10 WWE Heels Who Were Actually Babyfaces In Disguise

There were two clear points in CM Punk’s WWE career where he played a heel with an entirely sympathetic cause, and it started with the Summer of Punk.

Punk’s infamous pipe bomb sent his popularity through the roof, and he became something of an anti-establishment folk hero for WWE fans. His impassioned rants against WWE’s corporate stoogery echoed the crowd’s own concerns; you’ll struggle to find a louder crowd reaction than when he stepped out in front of his hometown audience at Money In The Bank 2011. Despite this, Punk was still technically a heel as he wrestled John Cena, even though there wasn’t a single soul booing him in the building.

The second spell came during his 434-day reign as WWE Champion. Punk was continually shunted out of the spotlight in favour of flashier wrestlers like John Cena and The Rock, and he was tired of playing second fiddle. He was the Champ, but he definitely wasn’t the focal point, and nobody should have been surprised when he attacked The Rock on a July 2012 episode of Raw.

Punk always did a brilliant job of operating in shades of grey, but there were no real reasons to jeer him in either of these instances. As incessant as his post-retirement complaining can be, Punk’s gripes were completely legitimate, yet WWE continually peddled the idea that he was the villain.