Messy ECW Title Situation
Prior to this weekend, ECW fans were eagerly anticipating WWE Vengeance 2007 and a brand new ECW World Heavyweight Champion.
It was supposed to have been Chris Benoit and CM Punk battling for the vacant ECW World Heavyweight Championship. Fans were excited because either way, one of the two biggest internet favorites was going to be crowned as champion.
Well, things don't always work out as planned. There's a reason why the WWE always placed "card subject to change" when promoting their shows.
A family emergency caused Chris Benoit to miss the match. There's no word on what the family emergency is, but it has to be pretty serious if it kept Chris Benoit out of the match.
His replacement was actually quite a surprise. It was Johnny Nitro. The fact that he won the championship was an even bigger surprise.
The majority of the fans in Houston were probably unaware of the situation with Chris Benoit. They were quite surprised by the last minute announcement. Fans showed their anger by showering the match with chants of "Boring!" and "We want Benoit!" They didn't let up either, as their vocal displeasure grew louder and louder.
With Johnny Nitro not originally scheduled to be part of the match, it's easier to see that his title win was a last minute decision. There's a good chance that Johnny Nitro was given the title so that he can lose it to Chris Benoit after he takes care of his personal issues. The original plan was for Chris Benoit to win the ECW World Heavyweight Championship at WWE Vengeance 2007.
There's a long term plan for making CM Punk the champion. The writers did not want to ruin those long term plans by handing him the title too soon.
The writers also chose not to utilize Elijah Burke and Marcus Cor Von in the match because there are long term plans for making both guys into champions as well. They did not want to ruin those long term plans either.
Interesting situation we have in ECW now. |
