10 Shining Lights In WWE’s Darkest Hours
1. CM Punk (2011)
'The Voice Of The Voiceless' spoke mostly for himself when given a live microphone at the end of yet another tepid edition of Monday Night Raw in 2011, but CM Punk's truth to power was as much down to a genuine belief that he'd be leaving the organisation just a few short weeks later.
Punk making himself the hottest performer in mainstream pro wrestling right before his contract was set to expire was gamesmanship almost impossible to summon in 'normal' renegotiation circumstances. The Chicago native was legitimately ready to walk away, and thus had no reason not to throw everything he had into a grand farewell angle.
The end result was a complete shift in the narrative for WWE - a glass ceiling cracked if not smashed that at long last created wiggle room for the countless faces (and heels) pressed up against it. The follow-up to an electric Money In The Bank battle with John Cena has been long-lamented as one of the company's most catastrophic creative cul-de-sacs, but the month or so in which Punk was cast a revolutionary source of rage remains a reflection of a perplexed performer at his dynamic best.