Lewis Howse's 10 Favourite WWE Matches Of All-Time

My interest in WWE began to drop off around 2010. I can't put my finger on exactly why, but I think the company as a whole just started getting really, really sterile. Half their wrestlers looked like they'd just come off a conveyor belt, the storylines by and large weren't as good and, to be blunt, I think I was just a little burnt out on the company.

I'd turned into one of those Royal Rumble/WrestleMania/SummerSlam viewers, mixing it in with the occasional episode of Raw and the odd B level pay-per-view, finger always hovering over fast-forward.

You know who momentarily drew me back in? CM Punk. I'd been a Punk fan since his early Ring of Honor days and feud with Raven, but he really began to blossom as a performer around 2010 and the whole Straight Edge Society thing.

Good as he was and, despite short runs with the WWE and World Heavyweight titles, he never quite managed to establish himself as a true main event player. That changed in the summer of 2011, with a 'pipe bomb' promo and modern classic with John Cena.

At Money in the Bank in front of a rabid Chicago crowd, Punk was the man. He and Cena - a guy who will probably never get the credit he is due as an in-ring performer - went at it hammer and tongs for over half an hour, exchanging big moves and creating some hair-raising near falls. The 15,000 inside the Allstate Arena bit on every one.

Eventually, Punk avoided the interference of Vince McMahon to down Cena with a GTS and capture the WWE Title. The post-match chicanery with Vince ordering a (failed) Alberto Del-Rio cash-in was great stuff, as was Punk's cocky celebration as he blew a kiss at his boss and exited throughout the crowd.

The storyline afterwards might have been bungled, but this was money on the night and easily one of the best WWE matches of the last...well, ever. It's also one of my favourites.