20 Greatest WWE SmackDown Superstars Ever
14. CM Punk
CM Punk watched what should have been his greatest summer get p*ssed all over by Triple H, Kevin Nash and others in 2011, but he'd flown even closer to the sun years earlier whilst nobody was watching on SmackDown.
As a righteous 'Straight Edge Superstar' heel against a freewheeling Jeff Hardy in 2009 he was a revelation. The gimmick had been played out in Ring Of Honor but was refreshingly resuscitated for the wider audience.
A year later, he'd morphed again into the evil messianic leader of the 'Straight Edge Society' stable, crafting a character close to an evil Jesus Christ than the drug-free douchebag he'd once been. Punk's greatest work had to be fought for, but many of his finer moments took place whilst fewer harder heads were actually watching.