Introducing...CM Punk

June 11, 8:35 PMPro Wrestling ExaminerMark Satrang

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When it comes to the modern pro wrestler CM Punk is one of the last of a dying breed. He is one of the few major league wrestlers of the day that worked and clawed his way through the independent scene and earned his way to WWE. Along the way he cultivated a great wrestling character over the years that scores of fans over the years have bought into and believe in. And when he finally got the call from WWE he was allowed to keep a majority of his past character (and character name) intact, something that you just don’t see now, only three years later.

He doesn’t look like a prototypical WWE main event star. While in shape, he lacks the overgrown muscle definition of many of WWE’s top stars and is covered in tattoos that tell a story of his life and career. But he has incredible talent in the ring, is a gifted storyteller and brings charisma that can’t be taught. So despite his apparent physical setbacks it’s really not that hard to see how has become such a success in WWE.

And on Sunday night at Extreme Rules, CM Punk cashed in his Money in the Bank contract that was good for a World Title shot any time and any place and became World Heavyweight Champion for a second time, a notion that seemed so foreign only a few years ago. When Punk won his second Money in the Bank people were confused and many (including yours truly) assumed this would be the first year that Money wouldn’t be cashed in for a Title victory. It looks as if every once in a while WWE can still surprise us.

Punk (real name Phil Brooks) grew up a pro wrestling fan, citing Rowdy Roddy Piper’s coconut bashing of Superfly Jimmy Snuka in 1984 as his inspiration for wanting to become a pro wrestler. He started as a backyard wrestler as a young man in the mid ‘90s with his brother. However he really cut his teeth in Steel Domain Wrestling in Chicago, where he trained under Ace Steele and became good friends with fellow independent standout Colt Cabana.

He really got noticed during his time in IWA-Mid South, where he was the company’s champion five times and had a memorable feud with independent star Chris Hero that led to 55-minute ladder match, a 93-minute two out of three falls match and several 60-minute time limit draws.

His success in IWA drew the attention of Ring of Honor, and Punk (along with Cabana) debuted in the promotion in 2003. He was also a part of TNA Wrestling for a brief time in 2003. He may have started in Chicago and cut his teeth in IWA-Mid South but it was Ring of Honor were Punk became a made man.

CM Punk became a superstar in Ring of Honor and is considered on the fledgling company’s true legends. He and Cabana picked up two ROH World Tag Team Championships and as a single star he had memorable feuds with a variety of people, most namely Samoa Joe and Raven.

His run against Raven was notable in the fact that it highlighted Punk’s legitimate straight edge lifestyle. Straight edge is a movement that started within the hardcore punk subculture in the ‘80s that promotes a lifetime commitment to refrain from drinking alcohol, using tobacco, and taking recreational drugs. Punk incorporated his lifestyle into his wrestling character and was able to either use it as a positive trait or villainous taunt, depending on his character’s alignment at the time. Against Raven he brought out the evil “I’m better than you because I don’t drink and do drugs” aspect of the character.

His matches with Samoa Joe over the ROH World Title in 2004 have become stuff of legend for their phenomenal in-ring athletics. The two men battled each other in two sixty-minute time limit draws before Punk lost their third and final match that carried a no time limit stipulation. Their second time limit draw gained a lot of attention of wrestling insiders and is considered one of the best matches of the millennium so far.

In the summer of 2005, Punk had a tryout with World Wrestling Entertainment that earned him a contract with the company. But before he departed Ring of Honor he won the ROH World Championship from Austin Aries and promised to take the belt with him to WWE, even going so far as to sign his WWE contract mid-ring on the ROH Championship belt. This kicked off arguably ROH’s hottest storyline to date as the entire roster spent that summer chasing Punk trying to reclaim their Championship before he left for WWE. It gave every ROH show a heightened sense of importance and excitement.

In August 2005 Punk lost the ROH Championship and departed for WWE, and specifically their developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling. He was a huge hit there and managed to pick the OVW Heavyweight, Television and Tag Team Championships in the year he spent there.

The summer of 2006 debuted on WWE television, as a rising star on the ECW brand. He was an instant fan favorite and quickly rose up the ranks. In September 2007 he won the ECW Championship from John Morrison and became the face of WWE’s third brand. He held the Title into the early part of 2008 before he lost it to Chavo Guerrero.

He rebounded quickly and won the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 24. It was in June of that year however when Punk became a true international star. On a live edition of Monday Night RAW Punk came out to cash in his Money in the Bank contract on the World Heavyweight Champion Edge, who was already in the ring and incapacitated. Within moments Punk hit his patented Go To Sleep and pinned Edge to become the new Champion. The victory was wholly and completely unexpected and was validation not only for Punk but also for his legion of fans that had followed him on the independent circuit and worried that he would never get a chance at superstardom under the bright lights of WWE.

Punk lost the Championship a couple months later after a fairly underwhelming Title reign but remained a prominent part of WWE. By October of 2008 he had won the World Tag Championship with Kofi Kingston and in January 2009 he picked up the Intercontinental Title. Within a ten month period Punk had picked a World Title, the Intercontinental Title and a Tag Title reign, making him the record-holder for picking up that trifecta of Championships in the quickest amount of time. He then topped things off by winning his second consecutive Money in the Bank match at WrestleMania XXV.

This spring he was sent to SmackDown in the 2009 Draft. This move to SmackDown found him at the top of the card with wonderfully talented group of main event guys that can produce entertaining storylines and entertaining in-ring match ups. And now that Punk is top guy of the SmackDown brand he has a plethora of fresh matches and opponents to make his second World Title reign as success. With men like Edge, Jeff Hardy, Chris Jericho, Rey Mysterio, John Morrison, Kane, The Great Khali and Shelton Benjamin all viable challengers for Punk it will provide interesting and exciting main events for weeks and months to come.

If Punk remains a hero as he has been for the past three years he can be a great role mode for WWE’s younger fans with his drug and alcohol free Straight Edge lifestyle. If he becomes a villain he will be able to open that character up into something far more vicious and bring a out side of Punk that WWE fans have yet to see and his long-time fans know about all to well. Either way CM Punk is in a great position and his standing in WWE is currently far much better than most predicted it ever would be.

Billed Height – 6’1
Billed Weight - 222 lbs.
Nicknames - The Straight Edge Superstar
Billed From – Chicago, Illinois
Signature Moves - Go To Sleep; Anaconda Vice; Pepsi Plunge; Welcome to Chicago
Major Titles Held - World Heavyweight Championship (2) (current), ECW Championship, WWE World Tag Team Championship, WWE Intercontinental Championship, ROH World Championship, ROH World Tag Team Championship (2), OVW Heavyweight Championship, OVW Southern Tag Team Championship, OVW TV Championship, IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Championship (5), IWA Mid-South Light Heavyweight Championship (2)
Debuted - 1999

For more info:
CM Punk’s profile on WWE.com
CM Punk’s Wikipedia entry
CM Punk on Online World of Wrestling