10 Forgotten WWE Matches That Came Right Before Iconic Moments

7. R-Truth Vs John Cena - CM Punk's Pipe Bomb (Raw, June 27 2011)

Brian Pillman Steve Austin
WWE

CM Punk famously celebrated John Cena's pain as he began the rant that would change his life, but the triviality of how he came to endure that has been somewhat lost to the power of the 'Pipe Bomb'.

'The Champ' had just been defeated by R-Truth. No wonder the former 24/7 stalwart is such a fan.

The result was meaningless before Punk picked up a microphone, but the tables match that concluded a Las Vegas edition of the flagship show was actually the singles payoff to what had grown into one of the weirdest rivalries of the year.

R-Truth had lost a WWE Championship match at the prior month's Capitol Punishment because...well because he's R-Truth and John Cena was still about five years away from even semi-retirement, but the decision was made to give him this out from the feud as a way to kickstart the Champion's feud with 'The Voice Of The Voiceless'.

It was a pretty nothing match with a pretty nothing finish - Punk interfered to cost Cena an easy win then baited him into position to be speared for the loss - but it did actually keep Truth on or near the top table for the remainder of the year.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett