Phillip Jack Brooks, born on October 26, 1978, and famously known as CM Punk, is an American professional wrestler, actor, and former mixed martial artist. He is currently signed to WWE, where he works on their Raw brand and is the current World Heavyweight Champion is his second reign.
During the peak of his career, Punk was considered by many as the best professional wrestler in the world. Brooks used the CM Punk moniker his entire career in every organization he worked. Punk consistently portrayed the character of an outspoken, sharp-tongued, anti-establishment, straight edge iconoclast. Most of the straight edge principles he portrayed, such as not drinking alcohol or not taking recreational drugs, are his real life views.
CM Punk during his time in WWE.
Here's a detailed look at his wrestling journey:
Early Career and Independent Circuit (1997-2005)
Punk's first venture into wrestling was a stint in a backyard wrestling federation called the Lunatic Wrestling Federation with his friends and brother Mike Brooks in the mid-late 1990s. He 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. He soon left the federation and enrolled as a student at the "Steel Dominion" wrestling school in Chicago, where he was trained by Ace Steel, Danny Dominion and Kevin Quinn to become a professional wrestler.
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As part of the training, he wrestled at Steel Domain Wrestling in St. Paul, Minnesota. It was in the Steel Domain that he met Scott Colton, who soon adopted the stage name Colt Cabana. Punk and Cabana became best friends and spent most of their early career together working in the same independent circuit promotions, as opponents or allies. 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 Colt Cabana and Chris Hero while also rising 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, beating stars like A.J. Styles, Cabana and even Eddie Guerrero for that Championship. Punk's matches with Cabana led him to being hired by the Ring of Honor promotion.
Ring of Honor (ROH)
Initially, Punk joined Ring of Honor (ROH) as a face, but quickly became a heel in a feud with Raven that featured numerous variants of no disqualification matches. Punk started 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 A.J. Styles in the finals and winning the ROH World Tag Team Championship twice with Colt Cabana as the Second City Saints.
When Punk returned to ROH, he wrestled ROH World Champion Samoa Joe for the championship in a 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 60 minutes. The second match between Punk and Joe was planned for December 4, 2004; however, due to Steve Corino being pulled from a match with 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. At Joe vs. Punk II on October 16, they wrestled to a second 60-minute draw.
In June 2005, Punk accepted a deal with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), after a try-out match against Val Venis on its Sunday Night Heat show. Even though he had accepted the deal, Punk went on to defeat Austin Aries with his Pepsi Plunge move, winning the ROH World Championship on June 18, 2005 at Death Before Dishonor III. Immediately after the match, Punk proceeded to become a villain and started a storyline where he threatened to bring the ROH World Championship to WWE with him.
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Punk's final scheduled match in Ring of Honor took place at 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 with the ROH World Championship.
World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE (2005-2014)
In September 2005, Punk was assigned to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), a WWE developmental territory. He made his debut on September 8, 2005, in a dark match, where he, Nigel McGuinness and Paul Burchill were defeated by Deuce Shade, Elijah Burke and Seth Skyfire.
On November 9, 2005, Punk became the OVW Television Champion after defeating Ken Doane, which immediately led 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 hit him with a chair so he himself could wrestle Doane. On January 4, 2006, Punk lost the OVW Television Championship during a three way dance among himself, Albright and Doane.
After Matt Cappotelli vacated the OVW Heavyweight Championship because of a brain tumor in February 2006, 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. On May 3, 2006, Punk finally defeated Albright in a strap match to win the OVW Heavyweight Championship. 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.
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On June 24, 2006, Punk made his ECW debut during a house show at the former ECW Arena, defeating Stevie Richards. 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. Punk made his TV wrestling debut on August 1, 2006 at the Hammerstein Ballroom, defeating Justin Credible. CM Punk established himself in ECW by going undefeated, defeating opponents such as Christopher W.
Following the pay-per-view, Punk entered into a feud with Hardcore Holly, who ended Punk's six-month unbeaten streak in singles competition on January 9, 2007. Punk went on to feud with Matt Striker, who gave him his second singles loss since being in ECW on January 30. Punk then qualified for the Money in the Bank Ladder Match at WrestleMania 23 by defeating Johnny Nitro.
At the September 1, 2007 (aired September 4) ECW taping, in a "last chance" title match, Punk defeated Morrison for the ECW Championship. Punk then went on to have successful title defenses against the likes of Elijah Burke (at Unforgiven), Big Daddy V via disqualification (at No Mercy) and The Miz (at Cyber Sunday).
At WrestleMania XXIV, Punk won the Money in the Bank ladder match after defeating Carlito, Chris Jericho, John Morrison, Montel Vontavious Porter, Mr. On June 23, Punk was drafted to the Raw brand during the 2008 WWE draft. In his first night on Raw the following week, Punk cashed in his Money in the Bank contract and won the World Heavyweight Championship after Batista beat down the champion Edge.
In late-2009, Punk's character began taking on a more sinister direction.
The "Pipe Bomb" Promo
In June 2011, after pinning WWE Champion John Cena on the June 13 episode of Raw,[160] Rey Mysterio at Capitol Punishment on June 19,[161] and finally Alberto Del Rio in a number one contender's triple threat match (which also included Mysterio) all within one week, 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.
On the June 27, 2011, edition of Raw, Punk made arguably his most popular promo, a scathing, yet highly acclaimed on-air speech, often referred to as the "Pipe Bomb", concerning the way in which WWE is run and its owner Vince McMahon, as well as referencing other promotions, such as Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro-Wrestling:
On January 27 at the Royal Rumble, Punk defended the WWE Championship against The Rock in a match that stipulated that Punk would be stripped of the title if The Shield interfered.
I was sick and hurt and burnt out, and I walked.
Inside story of CM Punk’s Pipe Bomb: WWE Greatest Moments
Punk did not appear on the January 27 episode of Raw, nor did he appear at the SmackDown taping on Tuesday despite being advertised for both events. By Wednesday, WWE.com stopped advertising Punk for future events. The Wrestling Observer reported that on Monday and prior to Raw, Punk had legitimately walked out after telling Vince McMahon and Triple H that he was "going home".
On an episode of Colt Cabana's Art of Wrestling podcast released in November 2014, Punk finally broke his silence regarding his exit from WWE. In a detailed interview, Punk said that he was suspended for two months after walking out on WWE in January and that after the suspension ended, nobody from WWE contacted him. Punk also said WWE executives gave him a run-around when he reached out to them for unpaid royalties...
| Championship | Times Won |
|---|---|
| WWE Championship | 2 |
| WWE's World Heavyweight Championship | 3 |
| ECW Championship | 1 |
| ROH World Championships | 1 |
| World Tag Team Championship (with Kofi Kingston) | 1 |
| Intercontinental Champion | 1 |
Mixed Martial Arts Career (2014-2018)
After becoming disgruntled in WWE, Punk retired from professional wrestling in 2014. He then pursued a career in mixed martial arts (MMA) and was signed by the UFC in December of that year.
All Elite Wrestling (2021-2023)
On August 20, Punk made his debut for AEW at The First Dance event on Rampage, marking his return to professional wrestling after a seven-year retirement.
Return to WWE (2023-Present)
As of November 2023, he is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand and is the World Heavyweight Champion in his record-tying second reign.
CM Punk makes his return to the WWE.
CM Punk's career is a testament to his passion, skill, and unwavering commitment to his principles. From his early days in the independent circuit to his controversial yet memorable run in WWE, and his foray into mixed martial arts, CM Punk has left an indelible mark on the world of sports and entertainment.