5 greatest Royal Rumble moments

#2 The Straight Edge sermon

Punk attempting to convince Khali to join the SES

It’s hard to pinpoint when exactly CM Punk became exasperated with the WWE. However, one thing is clear - 2010 was a strong year, character-wise, for the Chicago-bred Superstar.

This was further defined by his performance in that year’s Royal Rumble. It’s good enough that he had a strong showing, as he eliminated promising stars like Zack Ryder and surprising contenders such as Beth Phoenix.

However, between the eliminations, he cut a sermon on the crowd, telling them how he would win the match, and even attempted to convince a few of his Rumble opponents to join the Straight Edge Society.

A promo being cut during the Rumble wasn’t done before, at least not to this degree. Punk showed true bravado by not only speaking about his dominance, but by backing it up. He allowed himself to be entertaining in all senses of the word, which is all that one asks for from a WWE Superstar.

While it took a couple of years for Punk to reach a higher plateau and become a main event-level star in the company, his journey to that point was a great watch.