10 Times WWE Worked Their Audience Into A Shoot
1. CM Punk's Pipebomb (Raw - June 2011)
The angle fell apart by the time it ended, but the Summer Of Punk's genesis was a joy to behold, and it started with wrestling's greatest worked shoot.
CM Punk dropped his infamous 'pipebomb' at the end of a June 2011 episode of Raw. Laying into Vince McMahon, John Cena, and many more, 'The Voice Of The Voiceless' ripped the company's handling of him as a performer, Cena's status as their sanitised corporate avatar, and their continued use of part-time performers like The Rock.
His outburst resonated because they were the same complaints that fans had been making for years, but the crux was that Punk's contract was set to expire after Money In The Bank 2011. He'd face John Cena that night, and if he won, he was leaving the company with the WWE Championship, never to return.
The whole thing was a work, but that didn't stop hordes of fans from thinking it was real. It sounds absurd now, but people legitimately thought that Punk was going to steal WWE's top prize away from them, which created an incredible atmosphere at the PPV itself.
Punk triumphed in Chicago, prompting a massive celebration from his hometown crowd, but the uncertainty dissipated when he returned to TV just eight days later.