What if the Benoit family tragedy never happened?

#1 Mr. Kennedy gets his push

Mr.

Kennedy's first big push got derailed by the Benoit tragedy.

There are much more important repercussions of the Benoit family tragedy than a single wrestling angle—not least of which are the loss of people’s lives. Still, it is fascinating to think just how far off course this event threw major WWE storylines that ostensibly had nothing to do with Benoit.

The summer of 2007 saw WWE launch its “Who Killed Mr. McMahon?” angle, in which an episode of Raw finished with Vince McMahon’s limousine exploding. WWE went so far as to stage ten ring bell salutes at the shows to follow. However, after the real-life death of Benoit and his family, McMahon reappeared on WWE television, openly explaining that the company wasn’t going to pursue a staged death angle while a real-life tragedy like the Benoits’ had just occurred.

Mr. Kennedy was reportedly supposed to be revealed as the culprit of the limo explosion, launching a huge push for him as he interacted with the McMahon family in dramatic ways. Kennedy’s push seemed cursed after not only this first attempt failed, but ill-timed injuries and Wellness Policy issues derailed his Money in the Bank push and the story of Mr. McMahon’s illegitimate son that aimed to replace the Who Killed Mr. McMahon angle.

It’s unclear if Kennedy ever would have gone the distance and become a bona fide main event player in WWE. This first shot at shooting him to the moon fell apart, though, through no fault of Kennedy’s own.