9 Times Triple H Stole The Spotlight
1. The Summer Of 2011
The summer of 2011 is often referred to as the 'Summer of Punk', meaning the spotlight was primarily shone on—you guessed it—CM Punk.
Again, though, Triple H saw it fit to slot himself into Punk’s monumental rise, first as a guest referee at SummerSlam 2011 and then as an in-ring opponent for Punk at Night of Champions in September.
With Punk enjoying a red-hot streak after winning the WWE title at Money in the Bank, he entered SummerSlam set to take on John Cena in a match to determine the undisputed champion. And much like he’d do a couple of years later, COO Triple H named himself the guest referee just one week before showtime.
What should have been a controversy-free meeting between two of the most naturally antithetical characters in WWE ultimately turned into a hot mess. Punk pinned Cena after a GTS, but Triple H had failed to spot Cena’s foot on the bottom rope. Then, after the match, Kevin Nash showed up, beat down Punk and allowed Alberto Del Rio to cash-in his Money in the Bank privilege.
The icing on the cake came the following month when Triple H proceeded to beat Punk at Night of Champions and frankly suck a whole lot of life out of what had been one of the most memorable rises of recent years.
Many of the examples of this list have been in some way justifiable. This, however, was not.