10 Worst WWE Moments Of 2008

1. CM Punk Doesn’t Even Get To Drop His Title

Randy Orton Mike Adamle WWE 2008
WWE.com

2008 was an up and down year for aspiring headline attraction CM Punk. The ups were outstanding - WWE had Punk win the Money In The Bank ladder match at WrestleMania XXIV, then they had him cash in on Edge to win the World Title on the 30 June Raw. How about the downs? The writers clearly didn't see CM as a long term solution with Raw's top belt, and a feud with JBL over the summer proved it.

Layfield lambasted Punk as a pretender throughout, and he was speaking for Vince McMahon/Triple H there. A solid reign with a satisfying conclusion could, in theory, cement the breakout star as a true main eventer though. Sadly, WWE didn’t deem Punk important enough to even be involved in dropping his own title. Yikes! That's when you know you're not welcome to dine at the top table.

He was attacked by Randy Orton in a short backstage skit and removed from the scramble match booked for Unforgiven in September. Chris Jericho took his place, and it was he who ended the night as champ. Punk did receive a cage match vs. Jericho on TV after that, but he lost and was placed in a tag-team with Kofi Kingston towards the end of the year.

WWE outright failed to get behind him as a babyface champ. They clearly didn't want to, or had buyer's remorse as soon as he cashed in on Edge as a smiling Batista looked on. Imagine being written out of your own title loss, and barely getting the chance to kick and scream about it following that. Punk doesn't need to imagine it.

He lived that humbling experience.

What other moments from WWE's 2008 could be considered some of the worst? For more like this, check out 10 Worst WWE Moments Of 2007 and 10 Wrestlers That Got BANNED From AEW!

Contributor

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.