[Throwback] 13 years ago today CM Punk left WWE with WWE Championship

On this day, WWE hosted the 2011 Money in the Bank PPV in Chicago, IL

CM Punk is one of the most popular and best professional wrestlers of all time. He has been in the wrestling industry for over 18 years and has always been the best inside the squared circle, whether it is a match or a live microphone segment.

Punk has been a part of some of the memorable segments in WWE and here is one of those, which happened exactly on this date (July 17), thirteen years ago.

13 years ago today: History was made when CM Punk defeated John Cena to become the new WWE Champion and leave through his hometown crowd of Chicago 🔥 pic.twitter.com/qGT6CjOCyM

— Teffo (@Teffo_01) July 17, 2024

Backstory

CM Punk won a non-title match against John Cena and claimed a title shot for the WWE Championship. However, he was forced to take part in the #1 Contender’s match and won the match by defeating Alberto Del Rio and Rey Mysterio. 

Punk was given the WWE Championship match against Cena at Money in the Bank, but Punk dropped a pipe bomb, taking shots at WWE management and John Cena. Punk spoke about his WWE Contract status saying that his contract will expire by July 17, 2011, on the same date, where Money in the Bank is held in his hometown, Chicago. Punk promised to leave the company as a WWE Champion and wished to defend it against other companies. This out-of-line promo from Punk pissed off Vince McMahon, who suspended Punk for an indefinite period.

Cena stood as an advocate for Punk and asked McMahon to lift Punk’s suspension with the condition that if Cena failed to retain, he would be suspended from the company.

CM Punk vs John Cena (Money in the Bank 2011)

At the 2011 Money in the Bank pay-per-view, Punk took Cena to the limit, countering Cena’s Attitude Adjustments and kicking out every fall. In the final moments of the most anticipated main event match of the evening, Punk delivered a GTS on Cena, but Cena fell outside the ring. Cena however took control and locked Punk with a STF.

In the meantime, McMahon and Laurinaitis came to ring the bell taunting the Montreal Screwjob. However, Cena attacked Laurinaitis by ringing the bell for an unfair win. When Cena had a stare against McMahon, Punk delivered a GTS to Cena and won the WWE Championship.

McMahon lost his mind and asked Del Rio to cash in the Money in the Bank contract, which he won earlier the same day. Del Rio ran to cash in for the title, but Punk with a roundhouse kick took him down and escaped the ring, blowing a kiss to McMahon sitting on the apron and leaving the company with the WWE title.

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