5 greatest storylines of the Reality Era

Mere weeks before the 2nd Annual Money In The Bank PPV, CM Punk dropped one of the greatest promos in the history of professional wrestling, minutes after costing John Cena his Tables match against R-Truth.

The promo broke the 4th wall on multiple occasions, with Punk mentioning Ring of Honor, his best friend Colt Cabana, Brock Lesnar, and The Rock. It kicked off one of the most unique and intriguing eras in the history of the business, now famously dubbed as "The Reality Era".

The era lasted till 2016 according to WWE, and gave the fans countless moments to cherish for a long time to come. Let's dive into history and look at some of the greatest storylines of the Reality Era.

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#5 Mark Henry's Hall of Pain

Henry during his Hall of Pain run

Throughout the better part of his career, Mark Henry was never considered a main event player, despite being dubbed as The World's Strongest Man. He always used to come up short and go back to being a mid-carder.

When Henry was drafted to SmackDown in 2011, he turned heel and this kicked off one of the greatest heel runs of the 21st Century. Henry began destroying babyfaces one after the other, "inducting them" into his "Hall of Pain" as he moved forward. The gimmick became an instant hit and Henry went on to win the World Heavyweight Championship. He defeated The Viper Randy Orton at Night of Champions to win his first World Heavyweight Title.

The reign saw a side of Henry the fans had rarely witnessed. His beatdowns were more brutal and impactful than they had ever been, and his face displayed a ruthlessness and intensity that proved that Henry was, in fact, a legit main event player, truly deserving of holding the top title on the blue brand.

#4 Cena's U.S. Title Open Challenge

Cena issuing his first challenge

After John Cena defeated Rusev at WrestleMania 31 to win the United States Title, it marked the beginning of The Johnn Cena United States Title Open Challenge. Starting next night on Monday Night Raw, Cena began calling out anyone from the locker room who was tough enough to hang with him, and wanted a shot at glory.

This challenge resulted in weeks upon weeks of incredible matches, with Cena delivering classics against the likes of Sami Zayn, Dean Ambrose, and Kevin Owens.

The sole purpose of the Open Challenge was to elevate future Superstars by squaring them off against John Cena, and it ended up doing the same. Owens and Ambrose went on to become top stars on the Raw roster. Cena lost his title to Seth Rollins at Summerslam, with his reign lasting a total of 147 days.

#3 Lesnar's path of destruction

Lesnar about to win the WWE Title

When Brock Lesnar pinned The Undertaker at WrestleMania XXX, the wrestling world came to a standstill. The streak that had lasted for two decades had finally come to an end.

This was just the beginning though. Lesnar met John Cena at Summerslam, in one of the greatest burials in WWE history. Lesnar delivered a string of German Suplexes to Cena, who seemed as lifeless as a mannequin, throughout the match.

Finally, a thunderous F5 ended Cena, beginning one of the most dominant reigns in recent memory. Brock Lesnar was suddenly turned into a monster, with the F5 becoming one of the most protected moves of all time. WWE was grooming Roman Reigns to defeat Lesnar at WrestleMania 31, but the WWE Universe turned on Reigns midway, leading to Rollins cashing in during the main event and leaving WrestleMania 31 as the WWE World Heavyweight Champion. The carnage Lesnar caused throughout his reign made him a genuinely scary Superstar.

#2 The Summer of Punk

Punk addressing the crowd

One can't talk about the Reality Era without mentioning the moment that kicked it off.

Punk's "Pipebomb" promo marked the beginning of the era and gave us months of intriguing TV. Punk was about to leave WWE after his contract expired on July 17th. He had promised in his legendary promo that he would defeat Cena and take the title with him somewhere else.

Punk did defeat Cena as he had said, but came back soon to continue his feud with the former champion. Later, Punk went on to feud with Triple H and the duo killed in the ring when it came to their promo work. The Summer of Punk proved the fact that Punk was a legit main eventer who could sway a crowd into believing anything he said.

Punk won back his WWE Title from Alberto Del Rio at Survivor Series 2011, kicking off an impressive 434-days title reign, that came to an end in 2013 when The Rock pinned him at the Royal Rumble.

#1 The Yes Movement

The movement that turned Bryan into a star

Triple H betrayed Daniel Bryan at Summerslam 2013, and cost him the WWE Title. The fans began rallying behind Bryan as they had never before. By the end of the year, the WWE Universe desperately wanted Bryan to win the top title, but the company relegated him to a feud with The Wyatt Family. Bryan's exclusion from the Royal Rumble match led to the fans booing the entire free-for-all, and turning the winner Batista to a genuinely hated villain.

WWE ended up doing the right thing in the end, giving the fans what they wanted since a long while. Bryan defeated Triple H in the opening match of WrestleMania 30, and then went on to defeat Batista and Randy Orton in the main event to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship to one of the biggest pops in the history of this business.