What if Zack Ryder had won the WWE Championship?

#3 CM Punk Cut Short

Ryder getting pushed to the top would have affected CM Punk's historic title run.

Had WWE gone all in on Zack Ryder, it would have meant doing so in late 2011 into early 2012. On one hand, it would have been a reasonable time to gamble on a less proven talent like Ryder in a top spot. On the other hand, WWE was already stepping outside its comfort zone at that time with CM Punk.

WWE quite arguably bungled Punk’s biggest momentum coming out of his white-hot summer of 2011. They made an effort to make up for it in the months to follow when he won the WWE Championship in Madison Square Garden at Survivor Series, pinning Alberto Del Rio to kick-start a year-plus reign with the title.

Punk’s reign was largely a success, seeing him through a solid WrestleMania feud with Chris Jericho, a heel turn, and ultimately getting to square off with The Rock. Perhaps Ryder and Punk would have feuded and traded the title, but with each a relative up and comer, they more likely each would have been cast mostly against better-established opponents. That means for Ryder to reign, we probably wouldn’t have had nearly as significant of a title run for Punk.