Punk and Axel feuded in the summer of 2013 after the big heel turn by Paul Heyman when he cost CM Punk the Money in the Bank match. Punk went on to battle Brock Lesnar, but then Lesnar went away for one of his customary length breaks and it led to Punk facing Axel a few times instead. It was a very forgettable rivalry because nobody believed that Axel had a hope of beating Punk clean in a match. Even with Heyman doing great promos, the Axel experiment just didn't work very well at all. It hurt the Punk/Heyman feud tremendously just because a guy like Axel was not treated like a star by the fans and when he was out there trying to beat Punk nobody believed that he could. If you had to guess, you could say that the feud probably took place around the time when Punk was losing his interest in wresting because you could tell he wasn't having that much fun during it. That's not to say that Punk had a problem with Axel personally, but he likely thought he was beneath him because he was. For Punk it was one of the worst feuds of his career. For Axel it was the highest profile rivalry he had (which says a lot about the way his career has panned out).
John wrote at WhatCulture from December 2013 to December 2015. It was fun, but it's over for now. Follow him on Twitter @johnreport. You can also send an email to mrjohncanton@gmail.com with any questions or comments as well.
