Where would Benoit's career be if he had never died?

[Dr. Awesome]

Sadly 5 years ago today Chris Benoit passed away. So I'm asking you:
Where would his career be if he had never died?
Imo, He'd be at least a two time WHC. This is because in the past year they have been giving World title reigns to superstars who have done a lot for the company (E.g. Henry and Christian) I also believe that he would have won the ECW title at Vengeance (as Indicated my Steph). But what's your opinion?

 

[mrpops]

5 years since his death he wouldve won:

1 ECW title reign(He was promised this for sure)
2 WHC reigns(easily with all the terrible champions weve had since)
1 WWE title reign(transitional champion because this is cenas belt...lol)
1 IC reign(To put over other stars like cody rhodes)
1 US reign(To put over other stars like dolph ziggler)
1 Tag team reign(Because they wouldve had nothing for benoit storyline wise which is common)
at the minimum.

Benoit is like jericho. He wouldve moved between ECW, smackdown and RAW multiple times to freshen up his lack of character. He wouldve won all the titles atleast once to pass it on to new comers.

 

[The Hillside]

At least 2 more world title reigns, long main event feuds with Cena, Orton, Edge and Batista. Maybe even a Wrestlemania or Summerslam match with The Undertaker or Shawn Michaels.

Short feuds with Punk, Daniel Bryan and Sheamus in the last few years.

Pretty much everything.

 

[Scott_chua]

Great thread, I always have this wonder too. If Benoit or Eddie has not passed on, I think the main title scene would be more eventful.

 

[gazzalfc]

You would have to assume a few things

That his brain issues had subsided (remember that at the time of his death he had the brain of an 85 year old)

That he put serious effort into sorting his depression issues

That he followed the WWE wellness policy to deal with his alleged hormone use.

If all that applied then he could have gone on to some major feuds as a heel. A Benoit/Bryan feud would have been amazing

 

[JaylisJayP]

I hate to say it but I think Benoit was losing his appeal. His mic skills were limited and the general/casual wrestling fan had seen all they were going to see of his wrestling skills. I can't imagine he was going to bring anything new to the table.

He may have held the IC belt for a while, but he'd still be on Smackdown. Maybe they would've tried to repackage him like Big Show, who knows.

I think Eddie would've had a much better run had he not died. He would've had some great feuds with the new guys and blended and help elevate them all.

My personal opinion is that Eddie's passing hurt the WWE more than Benoit from a strict character standpoint, notwithstanding any of the circumstances surrounding either of their deaths.

 

[Jdulemba1001]

By now, he would have probably been retired. Like a previous poster said, he had the brain of an 85 year old man. He could have went on to accomplish more, but his career didnt have many legs left to stand on. Like it was said before me, you have a lot of what ifs to deal with in terms of his brain and depression.

 

[OutsiderDX]

I'll be the rain on the parade and mention this topic has already been done.

http://forums.wrestlezone.com/showthread.php?t=184850&highlight=benoit

But either way, I'll chime in and point out he already had atleast 1 neck surgery. We saw what a toll that takes on wrestlers, including Edge and Austin.

Austin had neck surgery in 1997 and by 2003 he was done. Edge had neck surgery in 2003 and was done in 2011. I think Benoit not only being older, but having a lot more miles than Edge, would have been retired by 2012... assuming he was in the right frame of mind to make that decision.

 

[Mr. Book This Section]

Can we not say Sadly passed away? He didn't Sadly pass away. He evilly took his others lifes and his own in an attention Seaking suicide. Glad we got that out the way.
------
I do think he would have retired like two years ago probably. He would also probably have 2 more world title reigns and like 4 more US Championship reigns and maybe 1 tag team championship.

 

[Mr_Excitement007]

That is a very intresting thought looking back on it and yeah I will go with the he would of won several more titles crowd. Because no secret the Ecw belt was going to be his that night plus he had enough skill to hold a belt for a bit then put someone over big time in loseing it to them , Randy Orton title rain 1 , but he still kept his fans. So yeah his only flaw in the wrestling world is his mic skills were Negative but if here today we probably have a bit more variety to WWe.

 

[Kizzani]

Can we not say Sadly passed away? He didn't Sadly pass away. He evilly took his others lifes and his own in an attention Seaking suicide. Glad we got that out the way.
------
I do think he would have retired like two years ago probably. He would also probably have 2 more world title reigns and like 4 more US Championship reigns and maybe 1 tag team championship.

I agree with you, but I disagree also. Sadly no, a man who can take the life of his own child should not be sadly missed.

So where would benoit be if he never took the cowards way out? He would be on dead, unless in California where Death row is a barred hotel stay. He killed his family death is the only good thing for him.

So you want to pretend he didn't be a coward or a chicken shit. Well then he would have been sent to TNA. Benoit was a WCW defunk and unfortunately ( not for Benoit) for the wrestlers they really never got a fair shot once coming over exception of Eddie and Rey.

 

[EastCoastFan]

Yes, Benoit would have won the WWECW title, but he had so manyhealth issues that if the events of late-June 2007 had never happened, Benoit's body would have given out on him sooner or later and he would have either dropped dead or been forced to retire.

 

[whoopin' ass]

it all depends on how the crowds reacted and if Vince liked it or not but things would be different in the wwe, not just Benoit's career. there is a good chance ecw would still be around. i could see ecw becoming the home of pure and unusual wrestling, kind of like the old ecw, and benoit would have been the main guy there. because of that, punk probably would have been a top guy there and guys like danielson might have been brought in early if they wanted to push the real wrestling angle. but i am not convinced benoit would have stayed in wwe had he lived. with guys like angle and christian leaving, i could have seen him go over to tna and he would have been the top guy there for sure. would have been interesting - having benoit and angle there. i could see them feuding for a while and then benoit and angle teaming up taking on the young guys, sort of a tna version of the 2-man power trip . i think benoit was finally at that point in his career where he could do almost anything he wanted.

 

[Jerichoholic8894]

As said earlier, probably just a veteran figure in the mid card with the IC title for some good reigns, maybe a couple of WHC runs.

But I feel like Eddie would of had a much better career had he not passed. I've even read that Stephanie McMahon said that the push Cena got after 06 was what Eddie was going to be having to him, plus Eddie was penciled in to win the WHC that week he died on Smackdown

but the question isn't about Eddie, it's about Beniot. I'll say he would of retired with maybe 2 or 3 WHC runs, but his big success coming in the mid card, because as earlier stated, his mic skills were already low, plus you knew what you would get with his wrestling skills (Not bad at all, but not a good thing either)

EDIT: But it's all based on speculation, who knows, he may have retired a 8 time WHC and 3 time WWE champion, you never know

 

[CM Steel]

Chris Benoit passed away on June 25th man. He died on the same day as Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett. Your a day ahead. But anyways.

Where would Chris Benoit's career be if he had never died? In the toilet, because he would be in jail by now for what he did! He was mentally ill, but alot of people don't see it that way. Benoit fans who were with the wolverine from over 20 years in the business lost respect for Chris Benoit for something he did in just one night in a couple of hours, WOW! Benoit wasn't in control of what he did, the drugs were. Any real Chris Benoit would see & know that.

Scott Riggs told it on that last interview that he did.

 

[Azane]

Retired, 2 time champion, and he would be a test patient for concussion and impact effects studies.

He would probably be mentally instable still, and probably would of had some incident, even if it wasn't as extreme as what really happened.

 

[Big Papa Santo]

Even though I believe that his brain was so messed up that sooner or later something along the lines of what happened would still occur, I'm going to pretend that his brain wasn't that of a 80 year old alzheimers patient. Chris Benoit was planned to win the vacant ECW Championship from CM Punk at Vengeance:NOC in 2007. I believe that since ECW was a place at that time with so much young, fresh talent(CM Punk, Johnny Nitro/Morrison, Elijah Burke) That he would hold on to the title for the better part of the Summer, then dropping it to someone like CM Punk, hence making Punk look good by going over such a tough as nails veteran like Benoit. Benoit would probably spend the next year around all three brands just helping put young talent over, and putting on great matches in the process. He would then probably retire(Most likely semi-retire) and work backstage or go down to FCW to help with the new talent. Then he probably would of been inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame class of either 2010 or 2011.

 

[DirtyD79]

I'm assuming by him not dying means none of the stuff that happened on that day happened. I think he most likely would have got a run with the WWECW championship belt but other than that by that point his career along with his health was winding down so he most likely would have retired a few years later.

 

[Headman]

What would happen if Benoit hadn't brutally murdered his wife and child before taking his own life?

I'll use his failed world title reign as a basis for saying they may not have ever put the world title back on him. I think he probably would have continued to be used the way the had been using him before he committed his horrific crimes as a guy to help get the younger guys over. I also figure he probably would have retired a couple years ago.

 

[wrestling fan 666]

He was on the downward slope in WWE. He would've been their version of ECW champion; then go on to TNA and be where RVD is now-mid card status. You can't fight age and Benoit was getting older and the talent was getting younger.

 

[celtics342]

i don't think he would've been great but if you look it up he was scheduled to win the world heavyweight championship at the next PPV

 

[H33LTurn]

Probably an ECW title reign followed by a world title match, transitional title run and then retirement.

 

[uguess94]

First off, Chris did not die. He committed suicide, Eddie Guerrero died. And to be honest I see him winning the ECW title for sure. Then eventually losing it in a feud with Punk and he would've left to go to TNA just like RVD, Kurt, The Dudleys, The Hardys, etc. all did. Now im not a "TNA Fanboy" or whatever you want to call me, but Chris' character was very one dimensional and he wouldve gone to TNA. Lets be realistic all these idiots who say he would be a 5 Time Champion since then are out of there fucking minds. And I think if Chris and Eddie did not die, Rey Mysterio would also be in TNA and likewise for Eddie had he not died. Everyone wants to put these guys on a pedastal after they pass away and make it like they were going to become a mega-star again when in reality they were getting stale and people were getting tired of them. Eddie is the only exception because I really like his character before he died (even if Batista was carrying that whole storyline). But its time to be realistic, and that is that these guys wouldve jumped ship to TNA. Lets not forget they were getting up there in age and Orlando TNA wouldve been fine for them and they probably would all be champions THERE, NOT IN WWE.

 

[Headman]

i don't think he would've been great but if you look it up he was scheduled to win the world heavyweight championship at the next PPV

No he wasn't. It was the ECW title. Benoit had been shipped off to jobber land to make the new guys look good. That right there tells you where his career was going.

 

[NatureBoyFig4]

Since my previous post disappeared with no explanation or even a private message, I'll post what I can remember of it again: He would be on death row. He murdered his wife and child.

The wrestler he killed after his wife and child had been one of my favorites of all time, but I will NOT glorify or make excuses for his killer.

As much as I love to cast Vince McMahon as the "bad guy", I CAN'T blame him for his blacklisting of the Benoit legacy. The old wrestling argument of "Bret scre*ed Bret/Vince scr*wed Bret" can be debated, but it is plain as day that Chris sc*ewed Chris...and Nancy, and Daniel, and Vince, and the WWE, and the memory of WCW, and the wrestling fans, AND the Benoit wrestling legacy. Did he have problems? Sure, everyone does. Was he in his right mind? No, how could anyone who did that be in their right mind. At the end of the day, things like how awesome he was at his job, how well he treated his family before, who he was friends with, what his public image was, etc, just do NOT make up for what he did.