Benoit? It looks as though he’d have had better matches, but a slower march to the top of ECW, and perhaps not have moved up to Raw or gotten his first Money in the Bank win and World Heavyweight Championship reign in 2008.