The follow-up to an awe-inspiring promo and electric Money In The Bank battle with John Cena has been long-lamented as one of the company's most catastrophic creative cul-de-sacs, but the month or so in which Punk was cast a revolutionary source of rage remains a reflection of a perplexed performer at his dynamic best.
It's all the more reason to bury everything that came after it.
More on Punk's irripresable rise in the Ups, but his fall was exactly as devastating as his "Pipe Bomb" predicted. He called out a system for failing over and over again, and it responded by...failing him over and over again. A pathetic whotextit storyline with Triple H and Kevin Nash was as pathetic as a pay-per-view loss to Triple H covering for Kevin Nash and only slightly more pathetic than a tag team match alongside Triple H that saw Kevin Nash on run-in duty.
One guess which wrestlers contested what proved to be the grand payoff to CM Punk's big moment.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett
