CM Punk
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Phil Brooks | |
|---|---|
| Statistics | |
| Ring name(s) | CM Punk |
Phillip (Phil) Brooks<ref name"philbrooks">Lagatolla, Al (2001-05-29). CM PUNK... part 6. Retrieved on 26 September, 2006.</ref> (born October 26, 1978), known professionally by his ring name CM Punk, is an American professional wrestler who currently works for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in its Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) brand. Before debuting in ECW, he was best known for his work on the independent circuit, especially as a member of the Ring of Honor (ROH) roster where he was a former ROH World Champion, head trainer of the wrestling school, and was considered to be one of the three icons of ROH (along with Samoa Joe and Homicide).<ref name="cruise">Originally a journal entry by Bobby Cruise for Ring of Honor available at ROHwrestling.com but the website has undergone a large maintenance and the journal entry was lost in the process. The relevant text was "I have heard people refer to ROH having three icons in Punk, Samoa Joe and Homicide. You could not have someone say Ring of Honor and not think of those three guys. Now, one of those icons is gone."</ref> His professional wrestling gimmick is that of a follower of "straight edge", a culture which he follows in real life<ref name="punkshoot">CM Punk. (November 2003). Shoot with CM Punk [DVD]. RF Video. </ref> and utilizes different aspects of depending on his alignment.
Contents |
[edit] Career
[edit] Early career
Punk was born in Chicago, Illinois and first wanted to be a professional wrestler after witnessing Roddy Piper crack a coconut over Jimmy Snuka's head during an edition of the Piper's Pit.<ref name="punkshoot" /><ref name="punkcabana">CM Punk; Colt Cabana. (July 1, 2005). Straight Shootin' with CM Punk & Colt Cabana [DVD]. Ring of Honor. </ref> His first venture into wrestling was a stint in a backyard wrestling federation called the "Lunatic Wrestling Federation" with his friends in the mid-late 1990s where he first started using the name CM Punk as part of the tag team the Chick Magnets along with CM Venom,<ref name="punkshoot" /><ref name="chickmagnets">Lagattolla, Al (2001-12-17). CM Venom Interview. Chicago Wrestling. Retrieved on 26 September, 2006.</ref> when another performer skipped out on the card[1]. He would later change that CM stood for Chick Magnet and instead portrayed the initials as having no meaning by giving different answers when asked, including "Cookie Monster", "Crooked Moonsault", "C. Montgomery Burns", "Charles Manson", and his "real name", "Chuck Mosley".<ref name="cagematchde">Cagematch.de. Datenbank Profil - CM Punk (German). Retrieved on September 26, 2006.</ref>. After leaving the federation because unlike his friends Punk genuinely wanted to be a wrestler and saw it as more than simple fun<ref name="punkshoot" /> Punk enrolled as a student at the "Steel Domain" wrestling school in Minnesota,<ref name="doi">Gjoni, John. Spotlight on CM Punk. In the Spotlight. Declaration of Independents. Retrieved on 30 September, 2006.</ref> where he was trained by Ace Steel, Danny Dominion and Kevin Quinn to become a professional wrestler and as part of the training wrestled at St. Paul's Steel Domain Wrestling.<ref name="punkshoot" /><ref name="wojick">Wojick, Alan (2003-06-21). Wojick Interview. The Wrestling Clothesline. Retrieved on 26 September, 2006.</ref> It was in the Steel Domain that he met Scott Colton,<ref name="punkcabana" /><ref name="joepunk">CM Punk; Samoa Joe. (March 10, 2005). Straight Shootin' with Samoa Joe & CM Punk [DVD]. Ring of Honor. </ref> who later adopted the stage name Colt Cabana. Brooks befriended Colton and spent most of the time working in the same independent promotions with Colton, as opponents or allies.<ref name="punkcabana" /> In the independents Punk, along with fellow Steel Domain graduates Colt Cabana, Chuckie Smoothe, Adam Pearce and manager Dave Prazak, formed a professional wrestling stable named the Gold Bond Mafia.<ref name="punkcabana" /><ref name="beauty">Thomas, Leon (2004-11-27). Beauty in Wrestling: Tribute to CM Punk. Rajah. Retrieved on 26 September, 2006.</ref>
Punk's home promotion for his early career is usually considered to be Independent Wrestling Association: Mid-South (IWA:Mid-South). During Punk's time in IWA:Mid-South he had high profile feuds with his friend Colt Cabana and Chris Hero and rose to the top of the roster winning the IWA Mid-South Light-Heavyweight Championship twice and the IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Championship on five separate occasions. Notably his feud with Hero included a 56-minute TLC match, a 93-minute two out of three falls match and several 60-minute draws.<ref name="punkshoot" /><ref name="wojick" /><ref name="joepunk" /> Punk's matches with Cabana led him to getting a job in Ring of Honor.<ref name="wojick" /> During his time in IWA:Mid-South he would also meet, wrestle against and become a friend of Eddie Guerrero.<ref name="punkshoot" /><ref name="wojick" /> From February 2003 until May 2004 Punk refused to wrestle for IWA:Mid-South, which Punk claims was in protest to Ian Rotten's treatment of Chris Hero<ref name="punkshoot" /><ref name="beauty" /> however Hero has stated he believes there were other reasons and Rotten's treatment of him was just an excuse by Punk to stop working for the company,<ref name="heroshoot">Chris Hero. (2005). Shoot with Chris Hero [DVD]. RF Video. </ref> but eventually he returned and continued to wrestle as well as be a commentator for IWA:Mid-South until 2005 when he was signed to World Wrestling Entertainment. His last match in IWA:Mid-South was on July 2, 2005 in which he had a sixty minute time limit draw with Delirious followed by a farewell speech.<ref name="vsdelirious"> IWA Mid South - No Blood, No Guts, No Glory. IWA: MID SOUTH RESULTS. Obsessed With Wrestling. Retrieved on 26 September, 2006.</ref>
[edit] Ring of Honor and Total Nonstop Action
Image:Punkcabana.jpg Punk joined Ring of Honor initially as a babyface, due to at the ring ROH employing a position with emphasis on wrestling and less on promos. At the same time Punk joined the wrestling promotion NWA:Total Nonstop Action, where he was soon paired with Julio Dinero as sidekicks for Raven as part of The Gathering.
Simultaneously while Punk was the stable mate and ally of Raven in TNA as a face, Punk was in a bitter, bloody and heated feud with Raven in ROH as the heel in the feud, having turned heel during the promo that began the feud. The basis for the feud was that Punk's straight edge lifestyle and clean living exemplified the sort of conditioning that ROH preached, and was also the polar opposite to Raven's drug heavy and degenerate lifestyle which Punk claimed had no place in ROH. The feud frequently employed irony and hypocrisy through Punk stating he was nothing like Raven while preaching a straight edge uprising to which he was the Martin Luther King to lead the people, which was the same feud that Raven used in his run in World Championship Wrestling. Another parallel between Punk and Raven was during the feud Colt Cabana and Ace Steel would join Punk to form the Second City Saints after Cabana turned on Raven during a tag match against Punk and Steel,<ref name="secondcitysaints">Ring of Honor - Night of Champions. RING OF HONOR WRESTLING RESULTS. Obsessed With Wrestling. Retrieved on 30 September, 2006.</ref> a group Punk preached was going to lead the outcasts and straight edgers to a new revolution to oppose Raven, another hypocritic statement as the original mission statement was the same as Raven's own Flock stable. Punk and Raven wrestled each other in many hardcore style matches including several Raven's Rules matches, a dog collar match and two steel cage matches. At one point Raven and Tommy Dreamer physically forced Punk to drink beer in violation of his straight edge beliefs.<ref name="punkbeer">Ring of Honor - Death Before Dishonor. RING OF HONOR WRESTLING RESULTS. Obsessed With Wrestling. Retrieved on 23 August, 2006.</ref> Raven and Punk were slated to face off in a hair versus hair match in ROH to end the feud but TNA objected and insisted the match to be held in their promotion with Raven facing Shane Douglas instead of Punk.<ref name=hair1">Gonzalez, Damian (2003-10-19). Hair vs. Hair.... vs. Vampiro! (shtml). Online Onslaught. Retrieved on 18 October, 2006.</ref><ref name="hair2">Johnson, Mike (2004-12-28). NWA TNA APPROACHES AJ STYLES ABOUT LEAVING RING OF HONOR; MORE TO FOLLOW? (asp). ROH YEAR THREE ARCHIVE: LOOKING BACK AT RING OF HONOR'S MOST CONTROVERSIAL YEAR. Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved on 18 October, 2006.</ref> ROH ended up arranging a Clockwork Orange House of Fun match, which was the first steel cage match in the promotion's history, to replace the hair versus hair match.<ref name="punkcrucified">Ring of Honor - Beating the Odds. RING OF HONOR WRESTLING RESULTS. Obsessed With Wrestling. Retrieved on 25 August, 2006.</ref> After this match, which Raven won, Raven was crucified on a large X in reference to a famous Raven incident.<ref name="punkcrucified" /> Punk won the feud after defeating Raven in the second steel cage match between the two after which Raven never wrestled in ROH again.
Circa October, 2003 Punk was hired as the first head trainer for the Ring of Honor wrestling school,<ref name="punkshoot" /><ref name="wojick" /><ref name="slamcanoe">Hillhouse, Dave (2005-06-06). CM Punk mulls over his future. SLAM! Sports. Retrieved on 26 September, 2006.</ref> having previously been a wrestling trainer for the Steel Domain<ref name="punkshoot" /> and Primetime Wrestling.<ref name="primetime">Lagattolla, Al (2003-04-05). CM Punk, the trainer. Chicago Wrestling. Retrieved on 26 September, 2006.</ref>
Punk started climbing the ranks of ROH with notable achievements including being managed by Bobby Heenan at the Second Anniversary show during the tournament to crown the first ROH Pure Champion, however he came second losing to A.J. Styles in the finals,<ref name="secondanniversary">Ring of Honor - Second Anniversary. RING OF HONOR WRESTLING RESULTS. Obsessed With Wrestling. Retrieved on 25 August, 2006.</ref> and winning the ROH Tag Team Championship twice with Colt Cabana, both times defeating The Briscoe Brothers to win the championship.<ref name="reborn"> Ring of Honor - Reborn Stage 2. RING OF HONOR WRESTLING RESULTS. Obsessed With Wrestling. Retrieved on 25 August, 2006.</ref><ref name="roundrobin">Ring of Honor - Round Robin Challenge III. RING OF HONOR WRESTLING RESULTS. Obsessed With Wrestling. Retrieved on 25 August, 2006.</ref> As well as being an active part of the roster Punk was also a commentator for Ring of Honor.<ref name="slamcanoe">Hillhouse, Dave (2005-06-06). CM Punk mulls over his future. SLAM! Sports. Retrieved on 26 September, 2006.</ref>
Meanwhile in TNA on February 25, 2004 Punk had a physical scuffle with Teddy Hart that was broken up by Sabu outside of a restaurant shortly before a TNA show stemming from an ROH show in which Hart performed three unplanned spots putting several other wrestlers in danger of injury. Despite popular belief he was not released from TNA for this incident, and it had no real consequences on his TNA career.<ref name="tna">Lagattolla, Al (2004-05-29). CM Punk Talks. Chicago Wrestling. Retrieved on 26 September, 2006.</ref> According to Punk he stopped appearing on TNA after being informed by TNA officials that he and Dinero had not gotten over as heels, having turned on Raven becoming a tag team managed by their old rival James Mitchell, and so the angle had been put on hold.<ref name="tna" /> Punk ended ties with TNA during the Rob Feinstein controversy when TNA was pulling wrestlers from ROH, such as A.J. Styles and Christopher Daniels, to break ties to Feinstein. Punk instead chose to quit TNA to continue to compete in and help ROH. His contract with TNA ran out almost a year later.
In ROH Punk was having a feud with wrestling legend Ricky Steamboat after Punk claimed to have been screwed by Steamboat out of the Pure Championship in a rematch between Punk and A.J. Styles.<ref name="roundrobin">Ring of Honor - Scramble Cage II. RING OF HONOR WRESTLING RESULTS. Obsessed With Wrestling. Retrieved on 25 August, 2006.</ref> Also during this time Punk faced off against ROH World Champion Samoa Joe for the championship in a famous three match series. The first match, on June 12, 2004 at World Title Classic in Dayton, Ohio, resulted in a 60 minute time-limit draw when neither Punk nor Joe could pin or cause the other to submit in the sixty minutes.<ref name="titleclassic">Ring of Honor - World Title Classic. RING OF HONOR WRESTLING RESULTS. Obsessed With Wrestling. Retrieved on 25 August, 2006.</ref> In between the first and second Joe matches, Punk and Steamboat had the final confrontation of their feud which ended with Punk turning face by attacking Generation Next, who had run into the ring and laid out Steamboat. After fighting off Generation Next he and Steamboat shook hands ending their feud.<ref name="reborncompletion">Ring of Honor - Reborn: Completion. RING OF HONOR WRESTLING RESULTS. Obsessed With Wrestling. Retrieved on 25 August, 2006.</ref> The second match between Samoa Joe and CM Punk was planned to have occurred on December 4, 2004 but because Steve Corino was pulled from a match with Samoa Joe by Pro Wrestling ZERO-ONE the second match was hastily rescheduled on October 11, 2004 for October 16 in Punk's hometown of Chicago, Illinois.<ref name="joepunk" /> At Joe vs. Punk II on October 16 they wrestled to a second 60 minute draw.<ref name="joevpunkii">Ring of Honor - Joe vs Punk II. RING OF HONOR WRESTLING RESULTS. Obsessed With Wrestling. Retrieved on 25 August, 2006.</ref> In addition to becoming Ring of Honor's best selling DVD at that point, the match received the first 5-star rating by Dave Meltzer's Wrestling Observer Newsletter for a match in North America since 1997.<ref name="joepunk" /> Joe ended the series by defeating Punk in the third and final match on December 4, 2004 at All-Star Extravaganza II in which there was a no time limit stipulation.<ref name="allstar">Ring of Honor - All-Star Extravaganza II. RING OF HONOR WRESTLING RESULTS. Obsessed With Wrestling. Retrieved on 25 August, 2006.</ref>
On February 25, 2005 Punk began a heated feud with Jimmy Rave of The Embassy. The feud stemmed from a match between Spanky and Punk on February 19 in which Prince Nana invited Spanky into the Embassy which Spanky rejected.<ref name="spanky">Ring of Honor - 3rd Anniversary Part 1. RING OF HONOR WRESTLING RESULTS. Obsessed With Wrestling. Retrieved on 25 August, 2006.</ref> After which Nana and Punk got into an argument after which Punk beat up both Nana and the Outcast Killas.<ref name="spanky" /> On February 25 Punk had a match with Alex Shelley after which he was attacked by Jimmy Rave and Fast Eddie Vegas<ref name="anniversaryparttwo">Ring of Honor - 3rd Anniversary Part 2. RING OF HONOR WRESTLING RESULTS. Obsessed With Wrestling. Retrieved on 25 August, 2006.</ref> leading to a grudge match between Punk and Rave on February 26.<ref name="anniversarypartthree">Ring of Honor - 3rd Anniversary Part 3. RING OF HONOR WRESTLING RESULTS. Obsessed With Wrestling. Retrieved on 25 August, 2006.</ref>
The grudge match ended after Rave blinded Punk with flyspray while a member of the Embassy distracted the referee.<ref name="anniversarypartthree" /> After the match Rave proceeded to give Punk's valet, Traci Brooks, the Rave Clash.<ref name="anniversarypartthree" /> On April 2, 2005, after a no disqualification tag match with Colt Cabana against Rave and Fast Eddie Vegas which Punk and Cabana lost after significant interference on the part of the Embassy, The Embassy held down Punk and Rave attempted to remove Punk's straight edge tattoo on his stomach with a cheese grater.<ref name="cheesegrater">Ring of Honor - Best of the American Super Juniors. RING OF HONOR WRESTLING RESULTS. Obsessed With Wrestling. Retrieved on 25 August, 2006.</ref> On April 16 Punk wrestled against Mike Kruel who was subbing for the absent Jimmy Rave who Prince Nana claimed was injured after "falling off an elephant in Africa".<ref name="stalemate">Ring of Honor - Stalemate. RING OF HONOR WRESTLING RESULTS. Obsessed With Wrestling. Retrieved on 25 August, 2006.</ref> Punk defeated Kruel but was soon attacked by Jimmy Rave who ran through the crowd and jumped Punk which allowed the Embassy to hang Punk with a steel chain from the top rope to the outside of the ring.<ref name="stalemate" /> Following that incident Rave defeated Punk for a third time on May 7, 2005 in a dog collar match after five unprotected chair shots to the head.<ref name="manhattanmayhem">Ring of Honor - Manhattan Mayhem. RING OF HONOR WRESTLING RESULTS. Obsessed With Wrestling. Retrieved on 25 August, 2006.</ref> Punk finally defeated Rave in a steel cage match on May 14, 2005 after a superplex off the top of the cage.<ref name="nowheretorun">Ring of Honor - Nowhere to Run. RING OF HONOR WRESTLING RESULTS. Obsessed With Wrestling. Retrieved on 25 August, 2006.</ref>
In June 2005, Punk accepted a deal with World Wrestling Entertainment, after wrestling try-out matches on its Sunday Night HEAT show.<ref name="wrestlemag">Wrestlemag (2005-06-11). WWE: CM Punk signs with WWE, Cena on European tour, tickets for ECW PPV remain (php). Retrieved on 27 August, 2006.</ref> Even though he had accepted the deal, Punk went on to defeat Austin Aries to win the ROH World Championship on June 18, 2005 at Death Before Dishonor III.<ref name="deathbeforedishonoriii">Ring of Honor - Death Before Dishonor III. RING OF HONOR WRESTLING RESULTS. Obsessed With Wrestling. Retrieved on 25 August, 2006.</ref>
Immediately after the match Punk proceeded to turn heel and started an angle where he threatened to bring the ROH World Championship to WWE with him. For weeks, Punk teased the ROH locker room and the ROH fans as well as mocking the championship he possessed, going so far as to sign his WWE contract on it.<ref name="signofdishonor">Ring of Honor - Sign of Dishonor. RING OF HONOR WRESTLING RESULTS. Obsessed With Wrestling. Retrieved on 25 August, 2006.</ref> A notable part of this angle was Mick Foley making several ROH appearances, attempting to convince Punk to do the right thing and defend the title on his way out.<ref name="signofdishonor" /><ref name="escapefromny">Ring of Honor - Escape from New York. RING OF HONOR WRESTLING RESULTS. Obsessed With Wrestling. Retrieved on 25 August, 2006.</ref>
On August 12, 2005 in Dayton, Ohio Punk lost the ROH World Championship to James Gibson in a four corner elimination match consisting of himself, Gibson, Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels.<ref name="redemption">Ring of Honor - Redemption. RING OF HONOR WRESTLING RESULTS. Obsessed With Wrestling. Retrieved on 25 August, 2006.</ref> Austin Aries replaced Punk as head trainer at the ROH Wrestling School, leaving him no commitments and making him available to leave ROH. His final match in Ring of Honor took place on August 13, 2005 against his good friend and Second City Saints stablemate Colt Cabana at Punk: The Final Chapter in a two-out-of-three falls match. While making his entrance Punk was noticibly crying on the way to the ring. The match ended with Cabana defeating Punk after Punk won the first fall and Cabana won the second and third.<ref name="ptfc">Ring of Honor - Punk: The Final Chapter. RING OF HONOR WRESTLING RESULTS. Obsessed With Wrestling. Retrieved on 25 August, 2006.</ref> After the final fall Punk proceeded to give a tearful goodbye to ROH with the rest of the roster in the ring.
Punk reappeared at the ROH show Unscripted II on February 11, 2006, due to a severe snowstorm which prevented several ROH wrestlers from attending.<ref name="unscripted">Ring of Honor - Unscripted II. RING OF HONOR WRESTLING RESULTS. Obsessed With Wrestling. Retrieved on 25 August, 2006.</ref> Punk asked for permission from WWE official Tommy Dreamer to appear so he could help out ROH. Dreamer approved and Punk appeared during the night to fill gaps where others were supposed to appear. In the main event, he teamed with Bryan Danielson to wrestle and ultimately defeat Jimmy Rave and Adam Pearce.<ref name="unscripted" />
[edit] Ohio Valley Wrestling
Punk was assigned to Ohio Valley Wrestling, a WWE developmental territory. On September 26, 2005 in his OVW television debut, Punk suffered a ruptured eardrum and broken nose at the hands of Danny Inferno, after he was hit by an overly stiff right hand. Despite the injury, Punk finished the match and quickly recovered.<ref name="firstmatch">Sherman, Dale (2005-09-24). 09/24/2005 - DAVIS ARENA. Ohio Valley Wrestling. Retrieved on 26 September, 2006.</ref><ref name="lordsofpaininjury">Cantor, Brian (2005-09-15). Latest on released WWE wrestler, Ken Kennedy, CM Punk injury (php). Lords of Pain. Retrieved on 26 September, 2006.</ref>
On November 9, 2005, Punk became the OVW Television Champion after defeating Ken Doane.<ref name="tvtitlewin">Sherman, Dale (2005-11-12). 11/12/2005 - DAVIS ARENA. Ohio Valley Wrestling. Retrieved on 26 September, 2006.</ref> This led immediately to a feud between Punk and Brent Albright, who had previously been feuding with Doane for the television championship and had lost his chance to wrestle Doane after Punk had hit him with a chair so he himself could wrestle Doane. This led to a series of matches, including one which ended in overtime with Albright having Punk submit to Albright's finisher, the Crowbar, however Punk was able to keep the championship as he had not agreed to the extra time.<ref name="crowbartapout">Sherman, Dale (2005-12-17). 12/17/2005 - DAVIS ARENA. Ohio Valley Wrestling. Retrieved on 26 September, 2006.</ref> On January 4, 2006, Punk lost the OVW Television Championship during a three way dance between himself, Albright and Doane. Doane was injured halfway through the match and could not continue and was replaced by Aaron "The Idol" Stevens. Punk submitted to Albright's Crowbar and was eliminated but after interference by Punk, Stevens was able to get the pin on Albright to become the new OVW Television Champion.<ref name="threewaydance">Sherman, Dale (2006-01-07). 1/07/2006 - DAVIS ARENA. Ohio Valley Wrestling. Retrieved on 26 September, 2006.</ref> Image:Punkwinsovw.jpg The feud continued after a short period in which Albright and Punk were a tag team, but they became opponents again after Albright wanted the respect of Punk who would never give it to him and instead proceeded to "punk out" (get the better of) Albright repeatedly. This continued for weeks with Punk always getting the better of Albright until a double turn occurred on February 1, 2006 when Albright turned heel during a tag match allowing The Spirit Squad to beat Punk and, in doing so, turning Punk face.<ref name="faceturn">Sherman, Dale (2006-02-04). 2/04/2006 - DAVIS ARENA. Ohio Valley Wrestling. Retrieved on 26 September, 2006.</ref>
During this time CM Punk had a minor appearance at WrestleMania 22 on April 2, 2006 as one of the gangsters who rode a 1930s era car to the ring before John Cena's entrance.<ref name="wmgangster">19.jpg. Obsessed With Wrestling (2006-04-02). Retrieved on 26 September, 2006. “CM Punk as a gangster during John Cena's entrance”</ref>
When Matt Cappotelli vacated the OVW Heavyweight Championship due to a brain tumor, a tournament was held to crown a new champion. The finals were Brent Albright vs CM Punk with Albright defeating Punk to become the new champion.<ref name="ovwtournychamp">Sherman, Dale (2006-03-04). 3/04/2006 - DAVIS ARENA. Ohio Valley Wrestling. Retrieved on 26 September, 2006.</ref> Punk and Albright continued their feud with Albright becoming more and more unstable and paranoid about maintaining his championship after several close call matches against Punk, resulting in acts such as threatening Maria. On May 3, 2006, Punk finally defeated Brent Albright in a strap match to win the OVW Heavyweight Championship.<ref name="ovwchamp">Sherman, Dale (2006-05-06). 5/06/2006 - DAVIS ARENA. Ohio Valley Wrestling. Retrieved on 26 September, 2006.</ref> As champion, Punk retained the title in matches against opponents such as Shad Gaspard,<ref name="gaspard">Sherman, Dale (2006-05-13). 5/13/2006 - DAVIS ARENA. Ohio Valley Wrestling. Retrieved on 26 September, 2006.</ref> Ken Kennedy,<ref name="kennedy">Sherman, Dale (2006-05-20). 5/20/2006 - DAVIS ARENA. Ohio Valley Wrestling. Retrieved on 26 September, 2006.</ref> Johnny Jeter,<ref name="jeter">Sherman, Dale (2006-05-27). 5/27/2006 - DAVIS ARENA. Ohio Valley Wrestling. Retrieved on 26 September, 2006.</ref> and Mike "The Miz" Mizanin.<ref name="punkvsmiz">Skipper, Steve (2006-07-16). 7/15 OVW in Cordyon, Ind.: C.M. Punk vs. The Miz. Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved on 26 September, 2006.</ref>
On July 28, 2006 Punk and Seth Skyfire defeated Shad Gaspard and the Neighborhoodie to win the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship at a house show.<ref name="sixflags">Pro Wrestling History (2006-07-28). Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom drawing 500. Ohio Valley Wrestling Six Flag Shows. Retrieved on 27 August, 2006.</ref> With the victory Punk became the second OVW wrestler to have held each of the promotion's three championships, following Brent Albright, and along with Skyfire the first to hold two championships simultaneously. They would lose the Tag Team Championship on August 2, 2006 to Deuce Shade and "Domino" Cliff Compton after an injured Skyfire tagged in an already injured Punk.<ref name="tagchamps">Sherman, Dale (2006-08-05). 08/05/2006 - DAVIS ARENA. Ohio Valley Wrestling. Retrieved on 26 September, 2006.</ref>
This lead to a feud between Punk and Skyfire after a rematch for the Tag Team Championship on August 7, 2006 in which a healthy Punk purposefully tagged in an injured Skyfire to be beaten by Shade and Compton.<ref name="punkskyfire">Sherman, Dale (2006-08-12). 08/12/2006 - DAVIS ARENA. Ohio Valley Wrestling. Retrieved on 26 September, 2006.</ref> On August 30, 2006 a match was scheduled to take place between Punk and Skyfire for the OVW Heavyweight Championship however prior to the match Skyfire was attacked by Charles "The Hammer" Evans, who Skyfire had also been feuding with, and was replaced in the match by Chet the Jet who pinned Punk to win the OVW Heavyweight Championship.<ref name="punklosesovw">Sherman, Dale (2006-09-02). 09/02/2006 - DAVIS ARENA. Ohio Valley Wrestling. Retrieved on 26 September, 2006.</ref> As he no longer possessed the championship OVW no longer required him so he was removed from the roster and brought up to the WWE roster full time.
[edit] World Wrestling Entertainment
On June 24, 2006 Punk made his ECW debut during a house show at the former ECW Arena, defeating Stevie Richards.<ref name="richards">Magee, Bob (2006-06-25). 6/24 WWE at ECW Arena. Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved on 26 September, 2006.</ref> He made his TV debut on the July 4 episode of ECW on Sci Fi, cutting a brief pre-taped face promo about his straight edge lifestyle emphasizing the disciplinary aspects of being drug and alcohol free.<ref name="sps">South Philly Screwjob. World Wrestling Entertainment (2006-07-04). Retrieved on 26 September, 2006.</ref> Punk made his TV wrestling debut on August 1, 2006 at the Hammerstein Ballroom, defeating Justin Credible.<ref name="ssa">Hunt, Jen (2006-08-01). Sabu strikes again. World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved on 26 September, 2006.</ref> CM Punk established himself in ECW by going undefeated, defeating opponents such as Stevie Richards<ref name="dfp">Hunt, Jen (2006-08-29). Dr. Frankenstein prevails. World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved on 26 September, 2006.</ref> and Christopher W. Anderson.<ref name="sabusnaps">Hunt, Jen (2006-09-05). D-Generation extreme. World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved on 26 September, 2006.Hoffman, Brett (2006-09-12). Garden Showstopper. World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved on 2 October, 2006.</ref><ref name="moore2">Tello, Craig (2006-09-19). Taken to royal extremes. World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved on 2 October, 2006.</ref> Recently Punk has been feuding with Mike Knox after Knox's girlfriend, Kelly Kelly was seen to have feelings for Punk.<ref name="moore1" /> Punk defeated Mike Knox in their first singles match (to qualify for the Extreme Elimination Chamber at ECW December to Dismember) as well as the rematch after which Kelly Kelly celebrated CM Punk's victory over her boyfriend. Punk would then go on to team with D-Generation X and The Hardy Boyz in their Survivor Series match against Rated RKO, Knox, Johnny Nitro, and Gregory Helms, a match where all the participants on DX's side would be survivors. At December to Dismember, Punk failed to win the Elimination Chamber, ending his five-month winning streak.
[edit] In wrestling
- Finishing moves
- Anaconda Vice (Anaconda vice or arm triangle choke)
- Pepsi Plunge (Top rope double underhook facebuster) (2000-2005)
- Shining Wizard
- Signature moves
- .45 Special (Reverse Indian deathlock surfboard)
- Crooked Moonsault (Split-legged moonsault)
- Devil Lock (Texas cloverleaf with armlock)
- Devil Lock DDT (Hammerlock legsweep DDT)
- Inertia DDT (Turnbuckle tornado DDT)
- Jackie Chan Evasion (Sitting in corner grasps the top rope with one hand on each side, when opponent attempts to pull Punk off ropes by his legs Punk performs a backflip landing on his feet)
- Pepsi Twist (Jumping hammerlock short range lariat)
- Punk-Handle Piledriver (Pumphandle reverse piledriver)
- Welcome to Chicago, Motherfucker (Double underhook backbreaker)
- Arm triangle facebuster
- Arm twist ropewalk legdrop
- Arm wrench followed by stepping a leg over the wrenched arm and performing a mule kick with the leg below the opponent's face
- Charging high knee to standing opponent in corner
- Facewash
- Rebound corkscrew flipping neckbreaker
- Reverse frankensteiner
- Roundhouse kick
- Slingshot senton
- Snapmare followed by a dropkick to the back of the head
- Ura-nage
- In IWA: Mid-South Punk entered the ring to either Jay-Z's 99 Problems or Hatebreed's A Call for Blood.
- While in ROH, Punk used AFI's Miseria Cantare - The Beginning. After winning the ROH World Championship, he changed his theme to Living Color's Cult of Personality. For his last match before leaving to WWE, he used Night Train by The Bouncing Souls.
- In WWE Punk was given Killswitch Engage's This Fire Burns.
[edit] Championships and accomplishments
- Hoosier Pro Wrestling
- HPW Tag Team Championship (1 time)
- IWA Mid-South Light Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
- IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Championship (5 times)
- International Wrestling Cartel
- IWC Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Mid-American Wrestling
- MAW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- NWA Revolution
- NWA Revolution Heavyweight Championship
- Revolution Championship Wrestling
- RCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- ROH Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Colt Cabana (2)
- ROH World Championship (1 time)
- St. Paul Championship Wrestling
- SPCW Northern States Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Steel Domain Wrestling
- SDW Northern States Television Championship (2 times)
[edit] Gimmick
Punk has adopted his real life following of the straight edge movement as his professional wrestling gimmick, however the gimmick uses different elements of Punk's personality and the beliefs of the straight edge movement depending on the alignment. While portraying a face, the gimmick tends to be that of Punk's normal personality,<ref name="punkshoot" /> largely indifferent to others who drink alcohol, smoke tobacco, partake in recreational drug use or have promiscuous sexual behavior as well as emphasizing the social discipline involved with abstinence. Conversely, his heel personality tends to portray that of a hardliner, especially the elitist and superiority attitudes possessed by hardliners defined by Punk's common mantra during heel promos that, because he is straight edge, he is "better than you".<ref name="betterthanyou">CM Punk. (2004). Better Than You - The Best of CM Punk [DVD]. Ring of Honor. </ref> Irrelevent of alignment Punk performs the straight edge symbol of crossing his arms in an X formation while having the letter X written on the back of his wrists, usually drawn on his wrist tape.
An integral part of Punk's gimmick is that of the numerous tattoos that adorn his body some of which have come to become symbols associated with Punk as well as mantras and declarations that have been integrated into his gimmick. The tattoos as a whole, due to their large quantity and variety, have also become an attribute identifiable to Punk. The most important of the individual tattoos in Punk's character, whether through association, symbol, or mantra, are:
- A Pepsi logo on his left shoulder inspired the names of two of his signature moves. He got the tattoo as a joke as many fraternity members in his school were getting beer logos tattooed on their body, so Punk, a keen Pepsi drinker, chose to receive a Pepsi tattoo to emphasise his straight edge beliefs.<ref name="wojick" /> The tattoo is also a reference to former Minor Threat guitarist Brian Baker, who had a Coca-Cola tattoo and explained this by saying "I like Coca-Cola". When people inquire about Punk's Pepsi tattoo, he often replies "I like Pepsi" in a similar fashion.<ref name="punkshoot" /> The Pepsi logo has become a symbol of Punk himself, wearing the logo on his pants in the independent circuit as well as a slightly modified Pepsi logo being used as part of his TitanTron entrance video.<ref name="tron">CM Punk. (2006). Entrance video World Wrestling Entertainment. </ref>
- The words "Straight Edge" are spelled out on his stomach. This tattoo is one of Punk's oldest tattoos<ref name="wwemag">CM Punk (October 2006). "The Illustrated Man". WWE Magazine: 13.</ref> and has been referred to by Punk as his identity.<ref name="cheesegrater" />
- A large piece on his left arm which is entitled "Luck is for losers", a mantra used on some of the choices for Punk's first ECW T-shirt,<ref name="shirt">ECW T-Shirt Designs (php). Punk-Wrestling. Retrieved on 2 October, 2006.</ref> that features twists on numerous symbols of good luck.
- His knuckles spell out when placed together "DRUG FREE", drug on the right knuckles and free on the left. This tattoo is often used in wrestling as a taunting gesture to the crowd and opponents.
Punk's character and gimmick have been parodied for comedy in the wrestling federation CHIKARA with the character CP Munk, the straight edge chipmunk. The character is simply a chipmunk mascot costume which includes references to Punk such as X marked wrist tape, a pepsi logo on the costume's left shoulder and uses a theme song from the band AFI who performed Punk's best known independent circuit theme song Miseria Cantare - The Beginning.<ref name="cpmunk2">Vetter, Chris (2005-10-04). Tape review: Chikara, "Negative Balance," Aug. 13, w/Hero-Kingston, Claudio-Quack, Cannon-Reckless (cgi). Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved on 16 October, 2006.</ref>
[edit] Personal life
Punk was born, raised and lived in Chicago, Illinois with a father with alcohol problems,<ref name="wwemag" /> two younger sisters<ref name="joepunk" /> and a brother who grew up to also be a professional wrestler, using the ring name Mike Broox,<ref name="chickmagnets" /><ref name="cagematchde" /> however Punk and Mike had a falling out several years ago after Mike embezzled several thousand dollars from the Lunatic Wrestling Federation.<ref name="mikebrooks">Lagattolla, Al (2001-05-28). CM PUNK INTERVIEW - Part 2. Retrieved on September 26, 2006.</ref> While viewing his alcoholic father and reading that alcoholism may have been hereditary Punk made an agreement with himself to abstain from drinking alcohol to prevent the situation from occurring.<ref name="punkshoot" /> During high school Punk discovered the punk rock music genre, most importantly Minor Threat, and by extension found the punk subculture which in turn lead to the discovery of the straight edge culture, which Punk himself adopted.<ref name="punkshoot" /> After high school and beginning his wrestling career Punk moved out of the family house and lived for a time with fellow professional wrestler Allison Danger.<ref name="punkshoot" /> Punk later moved into an apartment with Ace Steel,<ref name="joepunk" /> however since then Punk has made reference to living alone in Chicago. Punk worked other jobs to support himself in his early career, the last of which was as a laboratory technician for Underwriters Laboratories until he was fired due to poor conduct and work ethic in October, 2002.<ref name="punkshoot" /> Punk has stated being fired was the happiest day of his life and promised himself to never work a day job again.<ref name="punkcabana" />
In relationships Punk has made reference to two ex-girlfriends, though not by name, in his early career<ref name="punkshoot" /> and later was romantically linked to professional wrestlers Shannon Spruill<ref name="daffneyrajahrecap">Cash, Chris; Walk, Henry (2005-11-12). Mick Foley Discusses WWE Return & Flair, Daffney Discusses TNA & Diva Search. Rajah. Retrieved on 27 September, 2006.</ref> and Tracy Brookshaw,<ref name="joepunk" /> both of whom had managed him in ROH. Punk is currently dating WWE Diva Maria, which she confirmed in an interview with The Sun after pictures of the two kissing surfaced on the Internet.<ref name="psrmaria">Rift, Aaron (2006-06-03). Maria talks about her relationship with CM Punk. NoDQ.com. Retrieved on 07 November, 2006.</ref>
[edit] Non-wrestling TV appearances
On October 31, 2006, CM Punk joined the The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS) to shoot the Sci Fi Channel special Ghost Hunters Live, which was a six-hour show broadcast live Halloween night from the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado. Initially skeptical about what he might find, Punk claimed to have heard children giggling and footsteps when there weren't any children booked into the hotel.<ref name="cpggh">Medalis, Kara A. (2006-10-30). CM Punk goes ghost hunting. World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved on 04 November, 2006.</ref> During his time there he made some comments about Samoa Joe and internet fans (who herald him because of his history in ROH). Punk also appeared on the February 26th, 2004 episode of Monster Garage with Samoa Joe, Aaron Aguilera, and other wrestlers.<ref name="ihsjt">Pro Wrestling Torch (2005-08-01). Interview Highlights: Samoa Joe talks about his decision to sign with TNA, his future. Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved on 08 November, 2006.</ref>
[edit] References
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