10 Wrestlers Who Turned During Championship Reigns
1. CM Punk (2012)
CM Punk was never afforded the respect he genuinely deserved when he arrived amongst WWE's upper echelon in 2011. But in the absence of a Vince McMahon to target as the real oppressor he could have a great matches, there were few stars more perfectly pitched for absorbing his disdain than The Rock.
'The Voice Of The Voiceless' had wrestled bangers with Daniel Bryan, tried his best with Chris Jericho and temporarily elevated Dolph Ziggler (before WWE got bored of him again too) over an enjoyable nine months with the title, but only standing opposite John Cena once again got him within spitting distance of the main event.
Literally so - the excellent Raw 1000's headliner was a title clash promoted by 'The Champ' nobly cashing in his Money In The Bank shot with a week's notice. It all broke down when The Big Show ran in to assault Cena, but a save from The Rock resulted in an embittered ambush on him by the p*ssed off Punk.
He'd link arms with Paul Heyman in the weeks that followed, kicking off the second chapter of a 434 day run that rather appropriately ended with defeat against 'The Great One'.
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