The ESSENTIALS: CM Punk: The Road to becoming the Best in the World

Welcome to a very unique edition of The ESSENTIALS. Pound for pound, CM Punk is the best professional wrestler in the WWE today. He may not be the technical mastermind that Daniel Bryan is, or the consummate performer that Chris Jericho is, or even the master psychologist that Triple H has become, but when it comes to a combination of all these traits, there is no one better.  So how did some punk kid from Chicago go on to become the most well rounded athlete in the sport today? Find out after the jump!







The Mid 90s: The backyard wrestler finds his passion

A skinny kid meets his idol

CM Punk was born in Lockport, Illinois, but spent most of his life in Chicago and like many wrestlers he was a big pro wrestling fan from an early age, being particularly inspired by Roddy Piper hitting Jimmy Snuka on the head with a coconut on Piper’s Pit. He follows what is known as a “straight edge” lifestyle, which means he doesn’t drink alcohol, smoke or take any form of drugs, although he’s a self proclaimed Pepsi addict, which is reflected in one of his tattoos among others, such as “Straight Edge” on his stomach and “Drug Free” on his knuckles. He also has a homage to the late Chris Candido on his left hand reading “No Gimmicks Needed.” One of the main reasons he opted to live a clean life was because his father was an alcoholic and at high school he got in to the Hardcore Punk following, of which the band Minor Threat Preached the Straight Edge lifestyle. Thus ultimately led to his name being “Punk,” and because he looked like just some tattooed Punk you might see walking down the street.

He was raised by both parents despite strong tension from his father’s drinking problems and has two sisters and a brother. Similar to the Hardys and OMEGA, CM Punk was such a big fan of wrestling that he took his passion to the backyard and began his own wrestling promotion Lunatic Wrestling Federation (LWF) with his brother Mike (ring name Mike Broox) among others. This eventually grew in to a garbage Indy promotion that ran out of a warehouse in Mokena, IL and the group did local spot shows, showcasing local talent and friends, although Punk has later called it “god awful.” This is where he officially got his name CM Punk, wrestling in the tag team the Chick Magnets with CM Venom and it’s amazingly stuck ever since, even in the WWE. Punk often makes light of his name saying it means Charles Montgomery, Charles Manson or Crooked Moonsault.

CM Punk was by far the most determined and professional out of the LWF roster and was devastated when he found out his brother Mike Broox was pocketing the money they’d worked hard to put in and and make with the small company. It is believed Mike embezzled thousands of dollars from the promotion and Punk, leading to a big fallout between the two. Mike hasn’t wrestled since.
After high school he rented an apartment with aspiring women’s wrestler Allison Danger (of SHIMMER fame), of whom he became romantically involved with and decided that he needed to get professionally trained to make it in the wrestling business, so he sort out a nearby training school called “Steel Domain,” ran be Indy standout Ace Steel and his tag partner Danny Dominion. He was also trained by Kevin Quinn at the school. Here he learned the basics and how to wrestle properly and safely, before hitting the independent scene and ultimately making a name for himself in ROH.





2000-2004: An indy star is born

Anyone could tell right away there was something different about Punk

CM Punk had his proper professional debut in 1999, for Steel Domain Wrestling, an offshoot of the training school and this is where he developed a strong friendship with Scott “Colt Cabana” Coltman, aka Scotty Goldman. He would wrestle small Indys, often facing different combinations of his mentors and training partners, which led to his first real gimmick as part of the Goonies or the Good Squad depending on who you ask, which was a faction of rookies that wore stained jeans, scraggy vests and ladies tights over their heads.  He soon surpassed that stable and started an early heel rendition of his straight edge gimmick, where he acted better than everyone else because he was clean (he’d use this numerous times through his career with great success, to the point of fans throwing beer at him).

Punk's dark charisma was beginning to catch on

He soon became a standout in St. Paul Championship Wrestling and Mid-American Wrestling, having an early feud with future NWA Champion Adam Pearce. He eventually lost a loser leaves town match to Pearce in MAW, but returned a year later to win the heavyweight title. Simultaneously he emerged in IWA: Mid-South where he really began to shine as a solid Indy worker.  Just a few months later he hit the main event ranks of the promotion and beat Chris Hero for the Heavyweight title. The pair had what was considered a standout feud on the Indy level, wrestling an hour long TLC match and an incredible 93 minute 2 out of 3 falls match respectively. He also had several matches with friend Colt Cabana. Punk began to develop some great promo talent during this run.

A match CM Punk will never forget came when he crossed paths with the late legendary Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio in March 2002, who were both tearing up the Indy scene on road to the WWE – Eddie looking to re-sign after drug problems and Rey still trying to get signed after WCW went under. The trio had a great Triple Threat match which saw Eddie win CM Punk’s IWA:MS Heavyweight title. Punk would win it back a day later as Eddie couldn’t be a main stay in the promotion. He would become a 4 time champion during this run and would win it for a fifth time later in his career.

Brutality would inevitably follow Punk the rest of his career

CM Punk really began to reach the top echelons of independent wrestling when he moved up to the two second tier promotions in the US, ROH and TNA. He made his ROH start by feuding with Raven and winning a contract match over Colt Cabana. He faced Raven in various hardcore style matches including a bloody dog collar match that would go on to become one of the most infamous matches of his career.

A five star feud

Still, the defining moment of his ROH run came when he fought in a highly acclaimed best of 3 series with future TNA Heavyweight champion Samoa Joe. The two wrestled twice to 60 minute time limit draws until Joe beat Punk in the third match with no time limit as a stipulation. The second bout was universally hailed as a 5 star match among those that like to rate wrestling on the star scale (including Dave Meltzer).  It was also this series of matches that caught the eye of agents at the WWE who then proceeded to scout the up and coming superstar eventually offering him a contract.




2005: The Summer of Punk Part One

Arguably, the best champion in the company's history

He continued to work ROH matches even after it was announced in June that he had been offered a deal with WWE. In fact on June 18th, 2005 he defeated Austin Aries for the ROH World title and turned heel, teasing how he was going to take the ROH title to WWE and actually signed his WWE development contract on top of the belt, which pissed off the fans. Mick Foley was making appearances with ROH at the time and cut several promos trying to convince CM Punk to do what was right and defend the title before he left the company and in the end he lost the belt to James Gibson (aka Jamie Noble) in a four corner elimination match consisting of himself, Gibson, Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels. He turned face again over the course of the match and was given the Japanese style of appreciation with streamers, whilst crying in the ring. His final night with ROH saw him fight an emotional match with long time friend Colt Cabana.

Punk's influence on ROH is still felt to this day

2006-2008: The "King of the Indies" hits the BIG STAGE

Punk brought a bit more interest to a fledgling championship

After months of mastering the "WWE style" in OVW, Punk endured what may be overall the darkest period of his career. 

At least there were SOME bright moments

He would have a few memorable matches, but not much was done by the office to build the kind of interest that CM Punk deserved.  Punk has even gone on record saying that he was thought of as a joke throughout most of this period and similar to Ric Flair in 1992, Punk was thought of as a big fish from a smaller pond.  Still, he at least manage to capture the ECW Championship, adding another belt to his already admirable resume.


2008-2009: Mr. Money In The Bank

Indeed a slap to the face to those who doubted him

After two years of floundering on the mid-card, Punk was finally given his first chance to shine. At Wrestlemania XXIV, he defeated MVP, Chris Jericho, Shelton Benjamin, Mr. Kennedy, Carlito and John Morrison to win his first Money In The Bank contract.  Soon after, he would cash in on a battered Edge to win his first World Heavyweight Championship.  He would have a fairly decent reign lasting nearly four months until it was cut short by Randy Orton who took Punk out with a Punt Kick to the skull.  Things would get better for Punk on the January 19, 2009 episode of Monday Night Raw, where after a stiff battle with William Regal, he would capture his first Intercontinental Championship and become the Nineteenth Triple Crown Champion.  This victory also shattered Kevin Nash's old record of being the fastest competitor to win the Triple Crown.  A few months later at Wrestlemania XXV, Punk would again set another record, becoming the first ever back to back Money In The Bank winner.  This reign would go on to become much more significant than his first one, as it resulted in a heated rivalry with the white-hot Jeff Hardy.  To date, this is arguably the best feud of Punk's WWE career.  It was also in this rivalry that the WWE Universe stared to notice just how special Punk really is.  Being that Punk was straight edge, he was the perfect foil for a drug addled rockstar like Hardy.  Upon seeing Punk's brilliant mic work with his new self righteous attitude, the powers that be in the WWE decided to take things a step further.

The Jeff Hardy feud was the first time Punk truly shined in the WWE

2009-2010: The Cult of Personality

Even though he was less successful, "the messiah" was Punk's most genius persona

Creatively, CM Punk is the greatest mind of his generation.  Perhaps there is no better example of his ability to make anything work then his revolving stables.  He was masterful as the "straight edge messiah", a Jesus-like gimmick that saw him form the Straight Edge Society.  Punk would initiate his followers by having them "cleanse" themselves by shaving their heads and swearing their allegiance to him.  In my opinion, it was the greatest thing since sliced bread at the time.  Unfortunately, someone in the office must have been down on the idea, because the group could have been so much more.  Punk would run into a similar wall as the offbeat leader of The Nexus.  Again taking a group of misfits and making them seem like the best thing going.  Sadly, things would turn out even worse, with Randy Orton decimating the stable without any help and then making pretty easy work of Punk in the beginning of 2011.  Perhaps, this is the root of Punk's major frustrations, leading him to consider leaving the WWE and inadvertently, finding his niche in the company.

CM Punk was fed up, and EVERYONE would soon find out

2011: The Summer of Punk Part Deux

After years of scratching and clawing, Punk would explode on national TV

In June 2011, the landscape of pro wrestling would change for good.  CM Punk had all but given up on his dream of becoming a WWE superstar and his attitude could pretty much be summed up in two words "fuck it".  His contract was set to expire at the Money In The Bank PPV and how ironic, given that MITB ladder matches were piratically his claim to fame.  Due to his frustration with his place in the company, every emotion in Punk's body would eventually cause him to implode.  Fortunately for us, this moment did not happen backstage, however in the final moments of a now infamous episode of Monday Night Raw.  Punk would become the hottest commodity in the business and his feud with the company itself would become the stuff of legend.  It will go down as one of the most memorable moments in WWE history, as well as his undisputed five star match of the year with John Cena in July. 

Punk's long journey would culminate in him winning the ultimate prize.....respect

After winning the WWE Championship, Punk was the biggest superstar in the WWE.  His journey to the top was one of the longest and most storied in the history of the business and it's undeniable that the current "best in the world" is truly deserving of that moniker.  Punk deserves the title due to the fact that he's the most consistently entertaining persona in the company and has single handily resurrected the prestige of the WWE Championship.  Similar to Bret Hart (one of Punk's biggest fans), he almost always deliveres the match of the night and he respects the legacy of the title.  As champion, he would also go on to change the tide of the company, opening the eyes of management and the doors for other young and talented superstars like Daniel Bryan, Zack Ryder, Cody Rhodes, Beth Phoenix, Dolph Ziggler and Kofi Kingston.  He has now become the voice of his generation and the leader of the current wave of exciting and hungry WWE superstars.  I'm proud and honored to say I got to come along for the ride and look forward to watching him continue to evolve and inspire with his unrivaled talent.





Ladies and Marks I give you CM Punk, THE BEST IN THE WORLD!

-9