10 World Champions WWE Never Believed In

4. CM Punk

Before CM Punk, the thought of an independent scene sensation becoming a world champion in WWE was unheard of. Punk's rise to glory is well-documented in his critically-acclaimed "Best in the World" documentary where he explains the only individual who went to bat for him was Paul Heyman, who pitched hard to get him on the ECW brand and take him under his wing. Had it not been for him, Punk would have likely been released before he surfaced on the main roster. He had a solid run for himself in ECW, but he was virtually a big fish in a small pond in the Land of Extreme. He needed a bigger challenge, and when Jeff Hardy cost himself his opportunity to become Mr. Money in the Bank by getting suspended, Punk was the only other logical option to win it all. But it was quite clear what officials thought of him based off how he was positioned on the Raw brand in the summer of 2008 as World Heavyweight champion. With Chris Jericho, Shawn Michaels, John Cena and Batista constantly overshadowing him, he was almost at the midcard level while in possession of the title. He had an amazing run as champ in 2009 on SmackDown, but that was merely because he had more freedom on the blue brand. Oddly enough, it was only when he threatened to leave in the summer of 2011 that he earned the trust of officials, later embarking on a record-setting reign as WWE champion. The rest, of course, is history.