10 Times WWE Totally Blew It With CM Punk
Look in my mind, what do you see / A career being fumbled by the 'E...
Man alive, it's good to hear "CM Punk" being chanted unironically.
After seven years of Punk's name being invoked by bored, angry or just plain fed up audiences, it's been a tonic to hear wrestling fans legitimately cheer for the man himself.
When CM Punk stepped away from professional wrestling back in 2014, few realised just how jaded he had become. Battling a litany of health complaints and feeling slighted by a company he had dedicated nine years of his life to, Punk put himself first and removed himself from the company that had eroded his physical and mental well-being. That company was, of course, WWE.
WWE may have transformed CM Punk from an indie darling into a wrestling icon, but make no mistake - Punk had to fight for every scrap of recognition he earned during his time there. Every time the Best in the World's star was on the rise, bad booking and backstage hostility came together to thwart his momentum and ensure that he never became the guy in the company. Not only that, WWE's hostility towards Punk continued even after they parted ways. (To put that in perspective, this is the same company that welcomed Hogan, Hall and Nash back with open arms after the trio helped WCW nearly put the WWE out of business in the '90s).
So how did WWE screw up CM Punk's career so badly he had to spend seven years away from wrestling to recover? Let's take a look...
10. The December To Dismember Debacle
Exhibit A in "Punk vs. WWE", we have December to Dismember, a.k.a. the final final nail in ECW's coffin.
WWE's relaunch of ECW is largely remembered as a disaster, but CM Punk was a bright spot amidst the dross. The Straight Edge Superstar built up a sizeable following amidst the ECW faithful, largely because he was exactly the type of wrestler that had excelled in the original promotion.
Charismatic, intense and able to go in the ring, CM Punk would have been a cornerstone of ECW during the days Paul Heyman ran it in Philadelphia. Unfortunately for Punk, ECW wasn't in Philly anymore. It was in McMahonland, and size mattered.
The latter point helps explain December to Dismember's universally loathed main event. A six-man Elimination Chamber containing fan-pleasing talent like CM Punk and Rob Van Dam was cluttered with WWE also-rans Test and Hardcore Holly, as well Big Meaty Men (shout-out to Big E) Big Show and Bobby Lashley.
Naturally, WWE wanted the title on one of the BMM and Punk was the first wrestler eliminated. You could hear the crowd interest drop the second Punk left, and after RVD was pinned the crowd couldn't have cared less when Lashley pinned the Big Show for the win.
(Interestingly, Heyman had actually pushed Punk to win the match, but all that did was paint a target on the latter's back as McMahon decided to remove him from the match at the earliest opportunity. An incident that perfectly encapsulates why the ECW relaunch was doomed from the start).