10 Times The Past Screwed WWE's Present
7. The Undertaker Vs. CM Punk (Hell In A Cell 2009)
The Undertaker wasn’t exactly finished by the time Hell In A Cell 2009 came around. He had his second WrestleMania classic with Shawn Michaels still to come, along with great bouts with Triple H in 2011 and 2012, then CM Punk the following year.
Punk’s loss to 'Taker in 2013 is excusable. The Deadman’s WrestleMania streak was still intact at that point, and the match itself wound-up being one of the best of either man’s WWE careers. The same can’t be said for the 2009 bout, however, which set Punk’s hopes of become an elite main event superstar back another couple of years.
Punk’s World Heavyweight Championship was on the line, and he lost it in a lacklustre Hell In A Cell match. By that point, Undertaker had already settled-in to the “special attraction” stage of his career, and there was no need for him to hold the gold. Punk, meanwhile, was the fastest rising star in the company, and if there was any logic in the booking room, he would’ve scored a signature victory over his injury-prone foe.
Instead, WWE took the easy option and put the belt around 'Taker. They could have made Punk a made man there and then, but fans would have to wait for 2011 and the Summer of Punk for that. An incredibly damaging title change, and one that needlessly set Punk’s rise back a couple of notches.