CM Punk

Early life

Brooks was born in Chicago, Illinois, and raised in nearby Lockport, Illinois. He is one of five children; his father was an engineer, while his mother was a homemaker. Brooks' father struggled with alcoholism which inspired him to become straight edge from an early age. He attended Lockport Township High School.

Early career (1999–2000)

Brooks' 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. Unlike his friends, Punk genuinely wanted to be a wrestler and saw it as more than simple fun. When the promotion started taking off, doing shows out of a warehouse in Mokena, Illinois, Punk found out that his brother Mike had embezzled thousands of dollars from the small company, causing them to become estranged. They have not spoken since.

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. 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 promotions, as both opponents and tag team partners. In the independents, along with fellow Steel Domain graduates Colt Cabana, Chucke E. Smooth, Adam Pearce, and manager Dave Prazak, Punk formed an alliance named the Gold Bond Mafia.

IWA Mid-South and Pro Wrestling Zero-One (2000–2005)

Punk's home promotion for his early career was considered to be the 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 in matches for the heavyweight championship. Punk's feud with Hero included a 55-minute TLC match, a 93-minute two out of three falls match, and several 60-minute time limit draws.

Punk's matches with Cabana led him to being hired by the Ring of Honor promotion. From February 2003 until May 2004, Punk refused to wrestle for IWA Mid-South, explaining this as a protest to Ian Rotten's mistreatment of Chris Hero in the company. Hero, however, 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. Eventually Punk returned to IWA Mid-South and continued to perform as a wrestler and commentator for them until 2005 when he was signed to World Wrestling Entertainment. His last appearance in IWA Mid-South was on July 2, 2005 in which he competed in a 60-minute time limit draw against Delirious.

On August 1, 2003, Punk wrestled for Japanese promotion Pro Wrestling ZERO-ONE on the final day of its Fire Festival at Korakuen Hall, teaming with C.W. Anderson, Josh Daniels, and Vansack Acid in an eight-man tag team match against Ikuto Hidaka, Jun Kasai, Naohiro Hoshikawa, and Tatsuhito Takaiwa; Punk's team was defeated.

Feud with Raven (2002–2004)

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. Their rivalry was rooted in Punk's straight-edge lifestyle, with him likening Raven to his alcoholic father; it lasted most of 2003 and was considered one of ROH's top feuds of the year. Their rivalry was settled at The Conclusion in November 2003, where Punk defeated Raven in a Steel Cage match. At the same time, Punk joined the wrestling promotion NWA:Total Nonstop Action, later known as Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), in which he was paired with Julio Dinero as members of Raven's TNA alliance The Gathering.

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 Tag Team Championship twice with Colt Cabana as the Second City Saints. Both times Punk and Cabana defeated the Briscoe Brothers to win the championship. Circa October 2003, 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.

Shortly before a TNA show on February 25, 2004, Punk had a physical scuffle with Teddy Hart outside of a restaurant that was broken up by Sabu. The scuffle reportedly stemmed from an ROH show in which Hart performed three unplanned spots putting several other wrestlers in danger of injury. Around the time of the scuffle, Punk and Dinero stopped appearing on TNA shows, leading to speculation he was fired for the incident. Punk, however, said the scuffle had no bearing on his TNA career. He said the reason he and Dinero stopped appearing on TNA pay-per-views was that TNA officials believed that he and Dinero had not connected with the fans as villains, having turned against the popular Raven and instead formed a villainous tag team managed by James Mitchell. The officials decided that since the team was not working as villains, the storyline would be put on hold indefinitely, and thus had no work for Punk or Dinero. Punk officially quit TNA in March 2004 during the Rob Feinstein controversy, after having a dispute with the TNA offices over his ability to compete in ROH following a TNA order that their contracted wrestlers were to no longer wrestle in ROH.

Summer of Punk (2004–2006)

In 2004, Punk faced off against ROH World Champion Samoa Joe for the championship in a three-match series. The first match, on June 12, at World Title Classic, 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. At Joe vs. Punk II on October 16, they wrestled to a second 60-minute draw. In addition to Joe vs. Punk II becoming Ring of Honor's best-selling DVD at the time, the match received a five-star rating by Dave Meltzer's Wrestling Observer Newsletter. It was the first match in North America to receive a five-star rating in seven years, the last one being the Hell in a Cell match between Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker at Badd Blood: In Your House in 1997. Joe ended the series by defeating Punk in the third and final match on December 4, at All-Star Extravaganza 2 in which there was a no-time-limit stipulation.

After a try-out match on May 9, 2005 (which aired May 15), where he lost to Val Venis on the Sunday Night Heat show, Punk accepted a deal offered by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in June. Though he had accepted the deal, Punk defeated Austin Aries to win the ROH World Championship on June 18 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. 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. During the storyline, referred to by ROH as the "Summer of Punk", Mick Foley made several ROH appearances, attempting to convince Punk to do the right thing and defend the title on his way out. On August 12, Punk lost the ROH World Championship to James Gibson in a four corner elimination match which also involved Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels. Punk's final scheduled match in ROH took place at Punk: The Final Chapter on August 13, against long-time friend Colt Cabana in a two out of three falls match, which he lost.

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. In addition, most of the ROH roster contracted to TNA were pulled from the show because of a snowstorm that TNA officials thought might prevent performers from reaching a pay-per-view scheduled the next day. In the main event, Punk teamed with Bryan Danielson to defeat Jimmy Rave and Adam Pearce in a tag team match.

Ohio Valley Wrestling (2005–2006)

In September 2005, Punk was assigned to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), a WWE developmental territory. He made his debut on September 8, in a dark match, where he, Nigel McGuinness and Paul Burchill were defeated by Deuce Shade, Elijah Burke and Seth Skyfire. On September 26, in his OVW television debut, Punk suffered a ruptured eardrum and broken nose after Danny Inferno hit him with an overly stiff right hand. Despite the injury, Punk finished the match and quickly recovered.

On November 9, 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. They wrestled in series of matches, including one that ended in overtime with Albright having Punk submit to Albright's finisher, the Crowbar, but Punk was able to keep the championship, as he had not agreed to the extra time. On January 4, 2006, Punk lost the OVW Television Championship during a three way dance among himself, Albright and Doane. Doane was injured halfway through the match and was replaced by Aaron "The Idol" Stevens. Punk submitted to Albright's Crowbar and was eliminated, but he returned later in the match to distract Albright allowing Stevens to pin Albright and become the new OVW Television Champion. Albright and Punk then briefly teamed. They became opponents again after Punk denied Albright the respect he demanded and proceeded to continually "punk him out" (get the better of him). This feud continued for weeks with Punk always coming out on top, until a double turn occurred on February 1. Albright turned heel during a tag team match, allowing the Spirit Squad to attack Punk, turning him face. After Matt Cappotelli vacated the OVW Heavyweight Championship because of a brain tumor in February, a tournament was held to crown a new champion. Punk lost to Albright in the finals. Punk and Albright continued their feud, with Albright becoming 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, Punk defeated Albright in a strap match to win the OVW Heavyweight Championship. As champion, Punk retained the title in matches against opponents such as Shad Gaspard, Ken Kennedy, Johnny Jeter and Mike "The Miz" Mizanin.

On July 28, Punk and Seth Skyfire defeated Shad Gaspard and the Neighborhoodie to win the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship at a house show. They lost the Tag Team Championship on August 2 to Deuce Shade and "Domino" Cliff Compton after an injured Skyfire tagged in an already injured Punk. This altercation led to a feud between Punk and Skyfire after a rematch for the Tag Team Championship on August 7 in which a healthy Punk purposefully tagged in an injured Skyfire to be beaten by Shade and Compton. On August 30, a match was scheduled to take place between Punk and Skyfire for the OVW Heavyweight Championship. Prior to the match, however, Skyfire was attacked by Charles "The Hammer" Evans, with whom Skyfire had also been feuding, and was replaced in the match by Chet Jablonski (Chet the Jet) who pinned Punk to win the OVW Heavyweight Championship. As Punk no longer possessed the championship, OVW no longer required him. He was removed from the roster and brought up to the WWE roster full-time. He continued to make sporadic appearances for OVW, such as on their 400th TV episode, until WWE and OVW ended their developmental partnership on February 7, 2008.

ECW Champion (2006–2008)

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 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. 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 at the Hammerstein Ballroom, defeating Justin Credible. Punk established himself in ECW by going undefeated, defeating opponents such as Christopher W. Anderson, Stevie Richards and Shannon Moore.

Soon after, Punk began feuding with Mike Knox after Knox's girlfriend, Kelly Kelly, was seen to have feelings for Punk. Punk defeated Knox in their first singles match (qualifying for the Extreme Elimination Chamber at December to Dismember in the process) as well as the rematch, after which Kelly Kelly celebrated Punk's victory over her boyfriend. 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. At December to Dismember, Punk participated in the Elimination Chamber for the ECW Championship; however, he was the first person eliminated by Rob Van Dam.

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, but lost the match at WrestleMania on April 1.

On April 10, Punk briefly became a villain by joining the New Breed alliance, after several weeks in which both the New Breed and the ECW Originals had attempted to recruit him. 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. At Judgment Day, Punk defeated Burke in his first singles match on a pay-per-view. 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.

When ECW Champion Bobby Lashley was drafted to Raw and stripped of the ECW Championship, a tournament to declare a new champion was held. Punk was scheduled to face Chris Benoit in the finals at Vengeance: Night of Champions, but Benoit was hastily replaced by Johnny Nitro when Benoit no-showed, after killing his family and self. Nitro subsequently defeated Punk for the vacant ECW Championship. 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. 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. 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.

At the September 1 (aired September 4) ECW taping, in a "last chance" title match, Punk defeated Morrison for the ECW Championship. Punk 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). On November 6, Punk retained the ECW Championship in a match against Morrison following The Miz's interference. At Survivor Series, Punk retained his title in a Triple Threat match, beating The Miz and John Morrison. On January 22, 2008, Punk lost the ECW Championship to Chavo Guerrero in a No Disqualification match, after he was speared by Edge.

World Heavyweight Champion (2008–2009)

At WrestleMania XXIV on March 30, 2008, Punk won the Money in the Bank ladder match, after defeating Chris Jericho, Montel Vontavious Porter, Shelton Benjamin, John Morrison, Mr. Kennedy and Carlito.

On June 23, Punk was drafted to the Raw brand during the 2008 WWE draft. His first night on Raw came the following week; after Batista beat down World Heavyweight Champion Edge, Punk cashed in his Money in the Bank contract and won the World Heavyweight Championship. Later that night, Punk made his first title defense against JBL, who had challenged him shortly after his win. Punk continued to hold and defend the title until Unforgiven on September 7. Before the Championship Scramble match, Punk was attacked by The Legacy (Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase with Manu). Orton finished the assault by punting Punk in the head. Punk could not participate in the match due to the attack and so forfeited the title. He was replaced by Chris Jericho, who won the match and the title. He received a rematch eight days later on September 15, where he failed to regain the title in a steel cage match against Jericho.

On October 27, Punk and Kofi Kingston defeated Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase to win the World Tag Team Championship. The duo were members of Team Batista at Survivor Series, where their team lost to Team Orton. Punk then entered in a number one contender Intercontinental Championship Tournament. He defeated Snitsky and John Morrison in the first two rounds. Punk and Kingston lost the World Tag Team Championship to John Morrison and The Miz at a live event on December 13, 2008. The next day Punk defeated Rey Mysterio at Armageddon to win the tournament. On the January 5, 2009, episode of Raw, Punk received his title match against William Regal, which ended in a disqualification, when Regal grabbed the referee's jersey. Due to this, Stephanie McMahon awarded Punk a rematch the following week, but this time it was himself that was disqualified. McMahon awarded him another rematch, this time a No Disqualification match on January 19 Raw, Punk won the match and the title. With this win, he became the 19th Triple Crown Champion, and the fastest to accomplish the feat, shattering Kevin Nash's old record. Punk lost the title on the March 9 Raw to JBL. At WrestleMania XXV, Punk won the Money in the Bank ladder match and became the first person to win the match twice.

On April 13, during the 2009 WWE draft, Punk was drafted from Raw to SmackDown. In the period after the draft, Punk feuded with Umaga over Umaga's repeated surprise attacks while Punk was attempting to cash in his Money in the Bank contract. This ultimately resulted in a Samoan strap match at Extreme Rules, which was won by Punk.

At the end of the pay-per-view, Punk cashed in his Money in the Bank contract to defeat Jeff Hardy for the World Heavyweight Championship. Punk retained his title in a Triple Threat match against both Edge and Hardy eight days later on the June 15 episode of Raw. At The Bash, Punk lost to Hardy by disqualification after kicking the referee; in the storyline Punk injured his eye and said that he could not see the referee. Because titles do not change hands on a disqualification, Punk retained the championship. Hardy called Punk's eye injury into question, believing it to be feigned. Punk turned heel, claiming to be the moral superior of those who support Hardy due to his drug-free lifestyle. At Night of Champions, Punk lost the championship to Hardy. Their feud continued through SummerSlam, where Punk regained the title in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match; afterward, Punk was attacked by The Undertaker. On the August 28 episode of SmackDown, Punk concluded his program with Hardy and achieved his booked goal of excising him from WWE, defeating Hardy in a steel cage match wherein the loser agreed to leave the company.

At Breaking Point, Punk defeated The Undertaker in a submission match to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. Undertaker originally won the match with his Hell's Gate submission hold. SmackDown general manager Theodore Long restarted the match after stating that the ban that former general manager Vickie Guerrero had placed on the move was still in effect. Punk won the match with his Anaconda Vise when referee Scott Armstrong called for the bell despite Undertaker never submitting (reminiscent to the Montreal Screwjob, which took place in the same venue in 1997). The feud between the two continued and at the Hell in a Cell PPV, Punk lost the World Heavyweight Championship to The Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell match. He lost two subsequent rematches against The Undertaker on SmackDown and in a Fatal Four Way match at Bragging Rights also involving Batista and Rey Mysterio.

The Straight Edge Society (2009–2010)

His character took on a more sinister direction on the November 27, 2009, episode of SmackDown when he revealed that he had converted Luke Gallows, who had previously been portrayed as the mentally incompetent wrestler Festus, to the straight-edge lifestyle which had rid him of his mental troubles. Continuing to espouse his straight-edge philosophy, Punk began to present himself as a cult-like savior to the crowd, growing the hair on his head, face and chest in an allusion to Jesus. Through January 2010, Punk began to convert planted members of the audience to a straight-edge lifestyle, making them take a pledge of allegiance to him and shaving their head as a sign of renewal and devotion. After converting many people who were not seen again, convert Serena began accompanying Punk and Gallows to form the Straight Edge Society. As well as leading this alliance, Punk was also the mentor of WWE NXT rookie Darren Young who flirted with the idea of becoming straight-edge before refusing just before his head was to be shaved.

Punk continued to show messianic traits, frequently giving sermons including during the annual Royal Rumble match as well as during an Elimination Chamber match at both of the eponymous pay-per-views. In the Chamber match, he was eliminated by Rey Mysterio, whom he had feuding with leading into the PPV. Tensions escalated as Mysterio prevented him from winning a Money in the Bank qualifying match, causing Punk to interrupt Mysterio's celebration of his daughter's ninth birthday. Mysterio challenged Punk to a Street Fight at WrestleMania XXVI but lost to Gallows. Punk added the stipulation that if Rey lost, he would join the Society. At WrestleMania, Punk lost to Mysterio sparking a rematch at Extreme Rules where Punk would have to shave his head, like his disciples, if he lost. Punk won this match after interference from a fourth member of the Society who kept his face covered. At Over The Limit, a third and final match was booked with both stipulations reactivated. In the match Punk lost and was subsequently shaved bald.

Embarrassed by being shaved bald, as he considered himself always pure unlike his followers, Punk began wearing a mask to hide his baldness. At Fatal 4-Way, Punk challenged for the World Heavyweight Championship against Mysterio, Big Show and the champion Jack Swagger, but was unsuccessful when he was attacked by Kane, who was accusing various people of attacking The Undertaker. On July 16, Punk was finally unmasked by Big Show while healing from an arm injury. The following week, Show also unmasked the anonymous member of the Straight Edge Society, who was revealed to be Joey Mercury. This led to a handicap match at SummerSlam where Show defeated the entire Society after Punk abandoned his teammates. Show also beat Punk in a singles match at Night of Champions. Following this, Serena was released from WWE while Mercury became injured, severely thinning the Society. Gallows began showing signs of dissension too, and Punk defeated him on SmackDown, airing September 24, ending the group.

The New Nexus (2010–2011)

Punk was traded back to the Raw brand on October 11, 2010, after being swapped with Edge. He took part in the interbrand tag team match at Bragging Rights after injuring Evan Bourne to win a place, but the team lost. It was reported later that he was suffering with a hip injury that would stop him from competing. To keep a presence on television, he began commentating on Raw from November 22, having already commentated one NXT. During his commentary, he criticized John Cena for his actions against The Nexus. Sometimes he favored heel wrestlers over face wrestlers. At the end of December, Punk left the commentary team after assaulting John Cena on Raw and SmackDown with a chair. Punk later revealed that his motives for the attacks were that he had joined and assumed control of The Nexus. Punk then made each member of the group prove themselves worthy of a spot, with some choosing to join The Corre, which had been started by former Nexus leader Wade Barrett on SmackDown, instead.

Punk then used the group to attack Randy Orton, blaming him for prematurely ending Punk's first World Heavyweight Championship reign in 2008. Punk and The Nexus cost Orton his match with The Miz for the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble in January 2011. Orton, in turn, responded by taking out all of the New Nexus members by punting them in the head, leaving Punk alone as the sole surviving member of the group. This led to a WrestleMania XXVII match and a Last Man Standing match at Extreme Rules, both of which Punk lost.

WWE Champion (2011–2013)

In June 2011, after pinning WWE Champion John Cena on Raw, Rey Mysterio at Capitol Punishment and finally Alberto Del Rio again in a contendership match (which also included Mysterio) all within one week, Punk revealed his contract would expire at Money in the Bank and vowed to leave the company with the WWE Championship. After making a scathing yet highly acclaimed on-air speech concerning the way in which WWE is run and its owner Vince McMahon, he was given a storyline suspension from televised WWE events but was reinstated the following week on Cena's insistence. Upon his return, Punk ceased to appear with the remaining members of Nexus and the group quietly dissolved that month. This helped transition him from a villainous character back to being a fan-favorite. Two weeks later, at Money in the Bank, Punk defeated John Cena to become the WWE Champion on his final night under contract with WWE.

On July 21, Punk made a surprise appearance at a joint WWE–Mattel panel at San Diego Comic-Con, where he mocked new Chief Operating Officer Triple H and offered WWE Championship tournament finalist Rey Mysterio a match for his WWE Championship, as long as it was in Punk's hometown, Chicago. Punk appeared at July 23's All American Wrestling show, showing respect to Gregory Iron, a wrestler with cerebral palsy. Mysterio won the WWE Championship tournament on the July 25 episode of Raw, only to lose it to Cena later that night. After Cena's victory, Punk returned and upstaged the new WWE Champion's celebration while also entering into a title dispute. Triple H later upheld both Punk and Cena's claims to the WWE Championship as legitimate and scheduled the two to a match at SummerSlam to decide the undisputed WWE Champion. Punk won, but lost the title minutes later to Alberto Del Rio, who had cashed in his Money in the Bank contract after Kevin Nash attacked Punk.

The night after SummerSlam, Punk accused Nash of conspiring with Triple H to keep Punk away from the WWE Championship. After repeated confrontations, Nash and Punk demanded to face each other at Night of Champions, to which Triple H acquiesced. However, after Punk's repeated verbal attacks towards him and his wife Stephanie McMahon, Triple H booked himself to replace Nash. At Night of Champions, Punk lost a No Disqualification match after Nash, The Miz, and R-Truth attacked both men. Miz and Truth also attacked Punk at Hell in a Cell after he lost a WWE Championship triple threat match. He attempted to avenge this by teaming with Triple H against Miz and Truth at Vengeance, but lost again due to Nash attacking Triple H. This helped transition Punk's anti-establishment voice from Triple H to John Laurinaitis, who became the interim Raw general manager. Punk balked at Laurinaitis' promotion and verbally attacked him as a dull yes man.

On October 31, Punk strong-armed his way into a match with Del Rio at Survivor Series, regaining the WWE Championship at the event. He went on to defend the title through the end of the year, retaining in a rematch with Del Rio on the November 28 Raw and against both Del Rio and The Miz in a triple threat TLC match at TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs. On the December 26 Raw, Punk was defeated by Dolph Ziggler in a gauntlet match; as a result Ziggler became the number one contender to the WWE Championship. Had he been successful, Punk would have earned the right to face Laurinaitis in a match. The following Raw, Punk was defeated by Ziggler by countout after Laurinaitis interfered; retaining the championship as a result. Intermeddling from Laurinaitis caused Punk to lose to Ziggler throughout January which ultimately led to Punk attacking Laurinaitis in retaliation. At the Royal Rumble event, Punk successfully defended his title against Ziggler, despite Laurinaitis acting as the outside enforcer.

On the January 30 episode of Raw, Chris Jericho attacked Punk and Daniel Bryan during their Champion vs. Champion match, giving Bryan the win. The following week, Jericho explained his actions by dismissing the WWE roster as imitations of himself and singling out Punk for calling himself "the best in the world", a moniker Jericho used the last time he was in WWE. Their rivalry continued through Elimination Chamber where Punk retained the WWE Championship in the namesake structure; while four competitors were eliminated, Jericho was unable to continue the match after being kicked out of the chamber by Punk, causing temporary injury. The next night on Raw, Jericho earned a match against Punk at WrestleMania XXVIII, and in a bid to psychologically unsettle him, he revealed Punk's father was an alcoholic and alleged that his sister was a drug addict, asserting that Punk's straight edge philosophy was paranoia to avoid the same vices and vowing to make Punk turn to alcohol by winning the title from him. John Laurinaitis added the stipulation that the WWE Championship could change hands via disqualification, which led to Jericho inciting Punk into using a weapon, but Punk resisted and retained the title. On the April 2 and 9 episodes of Raw, Punk retained the WWE Championship against Mark Henry after losing to him via count-out and disqualification. Following both matches, Jericho attacked Punk and doused him with alcohol. On the April 16 Raw, Punk pinned Henry in a no disqualification, no countout match to retain his title. After repeated altercations, the feud between Jericho and Punk culminated in a Chicago Street Fight at Extreme Rules where Punk defeated Jericho to retain the WWE Championship.

Punk began a rivalry with Daniel Bryan at the May event Over the Limit, retaining the title after reversing Bryan's submission hold the "Yes!" Lock into a pinning combination; the pinfall saved Punk from his own submission only moments later. Shortly before Over the Limit, Bryan interfered in a non-title match between Punk and Kane to frame Punk for attacking Kane with a steel chair, starting a three-way rivalry. On the June 1 episode of SmackDown, a WWE Championship match between Punk and Kane ended in a double disqualification after Bryan attacked both men. Meanwhile, Bryan's jilted ex-girlfriend AJ turned her affections to both Punk and Kane. This feud culminated in a triple threat match at No Way Out, where Punk managed to retain the title after AJ distracted Kane. At Money in the Bank, Punk successfully defended the WWE Championship against Bryan in a No Disqualification match with AJ as special guest referee.

On July 23 at Raw 1000, Punk defended his title against Money in the Bank winner John Cena and lost by disqualification after interference from Big Show. When the night's special guest The Rock – who had interrupted Punk earlier to announce he would wrestle for the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble – intervened to save Cena from Big Show's assault, Punk attacked him, turning heel. The following week, Punk justified his actions, explaining he was tired of people like Cena and Rock overshadowing him when the WWE Champion should be the focus of the company; Punk asserted himself further soon after by disrupting a number one contender's match between Cena and Big Show. As a result, both men were entered into the title match against Punk at SummerSlam where he successfully retained the WWE Championship. In the following weeks, Punk demanded respect from people like AJ Lee, Jerry Lawler and Bret Hart and eventually aligned with Paul Heyman in his feud with Cena. At Night of Champions, Punk retained the WWE Championship after he fought Cena to a draw. Punk continued to feud with Cena, despite the latter's arm injury, rejecting the requests of Mick Foley and Jim Ross to pick him as his Hell in a Cell opponent and leading to a brawl with WWE chairman Vince McMahon. Cena was eventually pulled from the title match at Hell in a Cell, and replaced by Ryback. On October 28 at the pay-per-view, Punk, with help from referee Brad Maddox, defeated Ryback in a Hell in a Cell match to retain the WWE Championship.

The next night on Raw, a furious Mick Foley confronted Punk for refusing to pick John Cena as his Hell in a Cell opponent. This led to the two agreeing to meet at Survivor Series in a traditional five-on-five elimination tag team match with Punk choosing Alberto Del Rio, Cody Rhodes, Damien Sandow, and The Miz for his own team. The next week, Punk was replaced as captain by Dolph Ziggler, and booked in a Triple Threat WWE Championship match against John Cena and Ryback instead by Mr. McMahon. On November 18 at the pay-per-view, Punk won the match by pinning Cena, following interference from the debuting faction called The Shield, composed of Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns, allowing him to retain the WWE Championship and hold the championship for a full year. On December 4, Punk underwent surgery to repair a partially torn meniscus, removing him from his title match against Ryback at TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs. Despite his injury, Punk became the longest reigning WWE Champion in the past 25 years on December 5, when he hit 381 days, surpassing John Cena's 380-day reign. Punk returned to in-ring action on the January 7, 2013, episode of Raw, retaining the WWE Championship against Ryback in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match, following interference from The Shield.

On January 27 at the Royal Rumble, Punk defended the WWE Championship against The Rock in a match stipulated that if The Shield interfered, Punk would be stripped of the title. Punk originally pinned The Rock to retain after The Shield put Rock through a table while the arena lights were out. Vince McMahon began to announce that Punk would be stripped of the title, but he instead restarted the match at The Rock's request. Punk went on to lose the match, ending his record-setting reign at 434 days. Punk received a title rematch with Rock on February 17 at the Elimination Chamber event, stipulated that the Rock would lose the WWE Championship if he was disqualified or counted out, but Rock pinned Punk to retain the title. On the February 25 episode of Raw, Punk faced Royal Rumble winner John Cena for his number one contendership to the WWE Championship, but lost.

Final storylines (2013–2014)

In March 2013, Punk set his sights on ending The Undertaker's undefeated WrestleMania streak in an effort to "take something away from the fans", as he believed they had taken the WWE title away from him. Punk defeated Big Show, Randy Orton, and Sheamus in a four-way match to earn the right to face Undertaker. After the death of Paul Bearer, a storyline involving Punk regularly spiting The Undertaker through displays of flippancy and disrespect towards Bearer's death began, including Punk stealing Bearer's trademark urn. On April 7 at WrestleMania 29, Punk was defeated by The Undertaker, who took back the urn. On April 15, Punk addressed the crowd and after briefly recalling his historic championship reign, walked out of the arena.

Punk returned at Payback on June 16, defeating Chris Jericho. The next night on Raw, Punk told Heyman to no longer accompany him to his matches and was later attacked by Heyman's client Brock Lesnar. Afterward, Heyman promised Punk that he did not send Lesnar to attack him, and that he still considered Punk his best friend, stating that any problem Punk and Lesnar had with each other was between them. On July 14 at Money in the Bank, Punk lost the WWE Championship Money in the Bank ladder match after Heyman attacked him. The next night on Raw, Heyman said that, without him, Punk was no longer the "Best in the World", before unleashing Lesnar on Punk. Punk and Lesnar brawled for several weeks until SummerSlam, where Punk lost to Lesnar in a No Disqualification match after Heyman interfered.

Punk then turned his sights to Heyman's other client, Intercontinental Champion Curtis Axel. On September 15, Punk faced Axel and Heyman in a No Disqualication, Handicap elimination match at Night of Champions, in which he made Axel submit, leaving only Heyman left. In the process of attacking Heyman, Ryback attacked Punk and placed Heyman on top of Punk for the pinfall. A month later, at Battleground, Punk defeated Ryback after executing a low blow, while the referee was distracted by Heyman attempting to interfere in the match. On October 14, Punk defeated Axel in a Beat the Clock challenge match to determine the stipulation for his rematch with Ryback at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view, which Punk chose to be a two-on-one Handicap match in the Hell in a Cell also involving Heyman. At the event on October 27, Punk defeated Heyman and Ryback.

Punk moved on to a feud with The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan) and formed an alliance with Daniel Bryan, with the duo defeating Harper and Rowan in a tag team match at Survivor Series on November 24. The next night, while attempting to save Bryan from being "taken hostage" by The Wyatt Family, Punk was attacked by The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns). Punk insinuated that The Authority ordered the attack, which resulted in the Director of Operations, Kane, booking Punk in a three-on-one Handicap match against The Shield at TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs. On December 15, Punk won the match after Reigns accidentally speared Ambrose. After further altercations between Punk and Kane, Kane made Punk the first entrant in the annual Royal Rumble match on January 26, 2014. Near the end of match, Kane, who was already eliminated earlier in the match by Punk, eliminated Punk from the outside and proceeded to chokeslam him through the announce table.

Departure and retirement (2014)

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 the event. 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 February 20, during a conference call to investors, McMahon said Punk was "taking a sabbatical". On the March 3 episode of Raw, WWE acknowledged Punk's absence on television when the show started with Punk's entrance music playing, only for former manager Paul Heyman to walk out. WWE proceeded to remove Punk from footage of their promotional videos; this lasted until the first half of July, where WWE used footage of Punk to promote the WWE Network. In an interview published in late May, Punk was asked how it felt "to be retired at 35" and replied that "it feels good". On July 15, WWE.com moved Punk from the active roster to the alumni page without releasing a statement. On the same day, Punk thanked his fans without mentioning WWE. In late July, Punk said that he was "never ever" going to return to wrestling.

On an episode of Colt Cabana's Art of Wrestling podcast released in November 2014, Punk 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 the company in January and that after the suspension ended, nobody from WWE contacted him. He also told that when he reached out to them for unpaid royalties, he was given a run-around by company executives until he was handed his termination papers and was fired by WWE on his wedding day in June 2014. The manner of firing was the last straw for Punk, stating that he would never return to WWE and that following a legal settlement with WWE, there would be no further working relationship between them. The settlement included Punk giving WWE permission to sell his remaining merchandise.

Punk cited his health as the main reason he left WWE, describing that in his final months in the company, he had been working through an untreated and potentially fatal MRSA infection, broken ribs, injured knees, and multiple concussions including one at the Royal Rumble, as well as having lost his appetite and ability to sleep well. Punk felt that WWE was pressuring and rushing him to wrestle before he had fully recovered. According to him, he found a lump on his back in November 2013 and it was diagnosed as a fatty deposit by Dr. Chris Amann, who refused to remove it despite Punk's requests. The week after Punk left WWE, his wife April Mendez convinced him to get the lump checked by her doctor. The doctor diagnosed it as a MRSA infection and told Punk that he could have died due to ignoring it for such a long time. 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 weeks.

Other sources of unhappiness Punk had with WWE were his failure to main-event a WrestleMania (deeming his entire career to be a failure as a result), being paid less than the other wrestlers in the three biggest matches of WrestleMania 29, doing favors for Vince McMahon and not being owed back, being "creatively stifled" and feeling that there were no long-term plans for wrestlers other than John Cena, as well as receiving smaller paychecks and not getting answers as to how the WWE Network would affect wrestlers' salaries. Lastly, Punk described having left with "zero passion" for wrestling, and described himself at the time of the interview to be the happiest in many years.

Less than a week later, when Vince McMahon was interviewed on The Steve Austin Show via the WWE Network, he apologized to Punk for the manner of his termination, which he regarded as a coincidence due to a lack of communication within the organization. McMahon said that he was open to working with Punk again. In a second Art of Wrestling podcast, Punk rejected McMahon's apology as insincere and a "publicity stunt" as McMahon did not contact him directly to apologize and could have apologized earlier.

Wrestling persona

Punk adopted his real-life following of the straight edge movement as a major attribute of his professional wrestling character. The character utilizes different elements of Punk's personality and beliefs of the straight edge movement dependent on his alignment. While portraying a crowd favorite, Punk's character tends to be that of Punk's normal personality, largely indifferent to others who drink alcohol, smoke tobacco, partake in recreational drug use or have promiscuous sexual behavior, but emphasizing the social discipline involved with personally abstaining from these behaviors. Conversely, his villainous personality tends to be that of one who is hardline or militant straight edge, exemplifying the elitist attitudes and superiority complexes—defined by Punk's common mantra during villainous-themed promos that, because he is straight edge, he is "better than you". 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 hands, usually drawn on his wrist tape. During his WWE career, Punk also incorporated a belligerently anti-establishment and anti-corporate attitude into his persona.

Originally, the initials CM in his ring name represented the phrase "Chick Magnet", the name of the tag team he was in as a backyard wrestler. Punk, however, 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. Since beginning this practice, Punk has stated CM stands for "Cookie Monster", "Cookie Master", "Crooked Moonsault", "Chuck Mosley", "Charles Montgomery", "Charles Manson", "Chicago Made", among others.

During his entrance, Punk yells "It's clobberin' time!" The phrase is a reference to New York City hardcore punk band Sick of It All, who wrote a song with the same name, and Marvel's fictional character The Thing.

An integral part of Punk are the numerous tattoos that adorn his body, some of which have 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:

Ultimate Fighting Championship (2014–present)

At UFC 181, on December 6, 2014, Punk announced that he had signed a multi-fight contract with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). When asked if he would compete under his ring name or birth name, he told the Las Vegas Sun, "I've come this far with CM Punk. That's what people know. I'm trying to stick with that. I'm not shying away from it. I'm not ashamed of it." His UFC profile lists him as CM Punk.

In January 2015, Punk began training under Duke Roufus at Roufusport MMA Academy. In June 2015, he moved to Milwaukee to be closer to the Roufusport gym, while still retaining his home in Chicago. Later, it was announced that Punk would compete in the welterweight division. In October 2015, Roufus announced that Punk had suffered a shoulder injury, delaying his UFC debut until the next calendar year. On February 6, 2016, it was announced that Punk would face Mickey Gall in his first professional mixed martial arts (MMA) contest. Days later, he was diagnosed with a herniated disc, and underwent surgery.

Punk's UFC and MMA debut against Gall took place on September 10, 2016, at UFC 203. The event was held at the Quicken Loans Arena, the same venue where Punk left WWE and retired from professional wrestling. He lost via rear naked choke at 2:14 of the first round. He was paid a disclosed $500,000.

Writing

Brooks wrote the introduction for the hardcover edition of Marvel Comics' 2012 crossover event Avengers vs. X-Men, and described the opportunity as a "geek dream come true".

In 2013, Brooks wrote a foreword for his friend and ex-girlfriend Natalie Slater's cookbook Bake and Destroy: Good Food for Bad Vegans.

In February 2015, Marvel Comics' Thor Annual #1, partly written by Brooks, was released. He co-wrote "The Most Cursed", which appeared in Vertigo Comics' Strange Sports Stories #3 in May 2015. Brooks also co-wrote Marvel Comics' Drax ongoing series, which had 11 issues published from November 4, 2015, to September 28, 2016.

Personal life

Brooks is an atheist. He is an avid fan of the Chicago Blackhawks and Chicago Cubs. In his spare time, he reads and collects comics. He once worked for a shop named All American Comics, and cites Preacher as his favorite comic.

Brooks married April Mendez, better known as AJ Lee, on June 13, 2014. They split their time between homes in Chicago, Illinois, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

On February 19, 2015, Christopher Amann, the WWE doctor who Brooks alleges misdiagnosed his staph infection and mistreated his concussion, filed a lawsuit against Brooks and Scott Colton (Colt Cabana) for defamation. He is seeking $1 million in compensation and an undisclosed amount in punitive damages. WWE issued a statement and video in support of Amann, stating that Brooks had never informed anyone at WWE of his staph infection.

In other media

Brooks is a playable character in numerous video games: WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008, WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009, WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2010, WWE All Stars, WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2011, WWE '12, WWE '13 (for which he was on the cover), WWE 2K14, WWE 2K15, and EA Sports UFC 2.

In 2008, Brooks appeared as the Sports Grand Marshal of the nationally televised McDonald's Thanksgiving Parade in downtown Chicago. He reprised this role in 2012.

Brooks has appeared alongside his friend and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu coach Rener Gracie in several episodes of Gracie Breakdown, a YouTube series that explains mixed martial arts matches and specifically the BJJ techniques used in them. Brooks has also done various work with Nerdist Industries, including hosting a series titled Grammar Slam, explaining grammatical mistakes in messages from professional wrestling fans and berating them.

In 2015, Brooks was featured in Frank Turner's "The Next Storm" music video.

In wrestling

Championships and accomplishments