Ranking All 29 WWE SummerSlam Main Events Ever
3. John Cena Vs. CM Punk (2011)
While ranking many of these matches was difficult at
times, the top three never really was in doubt. And the order of the matches
really comes down to personal preference.
The Summer of Punk should have been a major money angle stretched out over multiple months, drawing in fans and building to its unavoidable conclusion: a match between two anointed champs, John Cena and C.M. Punk. What WWE gave us was all of that – a newly crowned champ departing with the belt; champ taunting WWE; tournament for a new champ; WWE crowns a new champ; old champ returns, faces off against new champ; champ vs. champ match to determine the One True Champ – all in one month.
Putting the rushed nature of the storyline aside, this was an incredible match, pitting Punk – who had won the title at Money in the Bank and subsequently “left” WWE – against Cena, who had beaten Rey Mysterio for a new WWE Championship after Mysterio had won a tournament. Punk and Cena have freakish chemistry together. Their MITB matchup was a barn-burner, and this one equally had fans on the edge of their seats: Would Cena do what he always does and Rise Above a Challenger, or would Punk complete his transformation into a new top star?
Punk would win the classic battle, but a Kevin Nash
powerbomb would cut the celebration (and reign) short, and Alberto Del Rio
would cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase to win the title. Del Rio and
Cena would trade the title back and forth for the next three months before Punk
would reclaim his belt and launch a 434-day reign that will probably stand as
longest reign of the modern era for a long time.