15 WWE Title Changes That IMMEDIATELY Backfired
9. Alberto Del Rio Crashes ‘Summer Of Punk’ (WWE Title)
Title Change: Money In The Bank briefcase winner Alberto Del Rio crashed the main event of SummerSlam 2011 to scoop CM Punk's glory and leave as new WWE Champion. This came at the end of a dramatic few months for the 'Voice Of The Voiceless'. Indeed, that season was duly named the 'Summer Of Punk', but it was Del Rio who left one of the biggest pay-per-views of the year as champ.
Why It Backfired: WWE should really be ashamed of themselves for how badly they screwed up the ‘Summer Of Punk’. CM beat John Cena at MITB in one of the hottest headliners ever, then the rebel spirit blew a kiss to Vince McMahon on his way out. The story was simple and clear: He was holding the number one belt hostage, and there was nothing McMahon could do about it.
Well, other than ignore that star power exodus and crown a new champ shortly thereafter. Yes, that was WWE's plan - Punk was ignored, and Cena ended up winning a temporary WWE Title ahead of his return and their SummerSlam collision. Gee, way to make the story resonate and MITB matter. It was a frankly thick decision when wailing and gnashing was needed on WWE TV as Punk stuck titles in his fridge back home.
Come SummerSlam, Punk won, then Del Rio cashed in. Naturally, this backfired, because fans were ready to embrace Punk as the main man on top of the mountain. So, Alberto’s big moment felt tacked on and intrusive. It was unwanted. Don't get anyone started on the crummy story that saw Kevin Nash text himself from Triple H's phone (or whatever WWE tried to claim in the aftermath).
As Randy Orton once screamed at Kofi Kingston: "Stupid!".