5 biggest mistakes WWE made with CM Punk

#1 Not booking CM Punk in the main event of WrestleMania 29 (2013)

#OnThisDay in 2013: WWE Royal Rumble PPV: @TheRock defeated @CMPunk to win the WWE Title. pic.twitter.com/ANkVojubSE

— Allan (@allan_cheapshot) January 27, 2018

The end of CM Punk's year-long WWE Championship reign was frustrating, as he lost it not too far away from WrestleMania 29. Punk dropped it to The Rock in the main event of Royal Rumble 2013, as WWE clearly moved towards a second encounter between The Great One and John Cena for The Show of Shows.

This final blow represented the entire title reign, as The Voice of the Voiceless was consistently set aside in favor of the 16-time world champion during it. He would be a victim of WWE's rigid long-term planning, as Cena and Rock were earmarked for a feud spanning three WrestleManias.

The promotion should have been flexible and added Punk into the mix, while the two Hollywood stars retained more of the focus. The current AEW star had earned a headlining spot, following his historic reign. A show-stealer against The Undertaker was a decent consolation prize, though, to be fair.

The WrestleMania 29 main event should have been a triple threat and nobody will ever be able to tell me otherwise. #smackdown pic.twitter.com/oeYcIlIOri

— Captain Ferg Baba Ganoosh (@CaptainFerg) February 29, 2020

Nevertheless, Punk would have added some interest into the rematch between The Rock and John Cena. This remains one of WWE's biggest dropped balls in the past decade. The Straight Edge Superstar quit the company less than 10 months after WrestleMania 29.

AEW is set to treat CM Punk as the megastar WWE never allowed him to be.