The Legacy of CM Punk

Sometimes one of the hardest things to do when writing a weekly article is trying to come up with a topic during a fairly uneventful news week. That’s when I go on line and hit the wrestling message boards to see what topics are the fans’ minds. Today, I went onto the “Wrestling Observer” message board, and noticed a topic that was created asking if CM Punk lived up to the hype that came with him when he entered the WWE.

I immediately thought the answer was an astounding “YES!” CM Punk has been out of professional wrestling and the WWE for just over two years now. Even though some fans may be thinking, “God, another CM Punk rant! Let it die already!” However, two years post-Punk is a good amount of time to examine the impact Punk had on the WWE during his run, and the shockwaves that have been felt ever since.

THE BEGININGS

CM Punk made his name as one of the greatest wrestlers that ever plied his trade in Ring of Honor. The Summer of Punk in 2005 is considered by many as one of the greatest runs in ROH history. Unfortunately, I never saw CM Punk’s ROH run. I didn’t see my first Ring of Honor show until late 2005. However, that doesn’t mean that I didn’t know about CM Punk. Like hearing about Sabu over a decade before, I was educated on the greatness of CM Punk through the “Wrestling Observer Newsletter.” When he officially signed with World Wrestling Entertainment, I was excited to be able to finally see CM Punk on the big stage. To prepare for Punk’s entrance into the WWE, I bought a couple of ROH DVDs that featured the Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk feud. I was hooked on the character Phil Brooks created. I followed his post-Ring of Honor career through the “dirtsheets” as he blossomed in Ohio Valley Wrestling. I couldn’t wait for his arrival onto the main roster. Then, I read one blurb in the “Observer” that said that WWE personnel, which included Arn Anderson and Shawn Michaels went down to Ohio Valley and reported that CM Punk didn’t know how to work. Apparently, they were not impressed. This disappointed me because right from the beginning, he didn’t have supporters high up on the WWE food chain. Well, he did have one very important person impressed.

HE’S A PAUL HEYMAN GUY

Paul Heyman was the one man in the WWE who saw something in CM Punk. When those in the front office had him pegged for the future endeavored list, Paul Heyman continued to go to bat for Punk. Heyman demanded that Punk be brought up to the main roster when the ECW brand in the WWE was created. Not only did he get his wish, but the WWE even allowed him to use the CM Punk name as his WWE character.

Heyman’s backing of CM Punk played a hand in Paul’s departure from the WWE. In a 2008 interview with the United Kingdom’s “The Sun” newspaper, Heyman explained that he wanted to have CM Punk and The Big Show enter the Elimination Chamber match at the December to Dismember pay per view as the first two participants. Punk would quickly eliminate The Big Show to guarantee a new champion would be crowned. According to Heyman, The Big Show was all for it, and liked the opportunity to make a new star. Vince McMahon hated the idea, as he wanted Bobby Lashley to win the match and the ECW title. Heyman said that he kept going to Vince on the night of the show to convince him that the fans would reject the show if Bobby Lashley wins the title. Instead of changing Vince’s mind, the WWE and Heyman parted ways.

A MAN AGAINST THE MACHINE

Throughout his WWE career, CM Punk seemed to face an uphill battle. Punk didn’t have the look of your typical WWE superstar. He didn’t have the six foot five inch, two hundred sixty pound chiseled body that the WWE loves in their main event stars. He was among the first guys who really brought in the tattoo look in the WWE. He wasn’t the picture perfect corporate face that you could throw out to the sponsors in 2006, at least in the view of the WWE.

I decided to re-watch his WWE DVD today. When I first watched the DVD in 2012, I watched it hearing a guy who was recounting his troubles that he had in the past with the company. However, knowing what we know now, after watching the DVD today, I see a man who wasn’t venting frustrations from days gone by. He was still frustrated, even though he was in the middle of a modern day record run as the WWE World Heavyweight Champion.

Looking back at the career of CM Punk in the WWE, he was never given the proper respect or run that he deserved. There were glimmers of hope, but just when it looked like the WWE was going to give Punk the ball to run with, it would be a half-hearted run at best. At WrestleMania XXIV, CM Punk won the Money in a Bank briefcase match. While many argued that Punk would be the first briefcase winner to have an unsuccessful cash in, the WWE eventually put the big gold belt around his waist. Instead of being the focal point of the RAW brand, Punk’s title reign took a backseat to the Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho Feud of the Year. Despite having a great feud already, the WWE decided to have Chris Jericho win the World Heavyweight Championship to strengthen his war with Michaels. While some would argue that Punk was robbed of the opportunity to drop the title in a match on pay per view, I always looked at it as the WWE’s way of “protecting” Punk by having him drop the title, while also not jobbing the strap away.

He became the first, and only man, to win back to back Money in the Bank matches at WrestleMania when he was given the briefcase again at WrestleMania XXV. CM Punk cashed in the briefcase successfully once again. However, this time Punk was able to showcase a side of himself that WWE fans haven’t seen up until this point. CM Punk turned heel. Punk has told the story that he told Vince that he would be the company’s top heel within three months. Personally, I don’t think it took nearly that long. CM Punk as a heel was on fire. Whether he had the belt or not, Punk was captivating as a heel. His work as the cult leader of the Straight Edge Society is probably one of the most underrated storylines that CM Punk ever did in his career, WWE or elsewhere. One of my favorite segments of CM Punk revolved around his work in the 2010 Royal Rumble. He entered the ring at number three, and eliminated five people before being eliminated by Triple H as the seventh man eliminated. However, in his tem minutes in the ring, he would grab the microphone after each person he tossed and would deliver a sermon regarding how he is straight-edge and he’s better than everyone else. He was extremely entertaining in that role.

During the last few months of 2010, CM Punk suffered from a hip injury. Rather than Punk sit at home and heal, he was brought on to RAW as a guest commentator. Not surprisingly, he was fantastic in the role. It was a position that I could have easily seen him in once his playing days were over. At this time, The Miz was being built up as the heel that would main event WrestleMania XXVII against John Cena. Watching his DVD or listening to Punk’s 2014 podcast interview on the “Art of Wrestling” with Colt Cabana, you know that this was a VERY sore subject with CM Punk. He believes that the top face should face the top heel in the biggest show of the year. At the time, CM Punk was the top heel in all of wrestling, and not just the WWE. He deserved the chance to close out the show as the main event of WrestleMania XXVII. Instead, he fought Randy Orton in a match in the middle of the show.

It looked like Punk’s run as the top heel in the WWE would come to a close before he ever had that big money match with John Cena. However, a funny thing was about to happen.

THE PIPE BOMB

As the WWE put into motion a match between CM Punk and John Cena for the WWE Championship at the Money in the Bank 2011 pay per view, word got out that CM Punk’s contract was coming to an end following the pay per view, and it looked like CM Punk would not resign with the company.

Instead of ignoring the talk, the WWE decided to use the contract in their storyline. On the June 27th edition of RAW, the WWE gave CM Punk an open mic to air out his grievances in a worked shoot promo. It was nicknamed the “pipe bomb,” and gave the fans one of those moments in wrestling where you just know that you witnessed something special.

Here’s the transcript:
“John Cena, while you lay there, hopefully as uncomfortable as you possibly can be, I want you to listen to me. I want you to digest this because before I leave in 3 weeks with your WWE Championship, I have a lot of things I want to get off my chest. I don’t hate you, John. I don’t even dislike you. I do like you. I like you a hell of a lot more than I like most people in the back.

I hate this idea that you’re the best. Because you’re not. I’m the best. I’m the best in the world. There’s one thing you’re better at than I am and that’s kissing Vince McMahon’s ass. You’re as good as kissing Vince McMahon’s ass as Hulk Hogan was. I don’t know if you’re as good as Dwayne though. He’s a pretty good ass kisser. Always was and still is. Whoops! I’m breaking the fourth wall! (Punk waves to the camera). I am the best wrestler in the world.

I’ve been the best since day one when I walked into this company. And I’ve been vilified and hated since that day because Paul Heyman saw something in me that nobody else wanted to admit. That’s right, I’m a Paul Heyman guy. You know who else was a Paul Heyman guy? Brock Lesnar. And he split just like I’m splitting. But the biggest difference between me and Brock is I’m going to leave with the WWE Championship.

I’ve grabbed so many of Vincent K. McMahon’s brass rings that it’s finally dawned on me that there just that, they’re completely imaginary. The only thing that’s real is me and the fact that day in and day out, for almost six years, I have proved to everybody in the world that I am the best on this microphone, in that ring, even in commentary! Nobody can touch me!

And yet no matter how many times I prove it, I’m not on your lovely little collector cups. I’m not on the cover of the program. I’m barely promoted. I don’t get to be in movies. I’m certainly not on any crappy show on the USA Network. I’m not on the poster of WrestleMania. I’m not on the signature that’s produced at the start of the show. I’m not on Conan O’Brian. I’m not on Jimmy Fallon. But the fact of the matter is, I should be. This isn’t sour grapes. But the fact that Dwayne is in the main event at WrestleMania next year and I’m not makes me sick!

Oh hey, let me get something straight. Those of you who are cheering me right now, you are just as big a part of me leaving as anything else. Because you’re the ones who are sipping on those collector cups right now. You’re the ones that buy those programs that my face isn’t on the cover of. And then at five in the morning at the airport, you try to shove it in my face and get an autograph and try to sell it on Ebay because you’re too lazy to go get a real job.

I’m leaving with the WWE Championship on July 17th. And hell, who knows, maybe I’ll go defend it in New Japan Pro Wrestling. Maybe…I’ll go back to Ring of Honor.

Hey, Colt Cabana, how you doing?

The reason I’m leaving is you people. Because after I’m gone, you’re still going to pour money into this company. I’m just a spoke on the wheel. The wheel is going to keep turning and I understand that. Vince McMahon is going to make money despite himself. He’s a millionaire who should be a billionaire. You know why he’s not a billionaire? Because he surrounds himself with glad-handed, non-sensical, douchebag yes men, like John Laurinaitis, who’s going to tell him everything he wants to hear, and I’d like to think that maybe this company will better after Vince McMahon is dead. But the fact is, it’s going to be taken over by his idiotic daughter and his doofus son-in-law and the rest of his stupid family.

Let me tell you a personal story about Vince McMahon alright. We do this whole (anti) bully campaign (mic cut off).”

STILL FIGHTING THE MACHINE

While the promo should have jump started CM Punk’s career and the WWE into the next boom period, the WWE dropped the ball again with CM Punk. After the promo, EVERYONE was talking. It wasn’t just wrestling fans, but Jim Rome and ESPN were talking about the straight edge superstar. In the beginning, the WWE handled everything perfectly. CM Punk won the WWE title at Money in the Bank, and went home. On July 21st, CM Punk made a surprise appearance where he heckled Triple H during a Q&A at the San Diego Comic Con event. By this time, it was obvious that Punk was going to come back. However, the longer the WWE milked Punk “not being signed” the more the fans would go nuts when he returned. Instead, the WWE rushed him back on the July 25th edition of RAW where he confronted John Cena that Cena was not the real WWE Champion.

The WWE booked CM Punk vs. John Cena for SummerSlam. Following Punk’s victory, it looked like he would finally get the run he has been waiting for. However, it was not to be as Kevin Nash attacked him setting up Alberto Del Rio to hit the ring and win the WWE belt by cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase. This was supposed to set up a feud with Kevin Nash. Unfortunately for the former Diesel, health issues forced Nash out of the match, and Triple H was inserted into the match instead. For reasons that are still shaky headed to this day, Triple H was booked to go over a super-hot CM Punk. Punk should have defeated Triple H. The WWE would have never booked Steve Austin to lose if his character was in this situation. It was the easiest way to kill any momentum that CM Punk built up during the WWE’s version of Summer of Punk. Luckily for CM Punk, the fans didn’t back down from supporting CM Punk despite the questionable booking. At the 2011 Survivor Series, CM Punk defeated Alberto Del Rio in Madison Square Garden to regain the WWE Championship.

Once again, you thought this is it, the WWE will finally run with CM Punk as the top guy. While he did hold the title for 434 straight days, he did not get the recognition a World title holder who holds the belt that long deserves. He wrestled on eight straight pay per views in a row where he defended the championship in the undercard instead of the final bout of the evening. His first pay per view main event as champion during this “streak” was on September 16th, almost a full year since his last pay per view main event as champion, at the Night of Champions against John Cena. He then headlined the next two pay per views before losing the title in the undercard at the Royal Rumble to The Rock. Thanks to the return of The Rock, CM Punk was failed to be booked in the main event of two WrestleManias in XXVIII and XXIX where he definitely deserved a spot, even though WrestleMania XXVIII was more understandable due to the “once in a lifetime” nature of The Rock vs. John Cena match-up.

Even though CM Punk was treated as a secondary act compared to John Cena, he fought against some great opponents like Chris Jericho, John Cena, Dolph Ziggler, Daniel Bryan, and The Rock to earn the moniker as “the best in the world.” In the middle of his title run, the WWE decided to turn CM Punk heel again. This time, he was led to the ring by his friend and mentor Paul Heyman. Even though CM Punk never needed someone to speak for him, the pairing worked out perfectly. It was the man the WWE couldn’t control in Paul Heyman combined with the wrestler the WWE couldn’t control in CM Punk. It was a perfect pairing.

After Punk’s run as WWE Champion ended, he had his greatest WrestleMania match of his career at WrestleMania XXIX where he lost to the Undertaker in the best WWE match of the year. Looking back, Punk should have either been added to the John Cena vs The Rock main event or positioned the CM Punk vs. Undertaker match as the final match of the show. After all, Punk really deserved that spot.

Punk’s final year with the company saw him turn back into a face where he feuded mainly with Paul Heyman charges. Unless the WWE changed things with CM Punk, it appeared that he’s run at the top was going to go down a notch. We wouldn’t be able to find out if that would be the course or if CM Punk would stay in the company’s top plans as a rumored Triple H vs. CM Punk match was on the cards for WrestleMania XXX.

What we did find out months later was Punk’s true frustrations with the company that stemmed from storylines, burn out, and his health. Punk cited in the Colt Cabana interview that his health was the main reason he left WWE, describing that in his final months in the company, he had been working through an untreated and potentially fatal MRSA infection, broken ribs, injured knees, and multiple concussions including one at the Royal Rumble, as well as having lost his appetite and ability to sleep well.

HIS LEGACY

In the WWE produced DVD, “CM Punk: Best in the World,” the documentary starts off with these words, “I’m a guy, for all intents and purposes, NEVER should have even made it to the WWE. I‘ve had roadblock after roadblock after roadblock thrown in my way. But, not only did I get passed those roadblocks, I did it while flipping off the people who put up those roadblocks. I feel I have a responsibility to the younger wrestlers on the roster the ones who aren’t even signed yet, and the future of pro-wrestling as a whole to help make this place better and to change this place. I certainly can’t change it by sitting on my couch in Chicago.”

Looking back at Punk’s WWE career, he definitely made his mark on the company and the wrestling industry. His title history includes winning the ECW (WWE version) championship, an Intercontinental title, a World Tag Team run with Kofi Kingston, two Money in the Bank briefcases, a three-time World Heavyweight championship, and being a two-time WWE World Champion. Throughout his WWE career, he fought a Who’s Who of the WWE during this era that included John Cena, Daniel Bryan, Kane, the Big Show, the Undertaker, Triple H. The Rock, Brock Lesnar, Dolph Ziggler, Batista, Chris Jericho, Jeff Hardy, and Randy Orton. In the Wrestling Observer awards, he won Best on Interviews twice, Feud of the Year twice, and his 2011 WWE title win against John Cena at the Money in the Bank pay per view won Match of the Year. His second WWE title win was the 6th longest in the history of the company, and the longest since Hulk Hogan’s initial WWF championship reign from 1984-1988. During his lengthy WWE title run, CM Punk did the one thing no other wrestler before or after him has been able to do. He out sold John Cena in merchandise sales for a period of time. That should have given the WWE enough confidence in him to let me try to be the face of the company during this run.

Punk’s legacy will be one of missed opportunities by the WWE. If only the WWE believed in him, and had the faith in CM Punk that the fans did, this industry may have captured the boom period that we haven’t seen in the last fifteen years.

Although, his greatest legacy in the WWE will be that of opening the doors to future Internet darlings to enter the WWE and succeed. It’s an aspect of Punks’ legacy that can’t be undervalued. Before Punk, indy wrestlers were only positioned in the mid-card, or not signed at all. After Punk established himself as a main eventer player in 2009, the WWE changed his mind regarding the best that the independent circuit had to offer. Without CM Punk, there would have been no chance given to Daniel Bryan. Without CM Punk, Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Cesaro, and Sami Zayn would still be in Ring of Honor. Dean Ambrose would probably still be in Evolve. They may have moved to different promotions by now, but one thing is certain, they probably would have not gotten a chance with the WWE if it wasn’t for CM Punk breaking down that door.

In the DVD, Paul Heyman mentioned that when the WWE signed CM Punk and he was sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling, the WWE didn’t know what they had or how to use him. His career with the WWE ended two years ago, and looking back, the WWE never knew how to use Punk the way he deserved to be used. One thing is certain, since the day Punk first appeared on WWE television up until this present day, the WWE has never been the same. CM Punk went from an afterthought by the WWE hierarchy to one of the most popular wrestlers, and best workers of his time. Punk’s presence in wrestling has been missed since he walked out in January 2014. That usually happens when the best in the world hangs it up. You feel the void even two years later.