Who would have won that match between CM Punk and Chris Benoit?

[CM Steel]

Back in 2007 on the now defunct ECW brand in the WWE. CM Punk and the late Chris Benoit were about to face each other for the then vacant ECW championship at the Night of Champions pay per-view. All things looked towards a great match-up between the two until..."The Benoit Tragedy" happened on that same night as the PPV. But had not been for the Benoit Tragedy. Who would have won that epic showdown between CM Punk and Chris Benoit??

 

[Bythedockofthebay]

Benoit was an original ECW guy, to launch the ECW brand in a proper way, they would've put it on Benoit who would've had a nice reign until Punk probably took the belt off of him at WM or somewhere down the road.

 

[JJ15776]

Stephanie McMahon has said The Rabid Child Murderer was booked to win the match. I would assume she was telling the truth, especially since his replacement (Johnny Nitro/John Morrison) beat Punk for the title.

 

[KitsuneDreamer]

Benoit was an original ECW guy, to launch the ECW brand in a proper way, they would've put it on Benoit who would've had a nice reign until Punk probably took the belt off of him at WM or somewhere down the road.

You said it perfectly, and to me one of the Greatest Matches to never happen. At least they teamed up once.

 

[$Mr. 100%]

Benoit. I wish what happened didn't cuz Benefit Da Rabid Wolverine was bout 2 ecw back on da map. He and Punk woulda had an epic feud. Nitro coulda stayed around 2. Think of a 3way dance w/those 3 4 ecw championship ecw rules.

 

[BenChillin]

Great topic! I've talked about this a lot back in the day. I remember Benoit was drafted to ECW and it was kind of a downgrade for him to the "C" level show. Then they had that whole CM Punk match booked for the pay per view. I was a person who loved Benoit and also followed Punk from the indies to the mainstream. This was a decent dream match even. Benoit feuding with Punk might have been intense. But I wonder if it'd be too intense.

Remember when they said Benoit's heart was THREE TIMES the size of what it should be and that it could have exploded soon? Imagine if that happened...

His legacy would have been in tact too.

 

[GameOver]

Assuming all was as it was meant to be, Benoit was a leader and woulda won and gone on to lead the new ECW, woulda been a no contest anyway Benoit and Angle were head and shoulders above 95% of the roster and Punk wasn't in that 5%

 

[Catacomb]

as others have said benoit was to win the match, after that im pretty sure i remember hearing morrison took benoits spot in that feud, so punk wouldve eventually beat benoit after a series of matches. i assume similar to the benoit mvp feud. i think there are a couple of interviews out there with some former creative writers where they mention the plans.

 

[RicSpade]

I guess consider CM Punk didn't win it when Benoit failed to show up I would say Benoit, but thats basically because the WWE at the time didn't realize what they had in CM Punk. Now if they had let CM Punk wrestle his style of match now against Benoit there would be a possibility Punk either would've won or had gotten his opportunity much sooner as a world champion but since we can't change the past thats all the pure speculation I have.

 

[Kris Benwa]

I think it's a pretty obvious assumption that Benoit would have won because if Punk was going to win I'm guessing they would have had him win anyway. I agree Benoit would have had a nice relatively lengthy title reign where in the end he puts over Punk. It's a match i really wish would have happened because seeing Benoit be sort of the face of ECW would have been awesome.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

I've always thought that the reason Morrison won the match was because WWE planned on putting the title on Benoit at the ECW taping or shortly after. They wanted Benoit as champion, but didn't want him to quickly go over Punk so they inserted Morrison in the mix. Morrison would've got a rematch and then they could move onto the feud they wanted with Benoit eventually putting over Punk.

This is just speculation on my part.

 

[Pedigree1]

As Benoit was an original ECW guy from way back,Benoit would have won the match.. I dont think it would have been a squash but Benoit would have won rather decisively!

 

[JoVilla21]

Funny how both guys can't be mentioned on WWE tv lol.

Anywho, I recall Jericho saying (while the whole Benoit case was going on) that he was scheduled to win the title but no-showed and everyone wondered why. So, I guess Benoit was to win the title.

 

[boozinjedi]

Funny how both guys can't be mentioned on WWE tv lol.

Anywho, I recall Jericho saying (while the whole Benoit case was going on) that he was scheduled to win the title but no-showed and everyone wondered why. So, I guess Benoit was to win the title.

Makes sense for Benoit to win it being an ECW original guy,finally climbing the mountain he never could.
And if anyone caught the Larry King show right after the murders..Jericho was the one that was most set back/confused by it.
He was closer to Benoit than anyone at that time,he (if I remember correctly) even said at times his kids would play with little Dylan on some of the same gym equipment Benoit killed himself with.
One of Benoit's supposed closest friends couldn't see the monster lurking underneath...shows how well he kept things hidden.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

The match Benoit went to the ECW brand he lost to CM Punk clean (as in that was the match that gave ECW a draft pick, which happened to be Benoit) so my guess is whenever Benoit vs. Punk happened again I'm thinking Benoit would have put him over but it probably would have been a little bit before they went at it again. Honestly, I would have put money down that Punk would have been the guy to take the title off Benoit.

Also at the time Benoit, although was still an upper echelon guy was starting to step back and put over a lot of young talent (such as losing to MVP 2-0 for the US title). Since he was in the position where he was starting to make young talent look good I don't see any reason why he wouldn't have done it for Punk as well. Even though Punk didn't have many friends in his first few years it was often reported one friend he DID have back then was Vince.

 

[Rhodes2TheFuture3313]

Benoit and Punk would have been a great feud. The tragedy ruined a great many things. Benoit was still at the top of his game and a former WHC. He would have been the best wrestler in the world. Eventually he would have put Punk over and I think Punk's career would have advanced a lot faster having been in feuds with Benoit & Angle.

 

[CM Steel]

The match Benoit went to the ECW brand he lost to CM Punk clean (as in that was the match that gave ECW a draft pick, which happened to be Benoit) so my guess is whenever Benoit vs. Punk happened again I'm thinking Benoit would have put him over but it probably would have been a little bit before they went at it again. Honestly, I would have put money down that Punk would have been the guy to take the title off Benoit.

Also at the time Benoit, although was still an upper echelon guy was starting to step back and put over a lot of young talent (such as losing to MVP 2-0 for the US title). Since he was in the position where he was starting to make young talent look good I don't see any reason why he wouldn't have done it for Punk as well. Even though Punk didn't have many friends in his first few years it was often reported one friend he DID have back then was Vince.

No it was then ECW champion Bobby Lashley who defeated Chris Benoit on RAW to get drafted over to the ECW brand in it's self. After the match both Lashley and Benoit both shook hands like two professional men. And later on that night on RAW it was Bobby Lashley who got drafted to the RAW brand but due to the brand rules Bobby Lashley had to be stripped of his ECW title.

So that's how that went.

 

[JoeMallard]

The match Benoit went to the ECW brand he lost to CM Punk clean (as in that was the match that gave ECW a draft pick, which happened to be Benoit) so my guess is whenever Benoit vs. Punk happened again I'm thinking Benoit would have put him over but it probably would have been a little bit before they went at it again. Honestly, I would have put money down that Punk would have been the guy to take the title off Benoit.

Also at the time Benoit, although was still an upper echelon guy was starting to step back and put over a lot of young talent (such as losing to MVP 2-0 for the US title). Since he was in the position where he was starting to make young talent look good I don't see any reason why he wouldn't have done it for Punk as well. Even though Punk didn't have many friends in his first few years it was often reported one friend he DID have back then was Vince.

I don't know where you got half your information, but Punk and Benoit never faced each other. You got one thing right though, Benoit lost to MVP. When in the world was it ever reported that he and Vince were friends back then. Anybody who had followed Punk since OVW/ECW knows that one of his only friends in the company was PAUL HEYMAN! Vince hated Punk, because he wasn't a roided up freakazoid. If he and Vince were friends back then, why was he going to be dropped like a rock after Heyman fired/quit? Punk said it himself, he owes his career to Paul Heyman.

 

[whoopin' ass]

Benoit would have won the title but Punk would have won in the long run. They were supposed to have a long term feud which would have established Punk. I don't know if it would have helped but it would have shown that the new ECW has the best technical wrestlers just like the old one. Eventually Benoit would have had to lose and I think it would have been to Punk.