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116-506: Phillip Jack Brooks (born October 26, 1978), better known by his ring name CM Punk , is an American professional wrestler , actor, and former mixed martial artist . He is currently signed to WWE , where he performs on the Raw brand. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, his 434-day WWE Championship reign stands recognized as the seventh longest in history. Brooks began his professional wrestling career on

232-678: A Hell in a Cell match. Punk went on to lose two subsequent rematches for the World Heavyweight Championship against The Undertaker on the October 23 SmackDown and on October 25 at Bragging Rights in a fatal four-way match also involving Batista and Rey Mysterio . In late-2009, CM Punk's character began taking on a more sinister direction. On the November 27 episode of SmackDown, Punk revealed that he had converted Luke Gallows , who had previously been portrayed as

348-554: A conference call to investors, McMahon said Punk was "taking a sabbatical ". On the March 3 episode of Raw, which took place in Punk's hometown of Chicago, WWE acknowledged his absence on television for the first time when the show started with Punk's entrance music playing, only for former manager Paul Heyman to walk out to a loud chorus of boos. WWE then proceeded to remove Punk from footage of their promotional videos. This lasted until

464-480: A four corner elimination match , which also involved Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels . Punk's final scheduled match in ROH took place at Punk: The Final Chapter on August 13, 2005, against long-time friend Colt Cabana in a two out of three falls match, which he lost. Punk made a special appearance at the ROH show Unscripted II on February 11, 2006, when the original card had to be scrapped due to Low Ki leaving ROH

580-470: A hero or villain , he has emphasized different aspects to garner heat and discourse. Outside of wrestling, Brooks pursued a career in mixed martial arts and joined the welterweight division of the UFC , losing via submission to Mickey Gall in his professional debut at UFC 203 in 2016. He lost his second fight to Mike Jackson via unanimous decision at UFC 225 in 2018, which was later overturned to

696-553: A tables match to defeat the New Breed and end the storyline. When ECW World Champion Bobby Lashley was drafted to Raw and stripped of the championship, a tournament to declare a new champion was held. On June 24, Punk was scheduled to face Chris Benoit in the finals at Vengeance: Night of Champions , but Benoit was replaced by Johnny Nitro due to Benoit no showing because of the double murder and suicide he committed that same weekend. Nitro subsequently defeated Punk for

812-411: A Cell on October 2 in a WWE Championship triple threat Hell in a Cell match, and at Vengeance on October 23 against The Miz and R-truth in a tag team match with Triple H as his partner. This helped transition Punk's anti-establishment voice from Triple H to John Laurinaitis , who, around this time, became the interim Raw general manager. Punk balked at Laurinaitis' promotion and verbally attacked him as

928-457: A Cell opponent on October 28 and leading to a brawl with WWE chairman Vince McMahon. Cena was eventually pulled from the title match and replaced by Ryback , whom Punk would defeat at Hell in a Cell in a Hell in a Cell match with help from referee Brad Maddox to retain the title and also ending Ryback's thirty-eight match undefeated streak. The next night on Raw , a furious Mick Foley confronted Punk for refusing to pick John Cena as his Hell in

1044-431: A Cell opponent, leading the two to agree to meet at Survivor Series on November 18 in a Survivor Series match with Punk choosing Alberto Del Rio, Cody Rhodes , Damien Sandow and The Miz for his team. However, Punk was replaced as captain by Dolph Ziggler the following week on Raw and was instead booked in a triple threat WWE Championship match against John Cena and Ryback by Vince McMahon. At Survivor Series, Punk won

1160-402: A NWA: TNA show on February 25, 2004, Punk had a physical scuffle with Teddy Hart outside of a restaurant that was broken up by Sabu . The altercation reportedly stemmed from an ROH show in which Hart performed three unplanned spots , putting several other wrestlers in danger of injury. Around the time of the scuffle, Punk and Dinero stopped appearing on TNA shows, leading to speculation that he

1276-504: A bid to psychologically unsettle him, revealed that Punk's father was an alcoholic and alleged that his sister was a drug addict, asserting that Punk's straight edge philosophy was paranoia to avoid the same vices and vowing to make Punk turn to alcohol by winning the title from him. John Laurinaitis added the stipulation that the WWE Championship could change hands via disqualification, which led to Jericho inciting Punk into using

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1392-761: A brief pre-taped promo about his straight edge lifestyle, emphasizing the disciplinary aspects of being drug and alcohol free. Although he had retained the straight edge gimmick , he now had a Muay Thai training background. Punk made his television wrestling debut on August 1 at the Hammerstein Ballroom , defeating Justin Credible . Punk quickly established himself in ECW by going undefeated, defeating opponents such as C. W. Anderson , Stevie Richards and Shannon Moore . Soon after, Punk began feuding with Mike Knox after Knox's on-screen girlfriend Kelly Kelly

1508-615: A deal offered by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in June. Though he had accepted the deal, Punk defeated Austin Aries to win the ROH World Championship on June 18 at Death Before Dishonor III. Despite entering the match as a face, immediately after winning the match and the title, Punk proceeded to turn heel and started a storyline where he threatened to take the ROH World Championship to WWE with him. For weeks, Punk teased

1624-413: A disqualification) after kicking the referee . As part of the storyline , Punk injured his eye and said that he could not see the referee, but Hardy called his eye injury into question, believing it to be feigned, with Punk claiming to be the moral superior of those who support Hardy, due to his drug-free lifestyle, resulting in Punk turning heel in the process. On July 26 at Night of Champions , Punk lost

1740-565: A dull yes man . At Survivor Series on November 20, Punk defeated Del Rio to win his second WWE Championship. Punk went on to defend the title through the end of the year, retaining in a rematch with Del Rio on the November 28 episode of Raw SuperShow and against both Del Rio and The Miz in a triple threat TLC match on December 18 at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs . At the Royal Rumble on January 29, 2012, Punk successfully defended his title against Ziggler despite Laurinaitis acting as

1856-524: A feud with Big Show when on the July 16 episode of SmackDown , Big Show unmasked Punk. Big Show faced the Straight Edge Society in a three-on-one handicap match on August 15 at SummerSlam , winning the match after Punk abandoned his teammates. The next month, at Night of Champions on September 19, Punk lost to Big Show in a singles match . The Straight Edge Society angle ended after Serena

1972-465: A few others, their real name. One notable exception was made for David Otunga because of his real marriage to singer Jennifer Hudson at the time, which gave WWE some mainstream exposure. Low Ki used the alias "Senshi" during his second TNA stint to reserve his primary ring name for other use. A similar example is the team known as The Dudley Boyz in ECW and WWE and Team 3D elsewhere. WWE trademarked

2088-552: A gauntlet match involving five participants, that was won by Bryan Danielson . Initially, Punk joined ROH as a face , trading wins with Cabana at Night of the Butcher and Final Battle . but quickly turned heel in a feud with Raven that featured multiple variants of a no disqualification match . Their rivalry was rooted in Punk's straight-edge lifestyle, with him likening Raven to his alcoholic father; At Night of Champions , Punk and his trainer Ace Steel faced Raven and Cabana in

2204-488: A good-natured topic, but it increasingly turned reckless and ultra-violent, worrying parents and wrestling companies. In response, WWE began airing advertisements stressing the dangers and seeking to deter fans from duplicating the actions seen in their ring. In addition to actual backyards, backyard wrestling can occur in spaces including parks, fields, and warehouses. Initially camcorder -filmed events were shared person-to-person; increasingly public-access television and

2320-406: A housewife and an engineer. He grew up in nearby Lockport , where he attended Lockport Township High School . He has five siblings. His father struggled with alcoholism, which inspired Brooks to follow a straight edge lifestyle from an early age; his mother had bipolar disorder , causing him to become estranged from her. He cites "Rowdy" Roddy Piper as an early influence and the reason he became

2436-501: A live event. The next day at Armageddon on December 14, Punk defeated Rey Mysterio in the tournament finals. On the January 5, 2009, episode of Raw , Punk received his title match against William Regal , which ended in a disqualification when Regal grabbed the referee's jersey. Due to this, Stephanie McMahon awarded Punk a rematch the following week on Raw , but this time Punk got disqualified. McMahon awarded him another rematch,

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2552-415: A match for the WWE Championship as long as it was in Punk's hometown of Chicago. Punk appeared at July 23's All American Wrestling show, showing respect to Gregory Iron , a wrestler with cerebral palsy . Mysterio won the WWE Championship tournament on the July 25 episode of Raw only to lose it to Cena later that night. After Cena's victory, Punk returned and upstaged Cena's celebration while also entering

2668-607: A match in which all the participants on DX's side survived elimination. On December 3 at December to Dismember , Punk participated in the Extreme Elimination Chamber match for the ECW World Championship , but he was the first person eliminated by Rob Van Dam . On the January 9, 2007, episode of ECW , Punk suffered his first loss in ECW against Hardcore Holly , ending his six-month unbeaten streak in singles competition. He participated in

2784-578: A no disqualification match on the January 19 episode of Raw , where Punk defeated Regal to win the Intercontinental Championship. With this win, Punk became the 19th WWE Triple Crown Champion and the fastest ever to accomplish the feat, surpassing Kevin Nash 's old record of 203 days. Punk lost the Intercontinental Championship on the March 9 episode of Raw to John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL). On April 5 at WrestleMania 25 , Punk won

2900-436: A no disqualification two-on-one handicap elimination match in which he made Axel submit, leaving only Heyman left, but Punk lost the match after Ryback interfered and put him through a table. Then on October 6, Punk defeated Ryback at Battleground and the feud ended at Hell in a Cell on October 27, where Punk faced Heyman and Ryback in a two-on-one handicap Hell in a Cell match , winning the match by pinning Ryback and after

3016-517: A no-contest, before he was released. He appears as a part-time color commentator for Cage Fury Fighting Championships and has starred in the horror films Girl on the Third Floor (2019), Rabid (2019), and Jakob's Wife (2021), as well as having a recurring role in the wrestling drama series Heels (2021–2023). Phillip Jack Brooks was born in Chicago on October 26, 1978, the son of

3132-534: A number one contender's triple threat match (which also included Mysterio) all within one week, Punk revealed that his WWE contract was set to expire on July 17 at Money in the Bank and vowed to leave the company with the WWE Championship . On the June 27, 2011, edition of Raw , CM Punk made a scathing, yet highly acclaimed on-air speech , often referred to as the "Pipe Bomb", concerning the way in which WWE

3248-421: A rematch at Extreme Rules the following month on April 25 where Punk would have to shave his head like his disciples if he lost, but he won this match after interference from Joey Mercury , a fourth member of the Straight Edge Society. On May 23 at Over The Limit , a third and final match between Punk and Mysterio was booked with both stipulations reactivated, but Punk lost and was subsequently shaved bald. After

3364-469: A tag team match, during which Cabana turned on Raven, allowing Punk and Steel to win the match. Consequently, Punk, Steel and Cabana formed a trio called the Second City Saints . Punk and Raven's rivalry lasted most of 2003 and was considered one of ROH's top feuds of the year. It was settled at The Conclusion in November 2003, where Punk defeated Raven in a steel cage match . In late-2003, Punk

3480-520: A three-way match to qualify for the tag team Gauntlet for the Gold later in the night, with the winning team facing America's Most Wanted ( Chris Harris and James Storm ) in a match for the vacant NWA World Tag Team Championship . Punk then returned to TNA in mid-2003, while simultaneously wrestling for Ring of Honor . Upon his full-time signing with TNA, Punk was paired with Julio Dinero as members of Raven 's stable The Gathering . Shortly before

3596-536: A title dispute. Triple H later upheld both Punk and Cena's claims to the WWE Championship as legitimate and scheduled the two to a match at SummerSlam on August 14 to decide the undisputed WWE Champion, with Triple H to serve as the special guest referee. At SummerSlam, Punk defeated Cena, but he lost the title minutes later to Alberto Del Rio, who had cashed in his Money in the Bank contract after Kevin Nash attacked Punk. The following months, Punk lost at Night of Champions on September 18 against Triple H, at Hell in

CM Punk - Misplaced Pages Continue

3712-438: A triple threat match on June 17 at No Way Out , where Punk managed to retain the title after AJ distracted Kane. On July 15 at Money in the Bank , Punk defeated Bryan in a no disqualification match with AJ as special guest referee to retain the title and end the feud. On July 23 at Raw 1000 , Punk defended the title against Money in the Bank winner John Cena and lost by disqualification after interference from Big Show . When

3828-754: A variation of it, sometimes modifying the spelling to better fit their gimmick , such as Dave Bautista becoming Batista (later reverting to his real name for his Hollywood acting career), Patricia Stratigeas becoming Trish Stratus , Jonathan Good becoming Jon Moxley , Bryan Danielson becoming Daniel Bryan (when he wrestled in WWE), Richard Fliehr becoming Ric Flair and Randall Poffo becoming Randy Savage . Others simply use part of their name, such as Bill Goldberg using Goldberg , Nicole Garcia-Colace using Nikki Bella , Mike Mizanin using The Miz , Cody Runnels using Cody Rhodes , and Michael Wardlow using Wardlow . Many female wrestlers go solely by their first name such as. It

3944-472: A villainous group who controlled WWE led by Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, ordered the attack, which resulted in the Director of Operations Kane booking Punk in a three-on-one handicap match against The Shield at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 15. At TLC, Punk won the match after Reigns accidentally performed a spear on Ambrose. After further altercations between Punk and Kane, Kane made Punk

4060-454: A weapon, but Punk resisted and retained the title. On the April 2 and 9 episodes of Raw SuperShow , Punk retained the WWE Championship against Mark Henry after losing to him via countout and disqualification, being attacked by Jericho following both matches and doused with alcohol. On the April 16 episode of Raw SuperShow , Punk pinned Henry in a no disqualification, no countout match to retain

4176-612: A wrestler. Brooks' first venture into wrestling was a stint in a backyard wrestling federation called the Lunatic Wrestling Federation with his brother Mike and their friends in the mid-late 1990s. He had his debut match by October 25, 1997, on the eve of his 19th birthday defeating Brawn the Lumberjack. He first started using the ring name CM Punk when he was put into a tag team named the "Chick Magnets" with CM Venom after another performer skipped out on

4292-595: Is a highly respected tradition in Mexican lucha libre for performers to hide their true identities, usually wrestling under masks, and revealing a luchador's identity without their permission is considered a serious offence with real-life consequences. Professional wrestlers are often referred to by their contemporaries by their ring name. In interviews, Bret Hart regularly referred to Mark Calaway, Curt Hennig, and Kevin Nash by their ring names ( The Undertaker , Mr. Perfect , and Diesel ). Ring names are often trademarked by

4408-448: Is also common for wrestlers of all genders to use a nickname in addition to their real name for marketability and other reasons. Ricky Steamboat is an atypical instance of a wrestler adopting a ring name to sound less intimidating, as his legal name of Richard Blood was considered unfitting for his babyface persona. Some (mostly independent ) wrestlers still go to great lengths to ensure that their real names are not publicly known. It

4524-460: Is an underground hobby and sport involving untrained practices of professional-style wrestling , typically in a low-budget environment, such as a backyard. Although not legitimized, backyard wrestling is often organized into promotions, mimicking actual professional wrestling. Most backyard wrestlers are merely emulating modern wrestling, though a small percentage have experience from enrolling in wrestling school or from referring to how-to guides on

4640-411: Is run and its owner Vince McMahon , as well as referencing other promotions, such as Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro-Wrestling . Due to this, Punk was given a (in-storyline) suspension from televised WWE events. Punk was later reinstated upon Cena's insistence. Upon his return, Punk ceased to appear with the remaining members of The New Nexus and the group quietly dissolved, turning Punk face. At Money in

4756-557: The AEW World Championship twice, but was fired in 2023 after multiple backstage controversies. He returned to WWE two months later. Brooks has used the CM Punk moniker for his entire career. His character has been consistently portrayed as outspoken, confrontational, sharp-tongued, anti-establishment , straight edge , and iconoclastic , most of which are inspired by his real-life self. Depending on his alignment as

CM Punk - Misplaced Pages Continue

4872-526: The Money in the Bank ladder match and became the first person to win the match twice. On April 13 during the 2009 WWE draft , Punk was drafted to the SmackDown brand. In the period after the draft, Punk feuded with Umaga over Umaga's repeated surprise attacks while Punk was attempting to cash in his Money in the Bank contract, ultimately resulting in a Samoan strap match at Extreme Rules on June 7, which

4988-650: The Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 23 on April 1, where he lost. On the April 10 episode of ECW , Punk was involved in the feud between the New Breed , a group of young wrestlers and the ECW Originals , a group of veteran wrestlers from the original ECW . Punk joined the New Breed after several weeks in which both the New Breed and the ECW Originals had attempted to recruit him, seemingly turning heel. However, two weeks later, Punk betrayed

5104-531: The OVW Television Championship . Immediately thereafter, Punk began to feud with Brent Albright , culminating in a three way dance between Punk, Doane, and Albright in January 2006; after Doane was injured during the match, he was replaced by Aaron "The Idol" Stevens , who won the match and became the new OVW Television Champion. In February 2006, Punk entered into a tournament to crown a new OVW Heavyweight Champion , losing to Albright in

5220-585: The World Tag Team Championship . The duo were members of Team Batista on November 23 at Survivor Series , where their team lost to Team Orton after Rhodes eliminated Punk. Punk then entered a number one contender Intercontinental Championship tournament, defeating Snitsky and John Morrison in the first two rounds. Punk and Kingston lost the World Tag Team Championship to John Morrison and The Miz on December 13 at

5336-506: The card ; the CM stood for "Chick Magnet". Unlike his friends, Punk genuinely wanted to be a wrestler and saw it as more than simple fun. When the promotion started taking off while doing shows out of a warehouse in Mokena, Illinois , Punk found out that his brother had embezzled thousands of dollars from the small company, causing them to become estranged. They have not spoken since. After leaving

5452-846: The independent circuit in 1997 and he signed with Ring of Honor (ROH) in 2002, where he won the ROH World Championship once and was inducted into the ROH Hall of Fame in 2022. Brooks signed with WWE in 2005 and won the WWE Championship twice, the World Heavyweight Championship three times, the ECW World Heavyweight Championship once, the WWE Intercontinental Championship once, and the World Tag Team Championship once. He also won both

5568-423: The loser agreed to leave the company . On September 13 at Breaking Point , Punk defeated The Undertaker in a submission match to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. The Undertaker originally won the match with his " Hell's Gate " submission hold, but SmackDown general manager Theodore Long restarted the match after stating that the ban that former SmackDown general manager Vickie Guerrero had placed on

5684-468: The outside enforcer . On the January 30 episode of Raw SuperShow , the returning Chris Jericho attacked Punk and Daniel Bryan during their Champion vs. Champion match , giving Bryan the win. The following week on Raw SuperShow , Jericho explained his actions by dismissing the WWE roster as cheap imitations of himself and singling out Punk for calling himself "the best in the world", a moniker Jericho used

5800-485: The promotion that creates a character or gimmick for a performer. It is common to see one performer use a variety of ring names throughout their career, even if their overall persona remains similar. This is especially true in WWE , which has largely forced most wrestlers that have debuted since 2006 to use a WWE-owned ring name instead of a ring name that they used on the independent circuit or, such as with Daniel Bryan and

5916-685: The "Dudley Boyz" name, leading them to have to change their name when they went to TNA. The members' individual names were also trademarked by WWE, forcing them to have to change their names. WWE partially repealed the policy in 2015, allowing wrestlers who were well known in other promotions such as Samoa Joe , A.J. Styles , Shinsuke Nakamura , Austin Aries , Bobby Roode , and Eric Young to use their long-standing ring names (or, in Nakamura's and Roode's cases, their real names) as well as wrestlers who sign "Tier 2" NXT brand contracts such as Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa , who wrestle both on NXT and

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6032-511: The "modern era" (after 1988) until Universal Champion Brock Lesnar broke that record in June 2018. Punk received a title rematch with The Rock on February 17 at Elimination Chamber , stipulated that The Rock would lose the title if he was disqualified or counted out, but Punk was pinned by The Rock after miscommunication with Heyman. On the February 25 episode of Raw , Punk faced Royal Rumble winner John Cena for his number one contendership to

6148-532: The 2008 and 2009 Money in the Bank ladder matches , making him its only back-to-back winner. He was named Superstar of the Year at the 2011 Slammy Awards and was voted PWI Wrestler of the Year in 2011 and 2012. After becoming disillusioned with WWE, he acrimoniously departed the promotion in 2014 and largely retired from wrestling. From 2019 to 2020, he appeared as a pundit on WWE Backstage . He returned to competing in 2021 when he signed with AEW , where he won

6264-509: The 2022 inaugural class. Upon being signed by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), CM Punk was assigned to its developmental territory , Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), where he was mentored by Paul Heyman . He debuted in September 2005 in a dark match . In his first appearance on OVW TV later that month, Punk suffered a broken nose and ruptured eardrum in a match with Danny Inferno. In November 2005, Punk defeated Ken Doane to win

6380-540: The Bank ladder match at Money in the Bank on July 14 when Heyman attacked Punk. This led to a match between Punk and Lesnar at SummerSlam on August 18, when Punk lost to Lesnar in a No Disqualification match after Heyman interfered. His feud with Heyman continued during the following months, facing his other client, the Intercontinental Champion Curtis Axel . First, at Night of Champions on September 15, Punk faced Axel and Heyman in

6496-564: The Bank, Punk defeated Cena to become the WWE Champion on his final night under contract with WWE. The match received a five-star rating from Dave Meltzer , marking Punk's second performance to attain a five-star rating, and the first WWE match to receive such a rating since 1997. On July 21, Punk made a surprise appearance at a joint WWE– Mattel panel at San Diego Comic-Con , where he mocked new chief operating officer Triple H , and offered WWE Championship tournament finalist Rey Mysterio

6612-534: The January 22, 2008, episode of ECW , Punk lost the ECW Championship to Chavo Guerrero in a no disqualification match after Edge speared him, ending his reign at 143 days. On March 30 at WrestleMania XXIV , Punk won the Money in the Bank ladder match after defeating Carlito , Chris Jericho , John Morrison, Montel Vontavious Porter , Mr. Kennedy and Shelton Benjamin , earning him a shot at either

6728-399: The January 27, 2014, episode of Raw , nor did he appear at the SmackDown taping on Tuesday despite being advertised for both events. By Wednesday, WWE.com stopped advertising Punk for future events. The Wrestling Observer reported that on Monday and prior to Raw, Punk had legitimately walked out after telling Vince McMahon and Triple H that he was "going home". On February 20 during

6844-468: The Jett. Following his defeat, Punk ceased appearing regularly with OVW, but continued to make sporadic appearances until WWE and OVW ended their developmental partnership on February 7, 2008. On June 24, 2006, Punk made his ECW debut during a house show at the former ECW Arena as a fan favorite , defeating Stevie Richards . He officially made his television debut on the July 4 episode of ECW , cutting

6960-476: The Limit, Bryan interfered in a non-title match between Punk and Kane to frame Punk for attacking Kane with a steel chair, starting a three-way rivalry. On the June 1 episode of SmackDown , a WWE Championship match between Punk and Kane ended in a double disqualification after Bryan attacked both men. Meanwhile, Bryan's jilted ex-girlfriend AJ Lee turned her affections to both Punk and Kane. This feud culminated in

7076-846: The Lunatic Wrestling Federation, Punk enrolled as a student at the Steel Dominion wrestling school in Chicago, where he was trained by Ace Steel , Danny Dominion and Kevin Quinn to become a professional wrestler. As part of the training, he began wrestling at Steel Domain Wrestling in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1999. It was in the Steel Domain that he met Scott Colton, who soon adopted the ring name Colt Cabana . Punk and Cabana became best friends and spent most of their early career together working in

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7192-517: The New Breed during a four-on-four tag team match between the New Breed and ECW Originals by kicking New Breed leader Elijah Burke in the back of the head and costing them the match, after which Punk proceeded to deliver his finisher, the " Go to Sleep ", maintaining his status as a face in the process. On May 20 at Judgment Day , Punk defeated Burke in his first singles match on a WWE pay-per-view event . Punk then went on to One Night Stand on June 3, teaming up with Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman in

7308-480: The New Nexus members by punting them in the head, leaving Punk alone as the sole surviving member of the group. This led to a match at WrestleMania XXVII on April 3 and a Last Man Standing match on May 1 at Extreme Rules , both of which Punk lost. In June 2011, after pinning WWE Champion John Cena on the June 13 episode of Raw , Rey Mysterio at Capitol Punishment on June 19, and finally Alberto Del Rio in

7424-509: The Prophecy by defeating them to retain the titles at Generation Next . They held the titles throughout the summer before eventually losing them to The Havana Pitbulls at Testing The Limit . In mid-2004, Punk faced off against ROH World Champion Samoa Joe for the championship in a three-match series. On June 12 at World Title Classic , the first match resulted in a 60-minute time limit draw, when neither Punk nor Joe could pin or cause

7540-399: The ROH locker room and the ROH fans, mocking the championship he possessed, going so far as to sign his WWE contract on top of it. During the storyline, referred to by ROH as the "Summer of Punk", Mick Foley made several ROH appearances, attempting to convince Punk to do the right thing and defend the title on his way out. On August 12, Punk lost the ROH World Championship to James Gibson in

7656-423: The WWE Champion should be the focus of the company, asserting himself further soon after by disrupting a number one contender's match between Cena and Big Show. As a result, both men were entered into the title match against Punk on August 19 at SummerSlam , where he successfully retained the title by pinning Big Show after both Punk and Cena submitted Big Show at the same time and Raw general manager AJ Lee restarted

7772-541: The WWE Championship, but he lost. On the March 4 episode of Raw , Punk defeated Big Show, Randy Orton and Sheamus in a fatal four-way match to earn the right to face The Undertaker at WrestleMania 29 on April 7. After the real-life death of Paul Bearer , The Undertaker's former manager the next day, a somewhat controversial storyline involving Punk regularly spiting The Undertaker through displays of flippancy and disrespect towards Bearer's death began, including Punk stealing Bearer's trademark urn. At WrestleMania, Punk

7888-570: The WWE, World Heavyweight, or ECW titles at any time. At Judgment Day on May 18, Punk teamed with Kane to unsuccessfully challenge John Morrison and The Miz for the WWE Tag Team Championship . On June 23, Punk was drafted to the Raw brand during the 2008 WWE draft . In his first night on Raw the following week, Punk cashed in his Money in the Bank contract after Batista beat down World Heavyweight Champion Edge and won

8004-466: The World Heavyweight Championship to Hardy. Their feud continued through SummerSlam on August 23, when Punk regained the title in a TLC match only to be attacked by The Undertaker . On the August 28 episode of SmackDown , Punk concluded his feud with Hardy and achieved his booked goal of excising him from WWE, defeating Hardy in a steel cage match to retain the World Heavyweight Championship wherein

8120-483: The assailant, which led to Saints facing Prophecy in a six-man tag team match at The Battle Lines Are Drawn , which ended in a no contest. The match concluded when Punk drove Daniels with a Pepsi Plunge off the top rope through a table, thus explaining Daniels' departure from ROH. Around this time, Punk began climbing the ranks of ROH, including coming in second at the Second Anniversary Show during

8236-878: The championship. Punk's home promotion for his early career was considered to be the Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South (IWA Mid-South). During Punk's time in IWA Mid-South, he had high-profile feuds with Colt Cabana and Chris Hero while also rising to the top of the roster, winning the IWA Mid-South Light Heavyweight Championship twice and the IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Championship on five separate occasions, beating wrestlers like AJ Styles , Cabana, and Eddie Guerrero in matches for

8352-554: The event, Punk suffered a hip injury that prevented him from wrestling for several months. To keep a presence on television, he began commentating on Raw on November 22. At the end of December 2010, Punk left the commentary team after assaulting John Cena on the December 20 episode of Raw and the December 21 episode of SmackDown with a chair. Punk later revealed that his motives for the attacks were that he had joined and assumed control of The Nexus . Punk then made each member of

8468-662: The finals. In May 2006, Punk defeated Albright in a strap match to win the OVW Heavyweight Championship. In July 2006, Punk and Seth Skyfire defeated Shad Gaspard and the Neighborhoodie to win the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship , making Punk a double champion. They lost the titles to Deuce Shade and "Domino" Cliff Compton in August 2006. Later that same month, Punk lost the OVW Heavyweight Championship to Chet

8584-429: The first entrant in the annual Royal Rumble match on January 26, 2014. At the Royal Rumble , near the end of the match, Kane, who was already eliminated earlier in the match by Punk, eliminated Punk from the outside and proceeded to perform a chokeslam on him through the announce table. "I was sick and hurt and burnt out, and I walked. And I can do that because I'm an independent contractor ". Punk did not appear on

8700-547: The first half of 2010, Punk feuded with Rey Mysterio, being eliminated by him during the Elimination Chamber match. After Mysterio prevented him from winning a Money in the Bank qualifying match, Punk interrupted Mysterio's celebration of his daughter Aalyah's ninth birthday. Mysterio and Punk faced each other in a match at WrestleMania XXVI on March 28, where if Mysterio lost, he would join the Straight Edge Society, but Punk lost to Mysterio at WrestleMania. They had

8816-492: The first half of July, where WWE used footage of Punk to promote the WWE Network . In an interview published in late May, Punk was asked how it felt "to be retired at 35" and replied that "it feels good". On July 15, WWE.com officially moved Punk from the active roster to the alumni section of their page without releasing a statement. On the same day, Punk thanked his fans without mentioning WWE. In late July, Punk said that he

8932-505: The group prove themselves worthy of a spot, with some instead choosing to join The Corre , which had been started by former Nexus leader Wade Barrett on SmackDown. On January 30, 2011, Punk and The New Nexus cost Randy Orton his match with The Miz for the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble as a revenge for Orton prematurely ending Punk's first World Heavyweight Championship reign in 2008. In turn, Orton responded by taking out all of

9048-555: The head before the Championship scramble match, ending his reign at 69 days. Punk could not participate in the match due to the attack and so was forced to forfeit the title, being replaced by Chris Jericho, who won the match and the title. On the September 15 episode of Raw , Punk received his title rematch, but failed to regain the title in a steel cage match against Jericho. On the October 27 episode of Raw , Punk and Kofi Kingston defeated Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase to win

9164-454: The heavyweight championship. Punk's feud with Hero included a 55-minute Tables, Ladders, and Chairs (TLC) match , a 93-minute two out of three falls match and several 60-minute time limit draws. From July 2003 until May 2004, Punk refused to wrestle for IWA Mid-South, explaining this as a protest to Ian Rotten 's mistreatment of Chris Hero in the company. However, Hero has stated he believes there were other reasons and Rotten's treatment of him

9280-482: The independent circuit to keep their ring names (or, in Gargano's case, his real name). Gargano and Ciampa have since signed exclusive WWE contracts. "In-house" WWE wrestlers still use WWE-owned ring names. In rare cases, the rights to a wrestler's ring name may be owned by a company with little or no connection to professional wrestling, such as Marvel Comics ' ownership of the name Hulk Hogan until early 2003, which

9396-492: The internet have come to be used. It has also broken into the media with several Best of Backyard Wrestling volumes produced, two video games entitled Backyard Wrestling: Don't Try This at Home and Backyard Wrestling 2: There Goes the Neighborhood , and a 2002 documentary entitled The Backyard , showcasing backyard wrestling under a more mainstream light as it follows several wrestlers and federations from all over

9512-425: The internet. Pro wrestling personnel are generally opposed to backyard wrestling. Its peak years of popularity were 1996-2001, during a boom period of professional wrestling, notoriously known as The Attitude Era , when high-risk stunts exerted a strong influence on the wrestling fan base, particularly those performed by Mick Foley . In the late 1980s and early 1990s, backyard wrestling often appealed to media as

9628-506: The last one being the first-ever Hell in a Cell match between Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker at Badd Blood: In Your House in 1997. Joe ended the series by defeating Punk in the third and final match on December 4 at All-Star Extravaganza 2 , in which there was a no-time-limit stipulation. After a try-out match on May 9, 2005, which aired May 15, where he lost to Val Venis on the Sunday Night Heat show, Punk accepted

9744-437: The last time he was in WWE. Their rivalry continued through Elimination Chamber on February 19, when Punk retained the WWE Championship in the namesake structure, but while four competitors were eliminated, Jericho was unable to continue the match after being kicked out of the chamber by Punk, causing temporary injury. The next night on Raw SuperShow , Jericho earned a match against Punk on April 1 at WrestleMania XXVIII and in

9860-420: The likes of Elijah Burke at Unforgiven on September 16, Big Daddy V via disqualification at No Mercy on October 7, and The Miz at Cyber Sunday on October 28. On the November 6 episode of ECW , Punk retained the ECW Championship in a match against Morrison following The Miz's interference. On November 18 at Survivor Series , Punk retained the title in a triple threat match against The Miz and Morrison. On

9976-512: The longest-reigning WWE Champion in the past 25 years on December 5, when he hit 381 days, surpassing John Cena's 380-day reign. Punk returned to in-ring action on the January 7, 2013, episode of Raw , retaining the WWE Championship against Ryback in a TLC match following interference from The Shield. On January 27 at the Royal Rumble, Punk defended the WWE Championship against The Rock in a match that stipulated that Punk would be stripped of

10092-470: The match by pinning Cena following interference from the debuting faction called The Shield ( Dean Ambrose , Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins ), allowing him to retain the WWE Championship and officially hold the championship for one full year. On December 4, Punk underwent surgery to repair a partially torn meniscus , removing him from his scheduled title match against Ryback on December 16 at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs . Despite his injury, Punk became

10208-482: The match performing a "Go to Sleep" to Heyman on top of the cell. Punk moved on to a feud with The Wyatt Family ( Bray Wyatt , Erick Rowan and Luke Harper ), forming an alliance with Daniel Bryan , with the duo defeating Harper and Rowan in a tag team match on November 24 at Survivor Series . The next night on Raw , Punk was attacked by The Shield while attempting to save Bryan from being "taken hostage" by The Wyatt Family. Punk then insinuated that The Authority ,

10324-445: The match, Punk began wearing a black mask, since he considered himself always pure unlike his followers and was embarrassed by his baldness. On June 20, 2010, at WWE Fatal 4-Way , Punk challenged for the World Heavyweight Championship against Mysterio, Big Show and the champion Jack Swagger , but he was unsuccessful when he was attacked by Kane , who was accusing various people of attacking The Undertaker. Punk and his stable started

10440-444: The match. In the following weeks on Raw , Punk demanded respect from people like AJ Lee, Jerry Lawler and Bret Hart and eventually aligned with Paul Heyman in his feud with Cena. On September 16 at Night of Champions , Punk retained the WWE Championship after he fought Cena to a draw . Punk continued to feud with Cena despite the latter's arm injury, rejecting the requests of Mick Foley and Jim Ross to pick him as his Hell in

10556-526: The mentally incompetent wrestler Festus, to the straight-edge lifestyle which had subsequently rid him of his mental troubles. Throughout January 2010, Punk began to convert planted members of the audience to a straight-edge lifestyle, making them take a pledge of allegiance to him and shaving their head as a sign of renewal and devotion. After converting many people who were not seen again, convert Serena began accompanying Punk and Gallows to form The Straight Edge Society . As well as leading this alliance, Punk

10672-501: The move a year earlier was still in effect and Punk won the match with the anaconda vise when referee Scott Armstrong called for the bell despite Undertaker never submitting (eerily reminiscent to the Montreal Screwjob , which took place in the same venue in 1997 ). The feud between the two continued and on October 4 at Hell in a Cell , Punk lost the World Heavyweight Championship to The Undertaker in convincing fashion in

10788-407: The night's special guest The Rock – who had interrupted Punk earlier to announce he would wrestle for the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble on January 27, 2013 – intervened to save Cena from Big Show's assault, Punk attacked The Rock, turning heel in the process. Punk justified his actions the following week on Raw , explaining he was tired of people like Cena and The Rock overshadowing him when

10904-574: The other to submit within the allotted 60 minutes. On October 16 at Joe vs. Punk II , they wrestled to a second 60-minute draw. In addition to Joe vs. Punk II becoming Ring of Honor's bestselling DVD at the time, the match received a five-star rating by famed wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter . It was the first match in North America to receive a five-star rating in seven years,

11020-730: The prefix "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. Numerous boxers have used ring names or nicknames as their mode of identification during their professional boxing careers, particularly during the late 19th century and the early 20th century. The ring name "Kid" was particularly popular, indicating the boxer's comparative youth. Since the mid 20th century, ring names for boxers have typically been less common, although nicknames have become more popular in recent years. Famous examples of boxers who used ring names include: Backyard wrestling Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Backyard wrestling ( BYW ), also referred to as yarding or backyarding ,

11136-652: The same independent promotions, as both opponents and tag team partners. In the independents, along with fellow Steel Domain graduates Colt Cabana, Chucke E. Smooth, Adam Pearce , and manager Dave Prazak, Punk formed an alliance named the Gold Bond Mafia. In 2002, Punk became the International Wrestling Cartel (IWC) Heavyweight Champion, in Monroeville, PA. Punk would compete in the company's Super Indy tournament, but never won

11252-635: The team was not working as villains, the storyline would be put on hold indefinitely, and thus had no work for Punk or Dinero. Punk officially quit TNA in March 2004 during the Rob Feinstein controversy after having a dispute with the TNA offices over his ability to compete in ROH following a TNA order that their contracted wrestlers were to no longer wrestle in ROH. Punk's matches with Colt Cabana led him to being hired by ROH. CM Punk made his in-ring debut on ROH at All Star Extravaganza on November 9, 2002, in

11368-416: The title if The Shield interfered. Punk originally pinned The Rock to retain after The Shield put Rock through a table while the arena lights were out, leading Vince McMahon to come out and announce that Punk would be stripped of the title, but he instead restarted the match at The Rock's request. Punk lost, ending his reign at 434 days. WWE recognized this reign as the longest world championship reign in WWE of

11484-443: The title, making his first defense later that same night against John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL), who had challenged him shortly after his win. Punk continued to hold and defend the title (against the likes of Batista on July 20 at The Great American Bash and the July 21 episode of Raw , and JBL at SummerSlam on August 17) until Unforgiven on September 7, when he was attacked by The Legacy and Randy Orton , who punted Punk in

11600-460: The title. After repeated altercations, the feud between Jericho and Punk culminated in a Chicago street fight on April 29 at Extreme Rules , where Punk defeated Jericho to retain the WWE Championship. On May 20 at Over the Limit , Punk retained the title against Daniel Bryan after reversing Bryan's submission hold the " "Yes!" Lock " into a pinning combination, as the pinfall saved Punk from his own submission only moments later. Shortly before Over

11716-829: The tournament to crown the first ROH Pure Champion , losing to AJ Styles in the finals. At Reborn: Stage Two , Punk and Cabana defeated the Briscoe Brothers to win their first ROH Tag Team Championship . At Round Robin Challenge III , the Second City Saints lost the Tag Team Championship to B.J. Whitmer and Dan Maff in a round robin challenge, but defeated the Briscoe Brothers later that night to win their second Tag Team Championship. The Second City Saints avenged their loss to

11832-454: The vacant ECW World Championship. During the following months, Punk faced Nitro (who later changed his ringname to John Morrison) for the title at The Great American Bash on July 22, and SummerSlam on August 26, where he lost to Morrison both times. On the September 4 episode of ECW , Punk defeated Morrison in a last chance title match to win the ECW Championship. In the following months, Punk went on to have successful title defenses against

11948-418: The week prior. In addition, most of the ROH roster contracted to TNA were pulled from the show because of a snowstorm that TNA officials thought might prevent performers from reaching the TNA's Against All Odds event scheduled the next day. In the main event, Punk teamed with Bryan Danielson to defeat Adam Pearce and Jimmy Rave in a tag team match . Punk was inducted into the ROH Hall of Fame as part of

12064-591: The world, detailing the different styles and portrayals of backyard wrestling. In an interview, the director Paul Hough compared The Backyard to Beyond the Mat , but with yarders. In May 2015, Global News ran a story on "Vancouver Backyard Wrestling", a backyard wrestling organization in the Pacific Northwest of Canada, that produces wrestling episodes for public streaming services. The segment, hosted by sports director and anchor Squire Barns, follows

12180-409: The wrestler's gimmick changes, either subtly or dramatically. After debuting in WWE as the " Connecticut Blueblood " Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Paul Levesque's character later morphed into Triple H . A more drastic change sometimes occurs when a wrestler turns heroic or villainous , such as when Hulk Hogan joined the villainous nWo (New World Order) and became "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan. His new attitude

12296-646: Was "never ever" going to return to wrestling. When Punk told [another] doctor that he wrestled with a staph infection for three months, Punk said [that] doctor told him: "You should be dead. You could have died". Ring name Ring names are much more common in professional wrestling than any other sport; famous examples include Terry Bollea becoming Hulk Hogan , Michael Shawn Hickenbottom becoming Shawn Michaels , Roderick Toombs becoming Roddy Piper , Dwayne Johnson becoming The Rock , Christopher Irvine becoming Chris Jericho , and Phillip Jack Brooks becoming CM Punk . A number of wrestlers adopted their real name or

12412-413: Was also the mentor of NXT rookie Darren Young , who flirted with the idea of becoming straight edge, before refusing just before his head was to be shaved. Punk would also give sermons, including during the annual Royal Rumble match on January 31, as well as during an Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship on February 21 at both of the eponymous pay-per-view events. During

12528-421: Was defeated by The Undertaker. Punk then took a two-month hiatus away from WWE television to recover from injuries. Punk returned at Payback on June 16, defeating Chris Jericho . Punk started a storyline where he told Heyman to no longer accompany him to his matches and was later attacked by Heyman's other client Brock Lesnar , thus turning Punk face once again. Heyman also cost Punk a WWE Championship Money in

12644-596: Was due to Hogan being advertised as " The Incredible Hulk Hogan" early in his career, while Marvel owned the trademark for their comic book character. Sometimes, a wrestler will buy the rights to their own ring name; for example, Steve Borden owns the rights to the name Sting and licenses it to the musician of the same name . The wrestler formerly known as Test took this one step further and legally changed his name to "Andrew Test Martin". Jim Hellwig, known as The Ultimate Warrior , had his name legally changed to simply "Warrior". In many cases, ring names evolve over time as

12760-604: Was enhanced by changing his costume color scheme from his famous red and yellow to nWo's black and white. Steve Williams adopted the ring name Steve Austin to avoid confusion with the then-more established performer "Dr. Death" Steve Williams . Austin would wrestle under that name for several years before signing with the WWF and being given the name "the Ringmaster". This gimmick failed to catch on, and Austin reverted to his established name, reaching his greatest level of success with

12876-412: Was fired for the incident. However, Punk said the scuffle had no bearing on his TNA career. Brooks said the reason he and Dinero stopped appearing on TNA's pay-per-view events was that TNA officials believed he and Dinero had not connected with the fans as villains, having turned against the popular Raven and instead formed a villainous tag team managed by James Mitchell . The officials decided that since

12992-466: Was hired as the first head trainer of the Ring of Honor wrestling school , having previously been a trainer for the Steel Domain and Primetime Wrestling. After concluding the rivalry with Raven, the Second City Saints turned face by feuding with The Prophecy ( Christopher Daniels , B.J. Whitmer and Dan Maff ), suspecting them of attacking Punk's on-screen girlfriend Lucy Fer . Whitmer was revealed to be

13108-412: Was just an excuse by Punk to stop working for the company. Punk eventually returned to IWA Mid-South and continued to perform as a wrestler and commentator for them until July 2005. Punk made his debut for NWA: Total Nonstop Action alongside his trainer Ace Steel on September 18, 2002, where Punk and Steel defeated Derek Wylde and Jimmy Rave and The Hot Shots ( Cassidy O'Reilly and Chase Stevens ) in

13224-407: Was released from WWE and Mercury became injured, and Punk defeated Gallows in a singles match on the September 24 SmackDown . In October 2010, Punk was traded back to the Raw brand after being swapped with Edge and took part in the interbrand tag team match on October 24 at Bragging Rights after defeating Evan Bourne to win a place, but Team Raw lost as Punk was eliminated by Rey Mysterio. During

13340-602: Was seen to have romantic feelings for Punk. Punk defeated Knox in their first singles match on the November 7 episode of ECW as well as a rematch the following week, after which Kelly Kelly celebrated Punk's victory over Knox. At Survivor Series on November 26, Punk had his first pay-per-view match when he teamed with D-Generation X ( Shawn Michaels and Triple H ) (DX) and the Hardy Boyz ( Jeff and Matt ) in their Survivor Series match against Rated-RKO ( Edge and Randy Orton ), Knox, Johnny Nitro and Gregory Helms ,

13456-484: Was won by Punk. Later that night, Punk cashed in his Money in the Bank contract to defeat Jeff Hardy for the World Heavyweight Championship immediately after Hardy won the title from Edge in a ladder match . Punk made his first successful title defense in a triple threat match against both Edge and Hardy on the June 15 episode of Raw . On June 28 at The Bash , Punk retained the title even though he lost to Hardy by disqualification (because titles do not change hands on

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