From The Bowery: CM Punk: Best in the World (Blu-Ray: Disc I)

From the Bowery: CM Punk: Best in the World (Blu-Ray: Disc I)

-This DVD has gotten a lot of buzz since it was announced due to Punk apparently being so hands on with it, and since I am a huge fan this was a must have first day purchase for me.

The Documentary
-The basic set-up for this is Punk and various talking heads discussing his life and career from start to now. In between the chapters about his career we get Punk touching on hobbies, interests, and what-not to give us basically a day in the life of Punk.

-CM Punk narrates the opening as his words appear in white letters on a black screen: “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 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.”

-That takes us to an alarm clock going off, and a video package of the city of Chicago. It shows Punk waking up and giving us a quick view of what he goes through in a day as he prepares for a WWE event. As he walks through the curtain we get the title screen for this DVD.

-An off camera person asks him what life was like growing up in Chicago. He says his relationship with his blood family was never good and he never got what he wanted. His older brother got the advantages and pissed them away. This made Punk feel like he was adopted since he wasn’t 100% fully supported, and decided to leave. He showed up at the home of his female friend Chez and he was basically adopted by her family. We get talk from her family as they talk of having Punk around, and how he became part of their family.

-They touch on his father being an alcoholic, and while he wasn’t an abusive father it did have an impact on him. One day he was late picking up Punk from Little League and on the way home he was throwing up in the truck. Punk being so young cried thinking his dad may have cancer. Soon he realized it was from drinking, and he realized he never wanted to drink if that’s what it did to someone. From personal experience, I am the same way. I have never even tasted alcohol, tobacco, or used any kind of illegal drugs because as I grew up I just figured I can’t get addicted and it won’t hurt me if I never try.

-Talk shifts to high school and Punk calls himself a nerd. He never fit in anywhere and realized young that he really didn’t need to fit in. Soon he found others that had same ideas as him and he started to follow the punk rock, straight edge lifestyle. Lita pops up and she describes the straight edge style and how it was for people who didn’t fit it. Punk says he liked things that weren’t seen as cool in school: comic books, pro-wrestling, Frankenstein, and Universal movie monsters. You know, I am finding that I am starting to have a lot of common interests with Punk here.

-Punk tells the story that Piper cracking Snuka with the coconut is the moment that hooked him on pro-wrestling. He related with Piper, and explains why he thought of himself as Roddy Piper. He wanted to piss people off and make a lot of money just like Piper did.

-He and a friend started a backyard wrestling federation, and it started out very small. Soon they built their own ring and started charging admission. They were called the LWF (Lunatic Wrestling Federation), and soon they started drawing crowds by the hundreds. They were called untrained and back yard guys, but they outdrew the local PWI promotion from Chicago. Justin Roberts mentions he was part of PWI and remembers being heckled by Punk and the guys from LWF. It then dawned on Punk that if they were doing this great while being “untrained,” how good he could get if he learned his craft.

-His brother was in charge of the cash for the LWF, and when they started running real shows, the money started to disappear. To this day Punk refuses to acknowledge his brother as his brother because brothers aren’t supposed to steal from each other. He has people he considers brothers that aren’t blood and he would do anything for them. Punk mentions that he hasn’t talked to his brother in over 12 years. Damn!

-Punk went to Steel Domain to train, and was trained by Ace Steel. They ran guys through the basics, and after two months Punk met Colt Cabana. Colt calls Punk a slob when they had their first meeting, but they bonded over their love of pro-wrestling. Steel says Punk had lead in his ass, but he was great in connecting with the crowd while Cabana was a natural athlete. Wrestling was the priority for Punk and he worked 2-3 jobs to support his wrestling career. They interview his ex-girlfriend Natalie and she says Punk’s wrestling obsession made him a better friend than boyfriend.

-Punk and Cabana started stealing indy shows with the matches they would have in the IWA and soon they were being booked all over the Midwest. We get a lot of cool IWA footage, and it looks like what you would expect from a small promotion in front of 50-100 people.

-Punk kept trying to create a persona and his girlfriend at the time, Natalie, is the one that told him he is everything wrestling fans hate and should work as a heel. Punk credits her with coming up with the whole idea including putting “X” on his hands, and letting everyone know he was better than them.

-Chris Hero is the next to get some face time as he mentions how everyone hated the CM Punk character. That lead to the best feud in IWA with Punk vs. Hero, and in their last match in the IWA barn, Punk did all he could to try to tear the place down. We see footage of the match, and it looks fucking fantastic. Some of the shit they did looks insane as they literally put every single dangerous spot you can think of into one match. That tape got traded around and it made a name for both Punk and Hero. Everyone on the independent scene wanted to book them now, so they did 2 out of 3 falls with a 90 minute time limit. Punk mentions he became obsessed with old school pro-wrestling and how the champs used to do 60 minutes in each city. Punk thought he was the man until he got in the ring with Eddie Guerrero and he realized just how much he sucked.

-Through tape trading, dirt sheets, and the internet, Punk started to get an underground buzz. Curt Hawkins mentions he wanted to be a wrestler so he started following the independents, and CM Punk was the king. He closes the door on his IWA career with an emotional speech to the fans.

-That brings us to Ring of Honor, and in a mind blowing moment they show Punk talking about his ROH days while sitting in a ROH ring. Obviously the WWE doesn’t see ROH as a threat or they wouldn’t be giving them this much free publicity, but people at ROH have to be jumping through hoops with how much publicity they are getting off this deal. Though I wonder how many people who don’t know about ROH already will be buying this DVD/Blu-ray?

-Bryan mentions all the veterans in ROH wanted to work with Punk because he could handle his own on the mic and thus they could have great feuds with him. The first being Raven, and now I am marking out as I am a huge Raven fan. Punk credits Raven as being the first guy that sat him down and taught him psychology and why they did or didn’t do certain things. We get footage of their violent brawls (with footage courtesy of ROH plastered in the corner of the screen) inside of cages and with dog collars. Thankfully I bought a few ROH collection DVDs and I have the Punk/Raven dog collar match on one of them. I may have to start reviewing some of those.

-Now while the brief Raven segment was great, I mark out even more as they go into detail about his rivalry and series of matches with Samoa Joe. Any little kids who had their parents buy them this set and have never heard of TNA are now wondering who this Samoa Joe guy is. Please Joe, for the love of wrestling sanity; get your ass out of TNA and into the WWE so I can see you and Punk tear the house down. Sorry, back to the review. Daniel Bryan puts over how great the matches were and how they would go 60 minutes and get standing ovations each time. Punk says that he and Joe were young and determined to show everyone that ROH was the best company in the world. Cabana calls their matches some of the best matches in the last 25 years in any promotion. Again, I have one those matches on a ROH collection DVD that I need to break out at some point soon.

-Punk says he was happy where he was at the time in ROH as he was training guys for ROH on Monday and Tuesday, then working in Nashville on Wed (TNA, though doesn’t say it), and then ROH for the weekend. He was making a comfortable living, and wasn’t looking to go anywhere else. Then he started to get bored and knew he only had one place to go and that was the WWE. He wanted to use the fact that him leaving would leak, and that gives him the Summer of Punk brainchild. More footage from ROH as he finishes his last night with the ROH Title, and he turns the tables on the smart crowd. They show footage of that promo as he says he is the devil himself and calls the mic in his hand a pipe bomb. We get the awesome footage of him legit signing his WWE contract on the ROH Title. Genius! He finally dropped the title in Dayton, and he wrestled Cabana in Chicago on his last night in ROH in what was an emotional night. More ROH footage of that as we see Punk having a hard time keeping his emotions in check.

-Before we get to Punk heading to the WWE, we get a brief package on the way Punk has changed his diet and physique. He quit eating meat at the start of the year, and now eats more raw foods and more whole foods. He says it is a big change from what he did when he came to the WWE when he tried to get bigger by lifting and eating a lot.

-He gets sent to OVW and he is rather pissed as he didn’t want to go to developmental. That brings in Paul Heyman who was in charge of OVW at the time. Heyman mentions that Gabe always told him how great Punk was while he was in ROH. Heyman was salivating to work with him, but figured he was heading to the main roster. Great point by Heyman as he says nobody in the WWE knew what to do with Punk and only signed him because he had buzz.

-The Miz mentions that all the young guys in OVW wanted to work with and be around Punk because they knew of his reputation. He quickly becomes the top guy, and Heyman mentions that he was scolded numerous times as he kept asking why Punk wasn’t on RAW or SmackDown. Michael Hayes says that Heyman’s history of embellishing kind of hurt Punk as they thought Heyman was just blowing smoke again. Heyman says that he got notes saying Punk wasn’t good enough to be on OVW TV. Ouch!

-Punk learned everything he could while he was in OVW because he was told he would never make WWE TV. Because of that he learned how to edit the show, and how to time out the TV show, which is a skill he doesn’t think anyone else on camera knows how to do. Punk absorbed as much as he could from Heyman, and he ended up falling in love with OVW after initially being pissed about being there. Punk says he owes his post Indy career to Paul Heyman because he wanted him for the new ECW, and made sure Punk wasn’t renamed or repackaged.

-Before we get to the ECW debut, Punk discusses the tour bus that he purchased to help save his career from the grueling travel. The bus is pretty sweet, and Punk even says it goes against his roots, but it is an investment for his future. We get more from the bus later in the extras.

-ECW is reborn in the WWE, and CM Punk finally has a platform to show his talent. Heyman says Punk was his #1 pick for the new ECW and he wanted Punk to carry on his vision of what the next generation of ECW should be. On August 1, 20006 CM Punk made his in ring debut to a rabid response from the crowd in Hammerstein against Justin Credible. A great visual sees Punk standing in the ring while behind him a fan holds up a “I paid to see CM Punk,” sign.

-Punk started to get over and that didn’t go over well with everyone. As if on cue John Cena talks about the reputation Punk had and all the hype, yet nothing could live up to that, so he just thought he was just kind of ok. Scott Armstrong gets a burn as he says Punk looked like the guy who would park your car or steal your car, until he stepped in the ring.

-Bryan and Hayes both say that Punk wasn’t the prototype WWE Superstar. No shit! The higher ups didn’t see him as a poster boy, but Hayes thinks in the long run that was the best thing that ever happened to Punk. JR mentions that Punk was on the future endeavored list a few times, but was always saved. Punk loved the first 6 months in ECW, but once Heyman was fired/quit, things started to turn the opposite way for Punk. HHH mentions that he and Shawn felt Punk had the attitude that a lot of the younger guys didn’t, and that was the attitude of I am going to do this whether you like it or not.

-Punk gets pushed to a feud with John Morrison over the ECW Title, and Punk loves Morrison, but doesn’t feel he was ready for that spot. They had 3 matches on PPV and Punk calls them horrible as they were hindered by time constraints and they tried to cram way too much stuff in the time they were given. Finally they got the time they needed on an episode of ECW on SyFy and Punk won the title in what he says is still one of the best matches he’s ever had. Strong praise there! As soon as he won the title he figured that was as good as it was going to get and it wouldn’t last long.

-Next we get CM Punk at Wizard World, and in a cool moment he meets Stan Lee while hanging out with Chris Hemsworth (Thor) and they get a picture together. Punk signs a shit load of autographs and does some Q&A as he is humbled by the response he gets. Punk says he always could relate to comics, and compares himself to Batman.

-He figured it was only going to be a matter of time before he was released, and he was happy to at least get his first WrestleMania under his belt. Fast forward a year later and Punk wins Money in the Bank, and that’s when he figured he might get to hang around for awhile. Hawkins mentions that most thought Punk was going to be booked as the first guy not cash in, but that wasn’t the case however. Punk cashes in on Edge during an episode of RAW and wins the World Heavyweight Title. He mentions how cool it was because it was Ric Flair’s title and Dusty Rhodes’ title. He felt that he was on top now and that he was ready to take on the world.

-However, Daniel Bryan mentions that even though he was the champ, he was the outcast champ. Michael Hayes even mentions that he felt Punk tarnished the title, and nearly everyone in the back felt they made the wrong move putting the title on him. Fuck, no wonder the dude is so paranoid. HHH gets insider as he mentions that what he is about to say may not even get used: he says the man makes the title and in Punk’s case it was as if they wanted the title to make him. Well, no shit, so why do they keep making the same mistake with nearly every Money in the Bank winner since? Punk felt the title meant you should be the focus, but he was sharing time on RAW with Cena, HHH, Shawn, and he was kind of shunted down the card.

-His reign comes to an end with a whimper as he doesn’t even get to lose it on PPV. Unforgiven 2008, Orton and Legacy jump Punk backstage and he basically has the title stripped so it can go to Jericho for his feud with Shawn. Punk’s telling of the story is pretty great as he was pumped to be in a Scramble Match, and was told the day of the show that he wasn’t even making it to the ring. In a word he says it: Sucked! No kidding! One of Punk’s friends asks what is behind that decision and they go right to HHH who tries to explain it the best he can as he says a lot of factors go into it. He admits it was a tough pill to swallow as they basically gave Punk the belt and never changed his position on the card and they took it away. Well, at least HHH was honest!

-Punk then moves on to teaming with Kofi and they win the tag titles. Punk enjoyed that and Kofi used their time together to learn. Quickly that ends, and Punk moves on to an IC feud with William Regal. Punk loved getting the crap beaten out of him by Regal and he says it was a great compliment to know that Regal asked to work with him. That is pretty awesome actually.

-We head to WrestleMania XXV and Punk was stunned when he found out he was winning Money in the Bank for a second year. He thought it was a rib as it meant he had to carry around the briefcase again wherever he went, and he couldn’t hide because WrestleMania was plastered on it. Then he was sure he would be the first one to lose when cashing in, but he ends up winning the World Title again as he cashed in on Hardy. He tells the story of where Hayes took him to Vince’s office, and Vince tells him he has a challenge for him. Punk says great and Vince says he wants to see if he can be a heel, and that insults him. He asks Vince what the challenge is, and Vince doesn’t know how to respond. He tells Vince to sit back and says within 3 months he will be the best heel in the company. He finally had something to sink his teeth into.

-That leads to Punk’s heel turn and breakout feud against Jeff Hardy. Punk tells story of being handed a written promo and he decided since they made him champ he needed to do things himself so he made it a point to tear up the promo right in front of them. Hayes relates the same story, and says that even Punk will admit that at times he can be a moody prick. He was that way not only to writers, but to Hayes and people even higher up. Punk loved the feud with Hardy and all the stuff he did was the same straight edge stuff he did on the independent scene. He thanks Hardy for putting him over in the feud and then found out he was losing the strap to Taker.

-He had no issue with that, but was kind of pissed when they didn’t know what they were going to do with him after that. Hayes and JR put over his matches with Taker, and that he earned Taker’s respect. Hayes even mentions that Taker never thought Punk could earn his respect and he was wrong. They both say the feud with Taker made people buy CM Punk as a Main Event star. I can kind of buy that because I even remember thinking at the time that they just don’t put anyone in a Title feud with Taker that culminates in a Hell in a Cell Match.

-We talk about tattoos now, and Punk goes over how he and someone important in his life will have matching tattoos. Of note we find out that he and Lita have matching tattoos. The 31 with the stars behind his ear represents his sisters, Chez, and his brother, and they each have the same tattoo.

-While doing the Taker feud the WWE told him he needed an enforcer, and Punk chose Luke Gallows because they were best friends. The idea was genius as they got Gallows out of that horrible Festus character by saying Punk got him off drugs. He started the Straight Edge Society, and he made sure to bring Joey Mercury along. Mercury tells a very touching story about how his drug and alcohol problem lead him to being fired, and he admits the WWE had to no choice as they tried to help him. He started to get clean a year later, but his house was in foreclosure, so Punk spent 6 figures to buy the house. That’s a true friend right there, and shows that yeah, Punk can be a prick but he is one loyal son of a bitch.

-Punk admits he was getting away with a lot while tucked away on SmackDown with the SES, and that yes he was trying to be a wrestling Jesus. He specifically used the names Joseph and Luke for a reason and Serena was 100% his Mary Magdalene. Awesome! He would stay up late and watch religious infomercials to use what he could for his promos. He wanted to be offensive and wanted the crowds to riot. He was so happy when a grandma in Knoxville jumped the rail, slapped him in the face, and told him he wasn’t Jesus and he would burn in hell for his sins. He was happy with that reaction as he wanted people slashing his tires and chasing him out of arenas with torches. The man takes his art seriously, and the SES was fucking brilliant. He easily became the top heel in the company, and the idea was his as he wrote 14 weeks of TV, threw it on Vince’s desk and said this is what I am doing. He doesn’t even know if Vince looked at it, but thinks he appreciated Punk standing up for himself like that. He gets rather pissed at how the SES ended and says the WWE turned his chicken salad into chicken shit. No kidding! Hayes says that no matter what anyone thinks there is only one decision that matters and that’s the guy who runs the place so that is the direction things have to go.

-More personal stuff and Punk discusses his love of music. He doesn’t use music to escape reality, but it is just a way to relax him. My guess is dude listened to a shit load of music following the end of SES and prior to the Summer of Punk.

-He admits he was pissed off, and felt justified for being so. That big thing that angered him was Miz being handed the Main Event of WrestleMania XXVII. I wish they would have let Miz respond to that. Punk felt he was the top heel and that he should face the number one face at the biggest show of the year.

-This leads to contracts talks, and Hayes tells him sometimes you have to play the hand your dealt and Punk says I don’t have to play anything anymore. For a year Punk danced around the idea and finally told them he just wanted to go home. All of his friends were 100% sure he was gone, and Punk admits he was hard to deal with as he was counting down to the days that he would be gone. Kofi says that Punk wished he didn’t care and could just be like others and quietly collect checks, but he wanted to be that top guy. You kind of have to respect that. Even Cena says Punk is the first guy he has seen in a long time that wanted to own the place when he walked in the door.

-That takes us to The Promo in Vegas, and when Cena got to the building they told him that he was being given the green light to say whatever he wanted. Thankfully they include the now famous promo in all its wonderful glory. Punk says the promo was an entire year’s worth of frustration being let out and was for anyone who was released unfairly in the WWE. The vibe backstage was insane, and everyone knew that something special had happened. Even HHH mentions you knew it was a moment much like Austin 3:16 and that it was a launching pad. Soon Jim Rome, and all other outlets outside the world of wrestling were calling him.

-That leads to a segment on Punk doing a shit load of media and he mentions that since that promo he went from doing what he thought was a lot of PR to a shit load of PR. In a crazy moment he mentions that he was asked for an autograph during a funeral. We get footage of Punk at the Cubs game which we will cover in more detail later.

-We head to Money in the Bank in Chicago, and we finally had a major, big fight feel to a pay per view not named Mania for the first time in years. Punk says he signed a 2 day extension to get through the show. Everyone talks about how there was so much pressure on him to deliver since he was in front of his home crowd, and Bryan mentions that nobody knew what was going to happen. Cena and Punk go on to have one of the greatest matches you will ever see, and Michael Hayes backs up that point. Even Cena says that during the match he could feel that he and Punk were doing something special. With all the various scenarios the WWE went with the craziest: Punk pinning Cena with a GTS and walking out with the WWE Title.

-Punk was 100% gone until he had 2 conversations with two of his friends: Joey Mercury and his friend Lars. Mercury asked him what he wanted, and Punk said he wanted to make some changes and Mercury told him that he can’t change anything by sitting at home on his couch. Punk says he signed his contract halfway through the Money in the Bank show. HHH calls him a top guy, and now a leader in the locker room. He has made the transition from a loner to a leader, and he is enjoying his role as a big brother. Everyone puts over how awesome Punk is, and Heyman says that Punk’s legacy is to be the Best in the World and he will do everything he can to achieve that except give his soul and dignity. In a cool touch they end with Punk doing a promo in IWA saying who he is and the crowd chanting his name as we fade to black.

-The WWE would like to thank Pro Wrestling Illustrated and Ring of Honor. As a final little nugget, we see Punk in a bath robe on his bus telling the cameras to go home. Now we’re done with the main feature.

Special Features

-Punk tells about his high school days and how he wanted to play a sport. He was an all-star in little league so he wanted to try football in high school, and they wouldn’t let him play due to his long hair and/or his Mohawk. Punk isn’t one to conform so he ended up joining a backyard wrestling promotion.

-His family and friends discuss where the name CM Punk comes from. He mentions he was in a tag team in LWF and he partnered with Chick Magnet Venom. Punk didn’t like the Chick Magnet thing so he just shortened it and went with CM Punk. Kofi mentions he will give a different answer each time: Chicago Made, Cookie Monster, Charles Montgomery, Crooked Moonsault.

-They discuss the worst injury he has ever had and he says it was when he cracked his skulll. We actually get video as it happened in New Jersey during a match when he was in the ring with Reckless Youth. A blockbuster gets a little botched as they crack heads falling to the mat, and Punk knew he was kind of fucked. He finished the match and then used a chair to help him get to the back where he passed out and puked. His brain was swollen and his spinal column filled with blood, and since he is straight edge he refused to take any kind of drug. That’s one tough bastard, kind of stupid, but tough. Naturally he doesn’t listen to the doctor and gets back in the ring 6 weeks later instead of the 6-14 months he was told.

-Heyman covers the feud he had with Bret Albright in OVW. They were perfectly made for each other and had one of the greatest feuds in the history of OVW as they battled for the title. They do include one of their matches on this set thankfully. The feud lasted 6-8 months which is pretty long for a developmental place. The feud is pretty fucking genius actually and they need to bring that storyline to the main roster in some form.

-WrestleMania 22 is covered with Punk being one of the gangsters during Cena’s entrance. HHH rips on himself as he says he was dressed as a bootleg Conan. Awesome! Cena says he didn’t know that Punk was even on the car, and says it was kind of cool how just over 5 years later Punk beats him for the title in that same venue.

-Wooo! Heyman covers the December to Dismember debacle. It starts a month earlier at Survivor Series in Philly where the crowd chants for CM Punk while he was on a team with DX and the Hardys. HHH even lets Punk ask the “are you ready” line and Heyman knew Punk was the new star. He wanted to have Punk tap-Show in the 1st 5 minutes of the Chamber Match so that everyone knew a new champion was going to be crowned and that would end up being Punk. Michael Hayes didn’t like that idea and he wanted Lashley as the guy. All that lead to Heyman being so disgusted he quit if you ask him or was fired if you asked someone else. Awesome story as Heyman tells Punk that if you believe in this then you should tell the boss yourself, and Heyman expected him to balk at the idea, but Punk says great and barges right into Vince’s office. They agree to disagree and Punk knew he was screwed, but that’s just the guy he is. Tremendous!

-Hero, Hawkins, Ryder, Lita, and others recount the first time they met CM Punk. Some fun stories in here as Regal thought he was a scruffy swine!

-JR and others discuss the in ring style of CM Punk. He mentions he wanted to throw kicks because nobody else did and threw in some spring boards to wow people. He also wanted to do submissions since nobody else was using them that much at the time. He admits he took the GTS from Kenta and kept the name the same out of respect to Kenta.

-Discussion of Punk checking his watch as he heads to the ring and shouting “It’s Clobbering Time.” Obviously it’s a Fantastic Four reference!

-Brief segment on his Cubs hat that he is a piece of home he always takes with him. I met the dude at WrestleMania XXVI in our hotel and he was in the same hat as I got a picture and autograph. Each hat is retired when it gets dirty and he will buy another one.

-Punk talks about the most insulting thing anyone has ever said to him: The story goes that he didn’t want to be moved off SmackDown, but they did when Edge was moved back to SmackDown. He was pitched the idea of facing Daniel Bryan for the US Title at Mania XXVII, and he said no to that. He does say that if anyone is better in the ring than him, it is Bryan. Next they tossed out the Orton idea and he was pissed because he knew he was Orton’s mechanic. Then he was told to his face that he was going to be John Cena’s TV program because they didn’t want Cena and Miz touching each other. Fantastic! He doesn’t mention who told him that because he nearly punched him in his face. My first guess would be Hayes, but perhaps Big Johnny.

-His friend Lars, from the band Rancid, tells the story of the discussion they had when Punk was figuring out if he was going to resign.

-Funny story as Punk recounts the story of leaving the arena with the title following Money in the Bank. He was home in 8 minutes and was dying of thirst, and he grabbed some water from the fridge. As he did this he put the title in the fridge and as he cooled down he took the now famous picture of the WWE Title in his refrigerator.

-A story of Punk wearing a shirt that was owned by his ex girlfriend Natalie at Extreme Rules 2012 and her texting him backstage just after it happened.

-“I was a Teenage Anarchist” by Against Me is set to a video package of Punk.

OVW Heavyweight Title Tournaments Finals: CM Punk vs. Brent Albright
OVW TV: March 1, 2006

-The tournament to crown a New OVW Champion came about when Matt Cappotelli vacated the title after he was diagnosed with a malignant tumor in his brain. Matt was one of two winners (with John Morrison) of Tough Enough: Season III, and until his illness he seemed to be on a fast track to the main roster. You will also remember that poor Matt had the shit kicked out of him by Bob Holly on an episode of Tough Enough that was kind of tough to watch. Anyway this match is the only one on this disc that I haven’t seen so I am kind of intrigued to see what these two can do with no real restraints. Albright was brought up to SmackDown in 2006 and was being groomed as Chris Benoit’s protégé before he was sent back down to OVW only 2 months later and then released 4 months after that. They exchange blows to start and Punk gets the worst of that exchange as he gets pounded down in the corner before eating a clothesline. Punk misses a dropkick, but ends up connecting with a leg lariat. He gets the first pin attempt of the match, and hits a pretty sweet standing vertical suplex. Vintage Davey Boy! Into the corner we go, and Punk tosses some chops, yet the crowd doesn’t really respond with a WOO like I am conditioned to expect. Punk then pays tribute to Eddie with a springboard into a backsplash, and then goes to a crossface. Back to the corner and Punk uses his boot to wash the face of Albright and then hits the running boot to the face much like Samoa Joe. Punk goes to a chinlock, but Albright backs Punk into the corner to break, and he starts firing chops which finally draws a small “woo.” A blind charge in the corner runs flush into an elbow from Punk, who follows with a middle rope rana, and then a running boot for two. A backbreaker gets another near fall for Punk who seems disgusted that Albright is still fighting. They start trading blows once again in the middle of the ring, but Albright has less behind each of his haymakers. Another Albright charge in the corner goes wrong as he gets backdropped over the top, but lands on the apron. He soon crashes to the floor however as Punk connects with a springboard dropkick. He follows with a rana attempt off the apron, but in a sick spot, he gets caught by Albright and then swung into the security railing. Nice! Obviously that is more than enough to get Albright the advantage as he immediately goes for the pin once back inside the ring. Punk is able to kick out at two, so Albright hits him with a belly to back suplex for another near fall. Albright goes crazy with clotheslines to the front and back of a standing Punk, and then takes him down with a running back elbow that looked a lot like what you would see from Chris Benoit. My guess is both of these guys were doing a lot of tape watching while down there. Punk fights out of a suplex attempt and then elbows out of a Rock Bottom attempt, but gets caught with a sweet release over the head belly to belly suplex for two. Albright is the one upset with the count now, but he stays on Punk as he preps for a superplex. Punk fights out though and gets Albright caught in the Tree of Woe. As he tries to unhook himself, Punk comes off the top rope with a vicious knee drop. That looked great though it only gets two for Punk. Now Punk starts firing off rapid chops, but Albright hits an enziguiri before hitting a pendulum kick (6-1-9 with only one leg) for two. I am just having a blast waiting to see what other moves these guys will do or modify from the guys on the main roster. Punk escapes another suplex attempt and tries for the Anaconda Vice, but Albright escapes and hits a release German Suplex, but Punk rolls through and comes up chopping before heading to the top. He slips off the rope though as I assume he was trying for the springboard clothesline and the match kind of stops as the ref checks on Punk. Some medics get in the ring as well as it seems Punk has hurt his knee. We actually go to commercial (though this is Blu-Ray) and as we come back they are still checking on the injured knee of Punk. I assume this is legit because it has put a halt on what was becoming a damn fine match. They take the knee pad off of Punk’s right knee and then take him towards the entrance way on a stretcher, but Albright is having none of that as he attacks with a strap. He beats the piss out of Punk with the strap and knocks over the stretcher with Punk still strapped to it. Well, either this whole thing was a work or Punk was good enough and they just booked this on the fly. The crowd is clearly behind Punk now as he stands in the ring on one leg and calls Albright back into the ring. Hell yeah! Punk starts firing off elbows as he sells the knee with each shot and he locks on a standing Anaconda Vice. The ref gets bumped as Albright breaks and both men race to the strap, but Punk is closest and gets his hands on it first. He goes crazy with the strap, but Albright smartly clips the knee and locks in a nasty looking STF. The ref checks the arm, and it drops 3 times as Punk has passed out from the hold and we have a new OVW Champion at 19:57.

Winner and New OVW Champion: Brent Albright via submission at 19:57
-This match was a lot of fun, and the carting off/baby face comeback of Punk was pretty great as he looked like a badass. Albright then looked like a wonderful heel dick as he clipped the knee which led to him winning the title. It took a while to get to the story they wanted, but it was fun watching them get there. Watching this match it is kind of shocking Albright didn’t get more of a chance. ***1/2

CM Punk vs. Justin Credible
ECW on SyFy: August 1, 2006

-This is Punk’s debut match on the main roster as he makes that debut in ECW. In addition to the match they also include a CM Punk promo before the match. Credible is already in the ring as he in introduced, and the Hammerstein Ballroom is rather pumped to see the debut of CM Punk as he makes his way to the ring. This is where we get the great shot of Punk standing in the corner while the crowd chants him name and some fans hold up a sign over his shoulder in the balcony that reads “I paid to see CM Punk.” He smothers Credible to start, but gets trapped in the closet. He turns a charge into a version of the tarantula in the corner, but gets slammed of the top rope. Credible goes to work on the back and we get a small chant for Credible that immediately gets drowned out by the Punk fans. Credible snaps off several suplexes and gets a Northern Lights suplex for a two count. The crowd is kind of pissed by the Credible onslaught and it continues as he rolls Punk into a single leg Boston Crab. Punk powers up and rolls out, and then starts hitting some great looking kicks. He hits the springboard clothesline for two as the crowd chants for Punk to fuck him up. I miss crowds like this! Punk throws some knees and hits the running knee to the face in the corner and follows up with the bulldog. He fires off some chops and finishes with an uranage into the Anaconda Vice for the tap-out at 4:15.

Winner: CM Punk via tap-out at 4:15
-Solid enough debut for Punk though Credible got more offense than you would think. **

-This great thing about this DVD is that they are including video recaps for most of the matches as a way to catch people up who weren’t watching or forgot about what lead up to the matches. In this case we get a good package for the Punk/Morrison feud as Punk chased the ECW Title. They even cover the fact that Punk won the shot in a fatal 4 way match that featured Big Daddy V, The Miz, and The Boogeyman.

ECW Title: John Morrison © vs. CM Punk
ECW on SyFy: September 4, 2007

-This is being billed as Punk’s last chance at the title that he had been chasing all summer. The crazy part is that this feud spawned off the fact that the Benoit tragedy occurred. This is actually Punk’s 4th attempt at winning the title in a match with Morrison. The crowd is clearly behind Punk, and Joey Styles makes me smile as he brings up the fact that this is the first ECW Title match on TV since February. Small little things like that add to the match and make it seem more special. Punk controls in the early going as he gets a one count off a hiptoss. Morrison fights back to his feet, and takes Punk to the mat and starts stomping away. A nice European uppercut follows and he pounds Punk to the mat in the corner. Punk reverses a whip and charges, but Morrison gets a boot up, though Punk catches it and hits a middle rope springboard dropkick for two. Punk goes on offense with a shit load of kicks as he uses his educated feet as JR would say. Morrison takes a great bump off a whip to the corner, and gets caught with a snap suplex for two. Morrison uses the tights to pull Punk throat first into the middle rope, and he goes on offense to many boos from the crowd. Morrison tries to connect with a sunset flip powerbomb to the floor, but Punk kicks out and hits a suicide dive. Styles throws to a commercial, but since this set is so awesome they show what we didn’t see during the commercial break without the commentary of Styles and Tazz. About fucking time they started doing that. Of course we didn’t miss much as they save the best stuff for the TV audience, but still sweet none the less. Morrison kicks out of a roll-up and slams Punk off the top as he looked for the springboard clothesline. Punk gets the shit kicked out of him and then Morrison hits a swank kick to the chest. They battle on the apron and Morrison springs back into the ring and hits a dropkick, knocking Punk of the apron. Morrison needs to get his ass back to the WWE as I am starting to realize how much I miss seeing the guy each week. Punk headbutts his way out of a hold, but charges into a backbreaker. He gets a roll-up for two, but Morrison beats him to his feet and kicks him in the face. Effective! Morrison goes to a chinlock as the crowd does all they can to rally the challenger. He fights to his feet, but the comeback gets cut off as Morrison snaps him back to the mat. He heads back up top, but Punk meets him there and hits a top rope superplex. That leaves both men out and the crowd is way into this match and I can’t same I blame them. The ref starts his ten count, but both men get to their feet and Punk starts firing off kicks and right hands. He gets a close near fall off the leg lariat, and the crowd takes a second to breathe as Punk looks frustrated. He follows up though with the running high knee into the bulldog for two, and again Punk looks crushed at the lack of a 3 count. He puts Morrison into position for a Pedigree (yeah, right!), but Morrison runs Punk into the corner to break. He hits a kick to the face and connects with Starship Pain, but Punk kicks out at two to the delight of the crowd. Now Morrison is flustered and gets caught in position for the GTS, but Morrison slides out and gets a roll-up with the use of the ropes. The ref catches on this time and makes Morrison break (nice call back to the way Morrison retained the title at SummerSlam). Punk gets his own roll-up for a great near fall as the crowd is freaking out over each pin attempt now. Punk gets a step-up enziguiri, but he misses a splash in the corner. However, Morrison misses the flying chuck kick and Punk connects with the GTS to become the new ECW Champion at 13:15. Punk does a great job selling the moment and the whole thing comes off as a big deal.

Winner and New ECW Champion via pin at 13:15: CM Punk
-Great match here with a white hot crowd that was dying to see a new champion crowned. The result was never in doubt to those who knew that Morrison failed a Wellness Test and was about to go on suspension, but didn’t take away from the greatness of the near falls at the end. The reborn ECW produced some very good to great TV matches that I hope get to see the light of day again, and this was one of them. ****

-I’ve already reviewed the next match so we will just cut and paste from my WrestleMania XXIV review. Though I will add in any newer thoughts (yes, I stole the idea from Scott Keith, so credit to him).

Money in the Bank Ladder Match: John Morrison vs. CM Punk vs. Mr. Kennedy vs. Carlito vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. MVP vs. Chris Jericho
WrestleMania XXIV: March 30, 2008

-Only seven men this year because Jeff Hardy fucked up his push by failing the wellness policy. Everyone assumed he was a lock in this match, but his absence opened the door for someone else. This is a pretty good mix with a lot of young guys and Jericho/Benjamin there as the vets to keep things on track. All 6 announcers do commentary for this match since all three brands are represented. I always find that enjoyable for some reason. MVP comes in this match as the US Champ, Morrison is one half of the WWE Tag champs (w/ The Miz), and Jericho is the Intercontinental champion. Well that’s one way to cut down on the number of title matches (though I guess that shows how important winning this match is?). Jericho was actually the creator of this match in WWE cannon. Everyone immediately heads for a ladder except MVP who waits for someone to bring one in for him. Nice! He fends off anyone he tries to enter the ring with the ladder, but he doesn’t see Jericho enter with an even bigger ladder. Morrison tosses a ladder at Jericho and then heads up top with the ladder. In a crazy ass spot he performs a moonsault while holding the ladder from the top rope to the floor and takes out the guys in the match. Damn! Kennedy missed out on Morrison’s crazy shenanigans so he looks to climb, but Jericho blocks. He looks for the walls and opts for a catapult, but that only helps Kennedy climb the ladder. Morrison and Kennedy battle on the ladder and Shelton joins them. That gives us the Tower of Doom spot which is absolutely insane. They pulled that off perfectly as Benjamin hits Kennedy with the sunset flip powerbomb from the ladder while Kennedy suplexes Morrison at the same time. Insane! Benjamin shows off his Spiderman skills, but he gets a little too cocky on a springboard attempt and the ladder buckles under him. Punk starts to climb, but Shelton stops him, and starts to climb himself. Punk pulls him down and takes him out with the GTS. MVP tries the Kawada kick, but it misses and Carlito uses a ladder to take out his other leg. Now Carlito looks to climb, but Shelton is there to keep him from grabbing the case. Now Shelton takes his chance to climb, and as he nears the top Carlito and Kennedy flip him off the ladder and he crashes to the floor through another ladder that was bridged from the ring to the barrier. Holy Shit! They really need to give Benjamin a win in this match some year just because of all the crazy shit he has done in this match over the years (now I just wish they would give him another run with the company). Morrison gets caught in the Walls on top of the ladder in a great spot, but Jericho has to let go off the hold to stop Kennedy. As they fight on top, Punk and Carlito spring in and land on the ladder to knock each of them off the ladder. Jericho makes another go at it and eats a backstabber from Carlito off the ladder. That gets a “This is Awesome” chant from the crowd and I would agree. MVP is now the only man left standing and he heads up but Matt Hardy returns to pop the crowd like crazy and he hits MVP with a Twist of Fate from the top of the ladder. Damn, that is a massive pop for Matt (didn’t lead to much in the long run as Jeff was always the Hardy the WWE wanted to push). He makes his exit and Jericho looks to be in the best shape. He starts tossing around ladders and in a crazy spot Morrison climbs a ladder that was see-sawed into a standing position. Who thinks of this shit? He gets knocked off the ladder and gets crotched on the top rope in impressive fashion. JR mentions Jericho as the creator of this match and as he climbs he gets apple spit in his face from Carlito. He looks to get the win but gets knocked off and lands back first onto another ladder. Nice! Kennedy touches the case, but in a nod to last year, Punk creams him with a ladder shot to the face. Jericho returns and kills Punk with a ladder assisted Code Breaker. He climbs once again, but Punk fights on top with him. They battle over the briefcase and Jericho uses the case to hit Punk in the head. Punk pulls Jericho’s legs through the ladder leaving him hanging upside down and that gives Punk the chance to retrieve the case at 13:57.

Winner: CM Punk via briefcase retrieval at 13:57
-This match is becoming really hard to screw up, and is becoming a sure thing at WrestleMania. These seven men delivered as expected. While this was a little shorter than previous versions, there were more than enough crazy spots and bumps to make this a worthy match in the MITB series. Benjamin and Morrison win the award for crazy ass behavior in a losing effort. Punk winning was a great moment for those who were worried he would never get a chance to shine in the WWE (I think he squashed all those fears). **** (I bumped up the original rating)

-Funny that the first 2 big moments in Punk’s WWE run came because 2 other guys got popped for Wellness. Though Punk took advantage of the opportunity and ran with it. Remember Austin was the second choice for King of the Ring after HHH fucked up his chance, so it doesn’t matter how you get there, but what you do after you get there.

World Tag Titles: Cody Rhodes © and Ted Dibiase © (w/ Manu) vs. CM Punk and Kofi Kingston
RAW: October 27, 2008

-As mentioned in the documentary, Punk had dropped the title a month earlier (without being in a match), and when they had no clue what to do with him, they paired him up with Kofi as a tag team. Cody and Kofi start out for their respective teams, and Kofi gets a monkey flip before making a tag to Punk. The challengers show off some nice combo moves that leads to a Punk two count. Cody makes the tag to Dibiase and he immediately gets grounded with a facelock. He tries to break, but gets kicked for his troubles. He finally gets an advantage on Punk, but a blind charge leads to Punk getting a crossbody from the middle rope and then a dropkick. Cody tries to make the save, but Kofi takes him out with a dropkick and the champs bail to the floor. Punk gets backdropped by Kofi into a crossbody onto the champs on the floor which pops the crowd. That leads us to a commercial break, but again this we get the exclusive footage of what happens during the break. Again we don’t get much other than the champs stalling on the floor as the crowd takes turns chanting for Punk and Kofi. Dibiase heads back in the ring and Punk stays in control with some more kicks. He sets too early on a backdrop however and gets kicked in the face. The tag is made to Cody and Punk is your future WWE 13 cover boy in peril. The champs give Punk a high quality as kicking as they make frequent tags and basically cut off one half of the ring. We are still in the commercial break and I am kind of enjoying the lack of commentary as you get to hear more of the crowd, ref, and wrestlers in the ring. Cody works on Punk’s arm as the commentary picks back up after the break. A knee to the back of the head gets a two count for Cody. He gets a little cocky though and nearly gets caught with a GTS, but he is able to escape. Again he stalls too much and that leads to Punk making the hot tag, and he dominates Cody. He looks to head up, but Dibiase cuts him off, and leaves him lying on the floor. Kofi gets rammed back first into the security wall, and now Kofi is playing the face in peril role. So, I guess since it was during the commercial break, Punk really wasn’t a true face in peril. Dibiase heads back in off a tag, and he distracts the ref as much as possible so Cody can get some cheap shots in from the apron. I approve of these heel shenanigans! The beat down continues though Kofi shows a brief spark here, and there, but quickly gets cut down each time. He does get a fluke small package for two, but he has nothing left to follow up at this point. Once again Cody gets too cocky as talks trash to Punk which leads to Kofi getting a heads scissor and then making the hot tag. Punk goes crazy with chops and kicks to take control on both Dibiase and Rhodes. Kofi comes flying back in the picture and takes Cody to the floor. That leaves Punk alone with Dibiase, and Punk holds onto the top rope to counter an attack and a GTS follows to crown new Tag Champions at 12:34.

Winners and New World Tag Champions: CM Punk and Kofi Kingston via Punk pin on Dibiase at 12:34
-Solid tag formula match here with a hot crowd that never once got boring. Kofi and Punk were a fun team even if it didn’t last all that long. **1/2

Intercontinental Title: No DQ: William Regal © (w/ Layla) vs. CM Punk
RAW: January 19, 2009

-This match is taking place in Punk’s hometown and in the same arena as WrestleMania 22, and Money in the Bank 2011. Being as such, Punk is hugely over and even comes down to the ring draped in a Chicago flag to really hammer home the point. This is the go home show for the Royal Rumble so that means this is the show where Orton landed the punt kick of death on Vince McMahon in a great moment. We get a brief video recap of Punk fighting Regal for the past 2 RAWs trying to win the title, and in each case either having Regal get disqualified, or Punk himself getting disqualified. That is the reason for the no DQ stipulation here, which makes great sense, and is cool to see something build like that. They immediately head to the floor, and shit gets stiff early as Punk kicks the piss out of Regal. Oh, this should be a lot of fun. They head back in the ring and some more stiff kicks as Regal sells the hell out of them. Regal gets caught in a cross armbreaker, as Cole throws to a commercial, but again, we get to see everything. Have I said how much I appreciate this feature? Regal gets to the ropes, but Punk laughs at the fact that he doesn’t have to break with this being a no DQ match. Regal rolls to the floor however, and stupidly Punk gives chase and gets caught coming back into the ring. Regal tries to stomp the tattoos off Punk for fun, and he crowd is less than pleased, but I think that just makes Regal hit Punk even harder. Regal uses his shin to choke Punk, and makes sure to use the middle rope for leverage. Thankfully the ref doesn’t make him break this time as it is no DQ. A vicious kick to the back of the head sets up a knee drop to the bridge of the nose as Punk is getting his ass handed to him. Regal backs Punk into the corner and fires off some heavy European uppercuts, and part of me thinks Punk is rather enjoying having Regal beat the hell out of him as weird as that sounds. Regal charges into the opposite corner, but Punk catches him with a sort of Tarantula, and again, Punk doesn’t have to break. Layla then distracts Punk to cause the break, and as Punk gives chase, Regal blasts him from behind. Punk gets his head placed against the ring post, and Regal kicks away in a rather painful looking spot. They head back in the ring where Regal gets a two count, and then locks Punk in a full nelson. Punk escapes with some elbows, and fires up with some kicks and chops, but Regal blocks a head kick. He charges in at Punk and ends up getting his head kicked in for two. The running knee follows, but Regal counters the bulldog with a nasty looking suplex that dumped Punk right on his head. Sweet! The slow motion replay shows how awesome that suplex was, and how it must have sucked for Punk to land that way. They right in top and Regal fires off some wicked headbutt as he has a huge smile across his face. Punk fights off, but misses a crossbody from the top rope. Regal charges again, but Punk ducks a kick and catches Regal in position for the GTS. Regal fires off some elbows to try to escape, but Punk sucks it up since he is a fucking man and he delivers the GTS to get the pin and Intercontinental Title at 9:57.

Winner and New Intercontinental Champion: CM Punk via pin at 9:57
-I enjoyed these two beating the hell out of each other, and I bet they enjoyed it as well. You could see at various moments that each man was having a blast out there with a hot crowd, and with an opponent that didn’t mind a physical match. ***

The 411: The Documentary is awesome, and I would rank it right up there with the Rise and Fall of ECW one. One more disc to go to finish off what so far is a top notch set.
Final Score:  9.5   [  Amazing ]