Views from the Hawke’s Nest: CM Punk – Icon – Disc 2

 

Trios Tournament
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
March 5, 2005

CM Punk, Colt Cabana, & Steve Corino vs. The Embassy Jimmy Rave, Oman Tortuga & The Weapon Of Mask Destruction #3) (w/Prince Nana)

Punk was cut off early and then worked over. Corino made a hot tag. The match broke down quickly. Punk concentrated on going after Rave. He managed to catch Weapon of Mass Destruction #3 with the Anaconda Vice, and the masked man submitted.

This was a brief middle chapter in the Rave/Punk feud. It was effective in giving Punk a win and letting Punk get his hands on Rave without actually defeating him.

Match Rating: *

 

Best of the American Super Juniors Tournament
Asbury Park, New Jersey
April 2, 2005

The Second City Saints (CM Punk & Colt Cabana) (w/ Davey Andrews) vs. The Embassy (Jimmy Rave & Eddie Vegas (w/ Prince Nana & Oman Tortuga) [No DQ Match]

Tortuga freely interfered early on. Andrews then did the same. The match was missing energy. The brawl spilled into the crowd. They spent a long time there. Punk was focused on doing as much damage to Rave as possible. Rave got control by the time the two of them ended up in the ring again. Colt wiped out everyone else with an Asai Moonsault. Punk and Rave went at it again, as everyone else brawled to the back. Jade Chung went after Punk. Punk stopped her, but that allowed Nana to hit him with the air freshener can: 1…2…3

This was okay. It was a slightly longer middle chapter in the Punk/Rave story, but it didn’t have the energy or intensity that their matches would have later on.

Match Rating: **1/2

 

Stalemate
Dorchestor, Massachusetts
April 16, 2005

CM Punk (w/ Bobby Heenan) vs. Mike Kruel (w/ The Embassy)

What the fuck is a Mike Kruel?

Kruel had control at first, but Punk made a comeback. Nana tried to interfere. Heenan stopped it. Punk caught Kruel with an O’Connor Roll: 1…2…3

Heenan cut a promo after the match that I unfortunately could not understand at all. Jimmy Rave, who was supposedly out due to an elephant-riding incident, showed up and attacked Punk after the match. The brawl spilled into the crowd. The were brawling so long that they eventually ended up in the ringside area again. Wow, this was boring. The Embassy eventually returned and played the numbers game with Punk. They choked him with a chain. Some babyfaces eventually made the save. Punk then cut a promo on Rave and Nana.

This was a fairly uninspired chapter in the Punk/Rave story.

Match Rating: *

 

Manhattan Mayhem
New York City, New York
May 7, 2005

CM Punk vs. Jimmy Rave (w/ The Embassy) [Dog Collar]

Rave attacked Punk before the collar was attacked. Punk fought back as soon as the chain was attached. Rave got control, and he busted Punk’s forehead open. Rave used the chain to work Punk over for a while. Punk made a comeback after hitting a Shining Wizard. Rave came back and used the chain for a crossface. Rave used the chain to give Punk a low blow after Nana tried to interfere. The Embassy tried to interfere, but they kept failing at life. All that interference though allowed Rave to hit Punk with a chair multiple times: 1…2…3

Colt Cabana led some babyfaces to the ring to make the save after the match. It apparently took Punk over fifteen minutes to recover enough to get to the back. Once Punk got backstage, he could barely do anything but laugh. Punk cuts a dynamite promo to set up their cage match.

I’ve always really enjoyed this one. Despite Punk not having the personality of a babyface, he always managed to wrestle really well as one. He proved that in much of the Jimmy Rave feud. I loved how overbooked this was, as it really told the story of the feud quite well without taking away from any of the intensity or hatred in the feud.

Match Rating: ***3/4

 

The Final Showdown
Dayton, Ohio
May 13, 2005

Jimmy Jacobs & BJ Whitmer(c) vs. The Second City Saints (CM Punk & Ace Steel) [ROH World Tag Team Championships]

The challengers managed to isolate Jacobs, and they worked him over for a bit. BJ eventually made a hot tag. This is such a nothing match. The Saints came back pretty much right away. Punk got BJ in the Vice, but Jacobs made the save. before hitting Steel with a tope suicida. Despite just tagging out, BJ gets a nearfall on Punk with an exploder. Jacobs and Whitmer then finished Punk with a Doomsday Hurricanrana.

While not exactly bad, I thought this was no good. There was just nothing…there. No energy. No passion. It was perfunctory. Move on, nothing to see here.

Match Rating: **

 

Nowhere to Run
Chicago Ridge, Illinois
May 15, 2005

CM Punk vs. Jimmy Rave (w/ The Embassy) [Steel Cage]

I saw this match once and loved it. I hope it lives up to my memory of it.

Punk dominated him early on. He had the opportunity to escape, but he instead just asked for a chair. Rave was already a bloody mess. He another opportunity to escape. It wasn’t clear if he would take it, but Prince Nana threw powder in his eyes before he got to make a decision. Rave then destroyed Punk for a bit. Punk fought back, and they ended up trading punches. Rave applied the crossface with a shoelace. Punk survived and fought back. Jade Chung had to enter the cage to stop Punk from climbing out at one point. Rave accidentally speared Chung. Rave then hit the Styles Clash on Punk though. Punk recovered in time to stop Rave from escaping. Rave avoided the Frankensteiner, and Punk then avoided the super Styles Clash. Rave hit a diving Wizard, but Punk kicked out. Punk choked him with a shoelace. Nana entered the ring, but Punk kicked him in the head. Punk beat Nana up, which almost allowed Rave to escape. Punk caught him and gave him a super-duperplex: 1…2…3

This was a very fitting end to one of my favorite feuds in ROH history. In the grand scheme of CM Punk’s wrestling career, this Jimmy Rave feud was not all that important. Punk was already a ROH main eventer, and he already reached a level of artistic quality that few wrestlers can say they reached. This was just so well-executed though, and it’s one of the few feuds I can go back and watch and appreciate how it slowly builds until the feud’s conclusion.

Rave simultaneously stepped up to the plate for this feud while also looking overmatched at times. That kind of perfectly fit his character though, and it didn’t really detract from the matches. I don’t think Rave ever topped this effort in his career, but years and years later he would become way better at being able to just go out there and have good matches.

Match Rating: ****

 

The Future is Now
New York City, New York
June 12, 2005

CM Punk vs. Roderick Strong

Punk got control early on. He went after Roddy’s left arm. Roddy fought back, and they ended up trading chops. Roddy eventually cut him off and went after his back. This went on for a very long time. Punk fought back, and they did another chop exchange. Punk was in control again, but he couldn’t put Roddy away. There was a great sequence: urinagi backbreaker reversed into a crucifix bomb position reversed into a gutbuster. Roddy was in control again after that. LIONTAMER from Roddy. Punk fought back and hit a guillotine legdrop. Punk eventually caught him with a Wizard and then transitioned into the Anaconda Vice to pick up the immediate submission victory.

Punk cut a big “go-home” promo for his world title match the next weekend against Austin Aries. This was brilliant. You can honestly see Punk foreshadow his heel turn after he wins.

The match itself wasn’t all that interesting. It’s worth getting through though just for the post-match promo.

Match Rating: **1/2

 

Unscripted
Long Island, New York
February 11, 2006

CM Punk shows up. The story here was that a bunch of TNA talent got pulled from the show. Punk being booked was ROH’s way of making up for it. His return doesn’t really get the reaction you would think. He cuts a promo teasing some of the rumored problems he had been having in OVW. Adam Pearce runs in to attack him. Colt Cabana makes the save. Prince Nana laughs. Punk laughs it off and then tries to talk some sense into Colt regarding the Homicide feud. He talks about Colt not being the same guy. Colt basically tells him to mind his own business. Punk got over that and makes a vague open challenge for later in the show.

We later see Punk attacking Jimmy Rave. Bryan Danielson was down in the ring. Not sure of the context. Adam Pearce makes the save. CM Punk tried to play the role of Teddy Long. Danielson seemed hesitant to give anyone what they want, but he eventually talked himself into it.

 

CM Punk & Bryan Danielson vs. Adam Pearce & Jimmy Rave (w/ Prince Nana)

Punk and Bryan were dominating the early portion of the match. The heels eventually cut off Bryan and then worked him over for a while. Pearce and Rave being in this spot is weird. It would be like having The Rock and John Cena work a tag match against The Miz & R-Truth in the main event of a PPV. Bryan eventually escaped, and Punk made a hot tag. Punk hit a tope suicida. Bryan did his dive into the crowd. The heels fought back and had the advantage on Punk. Punk avoided the pedigree from Rave and then applied the Vice. Bryan got Pearce in the Cattle Mutilation, but both men reached the ropes. The heels fought back again. Punk went for a diving hurricanrana on Pearce, but it did not look good in the slightest. There was some more action. Punk eventually made Rave tap out to the Anaconda Vice.

Bryan put over Punk a lot after the match and then buried the WWE. Punk then got on the mic. He messed around with a fan. I think he was being ironically homophobic with one of the jokes, but you can never tell.

We then saw Punk make a snow angel outside the building. And that was Punk’s final independent wrestling match.

The match was just good enough to justify its existence. It didn’t feel particularly special though. That’s a shame because Punk leaving WWE developmental for a day to work this match is pretty cool in theory.

Match Rating: ***

 

Watch CM Punk matches for free!

CM Punk vs. Eddy Guerrero vs. Rey Misterio, Jr.

CM Punk vs. Masato Tanaka

CM Punk vs. Chris Hero (TLC match – 50+ minutes long!)

CM Punk vs. Chris Hero (Over NINETY minutes long)

CM Punk vs. John Cena

CM Punk vs. AJ Styles

CM Punk vs. The Undertaker

CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho

CM Punk vs. Colt Cabana

CM Punk vs. Chris Hero

CM Punk vs. Sheamus

CM Punk vs. Batista

CM Punk vs. Spanky

CM Punk vs. Chris Candido vs. Tracy Smothers

CM Punk, Matt Sydal, Ace Steel, & Danny Daniels vs. Chris Candido, Nigel McGuinness, Claudio Castagnoli, & Steve Stone

CM Punk vs. Homicide

CM Punk vs. Jimmy Rave

CM Punk vs. Justin Credible

CM Punk vs. Elijah Burke

CM Punk vs. Ace Steel

CM Punk in a Wargames Match

CM Punk & Legacy vs. The Undertaker, John Cena, & DX

CM Punk vs. Sheamus vs. Randy Orton vs. The Big Show

CM Punk & Dolph Ziggler vs. John Cena & Ryback

CM Punk, Luke Gallows, & Joseph Mercury vs. The Big Show

7.5

The final score: review Good

The 411

Punk's final few months in Ring of Honor were fascinating to relive. The highlight is obviously the feud with Jimmy Rave that gradually got hotter and hotter until the great steel cage blowoff. As a personality, Punk was always more natural as a heel. He's just naturally unlikable. In the ring though, he's a phenomenal babyface. That was on full display in the Jimmy Rave feud. The set overall is not must-see in the slightest, but it's worth watching if you're a fan of CM Punk.