Werstling

CM Punk is one of the few independent wrestling legends who has actually been given a decent chance in the WWE.


The Beginning

CM Punk was born on October 26, 1978 in Chicago, Illinois. His birth name is Phil Brooks.

He grew up as a wrestling fan, participating in backyard matches for Lunatic Wrestling Federation with his friends. While they wrestled for fun, CM Punk was determined to become a professional some day.

CM Punk would begin his training at the Steel Domain wrestling school, where he would eventually surpass his trainer by being called up to the WWE first.

America's Most Wanted

After making his name on the independent scene, CM Punk was able to generate interests from both ROH (Ring of Honor) and TNA (Total Nonstop Action).

Rising Through ROH

While he was struggling in TNA, CM Punk was thriving in ROH.

CM Punk came in 2nd in a tournament to crown the first ROH Pure Champion (AJ Styles ended up winning the tournament). CM Punk and Colt Cabana had a pretty good feud against the Briscoe Brothers, winning the ROH Tag Team Championship twice from them. He also become the company's first ever head training for their wrestling school.

TNA Departure

A real life fight with Teddy Hart and a rift between TNA and ROH (due to ROH founder Rob Feinstein being charged with soliciting sex from an underage boy) caused CM Punk to leave TNA and become a full time ROH performer.

Classic Feud With Samoa Joe

CM Punk and Samoa Joe had a classic three match series over the ROH World Heavyweight Championship, which helped him catch the attention of the WWE.

Their first two matches went to a 60 minute time limit draw, with the second match earning the highly coveted five star rating (very few North American matches ever receive such an award). Their third match ended with Samoa Joe winning a match without a time limit.

Farewell Tour of ROH

After accepting the developmental deal with the WWE, CM Punk continued working for ROH. He won the ROH World Heavyweight Championship soon after.

It was here where CM Punk had some classic moments after a heel turn. His character threatened to take the ROH World Heavyweight Championship to the WWE with him. There was a brilliant segment where CM Punk signed his WWE contract on top of the ROH title belt.

Hardcore legend Mick Foley made an appearance in ROH to convince CM Punk to do the right thing and defend the ROH World Heavyweight Championship on his way out.

Ohio Valley Wrestling

As with most wrestlers who sign developmental deals with the WWE, CM Punk was assigned to OVW (Ohio Valley Wreslting). He suffered an injury in his debut match, but would recover to win the OVW Television Championship (from Kenny Dykstra).

When OVW Heavyweight Champion Matt Cappotelli was forced to vacate the title due to a brain tumor, a tournament was set up to determine a new champion. CM Punk and Brent Albright both made it to the finals, but it wasn't meant to be for CM Punk yet.

It wasn't until May of 2006 that CM Punk would win the OVW Heavyweight Championship. He would then go on to successfully defend the title against the Miz, Mr Kennedy, and Cryme Tyme's Shad.

Prior to leaving OVW for ECW, CM Punk became the second ever OVW Triple Crown Champion (OVW Southern Television Championship, OVW Southern Tag Team Championship, and OVW Heavyweight Championship).

ECW

CM Punk made his debut for ECW in June of 2006. He was booked pretty strongly at the beginning and his popularity soared. CM Punk was chosen to participate in a Survivor Series tag team match with four of the WWE's most popular stars (HHH, HBK, and the Hardys). He was also selected to wrestle in an Elimination Chamber match for the ECW Heavyweight Championship.

New Breed

ECW was generating a lot of interest thanks to their storyline featuring a war between the New Breed (Marcus Cor Von, Elijah Burke, Kevin Thorn, and Matt Stryker) and the ECW Originals (Sandman, Tommy Dreamer, Sabu, and Rob Van Dam).

A great side story at the time was where the fans were left wondering which side CM Punk would choose to join.

He initially joined the New Breed, but it ended up being a swerve. During a tag team match, CM Punk officially left the New Breed after kicking his partner Elijah Burke in the back of the head and leaving him.

ECW Heavyweight Championship

CM Punk chased John Morrison for the ECW Heavyweight Championship for a few month. He was unsuccessful until the writers decided to take the belt off of the champion for being implicated in a federal drug probe.

Fans finally got to see the belt on a champion they approve of.

Closing Thoughts

If his popularity continues to soar like it has, CM Punk should be able to force management to make him a big star on either Smackdown on Raw.

It'll be interesting to see if anything can prevent him from winning either of the world titles.

Smackdown
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TNA
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Finlay

Prior to making his debut in the WWE, CM Punk spent some time being trained by Finlay, William Regal, and Dave Taylor.


Raven

While working in TNA, CM Punk and Mickie James were members of a stable that was led by Raven. The stable was called "The Gathering".