Few could have ever imagined on June 27th, 2011 when CM Punk grabbed hold of a microphone, made his way up the ramp and took a seat on the Monday Night Raw stage that what he was about to do would forever alter the way fans saw and referred to shoot promos. From the moment he verbally railed against the promotion, Vince McMahon and "his idiot daughter and doofus son-in-law," any attempt to shoot live on air by a Superstar, Diva or on-air personality would forever be recognized as a pipebomb, a label Punk himself put on the buzz-worthy promo. From that night on, everyone who ever was allowed the opportunity to speak their mind on WWE programming was greeted with Tweets praising them for the "pipebomb" they dropped on that night's show. In fact, the term itself became overused, the product of meta fans who thought everything was inside or that they were cool for understanding some backstage reference. But there is a wealth of pipebombs dropped well before CM Punk even entered sports entertainment's most historic promotion. With Paige continuing the legacy of blurring the lines with shoot comments and promos playing up real life beefs between Divas and Superstars, relive these 12 Superstars who delivered earthshaking pipebombs way before it was cool.
12. Shawn Michaels
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The feud between Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart is one of the most notorious in WWE, a political showdown of epic proportions that led to the departure of The Hitman. Prior to the Montreal Screwjob that brought the intense personal hatred to a head, Michaels enhanced the issues between he and his greatest rival by dropping a pipebomb on the WWE fans that enraged Hart and eventually led to a backstage scuffle between the two in June 1997.By using the term "Sunny days" to insinuate that Hart was having a real life affair with the premiere Diva in professional wrestling, he essentially attacked the family life of his fellow future Hall of Famer. Despite having an agreement with The Hitman that they would shoot on one another, hurling insults that based in reality but were focused on building to the most anticipated match in wrestling. Instead, he crossed the line in a moment of arrogance and frustration. That reference led to Hart's relationship with Sunny being the subject of questions and accusations within his own family and further dissension and tension between him and the Heartbreak Kid. It would not be the last time Michaels would drop a pipebomb over the course of his highly controversial career. In 2005, six days before he was slated to square off with Hulk Hogan at SummerSlam, ol' HBK took to the squared circle and tore down the immortal Superstar, poking fun at his age and years of political power plays that kept him at the top of the industry. That night's show took place in Montreal, home of the Bret Hart screwjob at the Survivor Series eight years earlier, and Michaels played it up by teasing an appearance by The Hitman, only to reveal that it was ruse designed to further infuriate the fans.Add to that the open mockery of Mike Knox during the 2006 Survivor Series ("Who was that guy?") and you have a long history of Michaels not being afraid to drop his fair share of pipebombs on the oftentimes unsuspecting WWE Universe.