by Messiah » Jul 09, '17, 2:56 pm
I have thought about this before and while there are probably a million things better the WWE could have done with this storyline post-Money in the Bank '11 (everything up to that point was perfect) than what they went with, I'm not sure what the best route would have been. The main issue was the call to go ahead and make Rock/Cena the main event of WrestleMania 28 on the Raw after WrestleMania 27. That eliminates a lot of scenarios because if you truly want to maximize the story, Punk HAS to main event WrestleMania.
Honestly, I think the best thing they could have done was not go with Punk winning the title at MITB but have Cena win it with help from McMahon and/or his croonies. I know saying Cena should have turned heel might be cliche, but it would have been a great opportunity to pull the trigger on it without it feeling forced and it making sense. Cena is all about doing what is best for the company and the fans. It would make sense for him to do all it takes to keep the WWE Championship in-house and not with who he considers a traitor. They would have been able to slow-build this over the next several months. Punk eventually returns and takes the title off of Cena then.
I might try to come up with a more in-depth story arc if I have time.