The 5 best WWE feuds from 2008-2013

#3 John Cena vs. CM Punk

Things got personal in the John Cena vs. CM Punk rivalry

Sometimes performers gel based on their similarities. Other times, it’s polarising differences that make a rivalry work. Such was the case for John Cena vs. CM Punk. Cena was the clean-cut company man; Punk was the anti-establishment people’s champion who certainly didn’t look corporate.

Cena worked a blunt force style, all but tailor fit to WWE; Punk was indie-bred and worked more technically, and with a more diverse move set. Cena had children behind him; Punk had the decisively lower-pitched cheers of the men in live audiences.

While Cena and Punk could have represented an irreconcilable clash of styles, instead, they wound up gelling better than anyone could have expected. WWE was shrewd in their booking, too, as Punk, despite being the underdog, more often got the best of their big matches. So, the narrative persisted that while Cena may have been the bigger star, Punk just might have had his number.

Their on and off rivalry from 2010 to 2013 that encapsulated The Summer of Punk, a Money in the Bank cash in, two SummerSlam world title matches, and Cena’s feud with The Rock, was one of WWE’s finest.