History Trivia / CMPunk

** When Wrestling/AllEliteWrestling was getting off the ground, CM Punk was one of the big names that the company was actively pushing to sign, and of course they eventually would in August 2021. However, CM Punk initially passed on the offer because he was skeptical that AEW would be successful after years of receiving similar offers from wannabe upstart promotions. Had he signed in those early days, AEW's main event scene could've looked very different.

** And of course his iconic use of Music/LivingColour's "Cult of Personality" in ROH and WWE, which is probably his best known theme song.

** Punk stated several times that he could have joined AEW if the offer was right. Given that he joined the cast of WWE Backstage, and current real life enemy Colt Cabana became a permanent part of AEW in 2020, it's looking like that door is currently locked on both sides.

* BigNameFan
** Of Wrestling/EddieGuerrero. Even after Punk became a wrestler himself he gives credit to Eddie for making him a ''good'' wrestler.
** Wrestling/SaraDelRey cited Punk as the reason to watch their programing back when her number one goal was to make it to WWE.
** Wrestling/AdamCole says he learned of pro wrestling outside of WWF/WCW through Punk. Thus Cole was a little confused when people acted as if Punk leaving WWE was such a bad thing.

** Punk was scheduled to wrestle Wrestling/ChrisBenoit for the vacant ECW World Championship at ''Vengeance: Night of Champions'' in 2007. Benoit never made it to the show, and a day later, everyone found out why. This led to a meme directed to the wrestler who replaced him: "Dear Wrestling/JohnMorrison: [[CrossesTheLineTwice Who died and made you champion?]]"
** In a nonlethal example, his ScrewThisImOuttaHere in January 2014 resulted in [[Wrestling/BryanDanielson Daniel Bryan]] competing in ''two'' matches at ''[=WrestleMania=] XXX''.

** Punk is the breakout from the Gold Bond Mafia in relation to ROH and WWE after Chris Hero showed up there, though Hero does have the consolation of wXw.

** A minor example in his earlier WWE days when he teamed with Wrestling/KofiKingston. After they dropped the Tag Titles, Punk went on to win multiple World Championships, with one such reign became the longest reign in the modern era. Kofi, however, was stuck in midcard hell, jobbing to the bigger talents on the roster, until he formed the wildly successful stable Wrestling/TheNewDay with Wrestling/XavierWoods and Wrestling/BigELangston. While he hasn't quite matched Punk's success (and most likely never will), Kofi is by far the best off out of all of Punk's former stables and tag teams. Interestingly, Kingston would end up surprisingly being pushed for and winning the WWE Championship at ''[=WrestleMania=] 35'' and hold it for a half a year, shortly before Punk returned to work to WWE via their Fox show ''WWE Backstage''.

* ExecutiveVeto: Says he got to keep his ring name and gimmick because Paul Heyman was against repackaging CM Punk. Depending on when this happened, [[Wrestling/MickieJames Alexis Laree]] might have benefited to, as she was still around Punk around the time "writers" were experimenting with a new gimmick for him.

* FollowTheLeader: Darts player and CM Punk {{Fanboy}} Paul Nicholson has to this to a tee. Just compare this video of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvArL38BuGo Nicholson's walk-on]] to Punk's entrance at Money in the Bank 2011 and it's practically a carbon copy. Past entrances also include wearing a [[Wrestling/TheNexus Nexus]]-branded scarf, coming out to "We Are One" (Nexus' entrance theme), and having Xs drawn on his hand like Punk.

** Also, CM Punk's winning Ring of Honor's world title in what was said to be his last scheduled match before leaving for WWE; instead of telling fans that he had more appearances scheduled before his actual departure, ROH let Punk lead the fans on that he was going to steal the title, take it to WWE with him, and break the title's line of succession. He even went so far as to sign ''his WWE contract'' on the belt in one of his most infamous promos.
** Rumors of him not resigning with WWE led to an angle similar to the one in Ring of Honor in which Punk has vowed to take the WWE title with him in exile upon defeating John Cena at ''Money in the Bank 2011''. (Which he ''did''.)

** Punk's ECW World Championship win occurred ''when'' it did because Wrestling/JohnMorrison was about to go on a suspension due to violating the Wellness Policy. It's [[WildMassGuessing believed]] that his initial ''Money in the Bank'' win happened under similar circumstances, as Wrestling/JeffHardy (whom WWE was pushing as their next big face at the time) did the same thing and missed ''[=WrestleMania=]'' because of it.

** IWA M-S used Jay Z's "99 Problems", Less Than Jake's "Gainesville Rock City" and Ice Cube's "When Will They Shoot?"

** In January 2020, Punk shared a picture of [[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ENcA3P6XkAAaQiw.jpg a sheet]] featuring the matches WWE had planned for ''[=WrestleMania=] XXX'' shortly before Punk's walkout from WWE. It confirmed a long-standing fan rumor that Punk was scheduled to wrestle Triple H at the event.

** A minor example in his earlier WWE days when he teamed with Wrestling/KofiKingston. After they dropped the Tag Titles, Punk went on to win multiple World Championships, with one such reign became the longest reign in the modern era. Kofi, however, was stuck in midcard hell, jobbing to the bigger talents on the roster, until he formed the wildly successful stable Wrestling/TheNewDay with Wrestling/XavierWoods and Wrestling/BigELangston. While he hasn't quite matched Punk's success (and most likely never will), Kofi is by far the best off out of all of Punk's former stables and tag teams.

** Near the start of his famous "Pipe Bomb" promo, which was mostly a ReasonYouSuckSpeech to Wrestling/JohnCena, Punk declared that he doesn't hate Cena, in fact he likes him more than most of the guys in the back. As he revealed in [[https://wrestletalk.com/news/cm-punk-on-john-cena-he-let-me-do-whatever-the-f-i-wanted/ the interview he gave at Starrcast III]], Punk actually really did enjoy working with Cena and they apparently did get on well.

** In a nonlethal example, his ScrewThisImOuttaHere in January 2014 resulted in [[Wrestling/BryanDanielson Daniel Bryan]] competing in ''two'' matches at Wrestlemania 30.

* ShortLivedBigImpact: His run at the top of the company was very brief compared to a lot of other top stars. In that two or so years since the infamous [[WorkedShoot promo]], he got over with fans to the point where chants can ''still'' be heard for ''years'' after his departure in protest of anything WWE presents that fans find frustrating. Also, the very strong and convincing argument can be made that Punk's run at the top, particularly his rivalry and a handful of ''great'' matches with Wrestling/JohnCena, cracked the door open for his "indy veteran, high-workrate" archetype to have roles, even featured roles, on WWE programming, despite most not fitting into Vince's prototypical wrestler mold. Nowadays, NXT's constantly cycling through former indy[=/=]international standouts. Wrestling/SethRollins, Wrestling/DeanAmbrose, Wrestling/KevinOwens, Wrestling/SamiZayn, Wrestling/AJStyles, Wrestling/SamoaJoe, Wrestling/ShinsukeNakamura, [[Wrestling/PrinceDevitt Finn Balor,]] have all been NXT Champion and[=/=]or held a main roster singles title. And that's not even a comprehensive list. The renewed focus on workrate eventually spilled over to the women as well (perhaps not-so-coincidentally, Punk's now-wife Wrestling/AJLee had quite a bit to do with that) to the point where anyone of either gender who flat-out can't wrestle and doesn't have some other type of value to compensate, tends to stick out like a sore thumb.

** In a nonlethal example, his ScrewThisImOuttaHere in January 2014 resulted in Wrestling/DanielBryan competing in ''two'' matches at Wrestlemania 30.

** Punk is also, by far, the most successful member out of all of Wrestling/{{Raven}}'s stables. This includes Raven himself, who, while still relatively popular and respected thanks to the original ECW, never managed to attain the mainstream success and widespread popularity that Punk has today. The only other wrestlers who were in any of Raven's stables who became World Champions are [[Wrestling/MickFoley Cactus Jack]] and [[Wrestling/TheDudleyBoys Bully Ray (formerly Bubba Ray Dudley)]], both of whom were in Raven's Nest in ECW.

** He, Colt Cabana and Wrestling/SherriMartel were in the running for a ''Jerry Springer'' booking according to AOW interview with Mad Man Pondo.

** Punk is also, by far, the most successful member out of all of Wrestling/{{Raven}}'s stables. This includes Raven himself, who, while still relatively popular and respected thanks to the original ECW, never managed to attain the mainstream success and widespread popularity that Punk has today. The only other wrestlers who were in any of Raven's stables who became World Champions are [[Wrestling/MickFoley Cactus Jack]] and [[WrestlingTheDudleyBoys Bully Ray (formerly Bubba Ray Dudley)]], both of whom were in Raven's Nest in ECW.

** Punk is also, by far, the most successful member out of all of Wrestling/{{Raven}}'s stables. This includes Raven himself, who, while still relatively popular and respected thanks to the original ECW, never managed to attain the mainstream success and widespread popularity that Punk has today. The only other wrestlers who were in any of Raven's stables who became World Champions are [[Wrestling/MickFoley Cactus Jack]] and [[WrestlingTheDudley Boys Bully Ray (formerly Bubba Ray Dudley)]], both of whom were in Raven's Nest in ECW.

** Punk was scheduled to wrestle Wrestling/ChrisBenoit for the vacant ECW World Championship at ''Vengeance: Night of Champions'' in 2007. Benoit never made it to the show, and a day later, everyone found out why. This led to a meme directed to the wrestler who replaced him: "Dear Wrestling/JohnMorrison: [[CrossingTheLineTwice Who died and made you champion?]]"

* OneOfUs
** He is a [[http://twitter.com/#!/CMPunk/status/84656506561241088 comic reader]] and self-described [[http://twitter.com/#!/CMPunk/status/105052917869981696 nerd]].
*** Big fan of Creator/MarvelComics, especially Creator/LarryHama's [[ComicBook/GIJoeARealAmericanHeroMarvel G .I. Joe]]. Eventually he penned stories about Comicbook/DraxTheDestroyer.
** Also, he's a fan of many aspects of pop culture, as he often quotes other media. A good example would be him comparing Laurinaitis to Lumbergh from ''Film/OfficeSpace'' without any of the comedy and blasting Laurinaitis for being so out of touch.
** '''([[http://twitter.com/#!/CMPunk/status/93004003859898368 Posted on his Twitter]] the morning after he won the WWE title from John Cena at Money In The Bank 2011)''' ''"On my couch. About to put the title on the line against [[VideoGame/PunchOut Piston Honda]]."''

* AuthorExistenceFailure: Punk was scheduled to wrestle Wrestling/ChrisBenoit for the vacant ECW World Championship at ''Vengeance: Night of Champions'' in 2007. Benoit never made it to the show, and a day later, everyone found out why. This led to a meme directed to the wrestler who replaced him: "Dear Wrestling/JohnMorrison: [[CrossingTheLineTwice Who died and made you champion?]]"

* ExecutiveVeto: Says he got to keep his ring name and gimmick because Paul Heyman was against repackaging CM Punk. Depending on when this happened, Alexis Laree might have benefited to, as she was still around Punk around the time "writers" were experimenting with a new gimmick for him.

--> "There is no god, and that cage wasn't thirty feet."

*** Big fan of Creator/MarvelComics, especially Creator/LarryHama's [[ComicBook/GIJoeARealAmericanHeroMarvel G .I. Joe]].
** Also, he's a fan of many aspects of pop culture, as he often quotes other media. A good example would be him comparing Laurinaitis to Lumbergh from ''Film/OfficeSpace'' without any of the comedy and blasting Lauranitis for being so out of touch.
** [[http://twitter.com/#!/CMPunk/status/93004003859898368 Posted on his Twitter]] the morning after he won the WWE title from John Cena at Money In The Bank 2011: "On my couch. [[OneOfUs About to put the title on the line against]] [[VideoGame/PunchOut Piston Honda]]."

** Punk's ECW World Championship win occurred ''when'' it did because Wrestling/JohnMorrison was about to go on a suspension due to violating the Wellness Policy. It's [[WildMassGuessing believed]] that his initial Money in the Bank win happened under similar circumstances, as Wrestling/JeffHardy (whom WWE was pushing as their next big face at the time) did the same thing and missed ''[=WrestleMania=]'' because of it.

* CreativeDifferences: Punk has tried to describe how much of a dysfunctional machine WWE is from the inside. They wanted Punk to beat [[Wresting/TheShield three of their rising stars]] in a handicap match, yet make one of them look strong. The idea of making someone "look strong" after winning with a 3-on-1 disadvantage was comical to Punk, and his frustration mounted as he was asked multiple times to "make Roman look strong", since the irony was flying over their heads. When Punk brought up the obvious solution, "Why don't I just lose to them?" (which wouldn't hurt Punk in the slightest and avoids making Rollins & Ambrose look like chumps), of course the response was "no, Vince wants you to win this one."

* ExecutiveVeto: Says he got to keep his ring name and gimmick because Paul Heyman was against repackaging CM Punk. Depending on when this happened, Alexis Laree might have benefited to, as she was still around Punk around the time "writers" were experimenting with a new gimmick for him.

*** Big fan of Creator/MarvelComics, especially LarryHama's [[ComicBook/GIJoeARealAmericanHeroMarvel G .I. Joe]].

** Punk's increasingly mad savior character from Straight Edge Society and Wrestling/TheNexus has a lot of creepy religious undertones; real-life Punk is notoriously anti-religious. His response to Teddy Hart saying God made him able to jump off a thirty foot cage?

* HeyItsThatGuy
** An 8-year-old Punk appeared on the Bozo The Clown show in the mid-80s. The IWC went {{Squee}}. He was a snarker even back then.
** In this [[http://whatculture.com/wwe/9-wrestling-moments-involving-future-stars-young.php/9 article]], a younger Punk was seen with Wrestling/SteveAustin, twice.