AEW's Johnny TV Reflects On ECW Title Win After Chris Benoit No-Show At WWE Vengeance
· Yahoo Sports
On June 24, 2007, Chris Benoit no-showed WWE's Vengeance: Night of Champions pay-per-view, where he'd been scheduled to wrestle CM Punk and win the ECW World Championship. Benoit was replaced that night by Johnny Nitro – now known as Johnny TV, who real name is John Hennigan – before the world later heard that Benoit was not only dead, but had murdered his wife and son before ending his own life.
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Now, 19 years later, Johnny TV opened up about that night, his success following the PPV, and the guilt that came after during an interview on "Insight with Chris Van Vliet." "Around 3, I hear Chris Benoit hasn't shown up, and if he doesn't show up, I might need to fill in or something," Hennigan recalled.
At the time, Hennigan thought it was unlikely that Benoit would miss a show, let alone a PPV, but by 5 p.m., he and fellow WWE star Mordecai were told to be ready as possible replacements, and that one of them would be winning the title. "I spend the next two hours pacing, hoping that Chris Benoit does not show up."
As history notes, Hennigan wound up beating Punk and winning the title. Though it was a milestone moment for him, it also led to deep feelings of guilt. "The next day, we get the news about Benoit and what happened," Hennigan said. "I felt like crap. I felt so guilty just for being happy with something that came to be because of the tragedy." Even today, it's a difficult moment for Hennigan to look back on, and something he still feels confused about benefiting from.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "INSIGHT with Chris Van Vliet" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
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Read the original article on Wrestling Inc.