10 Times WWE Missed Opportunities To Create Lasting Main Event Superstars
1. CM Punk Vs. John Cena (SummerSlam 2011)
Even more so than with Ryback, WWE had a golden opportunity to make CM Punk this generation's Stone Cold Steve Austin in 2011. The company crafted the Rattlesnake's rise masterfully in 1997, and got off to a great start with Punk at Money In The Bank 2011, but the follow-up was a complete hatchet job.
Instead of recognizing the long-term gains of keeping Punk off WWE television and biting the bullet by presenting SummerSlam without him, the company panicked and brought him back after just 2 weeks. Predictably, WWE over-valued the Pay-Per-View's buyrate and killed their golden goose just as it was hatching.
At SummerSlam, Punk got a clear-as-mud victory over John Cena with Triple H counting the controversial fall; the aftermath was even worse. Kevin Nash, out from obscurity, jumped Punk, setting up Alberto Del Rio's briefcase cash-in. A loss to Triple H a month later quietly expedited the deterioration of Punk's relationship with WWE.
The Summer of Punk 2011 could've been handled a dozen better ways, but the best opportunity to usher in WWE's next boom era was blown.