10 Part-Timers Who Screwed With The WWE Roster
2. The Indian Summer Of Punk
In summer 2011, CM Punk was the hottest thing in professional wrestling. Facing John Cena at SummerSlam to determine the true WWE Champion, he'd win the match, but be brutally powerbombed by a returning Kevin Nash immediately afterwards. Cue Alberto Del Rio and a hurried cash-in of a Money in the Bank briefcase: Punk was no longer WWE Champion, but had a brand new grudge to pursue.
Due to face Punk at Night Of Champions, Nash would receive word that that he could not be medically cleared to compete that night... and Triple H, who'd unofficially gone part-time earlier in the year, was slotted in to replace his best buddy Nash at the last minute. Despite Punk's apparent status at the time as the biggest star in the company (and therefore the industry), Triple H would go over Punk at Night of Champions in a babyface versus babyface grudge match. The decision was controversial, as Punk hadn't been booked strongly on television since losing the title.
However, the problem wasn't necessarily that Punk lost to Triple H. In their match at Night of Champions, Triple H was booked to be the bigger, stronger, more popular babyface. This is pro wrestling, after all - wins and losses are just a part of the story, and the story being told was that Punk wasn't Triple H's physical equal, and wasn't as big a babyface star. By the time the match came to a conclusion, the pin was almost incidental. In the following night's in-ring confrontation, Punk was booked to back down and admit he'd been wrong, while 'the Game' magnanimously placed his opponent back into title contention and reasserted his authority over RAW.
Once again, the story being told was that Punk wasn't as big a babyface star as Triple H and didn't have the power or the aura that Triple H did. The whole storyline was deliberately murky and inconclusive, with no clear villain to boo. Punk was booked to appear clueless and ineffective, standing helplessly by making sarcastic faces while the Attitude Era adults wittered on about text messages and twenty year friendships. Meanwhile, Triple H was booked to be strong, authoritative and fearless: the no-nonsense boss who could handle himself in a fight with anyone.
He stuck around just long enough to take care of the Kevin Nash loose end, and then vanished again. Curiously, Nash was medically cleared to perform multiple run-in and beatdown spots throughout this run, as well as a heavily gimmicked, violent match with Triple H to write him off television... apparently the only thing he wasn't medically cleared to do was compete in a simple one-on-one singles match with CM Punk. There was a conspiracy in place, all right: and Paul Levesque was behind the whole thing all along.