CM Punk
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Phil Brooks (born October 26, 1978 in Chicago, Illinois), better known by his ring name CM Punk, is an American professional wrestler currently working for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in its ECW brand and developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling. He is the current reigning OVW Heavyweight Champion.
His straight edge gimmick reflects his lifestyle, taken to a more extreme level in the ring. As CM Punk says to his opponents, "Straight Edge means I'm drug-free, alcohol-free, and better than you!" As an inside joke to Punk's fans, asking him what "C.M." stands for yields a different answer each time. The most widely-believed theory is that Brooks was in a tag team early in his backyard wrestling years called the Chick Magnets, although Dave Prazak has once said it stood for Chuck Mosley. Another common belief is that the C.M stands for "Clean Made" due to his straight-edge gimmick and actual lifestyle mixed with the typical stereotype of a "punk".
Career
Early career
Following a stint in a backyard wrestling federation called the Lunatic Wrestling Federation in the mid-late 90's, Brooks trained as a wrestler at the Steel Domain where he was trained by Ace Steel, Danny Dominion and Kevin Quinn. It was in the Steel Domain that he met Scott Colton, who later adopted the stage name Colt Cabana. Brooks befriended Colton and spent most of the time working in the same independent promotions with Colton, as opponents or allies. He, along with Colt Cabana, Paul/Chuck E. Smoothe, Adam Pearce and manager Dave Prazak, formed the Gold Bond Mafia during their time in the independents, which wrestled together in several promotions.Punk's home promotion for his early career is usually considered to be IWA: Mid-South. Punk, Cabana, Smoothe, Ace Steel and Chris Hero among others, became some of IWA: Mid-South's hottest young wrestlers. CM Punk had high profile feuds with both Cabana and Hero in IWA: Mid-South. Notably his feud with Hero included a 56-minute TLC match, a 90-minute two out of three falls match and several 60-minute draws. Punk's matches with Cabana led him to getting a job in Ring of Honor. During his time in IWA:Mid-South he would also meet, wrestle against and become a friend of Eddie Guerrero. Punk's matches in IWA: Mid-South are not only considered to have given Punk recognition, but are also credited for putting IWA: Mid-South on the map. In his last match in IWA: Mid-South, Punk faced Delirious in a 60-minute draw. Half-way through the match, Punk exposed his butt in memory of Chris Candido.
During his early career Punk cracked his skull when he attempted one of his signature moves, a springboard corkscrew flipping neckbreaker, during a match against his opponent Reckless Youth. Youth was one step too far in and Punk didn't correctly complete the corkscrew leading to Youth's head ending up on top of Punk's head rather than next to it cracking his skull when they impacted on the mat. Despite the injury Punk managed to complete the rest of the match before going to hospital. He refused pain medication due to his Straight Edge lifestyle. Doctors told him not to strain himself for a year. However, Punk returned to wrestling only a few months later.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and Ring of Honor
Punk joined Ring of Honor and started climbing the ranks, winning the ROH Tag Team Championship twice with Colt Cabana as the Second City Saints. Punk also joined NWA:Total Nonstop Action, where he was soon paired with Julio Dinero as sidekicks for Raven as part of The Gathering. Punk's feud with Raven in ROH was a big success, and soon they were feuding in TNA. Raven and Punk were originally slated to face off in a hair versus hair match in ROH. TNA objected and insisted the match to be had in their promotion with Raven facing Shane Douglas instead of Punk. ROH ended up arranging a steel cage match between them instead.
During his time in TNA, Punk had a scuffle with Teddy Hart outside of a restaurant shortly after a TNA show, however despite popular belief he was not released from TNA for this incident, and it had no real consequences on his TNA career. According to Punk, he stopped appearing on TNA after being informed by TNA officials that he and Dinero had not gotten over as heels, so the angle had been put on hold. Punk ended ties with TNA during the Rob Feinstein controversy, when TNA was pulling wrestlers from ROH, such as A.J. Styles and Christopher Daniels, to break ties to Feinstein. Punk instead chose to quit TNA to continue to compete in and help ROH. His contract with TNA ran out almost a year later.
Several months after leaving TNA, Punk faced off against ROH World Heavyweight Champion Samoa Joe for the championship in a three match series in what is considered one of the best trilogies in wrestling.
The first match, on June 12 2004 in Dayton, Ohio, resulted in a 60 minute time-limit draw. The show was named World Title Classic. The second encounter was scheduled for Punk's hometown of Chicago, Illinois. At Joe vs. Punk II on October 16, they wrestled to a second 60 minute draw once again. In addition to becoming Ring of Honor's best selling DVD at that point, the match received the first 5-star rating by Dave Meltzer's Wrestling Observer newsletter for a match in North America since 1997. Joe finally won the series in the third match that December. Those matches were very highly rated, and resulted in much stir and raise in ROH's publicity. It is generally thought that the company would not have survived its slump without Punk.
Punk had been laid off from his previous full-time job as a laboratory technician for Underwriters Laboratories. Soon after the lay off, he became the head trainer for ROH's wrestling school. Punk has stated that he never had the credentials for the laboratory work, and only worked there so he could afford wrestling.
On February 25, 2005 Punk began a heated feud with Jimmy Rave of The Embassy. The feud stemmed from a match between Spanky and Punk from February 19 in which Prince Nana invited Spanky into the Embassy which Spanky rejected. After which Nana and Punk got into an argument after which Punk beat up both Nana and the Outcast Killas. On February 25 Punk had a match with Alex Shelley after which he was attacked by Jimmy Rave and Fast Eddie Vegas leading to a grudge match between Punk and Rave on February 26.
The grudge match ended after Rave blinded Punk with flyspray while a member of the Embassy distracted the referee. After the match Rave proceeded to give Punk's valet, Traci Brooks, the Rave Clash. Later, after a tag match with Colt Cabana against Rave and Fast Eddie Vegas which they lost after significant interference on the part of the Embassy, The Embassy held down Punk and Rave attempted to remove Punk's straight edge tattoo on his stomach with a cheese grater. On April 16 Punk wrestled against Mike Kruel who was subbing for the absent Jimmy Rave who Prince Nana claimed was injured after "falling off an elephant in Africa". Punk defeated Kruel but was soon attacked by Jimmy Rave who ran through the crowd and jumped Punk which allowed the Embassy to hang Punk with a steel chain from the top rope to the outside of the ring. Following that incident Rave defeated Punk for a third time in a dog collar match at Manhattan Mayhem after five chairshots to the head. Punk finally defeated Rave in a steel cage match after a superplex off the top of the cage.
In June of 2005, CM Punk accepted a deal with World Wrestling Entertainment, after wrestling try-out matches on its Sunday Night HEAT show. Even though he had accepted the deal, CM Punk went on to defeat Austin Aries to win the ROH World Heavyweight Championship at Death Before Dishonor III.
This started a critically acclaimed angle where Punk threatened to bring the ROH title to the WWE with him. For weeks, Punk teased the ROH locker room and the ROH fans, proving his great versatility as a performer by garnering a great amount of heel heat for a popular wrestler. At each ROH show, it seemed like Punk was set to lose the title, but would continue to hold on to the belt for the next show. A notable part of this angle was Mick Foley making several ROH appearances, attempting to convince Punk to do the right thing and defend the title on his way out.
On August 12, 2005 CM Punk lost his ROH World Title to James Gibson in Dayton, Ohio in a four corner elimination match consisting of himself, Gibson, Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels. Austin Aries replaced Punk as head trainer at the ROH Wrestling School, leaving him no commitments and making him available to leave ROH. His final match in Ring of Honor took place on August 13, 2005 against his good friend Colt Cabana at Punk: The Final Chapter in a two-out-of-three falls match, with Punk winning the first fall and Cabana winning the second and third.
He reappeared on February 11, 2006, due to a severe snowstorm which prevented several ROH wrestlers from attending. Punk asked for permission from WWE official Tommy Dreamer to appear so he could help out ROH. Dreamer approved and Punk appeared during the night to fill gaps where others were supposed to appear. In the main event, he teamed with Bryan Danielson as a replacement for Low Ki to wrestle Jimmy Rave and Adam Pearce.
Ohio Valley Wrestling
Punk was assigned to Ohio Valley Wrestling, a WWE developmental territory. On September 26, 2005 in his OVW television debut, Punk suffered a ruptured eardrum and broken nose at the hands of Danny Inferno, after he was hit by a overly stiff right hand. Despite the injury, Punk finished the match and quickly recovered.On November 9, 2005, Punk became the OVW Television Champion after defeating Ken Doane. This led immediately 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 because Punk had hit him with a chair so he himself could wrestle Doane. This led to a series of matches, including one which ended in overtime with Albright having Punk submit to the Crowbar. However, Punk was able to keep the title as he didn't agree to the extra time. On January 4, 2006, Punk lost the TV Title in a rematch during a three way dance between him, Albright and Doane. Doane was injured halfway through the match and could not continue. Aaron Stevens then came in the match to replace Doane. Punk then submitted to Albright's Crowbar, and after interference by Punk, Stevens was able to get the pin on Albright to become the new OVW Television Champion.
The feud continued after a short lapse where Albright and Punk became a tag team, but that all changed when Albright wanted the respect of Punk who would never give it to him and instead proceeded to "punk out" Albright repeatedly. This continued for weeks with Punk always getting the better of Albright until a double turn occurred on February 1, 2006 when Albright turned heel during a tag match allowing The Spirit Squad to destroy Punk and, in doing so, turning Punk face.
During this time CM Punk had a minor appearance at WrestleMania 22 on April 2, 2006 as one of the gangsters who rode a 1930s era car to the ring before John Cena's entrance.
When Matt Cappotelli vacated the OVW Heavyweight Championship due to brain cancer, 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. Punk and Albright continued their feud with Albright becoming more and 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, 2006, Punk finally defeated Brent Albright in a strap match to win the OVW Heavyweight Championship. Punk also had some minor feuds, retaining the title in matches against Shad Gaspard & Ken Kennedy.
Extreme Championship Wrestling
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 4th episode of ECW on Sci Fi, cutting a brief pre-taped promo about his straight edge lifestyle.In wrestling
- Finishing moves
- *Pepsi Plunge (Top rope double underhook facebuster)
- *Anaconda Vice (Arm triangle choke sometimes preceeded by an arm triangle facebuster [2005-], anaconda vice [2004-2005])
- *Pepsi Twist (Jumping hammerlock short-arm lariat)
- *Shining Wizard
- Signature moves
- Managers
- Stables
Championships and accomplishments
- Hoosier Pro Wrestling
- *1-time HPW Tag Team Champion
- Independent Wrestling Association: Mid-South
- *IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Championship
- :Defeated Chris Hero on December 5, 2001 in Indianapolis, Indiana
- :Lost to Eddie Guerrero on March 1, 2002 in Indianapolis, Indiana
- *IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Championship (2)
- :Defeated Eddie Guerrero on March 2, 2002 in Morris, Illinois
- :Lost to Colt Cabana on April 19, 2002 in Dayton, Ohio
- *IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Championship (3)
- :Defeated M-Dogg 20 on October 5, 2002 in Clarksville, Indiana
- :Lost to B.J. Whitmer on November 2, 2002 in Clarksville, Indiana
- *IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Championship (4)
- :Defeated B.J. Whitmer on December 14, 2002 in Clarksville, Indiana
- :Lost to Chris Hero on February 7, 2003 in Clarksville, Indiana
- *IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Championship (5)
- :Defeated A.J. Styles on October 23, 2004 in Highland, Indiana
- :Lost to Danny Daniels on February 4, 2005 in Valparaiso, Indiana
- International Wrestling Cartel
- *IWC Heavyweight Championship
- :Defeated Jimmy Vegas on April 13, 2002 in Monroeville, Pennsylvania
- :Vacated later in the year
- Mid-American Wrestling
- NWA Revolution
- Revolution Championship Wrestling
- *1-time RCW Heavyweight Champion
- *ROH World Heavyweight Championship
- :Defeated Austin Aries on June 18, 2005 in Morristown, New Jersey
- :Lost to James Gibson on August 12, 2005 in Dayton, Ohio
- St. Paul Championship Wrestling
- *1-time SPCW Northern States Light Heavyweight Champion
- Steel Domain Wrestling
Personal Life
He is currently dating WWE Diva Maria, which she confirmed in an interview with The Sun after pictures of the two kissing surfaced on the Internet.He has previously been romantically linked to Shannon Spruill and Tracy Brookshaw, both of whom had managed him in ROH.
Tattoos
CM Punk has a multitude of tattoos including:- The logo for Cobra on his right shoulder and the clan markings of the Arashikage ninja clan on his right forearm, both from the G.I. Joe cartoon and comic series.
- A Pepsi logo on his left shoulder. He got the tattoo while in school as a joke. Many fraternity members in his school were getting beer logos tattooed on their body, so Punk, a keen Pepsi drinker, got a Pepsi tattoo to emphasise his Straight Edge beliefs. The tattoo is also a reference to former Minor Threat guitarist Brian Baker, who had a Coca-Cola tattoo and explained this by saying "I like Coca-Cola". When people inquire about Punk's Pepsi tattoo, he often replies "I like Pepsi" in a similar fashion.
- Four ace cards, which is a part of his “Luck is for losers” piece. Also the front card is for his friend (and trainer) Ace Steel.
- A Japanese koi fish, a symbol of good luck. (Also a part of the "Luck is for losers" piece.) However Punk’s koi fish has three eyes, in honor of Blinky the radioactive fish from The Simpsons.
- A spiders web with the number 13 in the centre, which Punk considers his lucky number.
- A logo of New Jersey punk band Bouncing Souls. The logo consists of a broken heart, with an images of skyscrapers on the heart. There are also crossbones behind the heart.
- His knuckles spell out when placed together "Drug Free", Drug on the right knuckles and Free on the left.
- A logo of San Diego punk Rock 'N Roll band Rocket From The Crypt. The logo consists of a Rocket ship within a coffin shape.
- The words "Straight Edge" are spelled out on his stomach.
- A purple pez dispenser.
- Operation Ivy's "Dancing Ska Man" on his leg.
- Rosie the Riveter with the words "There is a war" below her.
Footnotes
External links
- [Official Website]
- [CM Punk] at the Internet Movie Database
- [Punk-Wrestling.com (Fan site)]
- [OVW Profile]
- [Obsessed with Wrestling Profile]
- [Beauty In Wrestling: a tribute to CM Punk]
- [CM Punk, the trainer, interview conducted by Al Lagattolla]
- [CM Punk mulls over his future, interview conducted by Dave Hillhouse]
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