10 Times The Past Buried WWE's Future

10. The Rock Defeats CM Punk At Royal Rumble 2013

CM Punk's 434-day run with the WWE Championship was heralded as one of the greatest triumphs of the 2010s. During an era when it felt as though booking decisions were intentionally made to make fans apoplectic, Punk enjoying arguably this period's greatest championship reign felt so good because it felt like an exception to this rule.

Taking that on board, it's no surprise that CM Punk's reign came to an end in the most infuriating way possible. The Rock returned and declared himself number one contender for Punk's championship at the 2013 Royal Rumble because he'd beaten John Cena at the previous year's WrestleMania. The legend with a part-time schedule then defeated the new era's greatest superstar for the title at the Rumble, despite being cooked like a Sunday dinner roast chicken by Punk's "your arms are too short to box with God" promo in the build to the event itself.

Because that wasn't quite enough to annoy fans who'd seen CM Punk discarded like a snotty tissue, The Rock then beat him again at the following month's Elimination Chamber. The message was clear: your indie darling has just been crushed by the Tooth Fairy, and there's nothing you can do about it. This was compounded by Punk being beaten by more part-timers in quick succession, losing to The Undertaker at WrestleMania 29 and Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam 2013.