10 Worst Endings To Awesome Wrestling Title Reigns
7. The Summer Of Punk Comes To An End
The Summer Of Punk tore the wrestling world apart in 2011. It was an incredible time to be a WWE fan, starting with the most incendiary worked shoot of all time, and escalating with CM Punk's epic WWE Championship victory at Money In The Bank.
It's hard to think of a more euphoric reaction than that which Punk was given when he toppled John Cena, but while that match's outcome felt like a legitimate paradigm shift, WWE's follow-up was poor. Punk left with the WWE Title, but he was brought back to television far too soon, and the ensuing weeks were disastrous for his once incredible momentum.
Punk still considered himself the rightful WWE Champion, but the company had crowned Cena in his absence. Thus, the duo met in a unification bout at SummerSlam, and while Punk's victory seemed to reinstall him as "the guy", the corporate boogeymen won.
Shortly after beating Cena for a second time, Punk was jumped by Kevin Nash of all people. Alberto Del Rio then charged down the ramp with his Money In The Bank briefcase, cashed it in, and took the title. The Summer Of Punk was effectively dead, and so was its architect's potentially revolutionary title reign.