10 Worst Simultaneous WWE Heavyweight Champions

9. CM Punk (WWE) & Sheamus (World) - 2012

Kofi Kingston Seth Rollins
WWE

In stark contrast to the catharsis of Kofi Kingston and Seth Rollins topping the card, mid-2012's versions of CM Punk and Sheamus were babyfaces the audiences could have adored had they not been given reasons to rapidly lose faith.

CM Punk's needlessly complicated programme with Chris Jericho had made a Sports Entertainment oaf out of the 'Voice Of The Voiceless'. F*cking around in booze-based banter with 'Y2J' on Raw appeared to be the price they paid for putting forth a disappointing WrestleMania match that had initially been focussed on just who exactly was the "Best In The World". The contest delivered the answer - neither of them.

It took Daniel Bryan to rehabilitate Punk's run, after he'd inadvertently hijacked Sheamus' World Title Win by virtue of his relationship with the crowd. Audiences couldn't forgive or forget the booking of the infamous 18-second switch at the 'Show Of Shows', and vented their frustration in subsequent scuffles between the 'YES Man' and the 'Great White'.

An outstanding Extreme Rules rematch didn't linger as long in the memory as the original squash, and - like Punk's own feud with Bryan later that year - wasn't remotely considered worthy of going on last.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett