100 Greatest WWE Matches Of All Time (Ranked)
54. CM Punk vs. Brock Lesnar (SummerSlam 2013)
One can picture John Cena and Daniel Bryan warming up for their SummerSlam 2013 main event whilst checking out portions of this 'No Disqualification' cracker on monitors backstage. Individually, they had to be laser focused, but there must've been even a wee bit of both that thought, 'Aw man - thanks guys!'. After all, out in the ring, CM Punk and Brock Lesnar were having one of the best bouts SummerSlam had ever witnessed.
Lesnar's return bouts since 2012 had split opinion. People seemed to like what he did with Cena at Extreme Rules 2012, but those same folks weren't so hot on a three-match series vs. Triple H at SummerSlam 2012, WrestleMania 29 or Extreme Rules 2013. So, come SummerSlam that year, hopes were high that the ever-impressive Punk would help Brock raise his game.
No pun intended, Hunter fanatics.
The abridged version is that...he did. Paul Heyman stabbed Punk in the back (which would be almost totally ignored come the pair's latest treachery storyline in 2025) to side with Lesnar, and that shocking moment followed 25 minutes of pure carnage. Punk was at his underdog best, and Brock appeared to enjoy being the larger beast again after a full year of tangling with fellow powerhouse Triple H.
Come for the second era Lesnar domination, stay for Punk's well-crafted comebacks and plucky spirit. If you haven't watched this one in a long time, then it might catch you by surprise. Brock and Punk could've done even more together had they been given the chance/had Punk not left WWE in early-2014.