10 Shocking WWE Raw Moments You Never Saw Coming
1. The Pipe Bomb (27 June, 2011)
The Summer Of Punk started petering out from the moment its architect returned to WWE television entirely too early, but Chick Magnet Phil's pipe bomb felt like a real paradigm shift, as the straight-edger sat cross-legged, spitting bullets at John Cena, Vince McMahon, and WWE's crony corporate hierarchy.
Punk was already a huge cult favourite, but this took him to the next level. In reflecting dozens of long-held grievances against the company, he became 'The Voice Of The Voiceless' - an avatar through which WWE's disgruntled fanbase were finally being represented.
It remains the greatest worked shoot in wrestling history. Punk's verbal bombardment was explosive, and an audience conditioned to expect nought but overly-scripted vanilla rants by robotic main eventers was blown away. It generated immeasurable buzz, too, as hordes of lapsed fans flooded back to the product in the hope of a better tomorrow, guaranteeing an electric atmosphere when Punk met Cena at Money In The Bank 2011 a few days later.
Though Punk's moment in the sun was fleeting, the Pipe Bomb made him the man, and him eventually winning the WWE Championship as a free agent is something countless fans will point to as a pivotal moment in their fandom.