Steel Domain Wrestling, based in Chicago, Illinois, has played a pivotal role in shaping the careers of several prominent figures in the professional wrestling world. This wrestling school, under the guidance of established professional wrestlers Ace Steel, Danny Dominion, and Kevin Quinn, has provided aspiring wrestlers with the training and foundation necessary to succeed in the competitive wrestling industry.
CM Punk: From Steel Domain to WWE Superstardom
Phillip Jack Brooks, better known by his ring name CM Punk, is an American professional wrestler, actor, mixed martial arts commentator, and former mixed martial artist currently signed to WWE, where he previously worked from 2005 to 2014. He began as a backyard wrestler who gave up the hobby in 1999 in order to train in the Steel Dominion Wrestling school of Chicago, Illinois under established professional wrestlers Ace Steel, Danny Dominion and Kevin Quinn.
Punk went on to win the Steel Domain Television championship and would then give back to professional wrestling by becoming a trainer himself for Steel Domain and Primetime Wrestling. His work as a trainer got him hired by the ROH Academy, where he became its first head trainer. Between this time, CM Punk spent the years working for various Independent Wrestling Association affiliates (particularly Mid-South), National Wrestling Alliance territories such as Pro Wrestling ZERO1 and other promotions across the globe - his most notable work being in Ring of Honor and World Wrestling Entertainment.
He set himself apart from his fellow wrestlers during this time with his character being outspoken, confrontational and anti-establishment with a tongue of unparalleled sharpness on the mic, but most of all carrying a Straight Edge gimmick (based on his actual lifestyle). The gimmick consisted of him flaunting his Straight Edge lifestyle to other wrestlers, which led to him heading a growing faction in WWE called the Straight Edge Society, which promised to "save" people from their self-destructive lifestyles by helping them embrace Straight Edge principles and beliefs. He emphasized different aspects of the lifestyle to garner the intended audience reaction based on whether he was a face or a heel.
His rise to WWE superstardom came in the year of 2011, namely during the summer of that year, which has since been dubbed the "Summer of Punk". On the 7/27/11 episode of Raw, he dropped his first (and most acclaimed) Worked Shoot on Vince McMahon, which would come to be known as a "Pipe Bomb". Then, after that year's Money in the Bank PPV on July 17th, he became one of the very few men to walk out on WWE still holding the WWE Championship. After his return and regaining the belt, he held the title for 434 days, becoming the longest-reigning WWE Champion of the Modern Era at the time.
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Over his career, Punk has amassed accomplishments across numerous promotions. In addition to a collection of title wins in small and independent promotions, he is a one-time ROH World Champion, a two-time ROH tag team champion, a one-time ECW Champion, a five-time (and current) World Heavyweight Champion, a two-time WWE Champion, a one-time WWE Intercontinental Champion, a one-time WWE Tag Team Champion, two-time AEW World Champion, and AEW Real World Champion (an unofficial title of his creation).
CM Punk's Accolades
The True Story Of WWE's Summer Of Punk
The following table summarizes CM Punk's major achievements throughout his career:
| Championship/Achievement | Promotion | Times |
|---|---|---|
| ROH World Champion | ROH | 1 |
| ROH Tag Team Champion | ROH | 2 |
| ECW Champion | WWE | 1 |
| World Heavyweight Champion | WWE | 5 |
| WWE Champion | WWE | 2 |
| WWE Intercontinental Champion | WWE | 1 |
| WWE Tag Team Champion | WWE | 1 |
| AEW World Champion | AEW | 2 |
| Money in the Bank Winner | WWE | 2 (2008, 2009) |
| Slammy Award - Superstar of the Year | WWE | 1 (2011) |
| PWI Wrestler of the Year | PWI | 2 (2011, 2012) |
Ace Steel: Trainer and Wrestler
Christopher Guy (born January 25, 1973) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Ace Steel. As of February 2024, he is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as a producer. He is perhaps best known for his time with Ring of Honor and occasional appearances for World Wrestling Entertainment, as well as his stint in WWE's Ohio Valley Wrestling developmental territory and two short runs in All Elite Wrestling as a backstage producer.
Guy became interested in professional wrestling after watching American Wrestling Association shows at the International Amphitheatre as a child. Steel eventually formed a tag team with Danny Dominion first known as the L.A. Connection in Windy City Wrestling then the Hollywood Hardbodies. Along with Dominion, Steel worked as both wrestlers and trainers for St.
Steel worked for Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South. On February 8, 2002, he defeated Kurt Krueger for the promotion's Light Heavyweight Championship. Steel defended the championship against Rey Mysterio Jr. in hard fought time limit draw. He held the title until March 8, when he lost it to Vic Capri.
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Steel was signed by NWA: Total Nonstop Action soon after the promotion opened in May 2002. In early 2003, Steel joined Ring of Honor and reformed the Hatebreed with CM Punk. On March 22, Punk and Steel faced Punk's enemy Raven and another student of Steel's, Colt Cabana, in a tag match. Cabana appeared to badly injure himself after botching a moonsault to the outside of the ring, forcing Punk to wrestle the majority of the match single-handedly.
Raven eventually managed to defeat Steel following an Even Flow DDT, but after the match, Cabana turned on him and aligned himself with Steel and Punk. The Second City Saints started a feud with The Prophecy, mostly B. J. Whitmer and Dan Maff. The rivalry led to a Chicago Street Fight.
Steel joined Harley Race's World League Wrestling promotion in 2003, and in November and December 2003 he represented WLW on a tour with Pro Wrestling Noah in Japan. Steel enjoyed working in Japan and began appearing regularly with Noah.
Ace Steel participated in tours to Pro Wrestling Noah wrestling the company’s owner Mitsuharu Misawa in many tag team matches as well as company legends Kenta Kobashi, Akira Taue and many others during his time there. Legendary wrestler Harley Race was Steel’s agent for wrestling tours.
Steel appeared with World Wrestling Entertainment on the September 27, 2004 episode of Raw and had his hair cut by Eugene, who would face Eric Bischoff in a hair versus hair match at the upcoming Taboo Tuesday pay-per-view. Steel used the name "Scott Colton" (the real name of Colt Cabana) as an inside joke. After Eugene inexpertly cut his hair, Bischoff ambushed Eugene and Steel, knocking them out with thrust kicks.
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On the January 8, 2007 episode of Raw, Steel portrayed Donald Trump, in an intergender match with Kiley McLean, dubbed "The Donald vs. Rosie". "Trump" received the win after throwing Fudgie the Whale at Rosie's face and pinning her after a second turnbuckle "hairbutt".
It was announced that Steel was signed to WWE as a coach to the Performance Center in November 2019. He was furloughed on April 15, 2020 as a part of cutbacks due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He returned on October 16 of that year.
During the All Out post-event media scrum, CM Punk made several comments insulting Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks, among others. This led to a backstage fight between Punk, Steel, Omega, and the Young Bucks. As a result of an investigation, Steel was released by AEW on October 18, 2022.
On February 20, 2024, Steel confirmed that he's working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as a producer.
Hayden and Damien Cain: The Sick Ones
Hayden Thomas Caine (born April 13, 1979), better known by his ring name "The Sick One" Hayden Cain, and his brother Jeffrey Michael Caine (born November 12, 1976), better known by his ring name "The Archangel" Damien Cain, are American professional wrestlers. The Cains were both born in Ypsilanti, Michigan. The brothers were very close throughout childhood.
Consistently throughout their careers The Cains have been known for their striking resemblance to each other and, on the same token, their tendency to portray the same characters. Cain's first venture into wrestling was a stint in a backyard wrestling federation called the "Milan Wrestling Federation" with their friends in the early 1990s where he started using the name "The Sick Ones", alluding to the nickname they would both use in the future.
After leaving the federation, they enrolled in two different wrestling schools. Hayden chose to head South, to the Steel Domain wrestling school in Chicago, while Jeff stayed in his home state of Michigan at the NWA Great Lakes Pro Wrestling School. As part of his training at Steel Domain, Hayden wrestled at St. Paul's Steel Domain Wrestling. It was there that he met Corey Bayne. On the same token, Jeff met Deamon Cohln while wrestling on the Canadian independent wrestling circuit.
In 2004, Jeff and Hayden, along with Deamon and Corey, moved back to their native Milan, Michigan and started their small-time promotion, Southeast Michigan Wrestling (SMW). At the beginning of 2006, Hayden performed in a small promotion owned by Deamon Cohln known as Victory Wrestling (VW). Hayden joined VW initially as a tweener, but was quickly turned face.
The fan-friendly gimmick went over well, and Vicious started climbing the ranks of EUW with notable achievements including being the runner-up in the huge X-Gen Battle Royal and winning the EUW Tag Team Championship with KayeM.
On April 18, 2007, Paddy approached Jeff under Hayden's suggestion with an offer for him to join his brother FcW. Vicious accepted, and first debuted on-screen on April 23, 2007, attacking Giovanni "Gio" Leone and Hallelujah Hernandez, putting them both out of action. At FcW Dearly Departed 2007, Jeff was pitted in a Fatal Fourway against Devlyn Michaels, Zak Taylor, and Kisho Yukio to decide the number one contender for the FcW Television Championship.
Despite being incarcerated for aggravated assault in late 2007, a fugitive Hayden appeared in a promo with Corey Bayne on the night of January 21, 2008.