14 Best WWE Title Changes At SummerSlam
12. World Heavyweight Championship (2009): CM Punk Vs. Jeff Hardy (c)
At this point in his career, CM Punk already was a
two-time World Heavyweight Champion, having twice cashed-in his Money in the Bank
briefcase successfully. The second time, he defeated a spent Jeff Hardy,
who had just bested Edge in a ladder match to capture his first WHC.
Hardy would reclaim the title about seven weeks later, setting up the rubber
match at SummerSlam.
This time, Punk won his third world championship in a hard-fought battle, erasing any stigma that he was an accidental champion. His celebration would be short-lived, however. While standing over a fallen Jeff Hardy, Undertaker’s gong rang out and the lights went out. When they came back on, Taker had taken Hardy’s place under Punk’s feet.
After a chokeslam to close out the PPV, it became obvious where Punk’s reign was headed next.
The SummerSlam victory should have launched Punk into the stratosphere as a main-event player, but instead his title was sacrificed to The Deadman less than two months later. Punk would go on to head up the Straight Edge Society as we moved into 2010 before finally reaching the summit again in 2011.