10 First Years In WWE That Went From Amazing To Awful
9. CM Punk
On his 'Something To Wrestle' podcast, Bruce Prichard spoke recently of Paul Heyman's ardent support of CM Punk in 2006, noting that the frayed relations between Vince McMahon and the ECW mastermind may have actually worked against the 'Straight Edge Superstar' having the run most felt he was capable of right out of the gate on the C-show.
The tipping point between the pair came in discussion over the 'Extreme Elimination Chamber' main event of the infamously awful December to Dismember pay-per-view. Heyman wanted Punk to tap existing ECW World Champion out almost immediately, then tear through the remainder of the field in similar fashion before lifting the title after a hard-fought end battle with Rob Van Dam.
As unlikely as the scenario was, it was at least, in keeping with his incredible opening spell since arriving from Ohio Valley Wrestling early in the lifespan of the relaunched brand. Unbeaten up to that point and noticeably gobbling up the majority of fan support during his Survivor Series team elimination match alongside topline heavy hitters D-Generation-X and The Hardy Boyz, Punk was undeniably hot property before his placement as a pawn in McMahon and Heyman's ugly chess game left him almost knocked off the board entirely.
Eliminated first in the Chamber, he lost cleanly and regularly deep into 2007, taking several goes to dethrone unspectacular ECW Champion John Morrison before getting wrapped up in a similarly one-sided rivalry with Chavo Guerrero.