10 Alternative Happy Endings To Universally Hated Wrestling Storylines

1. The Summer Of Punk, Part II

Cm Punk Triple H
WWE.com

The Reality:

CM Punk, after threatening to run away from WWE with the Heavyweight Championship intact following the events of Money In The Bank 2011, returns after just eight days into a foul sh*t-storm of shocking booking. He pins John Cena at SummerSlam following dodgy officiating - those Special Guest Referees never work out, which is convenient for the deadening churn, if nothing else - before Kevin Nash acts upon the instructions of Kevin Nash and "sticks" him. Kevin Nash is too physically knackered to put Punk over, not that that is the priority: before WWE realises that Punk is rather popular, Alberto Del Rio is given the rocket for which Punk provided the fuel, John Cena is spared a pin at Hell In A Cell, and Triple H engineers a Triple H match before retconning it in days.

The Alternative:

Punk does defend the WWE Championship in New Japan Pro Wrestling. Punk does defend the WWE Championship in Ring Of Honor. Punk does live up to his self-created status as an iconoclast, thus embodying the sorely-needed change WWE needed (and still needs), becoming The Man. Not the 434 day-reigning recipient of compensation; The Man.

Instead, the wheel spins with identical spokes...

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!