A former WWE Champion has stated that they were set to win the title back once more after CM Punk had his storyline walkout in 2011.
14 years ago at Money in the Bank, Punk defended the WWE Championship against John Cena in his hometown of Chicago. Ahead of the match, fantasy and reality blurred the lines as Punk claimed that his contract expired on the night of the show, meaning that if he retained the title then he and the gold would be gone from the company. Making good on his promise, Punk defeated Cena in the critically acclaimed bout and left Raw without a top prize.
To crown a new champion, a tournament was held that was ultimately won by Rey Mysterio, who lost the title to Cena shortly afterwards before Punk made his own return to the promotion following a short hiatus. However, according to the man Mysterio beat in the final, The Miz things should have been different.
Appearing on Bussin With The Boys, The Miz stated that originally he was set to face Cena with the title on the line as it would have been the traditional babyface vs. heel dynamic, but the decision was changed to have the 2 big stars in Cena and Mysterio face off:
“CM Punk left the show and he took the title with him. They made up a ‘paper champion’ or whatever. They brought a championship and said, ‘He’s leaving the show. He’s gone.’ They put the title in a refrigerator; that was the big meme. They were going to have a tournament. I went up against Rey Mysterio. I was going to beat Rey Mysterio and then beat John Cena, so I would be the champion. They switched it because usually we like babyface vs. heel. Bad guy vs. good guy. In this instance, it would have been babyface vs. babyface. ‘You need bad guy vs. good guy.’ I was the bad guy, but then, it was two huge monumental babyfaces that are Rey Mysterio and John Cena. Let them go at it. There was a moment there where I would have been a (two-time) champion,”
CM Punk Recently Won And Lost WWE World Championship
Making good on his promise to win the big one once more following his shock return at Survivor Series, Punk became one of the very few to defeat Gunhter at SummerSlam by pinning The Ring General in the main event of night 1. However, shortly afterwards, Punk lost the title to Seth Rollins after The Visionary revealed his injury was a ruse and cashed in his Money in the Bank contract.
H/t to Fightful for the use of transcription.
Featured image: WWE
