10 Fascinating Facts About WWE In 2012
Replacement stable members and countless undercard title defences - no wonder CM Punk was annoyed!
Sierra, Hotel, India, Echo, Lima, Delta...Shield.
Those words were plastered all over WWE programming as 2012 ended, but things could've been very different for the core group. CM Punk's own ideas for the faction probably wouldn't have derailed future main event stardom, but it would've robbed The Shield of a key component and led to less interest from those in the office.
Punk was fighting little battles with Vince McMahon and Triple H all over the place that year. Things wouldn't come to a head until early-2014, but signs were there that an explosion was coming. The Rock's latest comeback and McMahon focusing on building other fledgling stars Punk didn't see eye-to-eye with certainly wouldn't have helped keep the WWE Champ sane.
2012 saw WWE broker deals with TNA after arrogantly ploughing ahead with plans for wrestlers they didn't even have under contract. Elsewhere, The Undertaker was encouraging undercard workers to literally fall flat on their faces so they wouldn't be humiliated by company creative any longer.
Add in weird pitches for Daniel Bryan, controversial celebrity moments and more. Enjoy reliving the year and maybe finding out some facts you didn't know before!
10. Vince McMahon Nixed CM Punk In UFC
CM Punk would've had some schedule over Royal Rumble 2012 weekend had things gone his way. He was earmarked to walk Chael Sonnen down the aisle for his UFC fight with Michael Bisping in Chicago on the Saturday night, but that show fell a mere 24 hours before the Rumble in St. Louis.
Vince McMahon reportedly stepped in to scrap plans despite knowing the WWE Title would be on show in front of millions. According to Punk's interviews after leaving the company in 2014, McMahon even called UFC “barbaric”. The ever-witty (and not bitter at all) wrestler pointed out that Vince let Triple H accompany Floyd Mayweather to the ring for a boxing fight months later.
Funny that.
The most fun thing about all of this is that WWE and UFC would work something out these days. You definitely wouldn't see Hunter stop some crossover and badmouth the fight league in the process, put it that way. This was just one more board room brawl for Punk to navigate.