WWE: The Different Faces of CM Punk

#7. WWE champion (2011-2013)

2nd longest reign of modern WWE

In June 2011, Punk sat crossed-legged in the Raw's stage to deliver the best promo in modern WWE which became popular as Pipe Bomb. It ignited the fire among the fans who had stopped watching wrestling long ago.

Punk became the biggest anti-authority figure since Stone Cold Steve Austin and the whole world was at his feet. He could do nothing wrong at that point. Although his whole momentum was thrown down the drain by Kevin Nash, those few months of excitement that Punk brought with his feud against John Cena is incomparable.

Punk would defeated Cena at Money in the Bank that year in his hometown of Chicago, winning his first WWE Championship.

CM Punk won the WWE Championship for the second time in his career at Survivor Series after defeating Alberto Del Rio to kick start his long championship run. He defended the title against Chris Jericho, Daniel Bryan and Mark Henry like a fighting champion, which established him as the biggest babyface of the company. But, he soon turned heel at Raw's 1000th episode by attacking The Rock. He became obsessed with getting respect from the management and fans.

He believed that despite being the WWE Champion, he was never seen as the main event material due to the presence of John Cena and The Rock. With Paul Heyman by his side, he somehow managed to get boos from the crowd, despite being the talk of the company for more than a year. He continued to build his reign of terror with good feuds and storylines for the rest of 2012. At Royal Rumble 2013, he lost the title against The Rock, ending his brilliant championship run after 434 days.