10 Things You Learn Binge Watching Every WWE Raw From 2008
1. CM Punk Was Never Treated Well As World Champ
WWE would tell you that CM Punk shot to main event stardom when he cashed in Money In The Bank to take the old World Heavyweight Title from Edge on the 30 June 2008 Raw. Technically, sure, but that doesn't tell the full story. The promotion never seemed totally comfortable with pushing Punk as anything more than an opportunist who was out of his depth.
Many point to the fact he wasn’t even involved in the ’Scramble’ at Unforgiven as proof WWE didn’t take him seriously as World Heavyweight Champ, but it runs deeper than that. Nothing post-MITB cash in made Punk look credible in the role. Matches vs. Batista at Great American Bash and on the 21 July Raw went to a double DQ and non-finish respectively, for example.
He did beat JBL clean at SummerSlam, but Layfield’s promos in the build up laid bare how Vince McMahon actually viewed Punk. The ex-ECW'er was never going to be booked as the featured star on Raw, put it that way. There was always a stench of 'you're lucky to be here, kid' about the way he was handled.
That's something Punk fought against throughout his first run in WWE. It followed him around right up until his departure the night after 2014's Royal Rumble, but thankfully hasn't become a hallmark of his 2023-present day return.
If McMahon didn't fancy Punk in a top guy position on Raw, then he shouldn't have put the belt on him in '08. Simple as that.
What else did you learn from watching every episode of WWE Raw from 2008? For more wrestling, check out 11 MORE WWE Returns That IMMEDIATELY Backfired and 7 New Directions For WWE After Saturday Night's Main Event (13 Dec)!