25 WWE Champions Who Never Got Their Rematch
23. John Cena
Title Lost: WWE Championship.
Lost Title To: CM Punk.
This is a tricky one, as Punk launched himself into superstardom at Money in the Bank 2011 when he beat John Cena for the WWE Championship and then left the company – for eight days. In that eight-day span, WWE held a tournament for the “vacant” title, Rey Mysterio won the tournament, then lost the title to John Cena the same night, and Punk returned with his title in hand.
At Summerslam, Punk and Cena held what could be termed a rematch, or it could be called a title-for-title match. Both men laid claim to the WWE Championship – Punk had never lost it, but his leaving left it vacant and Cena had won the title created through the vacancy. Either way, Punk won the match, but he would succumb to Alberto Del Rio cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase.
The title flipped around the next three months to Cena, back to Del Rio before Punk would recapture his gold and kick off the longest title reign in modern history.