9. Hes Left A Gaping Hole At The Top Of The Card
WWE.comAt the time of his abrupt departure, CM Punk sold the second highest amount of merchandise in the company, lower only than top man and WWE bobblehead John Cena. His absence has left a gap at the top of the roster that WWE have pretended doesnt exist, so keen are they to whitewash over Punks loss. Daniel Bryan did his best to fill the space left, and certainly Punk wasnt missed at Wrestlemania XXXs stuffed card. But its at RAW that Punks absence is most keenly felt, and now that Daniel Bryan is temporarily absent due to recuperating from neck surgery, the lack of genuine star power is significant. Its telling that the upcoming Money In The Bank ladder match for the vacant WWE World Heavyweight title, despite boasting eight participants, doesnt really have any serious favourite to win. No one really wants to see Cena or Orton pick up yet another championship, but Cesaro, Wyatt and Reigns arent ready for a run, Sheamus is the US champion, and Del Rio and Kane have the words lame duck transitional champ written all over them. WWE just hasnt been as much fun on a week-by-week basis this year, and a lot of people point the finger of blame at Phil Brooks. Again, its not particularly fair to do so. Hes hardly to blame for WWEs failure to make enough proper stars to carry their television programming.