10 Most Heated WWE Crowd Reactions Ever
2. Money In The Bank - July 17, 2011
If not fate, then the events of and leading into July 17, 2011 were massively serendipitous. CM Punk was so single-minded in his talent and work ethic that he created the catchphrase "luck is for losers" - but that his massively anticipated challenge of John Cena's WWE Heavyweight Title just happened to take place in Chicago betrayed his bluster. Fortune had favoured his brave decision to threaten his departure in the months prior to it.
The reaction to even the promise of his entrance was seismic. When he made his appearance - even on second, third, eleventh viewing - the pop still lifts every fine white hair on your neck. It really was as special as its instant mythology conveyed it as. Punk's crowd appeals created a new metric for the geiger counter. He stood on the turnbuckle, whipping his home city crowd into a borderline rabid state.
The storytelling in the match itself was equally powerful. To underline the theme of escapism - he wasn't really leaving at midnight, but you wouldn't have guessed, based on the once in a lifetime reaction - he found a counter to every last move and retread of Cena's repertoire.
That reaction was somehow sustained over an epic thirty-five minute duration. Watching it back six years later is almost rewarding enough to excuse the subsequent retconned mess of missed opportunity.