10 Failed CM Punk Storylines That Failed But Should've Worked

CM Punk had a reputation for speaking his mind whenever he felt he was put in poor storylines by WWE or other previous promotions. The body of work from Punk makes fans remember the good times most, like his pipe bomb promo, rivalry with John Cena or forming the Straight Edge Society.

Even a wrestler as talented and respected as Punk found his way into storylines that ultimately failed. Some stand out stronger than most due to the expectations being stronger for positive results. There were different reasons to cause the similar scenarios of Punk being in disappointing angles. The following storylines that should have worked for Punk turned into rare failures for his career.

10 First World Title Program With JBL

CM Punk reached the top of WWE when cashing in Money in the Bank for his first World Championship victory over Edge. The moment felt huge, and many believed it would lead to him having a great reign with the top prize.

WWE didn’t have any ideas for Punk, so they elevated JBL as his first challenger. Punk and JBL struggled to have any noteworthy matches or segments. The peak of JBL was four years prior and it hurt Punk to have a weak first storyline as a top champ.

9 Leading New Nexus

WWE realized that Nexus was at the point of no return when John Cena won the feud over them. A change was needed to keep the group going since Wade Barrett was no longer a credible main event heel.

CM Punk coming back from a short stint outside of the ring led to him replacing Barrett. The New Nexus witnessed Punk leading most of the group after Barrett, Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel left. Punk didn’t have chemistry with the faction and lucked out when the Summer of Punk storyline ended New Nexus.

8 Turning On Raven In TNA

CM Punk had one of the most underrated feuds of his career before he was a big star when working with Raven in Ring of Honor. TNA tried to find the same success by bringing Punk in as part of Raven’s Gathering faction.

Punk turning on Raven was meant to set up a bigger storyline between the two moving forward. However, the demand of TNA that talents choose between them and ROH led to Punk walking out. TNA never got the full potential of the story that should have been perfect.

7 Hiding Shaved Head Vs Big Show

The old school mentality of CM Punk saw him wanting to lose his long hair in a wrestling storyline. Punk grew his hair and beard out when leading the Straight Edge Society faction during a memorable feud against Rey Mysterio.

That storyline worked perfectly as Punk lost his hair when losing a hair vs mask match. Big Show had the next feud with Punk, who was now trying to hide his bald head under a mask. Punk hiding his new look for weeks should have played into the fun reveal, but the audience never got into this rivalry.

6 Saving Kelly Kelly From Mike Knox

The first real storyline for CM Punk in WWE featured him having a romantic angle with Kelly Kelly. ECW had established Mike Knox as a verbally abusive boyfriend treating Kelly Kelly poorly due to her exhibitionist dance segments.

Punk standing up for Kelly saw him feuding with Knox for a couple of months and winning all the big matches. The tease of Punk and Kelly becoming an item didn’t culminate to much more and they were better going their separate ways.

5 Randy Orton Targeting Him

The first World Championship reign of CM Punk ended in a strange manner. Randy Orton attacked Punk backstage before his title defense in a scramble match. Chris Jericho replaced Punk in the match and won the World Championship without the champ competing.

The angle was done to create a bigger storyline of Orton costing Punk the belt. Orton was coming back from an injury and seemingly got the better of Punk every time. WWE sacrificed any top star credibility Punk earned as World Champion in the feud with Orton.

4 Walking Out With Belt

CM Punk’s best storyline in WWE should have been leaving the company with the WWE Championship after Money in the Bank 2011. The expectation was that Punk would leave for a few months taking the title around with him and coming back to shake things up eventually.

However, WWE couldn’t show that patience and ruined the hype by bringing him back too soon. Punk was only away for a few weeks before coming back. WWE rushing him back just had him losing momentum with the title loss to Alberto Del Rio and feuding with Kevin Nash.

3 First Feud With The Undertaker

The Undertaker and CM Punk had a classic match at WrestleMania 29 that fans will always remember fondly, but they had relatively weak overall results working together. Punk winning the World Championship as a heel in 2009 saw him feuding with a returning Undertaker.

Fans were excited to see the new top heel character against the most beloved legendary face. The chemistry lacked and the booking doomed the feud. Punk retaining with another Montreal Screwjob recreation was a waste of time, and he was squashed by Undertaker to lose the belt in a Hell in a Cell match.

2 Dream Match With Triple H

The hype for the promos of CM Punk and Triple H insulting each other on live television made fans excited for their eventual match against each other. Punk and Triple H having real tension and being great overall performers allowed them to channel that to benefit from reality.

However, the match itself was rushed instead of having a long build. Triple H replaced an injured Kevin Nash against Punk and defeated him in polarizing fashion. Punk was at his hottest and losing to the hated boss was not a successful result.

1 Feuding With Paul Heyman

Paul Heyman coming back to WWE to manage Brock Lesnar allowed him to also have a stint managing his close friend CM Punk. WWE turned Punk heel to feud with The Rock and gave him the boost of Heyman at his side after referencing him in the infamous pipe bomb promo.

The run saw them having a lot of fun together, but WWE wanted to turn Punk back into a face since he was one of their top draws. Punk feuded with Heyman from the face side with Curtis Axel and Ryback representing him. The short program with Brock Lesnar was the saving grace, but everything else was surprisingly a disaster that didn’t help Ryback nor Axel.