Phillip Jack Brooks[7] (born October 26, 1978),[2] better known by his ring name CM Punk, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) on its SmackDown brand, where he is the leader of the Straight Edge Society (SES).
In professional wrestling, Punk is a five-time World Champion, having won the ROH World Championship once, the ECW Championship once, and the World Heavyweight Championship three times. In addition to these championships Punk has also won the World Tag Team Championship (with Kofi Kingston), and the WWE Intercontinental Championship making him the nineteenth WWE Triple Crown Champion. He was also the winner of the 2008 and 2009 Money in the Bank ladder matches, the only athlete to win the match more than once.[8]
Throughout his career, Punk has consistently used the gimmick of being straight edge, a lifestyle he follows in real life.[4] Depending on Punk's alignment as a crowd favorite or villain, he emphasizes different aspects of the culture to encourage the desired audience reaction
ECW debut, and World Champion (2006–2008)
On June 24, 2006, Punk made his ECW debut during a house show at the former ECW Arena, defeating Stevie Richards.[37] He made his TV debut on the July 4 episode of ECW on Sci Fi, cutting a brief pre-taped promo about his straight edge lifestyle emphasizing the disciplinary aspects of being drug and alcohol free.[38] Although he had retained the straight edge gimmick, he now had a Muay Thai training background. Punk made his TV wrestling debut on August 1, 2006 at the Hammerstein Ballroom, defeating Justin Credible.[39] CM Punk established himself in ECW by going undefeated, defeating opponents such as Christopher W. Anderson,[40] Stevie Richards[41] and Shannon Moore.[42]Soon after, Punk began feuding with Mike Knox after Knox's girlfriend, Kelly Kelly, was seen to have feelings for Punk.[42] Punk defeated Knox in their first singles match (qualifying for the Elimination Chamber at December to Dismember in the process)[43] as well as the rematch, after which Kelly Kelly celebrated CM Punk's victory over her boyfriend.[44] Punk then teamed with D-Generation X and the Hardy Boyz in their Survivor Series match against Rated-RKO, Knox, Johnny Nitro and Gregory Helms, a match in which all the participants on DX's side survived elimination.[45] At December to Dismember, Punk participated in the Elimination Chamber for the ECW World Championship; however, he was the first person eliminated by Rob Van Dam.[46]
On the April 10, 2007 edition of ECW on Sci Fi, Punk briefly became a villain by officially joining the New Breed alliance,[53] after several weeks in which both the New Breed and the ECW Originals had attempted to recruit him.[54][55] Two weeks later, however, Punk betrayed the New Breed during a four on four elimination 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 the match, Punk proceeded to deliver his finisher, the Go To Sleep, on Burke and sarcastically apologized before leaving the ring alone, becoming a fan favorite again. WWE.com later confirmed that Punk was no longer a member of the New Breed.[56] At Judgment Day, Punk wrestled and defeated Burke in his first singles match on a pay-per-view.[57] Punk then went on to One Night Stand and teamed up with Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman in a tables match to defeat the New Breed.[58]
Because of the drafting of ECW World Champion Bobby Lashley to Raw, the ECW World Championship was declared vacant, and a mini-tournament was announced to declare a new champion among Punk, Elijah Burke, Marcus Cor Von and the recently drafted Chris Benoit. Punk defeated Marcus Cor Von on the June 19, 2007 edition of ECW on Sci Fi. By doing so, CM Punk was meant to face Chris Benoit at Vengeance: Night of Champions for the vacant ECW World Championship.[59] Benoit, however, was hastily replaced by Johnny Nitro when Benoit no-showed the event due to what was described on-air as "personal reasons". Nitro subsequently defeated Punk at Vengeance for the vacant championship.[60] Punk won another shot at the title at The Great American Bash against Nitro, who had changed his moniker to John Morrison by this point; however, Punk was defeated again by Morrison.[61] The next week, Punk challenged Elijah Burke and Tommy Dreamer in a triple threat match to determine the next competitor in Morrison's 15 Minutes of Fame Challenge, in which Punk came out victorious.[62] A week later, Punk defeated Morrison with the Go To Sleep to earn an ECW Championship title match at SummerSlam. At SummerSlam, however, Punk lost the match when Morrison used the ropes for leverage.[63]
At the September 1, 2007 (aired September 4) ECW taping, in a "last chance" title match, Punk defeated Morrison for the ECW Championship.[64] Punk then went on to have successful title defenses against the likes of Elijah Burke (at Unforgiven),[65] Big Daddy V via disqualification (at No Mercy)[66] and The Miz (at Cyber Sunday).[67] On the November 6, 2007 edition of ECW, Punk retained the ECW Championship in a match against Morrison following The Miz's interference.[68] At Survivor Series, Punk retained his title in a Triple Threat match, beating The Miz and John Morrison.[69] On the January 22, 2008 edition of ECW, Chavo Guerrero defeated CM Punk in a No Disqualification match to win the ECW Championship after Edge, (acting as a guest commentator at ringside) ran in and speared Punk.[70]
Raw and First World Heavyweight Championship Reign (2008–2009)
On the June 23, 2008 edition of Raw, CM Punk was drafted to the Raw brand during the 2008 WWE Draft.[72] His first night on Raw came the following week, and he made an immediate impact. After Batista beat down World Heavyweight Champion Edge and left him lying in the ring, Punk and referee Mike Chioda ran to the ring with Punk carrying his Money in the Bank contract. Moments later, as Edge was struggling to get up, Punk hit him with the Go 2 Sleep and pinned him to win the World Heavyweight Championship. Later that night, Punk won his first defense of the title against JBL, who challenged him shortly after his win.[73] His win over Edge would eventually also earn Punk the Slammy Award for the "Oh my God" Moment of the Year.[74] Punk continued to hold and defend the title until Unforgiven on September 7, 2008. Before the Championship Scramble match, Punk was attacked by Cody Rhodes, Ted DiBiase, Manu and Randy Orton. Orton finished the assault by punting Punk in the head.[75] It was announced that Punk could not participate in the match due to the attack and, as a result, he involuntarily forfeited the title. Punk's replacement was Chris Jericho, who went on to win the match and the title.[76] He received a re-match eight days later on the September 15 episode of Raw, where he failed to regain the title in a steel cage match against Jericho.[77]On the October 27, 2008 episode of Raw, Punk and Kofi Kingston defeated Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase to win the World Tag Team Championship.[78] The duo were members of Team Batista at Survivor Series, where their team lost to Team Orton.[79] Punk was then entered in a Intercontinental Championship Tournament, in which the winner would get to challenge for the championship in the future. He would defeat Snitsky and John Morrison in the first two rounds.[80] Punk and Kingston lost the World Tag Team Championship to John Morrison and The Miz at a live event on December 13, 2008.[81] The next day Punk defeated Rey Mysterio at Armageddon to win the tournament.[80].On the January 5 edition of Raw, Punk received his title match against William Regal, which ended in a disqualification, when Regal grabbed the referee's jersey.[82] Due to this, Stephanie McMahon awarded Punk a rematch the following week, but this time it was himself that was disqualified.[83] McMahon awarded him another rematch, this time a No Disqualification match on January 19 edition of Raw, Punk won the match and the title.[84] With this win, he became the nineteenth Triple Crown Champion. Also, the victory made him the man to accomplish the Triple Crown in the fastest amount of time, shattering Kevin Nash's old record.[85] Punk lost the title on the March 9 edition of Raw to John "Bradshaw" Layfield.[86] At WrestleMania XXV, Punk won the Money in the Bank ladder match and became the first person to win the match twice.[87]
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