CM Punk

On May 15, 2005, Punk lost to Val Venis on *Sunday Night Heat*.

On June 24, 2006, Punk made his official WWE debut during an *ECW* house show at the former ECW Arena, defeating Stevie Richards. He made his television 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. Punk made his 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 on-screen girlfriend Kelly Kelly was seen to have feelings for Punk. Punk defeated Knox in their first singles match as well as the rematch, after which Kelly Kelly celebrated Punk's victory over Knox. Punk had his first pay-per-view match when he 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. On December 3 at December to Dismember, Punk participated in the Extreme Elimination Chamber match for the ECW World Championship, but he was the first person eliminated by Rob Van Dam.

Following the event, on January 9, 2007, Punk had his first loss in *ECW* against Hardcore Holly, ending his six-month unbeaten streak in singles competition. He also participated on the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 23, but lost the match. On April 10, Punk was involved in the feud between the New Breed, a group of young wrestlers and the ECW Originals, the group of veteran wrestlers from the original ECW. On April 10, Punk joined the New Breed after several weeks in which both the New Breed and the Originals had attempted to recruit him. However, two weeks later he 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 Punk proceeded to deliver his finisher, the "Go to Sleep". On May 20 at Judgment Day, Punk defeated Burke in his first singles match on a WWE pay-per-view event. Punk then went on to One Night Stand on June 3 and teamed up with Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman in a tables match to defeat the New Breed and end the storyline.

When ECW World Champion Bobby Lashley was drafted to *Raw* and stripped of the championship, a tournament to declare a new champion was held. On June 24, 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. Nitro subsequently defeated Punk for the vacant ECW World Championship. During the following months, Punk faced Nitro (later he changed his ringname to John Morrison) at The Great American Bash, and SummerSlam, where he lost to Morrison both times.

At the September 1 *ECW* taping, Punk defeated Morrison in a last chance title match to win the ECW Championship. In the following months, 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 on *ECW*, Punk retained the ECW Championship in a match against Morrison following The Miz's interference. On November 18 at Survivor Series, Punk retained the title in a triple threat match against The Miz and John Morrison. On January 22, 2008 on *ECW*, Punk lost the ECW Championship to Chavo Guerrero in a no disqualification match after Edge performed a spear on him, ending his reign at 143 days.

On March 30 at WrestleMania XXIV, Punk won the Money in the Bank ladder match after defeating Carlito, Chris Jericho, John Morrison, Montel Vontavious Porter, Mr. Kennedy and Shelton Benjamin. At Judgment Day on May 18, Punk teamed with Kane to unsuccessfully challenge John Morrison and The Miz for the WWE Tag Team Championship.

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 after Batista beat down World Heavyweight Champion Edge and won the title, making his first defense later that same night against John "Bradshaw" Layfield, who had challenged him shortly after his win. Punk continued to hold and defend the title (against the likes of Batista at The Great American Bash and JBL at SummerSlam) until Unforgiven, when he was attacked by The Legacy, while Randy Orton finished the assault by punting Punk in the head before the Championship Scramble match on September 7, ending his reign at 69 days. Punk could not participate in the match due to the attack and so forfeited the title, being replaced by Chris Jericho, who won the match and the title. On the September 15 episode of *Raw*, Punk received his title rematch, but he failed to regain the title in a steel cage match against Jericho.

On the October 27 episode of *Raw*, 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 on November 23. Punk then entered in a number one contender Intercontinental Championship tournament, defeating Snitsky and John Morrison in the first two rounds. Punk and Kingston lost the World Tag Team Championship to John Morrison and The Miz on December 13 at a live event. The next day at Armageddon, Punk defeated Rey Mysterio 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 on *Raw*, but this time it was himself that was disqualified. McMahon awarded him another rematch, a no disqualification match on the January 19 episode of *Raw*, where Punk won the match and the title. With this win, Punk became the nineteenth WWE Triple Crown Champion. Punk lost the title on the March 9 *Raw* to John "Bradshaw" Layfield. On April 5 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, ultimately resulting in a Samoan strap match at Extreme Rules, which was won by Punk.

At the end of the event on June 7, Punk cashed in his Money in the Bank contract to defeat Jeff Hardy for the World Heavyweight Championship right after Hardy won the title from Edge in a ladder match. Punk made his first successful title defense in a triple threat match against both Edge and Hardy on the June 15 episode of *Raw*. On June 28 at The Bash, Punk retained the title even though he lost to Hardy by disqualification after kicking the referee. As part of the storyline, Punk injured his eye and said that he could not see the referee, but Hardy called his eye injury into question, believing it to be feigned, with Punk turning heel and claiming to be the moral superior of those who support Hardy due to his drug-free lifestyle. On July 26 at Night of Champions, Punk lost the title to Hardy. Their feud continued through SummerSlam on August 23, when Punk regained the title in a TLC match, only to be 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 to retain the World Heavyweight Championship wherein the loser agreed to leave the company. On September 13 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, but *SmackDown* general manager Theodore Long restarted the match after stating that the ban that former *SmackDown* general manager Vickie Guerrero had placed on the move was still in effect and Punk won the match with his "Anaconda Vise" when referee Scott Armstrong called for the bell despite Undertaker never submitting. The feud between the two continued and on October 4 at Hell in a Cell, he lost the World Heavyweight Championship to The Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell match. Punk lost two subsequent rematches for the World Heavyweight Championship against The Undertaker on *SmackDown* and on October 25 at Bragging Rights in a fatal four-way match also involving Batista and Rey Mysterio.

His character took on a more sinister direction on the November 27 episode of *SmackDown* when Punk 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. 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 *NXT* rookie Darren Young who flirted with the idea of becoming straight edge before refusing just before his head was to be shaved. Punk also gave sermons including during the annual Royal Rumble match in January 2010 as well as during an Elimination Chamber match in February 2010 at both of the eponymous pay-per-view events.

During the first months of 2010, Punk feuded with Rey Mysterio, being eliminated by him during the Elimination Chamber match. After Mysterio prevented him from winning a Money in the Bank qualifying match, Punk interrupted Mysterio's celebration of his daughter's ninth birthday. Mysterio and Punk faced each other in a street fight at WrestleMania XXVI, where if Rey lost, he would join the Straight Edge Society, but Punk was defeated. They had a rematch at Extreme Rules where Punk would have to shave his head like his disciples if he lost, but he won this match after interference from Joey Mercury, a fourth member of the Straight Edge Society. On May 23 at Over The Limit, a third and final match between Punk and Mysterio was booked with both stipulations reactivated, but he lost and was subsequently shaved bald.

After the match, Punk began wearing a black mask, since he considered himself always pure unlike his followers and was embarrassed by his baldness. On June 20 at Fatal 4-Way, 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. Punk and his stable started a feud with The Big Show when on the July 16 episode of *SmackDown*, Show unmasked Punk. Show faced the Straight Edge Society in a four-on-one handicap on August 15 at SummerSlam, winning the match after Punk abandoned his teammates. Next month, at Night of Champions, Punk lost to Big Show in a singles match. The Straight Edge Society angle ended after Serena was released from WWE and Mercury became injured, whereas Punk defeated Gallows in a singles match on the *SmackDown* episode which aired on September 24.

On October 11, 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 injuring Evan Bourne to win a place, but his 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* starting on November 22.

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 instead choosing to join The Corre, which had been started by former Nexus leader Wade Barrett on *SmackDown*.

In January 2011, Punk and The Nexus cost Randy Orton his match with The Miz for the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble as a revenge for Orton prematurely ending Punk's first World Heavyweight Championship reign in 2008. In turn, Orton 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 on April 3 and a Last Man Standing match on May 1 at Extreme Rules, both of which Punk lost.

In June 2011, after pinning WWE Champion John Cena on *Raw*, Rey Mysterio at Capitol Punishment, and finally Alberto Del Rio in a number one contendership match all within one week, Punk revealed that his contract was to expire on July 17 at Money in the Bank and vowed to leave the company with the WWE Championship. After making a scathing on-air speech concerning the way in which WWE is run and its owner Vince McMahon, Punk was given a storyline suspension from televised WWE events. Punk would be reinstated on Cena's insistence. Upon his return, Punk ceased to appear with the remaining members of The Nexus and the group quietly dissolved that month, turning Punk face. At Money in the Bank, Punk defeated Cena to become the WWE Champion on his final night under contract with WWE.

Rey 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. At the event on August 14, Punk won, 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 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, but after Punk's repeated verbal attacks towards him and his wife Stephanie McMahon, Triple H booked himself to replace Nash. At the event on September 18, Punk lost a no disqualification match after Nash, The Miz and R-Truth attacked both men. Miz and Truth also attacked Punk on October 2 at Hell in a Cell after he lost a WWE Championship triple threat Hell in a Cell match. Punk attempted to avenge this by teaming with Triple H against The Miz and Truth on October 23 at Vengeance, but he 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 the October 31 episode of *Raw*, Punk strong-armed his way into a match with Del Rio at Survivor Series, regaining the WWE Championship at the event on November 20. Punk went on to defend the title through the end of the year, retaining in a rematch with Del Rio on the November 28 episode of *Raw* and against both Del Rio and The Miz in a triple threat TLC match on December 18 at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs. On the December 26 episode of *Raw*, Punk was defeated by Dolph Ziggler in a gauntlet match and as a result, Ziggler became the number one contender to the WWE Championship. The following week on *Raw*, Punk was defeated by Ziggler by countout after Laurinaitis interfered, retaining the championship as a result. Interference from Laurinaitis caused Punk to lose to Ziggler throughout January, which ultimately led to Punk attacking Laurinaitis in retaliation. At the Royal Rumble on January 29, 2012, Punk successfully defended his title against Ziggler despite Laurinaitis acting as the outside enforcer.

On the January 30 episode of *Raw*, the returning Chris Jericho attacked Punk and Daniel Bryan during their Champion versus Champion match, giving Bryan the win. The following week on *Raw*, 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 on February 19, when Punk retained the WWE Championship in the namesake structure, but 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 on April 1 at WrestleMania XXVIII and in a bid to psychologically unsettle him, 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 countout and disqualification, being attached by Jericho following both matches and doused with alcohol. On the April 16 episode of *Raw*, Punk pinned Henry in a no disqualification, no countout match to retain the title. After repeated altercations, the feud between Jericho and Punk culminated in a Chicago street fight on April 29 at Extreme Rules, where Punk defeated Jericho to retain the WWE Championship.

On May 20 at Over the Limit, Punk retained the title against Daniel Bryan after reversing Bryan's submission hold the ""Yes!" Lock" into a pinning combination as 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 Lee turned her affections to both Punk and Kane. This feud culminated in a triple threat match on June 17 at No Way Out, where Punk managed to retain the title after AJ distracted Kane. On July 15 at Money in the Bank, Punk defeated Bryan in a no disqualification match with AJ as special guest referee to retain the title.

On July 23 at *Raw 1000*, Punk defended the 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 in January 2013—intervened to save Cena from Big Show's assault, Punk attacked him, turning heel. Punk justified his actions the following week on *Raw*, explaining he was tired of people like Cena and 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. As a result, both men were entered into the title match against Punk on August 19 at SummerSlam, where he successfully retained the title by pinning Big Show after both Punk and Cena submitted Big Show at the same time and *Raw* general manager AJ Lee restarted the match. In the following weeks on *Raw*, Punk demanded respect from people like AJ Lee, Jerry Lawler and Bret Hart, and eventually aligned with Paul Heyman in his feud with Cena. On September 16 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 and replaced by Ryback, whom Punk would defeat at the event on October 28 in a Hell in a Cell match with help from referee Brad Maddox to retain the title and also ending Ryback's thirty-eight match undefeated streak.

The next night on *Raw*, a furious Mick Foley confronted Punk for refusing to pick John Cena as his Hell in a Cell opponent, leading the two to agree to meet at Survivor Series in a Survivor Series match with Punk choosing Alberto Del Rio, Cody Rhodes, Damien Sandow and The Miz for his team. However, 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 the event on November 18, Punk won the match by pinning Cena following interference from the debuting faction called The Shield, 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 on December 16 at TLC: Tables, Ladders & 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 TLC 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, leading Vince McMahon to come out and announce that Punk would be stripped of the title, but he instead restarted the match at The Rock's request. Punk lost, ending his reign at 434 days. Punk received a title rematch with The Rock on February 17 at Elimination Chamber, stipulated that The Rock would lose the title if he was disqualified or counted out, but Punk was pinned by Rock after miscommunication with Heyman. On the February 25 episode of *Raw*, Punk faced Royal Rumble winner John Cena for his number one contendership to the WWE Championship, but he lost.

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. He defeated Big Show, Randy Orton and Sheamus in a fatal four-way match to officially earn the right to face The Undertaker. After the death of Paul Bearer, Undertaker's former manager, 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.

After defeating Chris Jericho at Payback, Punk started a storyline where he told Heyman to no longer accompany him to his matches and was later attacked by Heyman's client Brock Lesnar, thus turning Punk face again. Heyman also cost Punk a WWE Championship Money in the Bank ladder match at Money in the Bank, when he attacked him. This led to a match between Punk and Lesnar at SummerSlam on August 18, when Punk lost to Lesnar in a no disqualification match after Heyman interfered. His feud with Heyman continued during the following months, facing his other clients, such as Intercontinental Champion Curtis Axel and Ryback. First, at Night of Champions, Punk faced Axel and Heyman in a no disqualification two-on-one handicap elimination match in which he made Axel submit, leaving only Heyman left, but he lost the match after Ryback interfered and put him through a table. Then, Punk defeated Ryback at Battleground, and the feud ended at Hell in a Cell, where Punk faced Heyman and Ryback in a two-on-one Hell in a Cell match, winning the match by pinning Heyman and after the match performing a "Go to Sleep" on him at the top of the cell.

Punk moved on to a feud with The Wyatt Family and formed an alliance with Daniel Bryan, with the duo defeating Harper and Rowan in a tag team match on November 24 at Survivor Series. The next night on *Raw*, Punk was attacked by The Shield while attempting to save Bryan from being "taken hostage" by The Wyatt Family. Punk then insinuated that The Authority, a villainous group who controlled WWE led by Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, 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 & Chairs. At the event on December 15, Punk won the match after Roman Reigns accidentally performed a spear on Dean 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 perform on him a chokeslam through the announce table.

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 the event. By Wednesday, WWE.com stopped advertising Punk for future events. 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. On July 15, WWE.com moved Punk from the active roster to the alumni page without releasing a statement.

On November 12, 2019, Punk made a surprise appearance on the WWE series *WWE Backstage*. He subsequently joined the program as a special contributor and analyst. He remained as a special contributor until the show's suspension in June 2020.

At the conclusion of Survivor Series: WarGames on November 25, 2023, in Chicago, Punk made his first appearance in WWE since 2014 (discounting his appearances on *WWE Backstage*). He made his return to WWE television on the November 27 episode of *Raw*, cutting a promo at the end of the show and declaring that he was "home." After making appearances on *Raw*, the Tribute to the Troops special episode of *SmackDown*, and at NXT Deadline, he signed with the *Raw* brand on the December 11 episode of *Raw*. He was subsequently confronted by Seth "Freakin" Rollins, teasing a future match, and officially announced his entry into the 2024 Royal Rumble match.