10 Greatest WWE Champions Ever
8. CM Punk
A record-smasher and unwitting game-changer, CM Punk never got the validation he truly wanted no matter how long his final WWE Title reign lasted nor benefitted from the changes he bullishly forced through.
The most prestigious thing about Punk's 434 day-reign was sadly just the ever-increasing day count. He'd still cut excellent promos and occasionally have excellent matches, but he was so often unfairly positioned as Champion in name alone. His matches were routinely shunted down the card in favour of whatever John Cena happened to be up to, so much so that a heel turn half way through was predicated on his newest frustrations.
"The View Never Changed" for Punk, but it did for so many others thanks to his persistence. Daniel Bryan was a direct and immediate beneficiary of his 2014 exit, but the talents that have since risen through WWE's ranks are shaped far more in Punk's original image than water-spewing 'Cerebral Assassin' they're duty-bound to give credit to.