Where Would CM Punk, Batista and Top Superstars Be in WWE If They Never Left?
CM Punk's nasty divorce from WWE led to the former world champ missing out on WrestleManias, potential dream feuds and being a part of history unfolding. Imagining a reality where Punk stuck around inspires a wealth of "what ifs."
A contentious relationship with the company inspired Punk's abrupt exit from WWE in early 2014. Batista, AJ Lee, Alberto Del Rio and Ryback can understand what The Second City Saint went through. Those Superstars all have their own stories of tension ahead of breaking it off with WWE.
As a result, Punk and the others weren't around for major moments in the past few years.
Raw and SmackDown became separate brands again last summer. The women's division underwent a revolution in mid-2015. WWE created the Universal Championship, a SmackDown women's title and welcomed big names from NXT and elsewhere. Punk and those fellow ex-WWEers didn't partake in any of it.
Batista left after Payback 2014 and has since been busy starring in movies.
Lee retired shortly after WrestleMania 31. Ryback and WWE parted ways in 2016. Del Rio returned in 2015 but opted out of his contract in the fall of 2016.
What if they were all on the roster today? What marquee matches would be on their resume? What rivalries would be they be involved with on Raw and SmackDown?
Read on for an exploration of those questions and a look at what might have been.
Batista
1 of 5
Batista' stock as an actor has been rising since his breakout performance as Drax in Guardians of the Galaxy in 2014.
Even if creative differences hadn't derailed his relationship with WWE, he wouldn't have stuck around full time. As the movie roles rolled in, The Animal would have become more of a special attraction, sticking around for short runs surrounding major events.
WWE would have found a way to book Batista against Brock Lesnar at either SummerSlam or WrestleMania.
The star power involved would lead the company down that road. The clash of powerhouses would be a first-ever money match. And Batista is one of the few guys who can believably match up physically with The Beast Incarnate.
A rivalry with his Evolution stablemate Triple H would have been inevitable, too.
Batista has been vocal about wanting to face The Game again. In a 2014 interview with The Mirror, he said: "Triple H right now is the guy I really want to work with. I want to go back and that's hopefully that'll be my retirement program."
Had WWE gone with a battle against Triple H at WrestleMania 33 as Batista's swan song, it would have pushed Seth Rollins in a different direction. The Architect would have perhaps taken on Finn Balor in a SummerSlam 2016 rematch instead.
AJ Lee
2 of 5
Lee missed out on the revolution she helped spark.
WWE began showcasing women far more shortly after her departure in April 2015. The women's division featured gimmick matches, main events and longer bouts that were unheard of in the Divas era.
Lee would have been a key part of the transition into that new period, much as Nikki Bella was.
Chances are she would have helped welcome Becky Lynch to the main roster as one of her first rivals. It's a safe bet she'd challenge Charlotte Flair for the women's title, too.
If she were still competing today, Lee would be a better fit to lead the pack for The Welcoming Committee than Natalya. She's a superior talker than Nattie with more magnetism to boot. WWE would likely be building toward a Lee vs. Naomi bout.
And when WWE divvied up the big women's matches for WrestleMania 34, Lee would be a high priority as an intriguing foil for any of the top female stars.
Alberto Del Rio
3 of 5
Even if he were around after the brand split, Del Rio's days as a WWE headliner would be over.
The company has made a clear effort to highlight fresh faces, from AJ Styles to Braun Strowman. There would be no room for The Pride of Mexico in the Universal Championship or WWE title pictures.
Instead, WWE would position Del Rio as a veteran whose job is to get young guys over.
He would have been one of Finn Balor's early foes, one of the stars Styles took down en route to the WWE mountaintop. Del Rio would have produced some solid matches with those men and settled into a steppingstone role.
Today, Del Rio would probably be assigned the task of elevating an emerging-but-struggling star like Apollo Crews.
He'd have plenty of reason to be frustrated as he pined for more spotlight. His relationship with WWE would surely grow unbearably tense as time went on.
Ryback
4 of 5
Ryback's split from WWE came at just the wrong time.
Spinning his wheels in the midcard and watching others get bigger slices of airtime pie had to fluster him. But the 2016 brand split opened the door for unexpected names to rise to the top.
Heath Slater won the tag team titles with Rhyno. Jinder Mahal rose from cellar-dweller to WWE champ.
WWE may not have given up him a spot on the marquee, but he'd certainly have some high-profile feuds to make his mark. Ryback would have made for a smart choice as a Braun Strowman rival who tested the monster.
He likely would have briefly hovered around the Universal Championship picture after Balor's injury last summer.
Eventually, though, the issues that inspired Ryback's exit would creep up again. Roman Reigns, Strowman, Balor and others would surely be higher priorities. Reigns would have toppled him. Balor would have beat him.
The Big Guy would settle in as an Intercontinental Championship challenger, feuding with Dean Ambrose in search of his second reign with that strap.
CM Punk
5 of 5
The ripple effects of Punk's 2014 exit extended well beyond him.
He was in line to face Triple H at WrestleMania XXX. Had he worked things out with WWE, that would have drastically changed how things ended up turning out. Daniel Bryan's memorable WWE title win that night probably wouldn't have happened.
Bryan explained in his book, Yes!: My Improbable Journey to the Main Event of WrestleMania, that WWE only decided to spotlight him at the event because Punk was gone.
"I think Vince [McMahon] was still hoping that Punk would come back or that Batista would win back the crowd. Neither of those things happened, but when WWE came up with a solution to both of those problems: me," Bryan wrote.
Punk may not have been the clear top star he'd like to be, but he would have held onto an upper midcard spot that would come with major opportunities.
He likely would have been one of Seth Rollins' WWE title challengers. At WrestleMania 32, the injury-plagued event would have needed him in a big way. WWE would have put him in a major match, including possibly a rematch with Undertaker.
And today, SmackDown would be his ideal home. Punk better fits the blue brand's workhorse vibe.
He'd surely be in the WWE Championship picture on the show, feuding with AJ Styles during The Phenomenal One's heel run last fall and playing one of the heroes looking to take down Jinder Mahal.
Punk would be one of the cornerstones of the New Era rather than merely the subject of chants as he is now.
.jpg?w=600 "Colts Release Kenny Moore")
