10 Wrestling Storylines That Started Hot But Ended Terribly
1. The Summer Of Punk
CM Punk made wrestling feel real again.
His blistering Pipe Bomb promo didn't pull the curtain back: it tore it from its hooks, and immediately installed him as the ultimate avatar for long-held fan frustrations. Punk became a genuine folk hero that night, and when he threatened to leave the company with the WWE Championship upon his contract's expiration at Money In The Bank 2011, it felt like everybody not named McMahon or Laurinaitis was on his side.
Punk defeated John Cena in Chicago, and the reaction was euphoric. While many assumed the story was a work, nobody was 100% certain as to whether or not he was actually going to return, creating a sense of immersion and intrigue that'd been missing from the company's sterile product for years. It was perfect, but as with everything else on our list, the follow up was atrocious.
Punk was brought back to television entirely too early, and lost his title via Alberto Del Rio's MITB cash-in at SummerSlam. The feud's focus needlessly shifted over to Kevin Nash, who became embroiled in the storyline after bewilderingly texting himself to prompt his SummerSlam assault, but the former Diesel wasn't cleared to wrestle. Punk instead faced Triple H at Night Of Champions, where a crushing loss obliterated the last vestiges of his once incredible momentum,