2. Pipe Bomb (& The Summer Of Punk) - Raw June 27th 2011
A lot of people didn't want to see CM Punk succeed in WWE. For various reasons (he didn't know how to work, he was a mark for himself, he was popular on the indies, he has a bad attitude etc.) Punk was not well-liked by some of the higher-ups in WWE. Because of that, many assumed there would be a cap on his success, that he would only get to a certain level. He had flirted with the main event in 2008 and 09 but found himself sliding back down the card soon after. Punk finally got a proper crack at headlining in 2011. He kicked off his main event run in some style... Punk's worked-shoot promo (or 'pipe bomb' as he referred to it) on the June 27th Raw was one of the most impassioned and heartfelt promos ever delivered in a WWE ring. Punk took shots at WWE, Vince McMahon and Triple H before claiming that he would beat Cena for the WWE Championship at Money in the Bank and then leave the company forever. Punk did beat Cena at MITB in a superlative match and then left the WWE...for about two weeks. When Punk came back he feuded with Cena, Vince and Triple H to varying degrees of success. Some of the magic of the original pipe bomb had worn off but Punk still held on to the belt for 434 days, one of the longest runs in the modern era. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OS9wZGb_3g
