10 Biggest Winners From CM Punk Leaving WWE

3. Daniel Bryan

There's no WWE superstar who benefited as directly from CM Punk's departure as Daniel Bryan. While Bryan became WWE Champion at SummerSlam 2013 and spent the fall feuding with Randy Orton over the title, by the time 2014 rolled around, his flirtation with the main event was considered over. Despite his popularity, Bryan was earmarked for an undercard match with Sheamus at WrestleMania XXX. Punk was supposed to clash with Authority leader Triple H in a marquee match at the show of shows, but the prospect of beating "The Game" wasn't enough to get the Straight-Edge Superstar to stick around. When Punk left, the card needed to be reshuffled, and it was decided that Bryan - who was repeatedly attacked by The Authority - would take Punk's place against HHH. When the vociferously pro-Bryan audience rejected the originally planned main event of Batista versus Randy Orton, Batista was turned heel and Bryan was added to that bout, as well. In the end, Bryan pulled double duty, defeated Triple H, Randy Orton, and Batista, and won the WWE World Heavyweight Title to cap off the greatest night of his career. Had Punk not left WWE, though, it's likely that he would have been stuck wrestling Sheamus.