9 WWE Royal Rumble Tropes That Have Been Perfected
7. Mid-Match Promo - CM Punk (2010)
Was Straight-Edge Saviour CM Punk the best incarnation of the longest reigning WWE Champion of the WrestleMania era? That is up for debate, but it is difficult to argue with the quality of Punk’s character work during this time. The UFC star’s promos during that period were absolutely light years ahead of everyone else in the company.
Punk was the star of the first third of the 2010 Royal Rumble, eliminating individuals in between a lengthy promo espousing his straight edge manifesto. His interactions with The Great Khali and Zack Ryder are particularly entertaining, especially the latter. Punk started to sweet talk the Long Island Iced Z before bopping him on the head with the microphone and tossing him over the top rope. It perfectly summed up Zack Ryder's career.
It all came to a screeching halt when Triple H entered and eliminated Punk. All of the good work went out the window in the name of keeping Hunter strong. Punk’s 2010 Rumble promo lives on in the memory though, a true Royal Rumble highlight.