3 unforgivable mistakes of the modern era which changed WWE forever

The year 2008 marked the beginning of the Modern Era commonly known as the 'PG Era' in WWE. It saw WWE distancing itself from edgier contents, following a more conservative path. It also featured a few Attitude-Era superstars like Shawn Michaels and Edge saying goodbye to the WWE ring.

WWE began shifting the baton to the new breed of superstars like CM Punk, Alberto Del Rio and Sheamus. Nevertheless, John Cena was still the face of the company. WWE completely transformed its product. However, it did end up making some fatal mistakes which are evident from the fact that WWE has lost more than 1.5 million viewers from then.

Mistakes are bound to happen especially in an industry as vast as WWE. While some go unnoticed, some result in fatal consequences.

With the recent episode of Monday Night Raw registering a new low in the viewership, we take a look back at some of the fatal mistakes which changed the landscape of WWE forever.

So, without further ado, I present to you 3 unforgivable mistakes of the Modern Era which changed WWE forever.

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#3 CM Punk getting buried

CM Punk is currently busy doing movies

CM Punk generated a lot of buzz following his infamous 'Pipebomb' promo in 2011. He became crazy over among fans. The Straight Edge Superstar then went to clash with John Cena at Money in the Bank, in what went on to be the best match of that year.

The two-time Money in the Bank winner then went on to become the World Heavyweight Champion and held the title for 434 days. However, Punk was highly misused by the WWE. Even though he went on producing 5-star matches with the likes of Ryback, The Undertaker, John Cena, The Rock, he never went on to main-event in any major pay-per-views. WWE booked him in a few meaningless feuds with HHH then a storyline involving Paul Heyman and ended up burying the Superstar for good.

Thus, after becoming disgruntled with the company, Punk left WWE in 2014.

#2 John Cena getting squashed

Cena received 16 German Suplexes in the infamous encounter.

After ending The Undertaker's streak at Wrestlemania 30 in 2014, The Beast, Brock Lesnar returned on Raw to challenge, the poster boy of WWE, John Cena for a match at Summerslam for the World Heavyweight Championship.

And for all the hype and excitement surrounding the match what we got was a damp squib. Cena was beaten and victimised by Lesnar in a squash match. He received 16 German Suplexes and 2 F5s, in a completely one-sided beatdown. Given John Cena was still the face of the company, WWE, in order to make Lesnar look unstoppable, shockingly destroyed all the credibility of the 16 times World Champion.

Also, there was no other legit draw other than Cena back then, as The Shield was new, Punk had left WWE, thus, it caused a subsequent drop in the viewership and from the Summerslam of 2014 to till now, WWE has lost over 1.5 million viewers.

#1 Roman Reigns pushed too early

Roman Reigns is the current WWE Universal Champion

Earlier, WWE used to push a credible superstar as the mid-card champion at first then if he proved to be a legit draw, he was pushed in the top card. However, this process seems to have changed for a while now.

Well, the case with Roman Reigns was no different. WWE hurried in pushing 'The Guy' as the top babyface and the result is right in front of us to see.

WWE could have booked Roman as a mid-card champion and allowed him some room to learn and perfect his art.

Currently, Roman Reigns is the top babyface of the company and the reigning WWE Universal Champion yet there is a continuous decrease in the viewership.