10 Wrestlers Who Got A WrestleMania Singles Match Before Dolph Ziggler

4. CM Punk

Fandango WrestleMania 29
WWE

Things you might know about CM Punk if you came to find him (or indeed, wrestling) after his acrimonious exit in 2014:

- He was never given the WrestleMania Main Event slot he felt that, with some objective evidence, he deserved.

- He was burned enough by the experiences so wait over five years before making any kind of return.

- He only returned as a co-host of WWE magazine show Backstage, and is constantly at pains to remind fans that he works for Fox and not Vince McMahon.

These are all things that might have led one to believe that 'The Straight Edge Superstar' wasn't overly thrilled with how he'd been serviced by a company that he'd broken his body for during a similar timeframe to 'The Show Off'. And yet.

Punk's understandable thirst for the main event slot went unquenched because of a fundamental distaste all the important people had for his act, but he managed to catch a few more crumbs than his back-cracking contemporary. Two Money In The Bank wins and singles matches against Rey Mysterio, Randy Orton and The Undertaker speak to a solid resumé on the 'Show Of Shows' - a far cry from some of Dolph Zigglers less-than-inspiring tasks undertaken on 'The Grandest Stage'.

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