WWE's Biggest Booking DISASTER Every Year (1986-2026)
16. Triple H Ruins ‘Summer Of Punk’ (2011)
2011's biggest fumble was also 2011's biggest highpoint.
WWE seemed more vibrant and alive than it had been in years when CM Punk beat John Cena at Money In The Bank then blew a kiss to Vince McMahon as he strolled out of Chicago with the top belt. What'd happen next? The world waited with bated breath.
On Raw, McMahon announced a championship tournament designed to crown an interim champ. That was mistake number one. The second was turning the 'Summer Of Punk' into a feud with Triple H that also nonsensically included Kevin Nash.
'Big Daddy Cool' had no business droning on and on (and on and on) about texts from Hunter's phone, or whatever it is was he used to justify an attack on Punk. In a heartbeat, WWE turned one of the juiciest storylines and pieces of character development they'd had in years into something latter-day WCW would've been ashamed of.
According to Nash, Trips confided in him that he'd be the one to take Punker down a peg by beating him at Night Of Champions. That result, for the record, made no sense whatsoever when CM was supposed to be some uncontrollable radical who could buck the system and push genuine change.
Sure, he'd win the WWE Title back at Survivor Series and go on a record-setting tear for the modern era, but things could've been so much better had creative just let the MITB outcome sink in. Instead, they decided to move on with a temp champ like Punk beating Cena was water off a duck's back.