In the modern era, a 434-day WWE Championship reign is unheard of. At Survivor Series 2011, CM Punk arguably the hottest thing on two legs at the time regained his WWE Championship from Albert Del Rio, who had robbed it from him a few months earlier with his Money in the Bank briefcase. The self-proclaimed Best in the World took on challengers such as Daniel Bryan, Chris Jericho, and Dolph Ziggler before turning heel and beating the likes of John Cena and Ryback, surpassing some of the longest WWE Championship runs in history. The aforementioned heel turn came at Raw 1000 when Punk took exception to The Rock stealing his spotlight. A GTS set the stage for an eventual meeting between the two at the 2014 Royal Rumble. In the buildup to the match, WWEs newest trio The Shield attacked The Rock on Punks behalf. Vince McMahon set the stipulation that if The Shield interfered at Royal Rumble, Punk would be stripped of the WWE Championship. The match itself was everything the WWE Universe could ask for. Just as The Rock was set to end it, the arena went dark and The Rock was revealed to have been put through a table. After some shenanigans with Vince McMahon, The Rock cutting a promo, and the match restarting, The Peoples Champ ended Punks streak to become WWE Champion.
Eric Delgado has been writing about professional wrestling for five years and has been involved in the professional wrestling business as a performer for ten. He is also the former host of Steel Cage Radio and has an irrational love for The Ryback.
