10 Things WWE Wants You To Forget About Triple H
9. His Role In The Destruction Of The Summer Of Punk
As PR-friendly water-under-the-bridge versions of themselves following CM Punk's sensational WWE return - and with it the decision to work under Paul Levesque's creative vision - the obvious mutual disdain that manifested back in 2011 has largely been brushed to one side of late. Punk said as much in his November 2023 return promo, uttering off-mic that he was back to make money rather than friends, presumably to insulate himself from the emotions that he ploughed into the torpedoed post-Pipe Bomb run.
Many things went wrong for Punk in the weeks after his glorious Money In The Bank win over John Cena, but much could be centred around the fact that John Cena was just about the only guy he was actually able to beat. And if this wasn't bad enough, he was looking at the lights for one of the other supposed babyfaces in a muddled and messy power struggle story that left nobody in a positive spotlight other than 'The Game' himself.
After a series of bitter face-to-face promos around whether or not Hunter knew about Kevin Nash's random insertion into the thickening plot, the two were then forced into battle when 'Big Daddy Cool' pulled up injured. Triple H refused to make himself the heel against the anti-authority Punk, won the match (!) and had the 'Voice Of The Voiceless' kowtow to him as an ally and partner in the weeks that followed.