[keg in kc]

Originally Posted by BigRock

I don't think there's any way they would have Punk screw over Jeff, who just won the belt, if they didn't mean it to be a heel turn.

There were subtle and not-so-subtle hints, too. Before Punk got the pin they did two near-falls seemingly just so they could zoom in on Punk afterwards and show him emoting silent rage at Jeff, which wasn't very babyface-like. Then Jeff stayed there laying in the ring while Punk celebrated and ran victory laps, when Jeff could have easily rolled out to the floor. But Punk doing that over Jeff's fallen body made it seem even more dastardly.

Until he stood on the ropes and cheered, they probably could have gotten away with it as a dick move. But that was total heel.

Having multiple falls like that makes it less of a banana peel than when he took the title from edge, that's the only other way I can think of to justify booking it that way. But taking the title like that from the top face? I don't see how they can't turn him.