10 Ways WWE Has Changed Since Raw 1000

3. CM Punk Is Gone

cm punk the rock
WWE.com

Raw 1000 was chosen as the date CM Punk would turn heel on The Rock and edge closer to a critically acclaimed run alongside Paul Heyman. It's sobering to watch Punk on the mic during this era; when he interrupted Daniel Bryan's wedding dismay, Punk was a tour de force with the stick. His smart-assed comments were the blueprint for today's in-ring promo style.

Nobody has come close to matching Punk's 434-day reign as WWE Champion since he dropped it to The Rock at Royal Rumble 2013. Not even Punk himself could. 12 months after that, he decided he'd had enough of the WWE system and left a sizable hole in the main event scene just as 2014 dawned.

He hasn't been back.

It's only when revisiting some of his biggest matches and moments on the Network that Punk's importance to WWE during his 434-day stay as titleholder really sinks in. The man claims he'll never be back in WWE, but we're not so sure: if the money offered (or the lure of a WrestleMania main event) was right, it could happen someday.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.