5 times Vince McMahon was forced to take the World title off a WWE Superstar

#1. John Cena - 2011

CM Punk's best WWE moment?

In 2011 after WrestleMania 27, John Cena would win the WWE Championship, while CM Punk would emerge as the #1 contender. He took everyone by surprise when he announced that his contract was up at Money in the Bank in July that year.

He had been through a couple of different characters, but he would reach the next level after cutting his famous pipebomb promo - one that completely blurred the line between kayfabe and reality.

The truth was that CM Punk's contract was legitimately expiring at Money in the Bank and WWE took the risk of riding with the storyline, with CM Punk openly declaring his intention to leave with the WWE Championship.

It was a tricky situation for Vince McMahon to be in, but he turned it into a storyline and it led to one of the greatest matches in WWE history. In front of a rabid hometown crowd in Chicago, it seemed as though there would be a riot had Punk not won. The spine-chilling reaction led to an incredible match, where Punk beat Cena to win the WWE Championship before he ran away with it.

There's a lot of truth in what happened and CM Punk revealed that he had Vince McMahon hanging until the day of the PPV, saying:

Vince said, 'You have me over a barrel here'. I wasn't in this for silly demands. It wasn't even about the money. It was simply, 100 percent about the respect and being placed on the card where I deserve to be."

Vince McMahon was forced to cater to Punk and take the WWE title off the franchise player.