10 Milestones of WWE's long road of decline

#7 Botching the Summer of Punk

The sad thing about the coming part-timer era was that mere months after The Rock's return, one of those full-time superstars set the wrestling world on fire in a way not seen in years. CM Punk's June 2011 "pipe bomb" got everyone talking. The angle leading into Money in the Bank 2011 was the best in years, and the match there was the main roster's consensus best of the decade.

It was all proving that there was still excitement to be found in the present roster, that the stars of today could still deliver huge buzz and relevance to the company. Then CM Punk came back and the angle was botched beyond belief with the presence of Triple H and Kevin Nash. CM Punk would soon go on to have a 434-day title reign, but he was positioned down the card even with the championship.

Going below John Cena vs. The Rock was one thing, but being below John Cena vs. John Laurinaitis beggars belief. Not for the first time in the decade, WWE had something white hot on their hands and squandered it. With its demise, WWE's star-making machine was belching and sputtering, clearly running out of gas.