12 Times WWE Buried Their Own Champions
1. CM Punk Is In Over His Head
CM Punk's MITB cash in on Edge come the 30 June 2008 edition of Raw should've seen him arrive as a top WWE star. Should've. Sadly, he was just the latest experiment that those calling the shots didn't properly believe in. The way Punk was handled for the rest of his title reign (and indeed the rest of the year) proved that there was zero faith.
The entire story of his World Heavyweight Title reign was thus: Punk had only lucked out by taking advantage of Batista's handiwork to pin Edge. His briefcase win at WrestleMania XXIV gave him a fast track to the top of the card, which CM certainly wouldn't have been able to do the hard way. Seriously, that was WWE's narrative for their new World Champ.
On TV, JBL called him a flash in the pan who couldn’t live up to the hype, and others like Batista outright laughed at Punk’s claims as champion. Then, as if things couldn't be any worse for him by then, Punk wasn’t even involved in the ’Scramble Match’ that saw his belt change hands to Chris Jericho at Unforgiven 2008.
He'd been attacked in a promo skit backstage and replaced in his own pay-per-view showing. Wow.
The disrespect was outrageous. From first minute to last, WWE battered Punk and his fanbase around the head with a loud and clear message. Your hero can't cut it, and he's beneath practically every other main eventer.
What other champions did WWE bury? For more like this, check out 15 MORE Incredible WWE Attitude Era Moments Nobody Ever Talks About and 15 MORE Incredible WWE Ruthless Aggression Era Moments Nobody Ever Talks About!