WWE: 10 Greatest Babyface Turns In History

3. CM Punk

http://youtu.be/2OS9wZGb_3g The Pipe Bomb Speech of 2011 is perhaps the most talked about moment of the PG Era, and this portrayal of a shoot by WWE was carried by one of the greatest microphone users in the history of the company, CM Punk. Prior to this event, Punk had been stuck in a rut first as the leader of the forgettable Straight Edge Society, and then as the leader of the tedious New Nexus. He had also been garnering a new lease of fan support out of respect for his talented performances, and he'd finally seemed to have caught some management attention when he became No.1 Contender for the WWE Championship of John Cena. However, Punk shocked the WWE Universe by stating that he would leave the company when his contract expired after Money in the Bank 2011, and decided to use this opportunity to let the wrestlers, management and fans what was on his mind. And, intentional or not, the fans lapped it up and demanded to see more. The initial Pipe Bomb was not a face turn itself, and Punk continues to attack the actions of the crowd, but no matter what abuses he hurled at them, they would still cheer him more than any other superstar on the roster at that point. The real culmination of his face turn occurred at Money in the Bank itself, where his hometown crowd in Chicago went crazy for Punk, with him carrying this support into a victory for the title as he seemingly left the WWE. Of course, he would soon return, drop the title to Alberto Del Rio and wouldn't win it back until Survivor Series. But, the Pipe Bomb speech and face turn gave Punk a level of notoriety that exceeded anything he had experienced before, as the crowd greatly enjoyed his lone wolf persona and how he would defy the will of management like a certain Rattlesnake did during the late 1990s. This wave of momentum pushed Punk into becoming the longest reigning champion in the past 25 years, and to a point that he is now an integral cog in the WWE machine. That shows what good a single promo can do for a superstar's career.