96 Facts About CM Punk

CM Punk is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand.

CM Punk won both the 2008 and 2009 Money in the Bank ladder matches, making him its only back-to-back winner.

CM Punk was named Superstar of the Year at the 2011 Slammy Awards and was voted PWI Wrestler of the Year in 2011 and 2012.

CM Punk returned to in-ring performing in August 2021 when he signed with All Elite Wrestling, where he won the AEW World Championship twice, but was fired in September 2023 after multiple backstage controversies.

CM Punk's character has been consistently portrayed as outspoken, confrontational, sharp-tongued, anti-establishment, straight edge, and iconoclastic, most of which are inspired by his real-life self.

CM Punk lost his second fight to Mike Jackson via unanimous decision at UFC 225 in 2018, which was later overturned to a no-contest, before he was released.

CM Punk appears as a part-time color commentator for Cage Fury Fighting Championships and has starred in the horror films Girl on the Third Floor, Rabid, and Jakob's Wife, as well as having a recurring role in the wrestling drama series Heels.

CM Punk grew up in nearby Lockport, where he attended Lockport Township High School.

CM Punk's father struggled with alcoholism, which inspired Brooks to follow a straight edge lifestyle from an early age; his mother had bipolar disorder, causing him to become estranged from her.

CM Punk cites "Rowdy" Roddy Piper as an early influence and the reason he became a wrestler.

CM Punk had his debut match by October 25,1997, on the eve of his 19th birthday defeating Brawn the Lumberjack.

CM Punk first started using the ring name CM Punk when he was put into a tag team named the "Chick Magnets" with CM Venom after another performer skipped out on the card; the CM stood for "Chick Magnet".

Unlike his friends, Punk genuinely wanted to be a wrestler and saw it as more than simple fun.

In 2002, CM Punk became the International Wrestling Cartel Heavyweight Champion, in Monroeville, Pennsylvania.

CM Punk would compete in the company's Super Indy tournament, but never won the championship.

From July 2003 until May 2004, CM Punk refused to wrestle for IWA Mid-South, explaining this as a protest to Ian Rotten's mistreatment of Chris Hero in the company.

However, Hero has stated he believes there were other reasons and Rotten's treatment of him was just an excuse by CM Punk to stop working for the company.

CM Punk eventually returned to IWA Mid-South and continued to perform as a wrestler and commentator for them until July 2005.

CM Punk made his debut for NWA: Total Nonstop Action alongside his trainer Ace Steel on September 18,2002, where CM Punk and Steel defeated Derek Wylde and Jimmy Rave and The Hot Shots in a three-way match to qualify for the tag team Gauntlet for the Gold later in the night, with the winning team facing America's Most Wanted in a match for the vacant NWA World Tag Team Championship.

CM Punk then returned to TNA in mid-2003, while simultaneously wrestling for Ring of Honor.

Shortly before a NWA: TNA show on February 25,2004, CM Punk had a physical scuffle with Teddy Hart outside of a restaurant that was broken up by Sabu.

However, CM Punk said the scuffle had no bearing on his TNA career.

CM Punk made his in-ring debut on ROH at All Star Extravaganza on November 9,2002, in a gauntlet match involving five participants, that was won by Bryan Danielson.

In late-2003, CM Punk was hired as the first head trainer of the Ring of Honor wrestling school, having previously been a trainer for the Steel Domain and Primetime Wrestling.

The match concluded when CM Punk drove Daniels with a Pepsi Plunge off the top rope through a table, thus explaining Daniels' departure from ROH.

Around this time, CM Punk began climbing the ranks of ROH, including coming in second at the Second Anniversary Show during the tournament to crown the first ROH Pure Champion, losing to AJ Styles in the finals.

In mid-2004, CM Punk faced off against ROH World Champion Samoa Joe for the championship in a three-match series.

For weeks, CM Punk teased the ROH locker room and the ROH fans, mocking the championship he possessed, going so far as to sign his WWE contract on top of it.

CM Punk's final scheduled match in ROH took place at CM Punk: The Final Chapter on August 13,2005, against long-time friend Colt Cabana in a two out of three falls match, which he lost.

CM Punk made a special appearance at the ROH show Unscripted II on February 11,2006, when the original card had to be scrapped due to Low Ki leaving ROH the week prior.

CM Punk was inducted into the ROH Hall of Fame as part of the 2022 inaugural class.

In November 2005, CM Punk defeated Ken Doane to win the OVW Television Championship.

Immediately thereafter, CM Punk began to feud with Brent Albright, culminating in a three way dance between CM Punk, Doane, and Albright in January 2006; after Doane was injured during the match, he was replaced by Aaron "The Idol" Stevens, who won the match and became the new OVW Television Champion.

In February 2006, CM Punk entered into a tournament to crown a new OVW Heavyweight Champion, losing to Albright in the finals.

In May 2006, CM Punk defeated Albright in a strap match to win the OVW Heavyweight Championship.

Later that same month, CM Punk lost the OVW Heavyweight Championship to Chet the Jett.

On June 24,2006, CM Punk made his ECW debut during a house show at the former ECW Arena as a fan favorite, defeating Stevie Richards.

CM Punk joined the New Breed after several weeks in which both the New Breed and the ECW Originals had attempted to recruit him, seemingly turning heel.

However, two weeks later, CM Punk betrayed the New Breed during a four-on-four tag team match between the New Breed and ECW Originals by kicking New Breed leader Elijah Burke in the back of the head and costing them the match, after which CM Punk proceeded to deliver his finisher, the "Go to Sleep", maintaining his status as a face in the process.

On June 23, CM Punk was drafted to the Raw brand during the 2008 WWE draft.

CM Punk then entered a number one contender Intercontinental Championship tournament, defeating Snitsky and John Morrison in the first two rounds.

Later that night, CM Punk cashed in his Money in the Bank contract to defeat Jeff Hardy for the World Heavyweight Championship immediately after Hardy won the title from Edge in a ladder match.

In late-2009, CM Punk's character began taking on a more sinister direction.

On June 20,2010, at WWE Fatal 4-Way, CM Punk challenged for the World Heavyweight Championship against Mysterio, Big Show and the champion Jack Swagger, but he was unsuccessful when he was attacked by Kane, who was accusing various people of attacking The Undertaker.

In October 2010, CM Punk was traded back to the Raw brand after being swapped with Edge and took part in the interbrand tag team match on October 24 at Bragging Rights after defeating Evan Bourne to win a place, but Team Raw lost as CM Punk was eliminated by Rey Mysterio.

CM Punk later revealed that his motives for the attacks were that he had joined and assumed control of The Nexus.

CM Punk then made each member of the group prove themselves worthy of a spot, with some instead choosing to join The Corre, which had been started by former Nexus leader Wade Barrett on SmackDown.

In June 2011, after pinning WWE Champion John Cena on the June 13 episode of Raw, Rey Mysterio at Capitol Punishment on June 19, and finally Alberto Del Rio in a number one contender's triple threat match all within one week, CM Punk revealed that his WWE contract was set to expire on July 17 at Money in the Bank and vowed to leave the company with the WWE Championship.

At Money in the Bank, CM Punk defeated Cena to become the WWE Champion on his final night under contract with WWE.

At SummerSlam, CM Punk defeated Cena, but he lost the title minutes later to Alberto Del Rio, who had cashed in his Money in the Bank contract after Kevin Nash attacked CM Punk.

CM Punk balked at Laurinaitis' promotion and verbally attacked him as a dull yes man.

At the Royal Rumble on January 29,2012, CM Punk successfully defended his title against Ziggler despite Laurinaitis acting as the outside enforcer.

John Laurinaitis added the stipulation that the WWE Championship could change hands via disqualification, which led to Jericho inciting CM Punk into using a weapon, but CM Punk resisted and retained the title.

CM Punk justified his actions the following week on Raw, explaining he was tired of people like Cena and The Rock overshadowing him when the WWE Champion should be the focus of the company, asserting himself further soon after by disrupting a number one contender's match between Cena and Big Show.

However, CM Punk was replaced as captain by Dolph Ziggler the following week on Raw and was instead booked in a triple threat WWE Championship match against John Cena and Ryback by Vince McMahon.

At Survivor Series, CM Punk won the match by pinning Cena following interference from the debuting faction called The Shield, allowing him to retain the WWE Championship and officially hold the championship for one full year.

CM Punk returned to in-ring action on the January 7,2013, episode of Raw, retaining the WWE Championship against Ryback in a TLC match following interference from The Shield.

CM Punk originally pinned The Rock to retain after The Shield put Rock through a table while the arena lights were out, leading Vince McMahon to come out and announce that CM Punk would be stripped of the title, but he instead restarted the match at The Rock's request.

CM Punk then took a two-month hiatus away from WWE television to recover from injuries.

CM Punk started a storyline where he told Heyman to no longer accompany him to his matches and was later attacked by Heyman's other client Brock Lesnar, thus turning CM Punk face .

The next night on Raw, CM Punk was attacked by The Shield while attempting to save Bryan from being "taken hostage" by The Wyatt Family.

At TLC, CM Punk won the match after Reigns accidentally performed a spear on Ambrose.

At the Royal Rumble, near the end of the match, Kane, who was already eliminated earlier in the match by CM Punk, eliminated CM Punk from the outside and proceeded to perform a chokeslam on him through the announce table.

CM Punk did not appear on the January 27,2014, episode of Raw, nor did he appear at the SmackDown taping on Tuesday despite being advertised for both events.

The Wrestling Observer reported that on Monday and prior to Raw, CM Punk had legitimately walked out after telling Vince McMahon and Triple H that he was "going home".

CM Punk said WWE executives gave him a run-around when he reached out to them for unpaid royalties until he was ultimately handed his termination papers and was fired by WWE on his wedding day on June 13,2014.

The manner of firing was the last straw for CM Punk, stating that he would never return to WWE and that there would be no further working relationship between him and WWE following a legal settlement.

The settlement included CM Punk giving WWE permission to sell his remaining merchandise.

CM Punk felt that WWE was pressuring and rushing him to wrestle before fully recovering.

CM Punk had the doctor evacuate the infection, describing it as the worst pain in his life, but said that once it was treated and he was on stronger medication, he was able to sleep better than he had in months.

Lastly, CM Punk described having left with "zero passion" for wrestling and described himself at the time of the interview to be the happiest he had ever been in many years.

CM Punk's first known appearance at a professional wrestling event following his exit from WWE was at a Freelance Wrestling show on December 4,2015, titled "Raw Power".

CM Punk tossed around salt before the match but did not get involved in the match itself.

On November 12,2019, CM Punk made a surprise appearance on the Fox Sports 1 series WWE Backstage.

CM Punk subsequently joined the program as a special contributor and analyst.

CM Punk accepted the job because he would be under contract with FOX instead of WWE directly, and hoped it would help him find his way back into the wrestling business.

Around the same time, CM Punk underwent surgery to repair his left triceps after tearing it during his match at All Out.

CM Punk then spray-painted his signature "X" symbol over the belt.

CM Punk's termination was announced on X by AEW's official account, and was announced during the opening of that night's episode of Collision, where AEW president and CEO Tony Khan stated that "the incident was regrettable and it endangered people backstage".

CM Punk went on to claim that no one from AEW had spoken to him in six months after the altercation at All Out in September 2022, and was forced to pay for his own surgery and do recovery on his own.

On January 27,2024, at the Royal Rumble, CM Punk wrestled his first televised WWE match since 2014, entering at number 27 during the Royal Rumble match, in which he was the runner-up after being eliminated by Cody Rhodes.

The injury was later turned into a storyline between CM Punk and Drew McIntyre, with McIntyre continuously mocking CM Punk for causing his injury.

CM Punk adopted his real-life following of the straight edge movement as a major attribute of his professional wrestling character.

However, CM Punk later changed CM into a pseudo-acronym, declaring that it has no meaning, though when asked since he has taken to making up meanings that fit the initials, going so far as to make up long stories to explain the origins that do not match the actual origin story at all.

An integral part of CM Punk is the numerous tattoos that adorn his body, some of which have become symbols associated with CM Punk and mantras and declarations that have been integrated into his gimmick.

Reporters, wrestlers, and fans alike have praised CM Punk's speaking skills, especially his in-ring promos.

CM Punk is credited with being one of the first independent wrestlers to have success in WWE, which in turn opened the door for other independent wrestlers to both join and succeed in WWE.

At UFC 181, on December 6,2014, CM Punk announced that he had signed a multi-fight contract with Ultimate Fighting Championship.

In January 2015, CM Punk began training under Duke Roufus at Roufusport MMA Academy.

In June 2015, CM Punk moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to be closer to the Roufusport gym while still retaining his home in Chicago.

Later, it was announced that CM Punk would compete in the welterweight division.

In October 2015, Roufus announced that CM Punk had suffered a shoulder injury, delaying his UFC debut until the next calendar year.

The event was held at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, the same venue where CM Punk left WWE and retired from professional wrestling.

CM Punk was taken down immediately and lost via rear naked choke submission early in the first round.

On November 8,2018, CM Punk signed with the Cage Fury Fighting Championships promotion as a commentator.

CM Punk cowrote "The Most Cursed", which appeared in Vertigo Comics' Strange Sports Stories No 3 in May 2015.