8 Returns WWE Dropped The Ball On
3. CM Punk
Does a return really count if somebody was only away for eight days? That in itself is part of the problem here.
After CM Punk defeated John Cena at 2011’s Money in the Back and became WWE Champion, The Straight-Edge Superstar left the company… forever!
As in, never to be seen again. As in, never to return. As in maybe he’ll take the WWE’s biggest prize to New Japan or to Ring of Honor (hey Colt Cabana!). As in, how can WWE go on without its biggest prize?
The answer, sadly, was that Punk’s “forever” would last a pitiful eight days.
After a tournament to crown a new WWE Champion was rushed through during the next two episodes of Raw, Rey Mysterio would end up as the new Champ – only to lose the gold to Cena on the very same night that Rey Rey won it.
With Cena standing tall as WWE Champion, CM Punk would return to Monday Night Raw and partake in a “I’m the real WWE Champion”, “No, I’m the real WWE Champion” stand-off with Cena.
Three weeks later, Punk defeated Cena to become the outright WWE Champion, but The Second City Saint would get attacked by Kevin Nash straight after the match and then have Alberto Del Rio cash-in his Money in the Bank contract to take the belt.
With Punk then embroiled in a rivalry with Triple H and Big Sexy, Phil Brooks would pointlessly lose against Paul Levesque at the Night of Champions PPV before Punk’s planned match against Kevin Nash was canned after Nash did the Nash thing of getting injured.
Of course, CM Punk still remained as the biggest star in the company after all of this, but WWE rushed through what could have been a far better, lengthier story.