WWE's 15 Hottest Stars Of The Summer Since 2001

WWE's 2011 summer season could really only be coined the Summer of Punk, though that term originated from CM Punk's stellar summer in Ring of Honor prior to leaving the company for WWE.

History managed to repeat itself, as he promised at the dawn of 2011's summer season that he was departing WWE after July's Money in the Bank pay-per-view, regardless of the outcome of his WWE Championship match with John Cena. But then Punk took it to a whole new level when he aired his greivances live on Raw one night with what would later be referred to as the famous "pipe bomb promo".

It was a history-making moment not only for Punk but the entire organization; fans hadn't experienced something so real in several years. His championship clash with Cena at the pending pay-per-view became that much more exciting as a result, and once Punk emerged victorious and walked out of WWE with the title in tow, he became the hottest act in all of wrestling.

Needless to say, officials should have held off on bringing Punk back to programming for a few more months, but it's hard to blame them considering it later led to Cena vs. Punk II in an anticipated title for title match at SummerSlam.