WWE Turning Point: Analyzing Historical Impact of Johnny Nitro Winning ECW Title

The Night of Champions pay-per-view event debuted in June 2007, though at that time it was officially known as WWE Vengeance: Night of Champions.

On that night, CM Punk seemed ready to claim the ECW World title.

The title had been vacated after Bobby Lashley was drafted over to the Raw brand. This allowed WWE to set up a four-man tournament to crown a new champion.

In the tournament, Punk defeated Marcus Cor Von, and Chris Benoit won a match over Elijah Burke. This set up a very intriguing match between Punk and Benoit to be held at the pay-per-view.

But the match would never happen, though that's not the story here.

Johnny Nitro, recently drafted over to the ECW brand, would be given the chance of a lifetime. He would replace Benoit in the match and go one-on-one with Punk.

But this was merely a formality, right? Vengeance looked as thought it would be Punk's coming-out party. After being the best performer in WWE's version of ECW for several months, it had to be time to reward him with the title.

Instead, the prize went to Nitro.

In what had to a be a shocker for many viewers, Nitro delivered a neckbreaker off the ring ropes that allowed him to keep Punk down for the three-count.

Nitro walked away with the belt, while keeping Punk down one rung on the ladder just a little while longer.

Had WWE lost its mind? It seemed to have a sure thing in Punk, and looking at the reaction of the crowd at Vengeance, putting the title on Nitro wasn't a popular move.

Still, WWE clearly had big plans for him, and booking him to win the title right after becoming a part of ECW was proof of that.

In the weeks to follow, Nitro would change his name to John Morrison, taking on a much different persona in the process. He would become the man whom WWE tried to build ECW around.

It was hard to buy that.

Sure, Morrison was a highly athletic, exciting competitor, but he didn't seem to fit as the face of an entire brand. He certainly didn't seem to deserve the spot over the emerging Punk.

The feud between Morrison and Punk would rage on throughout the summer, and looking back on it seven years later, it's very forgettable.

Morrison hasn't competed in WWE in nearly three years, and being ECW champion wasn't even the highlight of his career.

The feud didn't do much for Punk either. While the two men put on strong matches, it's hard to say Punk was better for having a series of matches with Morrison. While WWE clearly wanted Punk to chase the title, having Morrison as champion seemed more like them dangling a carrot in front of Punk's face.

Morrison would actually defeat Punk again at the next pay-per-view event, Great American Bash. But instead of Morrison moving on to a new opponent, it was Punk who was still in front of him.

Despite being the champion, Morrison always seemed to have much more to prove when he faced Punk. When Punk finally took the ECW title in September 2007, it felt like it should have happened all along.

What if that had been the case? What if Punk was victorious the very first time the two faced off? Morrison could have always fallen back on the excuse that he didn't have enough time to prepare for such a high-profile match. When he finally worked his way back to that spot, a win would have gone so much further.

Instead, WWE rushed him into a spot that he just wasn't ready for. This could have happened for a number of reasons, but chief among them seems to be its lack of concern for its own ECW brand.

You would have never seen Morrison hold the main title on Raw or SmackDown, at least not at that time. However, Punk could have.

While we'll never know if Punk could have carried the WWE ECW brand to further heights and prolonged its longevity, it does seem clear that booking Morrison to defeat him at Vengeance in 2007 is the most curious decision in Night of Champions history.