7 Huge Ways WWE Has Changed In The 7 Years Since CM Punk’s Pipe Bomb
5. "He's A Millionaire Who Should Be A Billionaire."
In a line which probably cut closest to Vince McMahon's muscle-packed bones, Punk's assertion that The Chairman had failed to truly capitalise financially on his global wrestling dominance seemed astute at the time.
The company was in fine health of course, but there seemed the makings of an industry decline back on the card. No longer were stars selling shows, but the 'WWE' brand was hardly the hot ticket it had previously been either. One too many pushed projects had failed, legends were finally lacing their boots for final times, whilst outside interests such as the films Punk couldn't get into haemorrhaged cash until DVD sales partially propped up the losses.
Seven years on, a WWE Network streams then archives every supercard for nominal tenners worldwide, whilst Raw and SmackDown Live!'s values have skyrocketed in an era where hardly anybody watches television as it happens because they're all using streaming services. McMahon's somehow stuck his fingers in both pies and has come away with the rich fillings of both.
At $3billion net worth at time of writing, he's literally never been richer - and talent still fall under his fickle thumb just as they did before Punk even picked up a microphone.