Did CM Punk Deserve to Win Superstar of the Year?

For the second year in a row the WWE Universe got the chance to vote for Superstar of the year. Last year Cena captured the Slammy thanks to the WWE Universe. In my opinion The Miz accomplished more last year than John Cena. John Cena is up for Superstar of the Year again. His only real competition is Randy Orton or CM Punk unless the Lil Jimmy's wake up and vote for someone more deserving.

Alberto Del Rio is the most deserving of Superstar of the year. Del Rio outlasted 39 Superstars to win the 2011 Royal Rumble. Although Del Rio came up short at WrestleMania, he redeemed himself by winning Raw's Money In The Bank Ladder Match. After winning Money In The Bank, Del Rio successfully cashed in his Briefcase against CM Punk to become the new WWE Champion.

For those reasons this category is unfair. The WWE should create two separate awards. The first award can be for Fan Favorite of the Year and the second for Heel of the Year. It would be hard for a heel to win Superstar of the Year when the WWE Universe is voting. Some members of the Universe may vote for who they feel is the most deserving, while others will vote for who their favorite Superstar is. Therefore, the Superstars up for this award have been ranked in order of most deserving, Alberto Del Rio, The Miz, CM Punk, Mark Henry, Randy Orton, and John Cena.

Del Rio started 2011 off with a bang by outlasting 39 other Superstars to win the 2011 Royal Rumble. Although Del Rio came up short at WrestleMania, he redeemed himself by winning Raw's Money In The Bank Ladder Match.

After winning Money In The Bank, Del Rio successfully cashed in his Briefcase at SummerSlam by defeating CM Punk to become the new WWE Champion. Del Rio made history at SummerSlam by becoming the first Mexican-born WWE Champion. Del Rio's reign was short lived as John Cena defeated him at Night Of Champions to become the new WWE Champion.

Del Rio remained composed and won his second WWE Championship two weeks later by defeating Cena and CM Punk at Hell In A Cell. Del Rio had another short reign as Champion. Although Del Rio defeated Cena at Vengeance, he came up short against CM Punk at Survivor Series. Now Del Rio will get the chance to redeem himself once again when he faces off against The Miz and CM Punk at Tables, Ladders, and Chairs.

Del Rio was placed as my number one choice for his accomplishments throughout the year. He did something the other nominees did not do, win the 2011 Royal Rumble and Raw's Money In The Bank Ladder Match. Although he had two short reigns as Champion his competition did not do much better. Cena had three Championship reigns nearing 3 months together. Punk had two Championship reigns lasting 2 months and counting. Orton had two reigns lasting just over 3 months. Henry is still reigning as Champion, his reign is closing in on 3 months. The Miz had one Championship reign lasting 5 months, just over 6 months if you go back to 2010.

The Miz rolled into the new year as WWE Champion. The Miz wasted little time defending his Championship. The Miz first defeated Randy Orton at the Royal Rumble. He also took it upon himself to eliminate John Cena from the Royal Rumble so that Cena would not earn a Championship Match against him. The Miz continued his winning ways by defeating Jerry "The King" Lawler at Elimination Chamber. One night after Elimination Chamber, The Miz was forced to team with John Cena in a WWE Tag Team Championship Match. Thanks to The Miz, the duo became the new WWE Tag Team Champions. Their Championship reign was short lived as The Corre (Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater) immediately asked for their rematch. During the rematch, The Miz turned on Cena by nailing him with a 'Skull Crushing Finale'. This allowed The Corre to win back the WWE Tag Team Championships.

The following week Cena set out to get his revenge on The Miz by taking on his apprentice Alex Riley. If Riley lost, The Miz would have to fire him. Riley lost the Match but The Miz outsmarted Cena, by rehiring Riley as his Vice President of Corporate Communications. Riley was not with The Miz for much longer as The Miz started blaming him for all his problems. After facing Riley on a number of occasions, The Miz slid into the background.

He felt it was a result of the conspiracy taking place within the WWE. This caused The Miz to team with R-Truth and form The Awesome Truth. The Awesome Truth set out to take down the conspiracy within the WWE by attacking anything that moved. At Night Of Champions, they attacked the wrong person. The Awesome Truth attacked HHH which led to them being fired the following night. Being fired did not keep The Awesome Truth away. At Hell In A Cell, they returned by coming through the stands attacking Alberto Del Rio, John Cena, CM Punk, and other members of the WWE staff. After an apology and a lawsuit The Awesome Truth was reinstated by the new interim Raw General Manager John Laurinaitis.

The duo looked like they had a bright future ahead of them under The Miz turned on R-Truth by nailing him with a 'Skull Crushing Finale' on top of the entrance ramp. This put R-Truth out of action for an undisclosed amount of time. The Miz was not finished as John Morrison met the same fate the following week. This was enough to get The Miz back in the WWE Championship picture. The following week he was given the opportunity to earn a WWE Championship Match. The Miz took advantage of the opportunity by defeating Randy Orton and earning a WWE Championship Match at Tables, Ladders, and Chairs.

The Miz was placed as my number two choice for having the longest reign as WWE Champion. The Miz reigned as Champion for 5 months in 2011. I thought about placing him above Del Rio; However, Del Rio defeated The Miz in Raw's Money In The Bank Ladder Match.

Punk accomplished a lot in 2011. He informed the WWE Universe that his contract expired at Money In The Bank. For that reason he was going to win the WWE Championship at Money In The Bank and leave the company. Punk made good on his word by defeating John Cena at Money In The Bank and leaving the WWE. As a result of Punk's victory, Vince McMahon was relived of his duties by Triple H (HHH).

Punk did not leave the WWE for long. He returned on July 25 ^th when John Cena defeated Rey Mysterio to become the new WWE Champion. This led to Punk and Cena facing off at SummerSlam. Punk picked up the victory to become the new Undisputed WWE Champion. Punk's reign as Champion was over before it began as Kevin Nash came from the crowd to attack Punk. This provided Alberto Del Rio with the perfect opportunity to cash in his Money In The Bank Briefcase. Del Rio cashed in his Money In The Bank Briefcase and defeated Punk to become the new WWE Champion.

Punk was not done shaking things up for the year. After the Nash incident, Punk turned his attention to HHH. Punk went one-on-one with HHH at Night Of Champions. If Punk won, HHH would have to step down as Chief Operating Officer (COO). Punk came up short as Nash, The Miz, and R-Truth all interfered in the Match. Even though Punk came up short, HHH was eventually relieved of his duties. HHH was replaced with John Laurinaitis, who became the Interim Raw General Manager. With Mr. McMahon and HHH out of the way, Punk could turn his attention back to the WWE Championship. Punk won his second WWE Championship of the year by defeating Alberto Del Rio at Survivor Series.

CM Punk was placed third for accomplishing more than Cena, Orton, and Henry. They all had similar reigns as Champion but it was the actions of Punk that forced the WWE Board of Directors to have HHH replace Vince McMahon.

Henry started the year off slow but later came on strong. Henry was sick of being pushed around and under appreciated. Henry took matters into his own hands by starting 'The Hall Of Pain'. The first victim in 'The Hall Of Pain' was The Big Show. Henry put Show out of action by placing a chair around his ankle and crushing it by jumping from the second rope. Henry wasted little time in finding his second victim. Less than one week later he put Kane in 'The Hall Of Pain' by jumping from the second rope onto the chair.

Henry continued his path of destruction by defeating Sheamus at SummerSlam. He later earned himself a World Heavyweight Championship Match at Night Of Champions. Henry defeated Orton at Night Of Champions to become the new World Heavyweight Champion. Henry did not slow down after becoming Champion, as he placed The Great Khali into 'The Hall Of Pain'.

After taking out Khali, Henry successfully defend his Championship at Hell In A Cell. Henry had to step up at Vengeance when he faced The Big Show, who Henry put out of action at Money In The Bank. Luckily, for Henry the Match ended in a no contest when the ring collapsed after Henry 'Super Plexed' The Big Show from the top rope. The No Contest led to another Match at Survivor Series. Henry came up short at Survivor Series but he remained World Heavyweight Champion as a result of the disqualification. Henry had another scare a few weeks later when The Big Show attacked an injured Henry.

With Henry knocked out Daniel Bryan successfully cashed in his Money In The Bank Briefcase. As Bryan was celebrating his World Heavyweight Championship victory, Theodore Long made his way to the ring. Long informed Bryan that this Match could not take place as Henry was not cleared to compete; Therefore, it was like the Match never happened. To make things right long returned the Briefcase to Bryan and placed him in a Number One Contenders Match. Bryan won the Match but was unable to defeat Henry inside the steel cage.

Henry was placed fourth for starting 'The Hall Of Pain'. Besides putting a handful of Superstars out of action, he is the current reigning World Heavyweight Champion closing in on 3 months.

Orton had a slow start in 2011. He did not capture his first Championship until May when he defeated Christian to become the new World Heavyweight Champion. This led to a feud between these two Superstars with Orton picking up victories at Over The Limit and Capitol Punishment. Christian got the upper hand at Money In The Bank when he caused Orton to get himself disqualified. As part of the stipulation of that Match, if Orton was disqualified or if the referee made a bad call, Christian would become the new World Heavyweight Champion. Orton wasted little time earning back the World Heavyweight Championship as he defeated Christian one month later at SummerSlam. Orton did not remain Champion for long as Mark Henry defeated him at Night Of Champions. Orton did not finish of the year strong after losing to Henry. He led Team Orton into Survivor Series against Team Barrett. Barrett proved he was a better leader than Orton by becoming one of the sole survivors with Cody Rhodes.

Orton was placed fifth for getting off to a slow start. Although he eventually captured the World Heavyweight Champion, his two reigns lasted just over 3 months. Henry is closing in on three months and he has only had one reign as Champion.

After coming up short at the Royal Rumble, Cena became the number one contender by winning at Elimination Chamber. This earned Cena a WWE Championship Match at WrestleMania. Leading up to WrestleMania, Cena was forced to team with The Miz. Thanks to The Miz, the duo won the WWE Tag Team Championships. The Miz did not care about the Championships, he only cared about attacking Cena. In an immediate rematch, The Miz turned on Cena by nailing him with a 'Skull Crushing Finale'. This caused the duo to lose the WWE Tag Team Championships, putting them in the history books as the shortest Championship reign. Cena set out to make more history by defeating The Miz at WrestleMania. Unfortunately, the Match ended in a double count out. The Rock was not going to let a Match at WrestleMania end like that, so he decided to restart the Match. When the Match was restarted The Rock attacked Cena, allowing The Miz to remain WWE Champion. Cena came up short at WrestleMania but he kept moving forward by earning himself another WWE Championship Match at Extreme Rules.

Cena was successful at Extreme Rules and became the new WWE Champion by defeating The Miz and John Morrison. Cena continued his winning ways by successfully defending his Championship at Over The Limit and Capitol Punishment. Cena was unsuccessful at defending his Championship at Money In The Bank. CM Punk defeated Cena and left the WWE with the Championship in hand. No worries though, one Champion leaves the company another one gets crowned. Rey Mysterio was the first Champion to be crowned after Punk's departure. Mysterio's reign was short lived as he had to defend his Championship hours later against Cena. Cena defeated Mysterio and set a record by winning his ninth WWE Championship. Cena's reign was short lived as CM Punk returned to the WWE and defeated Cena at SummerSlam to become the new Undisputed WWE Champion. Cena wasted little time in earning another WWE Championship Match. At Night Of Champions, Cena faced Alberto Del Rio for the WWE Championship. Cena successfully defeated Del Rio to become the new WWE Champion. Cena's reign was short lived again as he lost the Championship two weeks later at Hell In A Cell.

After failing to win back the WWE Championship at Vengeance, Cena teamed with The Rock at Survivor Series. The duo successfully defeated The Awesome Truth (The Miz and R-Truth) but Cena was attacked by The Rock after the Match. With The Awesome Truth out of the way Cena turned his attention back to the WWE Championship. Cena earned himself a Championship Match by defeating Zack Ryder; However, Cena gave up that Championship Match so Zack Ryder could have the opportunity to earn himself a United States Championship Match. Ryder did that by defeating Mark Henry after Cena interfered in the Match.

Cena was placed last for having the shortest Championship reigns out of the other Superstars. Cena had three reigns as Champion lasting just over 3 months.

Sources:

WWE Championship History

World Heavyweight Championship History

Watching WWE Programming