History YMMV / CMPunk

* ValuesDissonance: One of the likely reasons why his iconic SmugStraightEdge heel gimmick was phased out as his career went on is because, as more and more drug-related deaths occurred over the years throughout the wrestling industry, hardly anybody disagreed with the message he was trying to convey to the audience. The only reason they would have is the extremities he went to in order to spread it, which largely consisted of him acting like an asshole, and as we all know, [[RootingForTheEmpire that's never stopped wrestling fans from cheering a performer on]].
* VindicatedByHistory: A {{Kayfabe}} meta-example. We all know that CM Punk's heel [[SmugStraightEdge Smug Straight]] [[StraightEdgeEvil Edge Evil]] [[TheTeetotaler Teetotaler]] character from 2009-2010 ranged somewhere between having a sensible moral point to his position and being a complete asshole, which made it tough at times for some viewers to really evaluate how they felt about him. But then in 2011 his straightedge became deemphasized in favor of becoming a cult leader for Wrestling/TheNexus, then the Voice of the Voiceless, then cementing his place as the [[BadassBoast Best Wrestler in the World]].\\\

* StarMakingRole: He has two in WWE:
** His legendary feud with Wrestling/JeffHardy made him the top heel in WWE within only a couple of months. By the time of their TLC match, the feud was so over that they main-evented ''Wrestling/SummerSlam'' above even Wrestling/RandyOrton and Wrestling/JohnCena. It probably would've been the peak of his WWE career, had it not been for...
** ...the Pipebomb. Punk was nearing the end of his contract with WWE and facing an uncertain future, so he dropped a legendary WorkedShoot promo that changed not just his career but the landscape of professional wrestling forever. This, combined with winning the WWE Championship from Wrestling/JohnCena in what many still regard as the absolute best match in WWE history, concluding in him ''running off'' with the title in the middle of his hometown of Chicago, less than two hours before his contract expired, saw him ascend to superstardom and etched him into history as a wrestling icon.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: During the early days of AEW, Punk was offered a contract, where he would've been pushed as a top star had he signed. Punk passed on the opportunity at the time because [[ItWillNeverCatchOn he was skeptical that AEW would take off]] after years of similar offers from upstart promotions. He eventually debuted in the promotion on August 20, 2021.

* ValuesDissonance: One of the likely reasons why his iconic SmugStraightEdge heel gimmick was phased out as he career went on is because, as more and more drug-related deaths occurred over the years throughout the wrestling industry, hardly anybody disagreed with the message he was trying to convey to the audience. The only reason they would have is the extremities he went to in order to spread it, which largely consisted of him acting like an asshole, and as we all know, [[RootingForTheEmpire that's never stopped wrestling fans from cheering a performer on]].

* RootingForTheEmpire: He got a pretty good ovation when the crowd realized he was the new leader of Nexus. They even started chanting his name. "CM Punk" chants have happened fairly regularly since then.

** A lot of people sided with Punk during his feud with Jeff Hardy, feeling that Jeff's "live life to the fullest" philosophy really wasn't justifying his notorious drug use and that cheering Jeff for being a "free spirit" was really irresponsible.

* VindicatedByHistory: A {{Kayfabe}} meta-example. We all know that CM Punk's heel [[SmugStraightEdge Smug Straight]] [[StraightEdgeEvil Edge Evil]] [[TheTeetotaler Teetotaler]] character from 2009-2010 ranged somewhere between having a sensible moral point to his position and being a complete asshole, which made it tough at times for some viewers to really evaluate how they felt about him. But then in 2011 his straightedge became deemphasized in favor of becoming a cult leader for Wrestling/TheNexus, then the Voice of the Voiceless, then cementing his place as the [[BadassBoast Best Wrestler in the World]].
** Enter 2012. In his "Best in the World" feud with Wrestling/ChrisJericho, the former [=Y2J=] takes it upon himself to expose the dirty laundry about Punk's father's alcoholism to the WWE audience for the first time and then make up even more about Punk's sister and mother just to piss him off. When this doesn't work, Jericho decides to [[MoralEventHorizon stoop so low]] as to try and step on Punk's core by letting/helping Wrestling/MarkHenry leave Punk floored and prone for two weeks in a row only so he can pour and/or smash large quantities of [[{{Kayfabe}} whiskey and beer]] all over Punk.
*** This is extra notable because [[Wrestling/RonKillings R-Truth]] had poured whiskey and cigarettes from a trash can all over Punk once on Smackdown during his smug zealot days and back then was actually ''PlayedForLaughs''. Between this and the later fates of the [[Wrestling/JeffHardy Hardy]] [[Wrestling/MattHardy brothers]] (Punk's first enemies in his heel turn all those years ago, who are not big fans of his in RealLife either), most fans could look back and easily understand and sympathize with what drove Punk to that place he'd been in back then [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation if not outright agree with his cause in retrospect]]. [[HarsherInHindsight And almost certainly no more laughs are being made about R-Truth dumping intoxicating trash over Punk's head.]]

* EvilIsSexy: That crazy smile? Licking his own blood off his wrist tape on the February 7th, 2011 episode of ''Raw''? The way he demonstrates complete and total authority over Wrestling/TheNexus?

** Taken to a whole new level on the 11/12/12 Raw, where he interrupted Wrestling/JerryLawler's return from his near-fatal heart attack on live TV. He proceeds to say that he could have beaten Jerry to death again, and later mocks his illness when Wrestling/PaulHeyman pantomimes a heart attack, something that should have been a crossing of the MoralEventHorizon. Later in the show, he faces John Cena and the fans immediately start a dueling chant of "let's go Cena, CM Punk."

** In ROH's "Summer of Punk", he signed his WWE contract, proclaiming "This is my ticket to freedom!". His time in WWE ended up destroying his love of wrestling to the point where he says he can't even watch it on TV any more.

** (EpicRiff) YEAHHHHHHHHHH!

* FunnyAneurysmMoment:
** On October 8th 2012 in Sacramento, CM Punk was harassed by a fan and accidentally retaliated against another fan at Raw. The next time they were in Sacramento was January 2013 for Smackdown. The pre-sale Ticketmaster password was ''SMACKFAN''.
** In ROH's "Summer of Punk", he signed his WWE contract, proclaiming "This is my ticket to freedom!". His time in WWE ended up destroying his love of wrestling to the point where he says he can't even watch it on TV any more.

* HarsherInHindsight: If one watches the 2011 "Pipebomb" promo and a lot of his WorkedShoot promos afterwards, and then the podcast explaining the circumstances and reasons for his departure, one will notice a lot of similarities between his kayfabe reasons for hating and wanting to leave WWE and his ''actual'' reasons for hating and wanting to leave WWE. In fact, one of the biggest reasons people hung onto the idea that his 2014 departure was another WorkedShoot, in some people's cases, until his official release was announced in July, was because his 2014 departure was eerily similar to the 2011 storyline departure.

** Somewhat inverted with his feud with Triple H during the WWE Summer of Punk. It's... honestly kind of hard to getu behind Punk when Trips has been ''extremely'' lenient with Punk and his constant verbal abuse and accusations. Not helped by the fact that Punk is accusing Trips of stuff that has been made fun by everyone in the company for years, including Triple H himself. The only thing he really has any real point about is the possibility that Triple H was the one who sent Kevin Nash the text to Jackknife Punk at Summerslam, and as time goes on evidence shown makes it increasingly less likely that Trips really was the one who sent it. As a result, Punk comes off as less of a corporate rebel advocating change and more as a bully throwing a temper tantrum that things aren't going his way.

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: Punk's speech on the 7/11 RAW to John Cena. Cena mentions that Punk is a hypocrite and Punk gets mad at him for him suggesting that. He talks about how Cena was always thought of as the "underdog". Like how his city's teams (save for the New England Patriots), were always underdogs. He goes on a small rant after this, ending it with comparing John Cena to the [[UsefulNotes/MLBTeams New York Yankees]] ([[UsefulNotes/MLBTeams The Red Sox]]'s biggest rival) and showing how Cena is no longer the underdog, but has become what he's claimed many times to fight against.

** In some portions of the IWC, to the point where he has ah opened up the urn and poured the ashes on Undertaker while slathering them on himself (and keep in mind that, at least in storyline, the ashes were meant to be those of the recently deceased Wrestling/PaulBearer), and portions of the crowd were STILL chanting his name.
** Ten years after his last match and one year after being involved in ''any'' competition CM Punk still beat Kevin Steen, Tyler Black and Low Ki by wide margins in 2017 "Tournament Of Honor" where fans voted on who would be ROH champion if the all their alumni were available. He even edged past his traditional nemesis Samoa Joe, however Punk lost in semifinal round to eventual winner AJ Styles.

** His most recent match (essentially a #1 Contender's match for a spot at ''[=WrestleMania=]'') against John Cena saw him busting out a picture-perfect Piledriver against Cena to try to put him down. And, yes, that was a '''real piledriver''', which WWE superstars [[DangerousForbiddenTechnique haven't been allowed to use for several years.]]
*** RefugeInAudacity: Both Punk and Cena were the top two draws at the time; any repercussions would have most likely been minimal.

* StrawmanHasAPoint: A lot of people sided with Punk during his feud with Jeff, feeling that Jeff's "live life to the fullest" philosophy really wasn't justifying his notorious drug use and that cheering Jeff for being a "free spirit" was really irresponsible.
** His recent feud with Cena has this as well with Punk calling Cena on a lot of the immoral crap he's pulled over the last year.

** Somewhat inverted with his recent feud with Triple H. It's... honestly kind of hard to getu behind Punk when Trips has been ''extremely'' lenient with Punk and his constant verbal abuse and accusations. Not helped by the fact that Punk is accusing Trips of stuff that has been made fun by everyone in the company for years, including Triple H himself. The only thing he really has any real point about is the possibility that Triple H was the one who sent Kevin Nash the text to Jackknife Punk at Summerslam, and as time goes on evidence shown makes it increasingly less likely that Trips really was the one who sent it. As a result, Punk comes off as less of a corporate rebel advocating change and more as a bully throwing a temper tantrum that things aren't going his way.
** With Punk's recent feud with John Cena and The Big Show, Punk has been feeling overshadowed by Cena, The Rock, Triple H, and pretty much any other talent doing main events recently. He has demanded that those inside, and outside of the ring should show him more respect. Normally, this could be seen as baseless whining, and assuredly, Punk has turned heel for the story, but the fact is that Punk has been one of the longest reigning WWE Champions in history. He has beaten out more than his fair share of opponents (including Chris Jericho and Bryan Danielson) to retain his title, and is determined to put on a five-star match each and every time. Knowing this, it's hard to take Babyface Cena's comments about Punk needing to earn respect seriously, as he's earned it time and time again, and yet it's still Cena main eventing [=PPVs=] with non-title matches.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjBXuVFBbjo "Cult of Personality"]] by Music/LivingColour. It even went to the point that [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHzT69ntGBI the band itself played the song]] in ''Wrestling/WrestleMania 29'' and became Punk's own entrance song in [[UsefulNotes/UltimateFightingChampionship UFC]].

** He formed part of a team with Wrestling/{{Batista}} at one point[[note]]They feuded with ''Wrestling/{{Evolution}}''[[/note]], then after Punk left the WWE he started writing comics and had an involvement in Franchise/MarvelComics's [[Comicbook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy Drax the Destroyer]]. Guess who plays as Drax in [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse the MCU]].

** Punk being granted an automatic match into UFC without any previous fighting credentials to back him up. Many point out that Punk would be a huge draw in increasing buys (and as the match has happened, that seems to be true with more than five hundred thousand buys) but others, including actual MMA fighters themselves have pointed out how unfair it is that Punk gets to walk into a main show match with an 0-0 record as well as taking a huge amount of cash with him when his opponent would be getting a bare fraction of it.[[note]]Punk's fight purse for the night was reportedly $500,000, which is around the standard base pay for a main-eventing champion. Mickey Gall, his opponent, made $15,000 to show up and another $15,000 for winning. For reference, only Stipe Miocic and Alistair Overeem (who were competing in the main event of the card) got a higher payout than Punk that night.[[/note]] Especially when one considers Punk being so frustrated with the WWE was because part-timers walked in and took main event spots from the guys who worked their asses off to get on the card, which is pretty much exactly what he is doing with the UFC. It didn't help after Punk's match with Mickey Gall, in which he tapped out within two minutes of the first round, making the whole two year build-up over his debut look laughable.

** Punk being granted an automatic match into UFC without any previous fighting credentials to back him up. Many point out that Punk would be a huge draw in increasing buys (and as the match has happened, that seems to be true with more than five hundred thousand buys) but others, including actual MMA fighters themselves have pointed out how unfair it is that Punk gets to walk into a main show match with an 0-0 record as well as taking a huge amount of cash with him when his opponent would be getting a bare fraction of it. Especially when one considers Punk being so frustrated with the WWE was because part-timers walked in and took main event spots from the guys who worked their asses off to get on the card, which is pretty much exactly what he is doing with the UFC. It didn't help after Punk's match with Mickey Gall, in which he tapped out within two minutes of the first round, making the whole two year build-up over his debut look laughable.

** His debut as a mixed martial artist on 09/10/16 where he lost his first match. It was a pain to see it completely one-sided against him. While Wrestling/BrockLesnar also lost his first UFC fight, he at least put up a fight before he was defeated.[[note]]Lesnar's UFC debut was against Frank Mir, a former UFC Heavyweight Champion, in a fight which Lesnar was arguably winning until Mir caught Lesnar in his guard and forced him to submit to a kneebar. On top of this, Lesnar also rematched Mir a year later after winning the UFC Heavyweight Championship and defeated him with very little issue. By comparison, Punk fought Mickey Gall, a fellow UFC rookie with a 2-0 record at the time, and was absolutely dominated from start to finish.[[/note]]

** His debut as a mixed martial artist on 09/10/16 where he lost his first match. It was a pain to see it completely one-sided against him. Even Wrestling/BrockLesnar who also lost his first match at least put up a fight before he was defeated.

* MagnificentBastard: See TheChessMaster entry on the main page.
** On the January 10 2011 ''Raw'', he did a promo on top of the [=TitanTron=] and said he was going to jump in order to initiate himself into the new Nexus. He made it seem like he would. And, surprisingly, the crowd wanted it. He then revealed he was hooked on a harness and two people were spotting him, saying that anybody that thought he was really going to jump was an idiot.
** On the February 7th, 2011 ''Raw'', he revealed his reason for leading Nexus to attack Wrestling/RandyOrton during Orton's title match at the Royal Rumble, thus revealing the real reason why he took over Nexus. He'd been plotting Orton's downfall since Orton and Legacy attacked him and cost him the world title. Keep in mind that this happened back ''in 2008''. The person who had wronged him that he mentioned back at the Slammy Awards had been Orton all along, and Punk had close to ''three years'' to plan his revenge. [[note]] Apparently Punk was the one to remind the creative team of this so they could have a logical explanation as to why Punk attacked Orton.[[/note]]

** CM Punk being a failure in MMA is quote ironic because he legitimately bitched and moaned about people going in to wrestling and working only part-time while getting top billing because of name value. However, when he runs to UFC, he gets signed and put on a PPV main card purely because of his name value and relationship with Dana white.

* HolyShitQuotient:
** Punk getting Vince [=McMahon=] [[CueTheFlyingPigs to APOLOGIZE]] will probably go on to be remembered as his greatest achievement in the industry. Yes, it's a [[{{Awesome/WWE}} Crowning Moment of Awesome]], but goddammit it deserves to be here too because NO ONE thought it was ever going to happen.
** And also a promo in which he calls both himself and Triple H by their [[DoNotCallMePaul real names]] on live camera. [[note]]They're both known to hate this, even among wrestlers. Hunter's one half of the {{Trope Namer|s}} for DoNotCallMePaul, in fact[[/note]]. And then ends the promo by braining Trips with the mic out of nowhere and doing a [[Wrestling/DGenerationX crotch chop]] over his prone body.
** His most recent match (essentially a #1 Contender's match for a spot at ''[=WrestleMania=]'') against John Cena saw him busting out a picture-perfect Piledriver against Cena to try to put him down. And, yes, that was a '''real piledriver''', which WWE superstars [[DangerousForbiddenTechnique haven't been allowed to use for several years.]]
*** RefugeInAudacity: Both Punk and Cena were the top two draws at the time; any repercussions would have most likely been minimal.
** CM Punk being a failure in MMA is quote ironic because he legitimately bitched and moaned about people going in to wrestling and working only part-time while getting top billing because of name value. However, when he runs to UFC, he gets signed and put on a PPV main card purely because of his name value and relationship with Dana white.

* [[Heartwarming/ProfessionalWrestling "Crowning Moment" Punk of Heartwarming]]: but this exchange:
--> '''WWE Fans:''' [[ItMakesSenseInContext WE WANT ICE CREAM!]]
--> '''Vince [=McMahon=]:''' I don't give a damn what you want!
--> '''CM Punk:''' ''[[KickTheSonOfABitch THAT'S THE PROBLEM!]]''

** His asshole arrogant CardCarryingVillain {{heel}} persona gets massive pops, probably cause he's the definition of FauxAffablyEvil, his UsefulNotes/StraightEdge gimmick is much beloved by hardliners and other people who think that cheering an [[Wrestling/JeffHardy addict]] is odd.
** Becomes more evident in his fight vs [[Wrestling/RandyOrton Orton]] on the 4/18/11 edition of Raw it had fans cheering the both of them in a similar fashion to "let's go Cena", "Cena Sucks" chant.

** Try an actual death. That of Wrestling/PaulBearer. Less than a week after the fact, he would intrude on the Undertaker's tribute to the man, and that was only the beginning of the disrespect. Yet Punk still found his name chanted that night in the main event match against Kane. And he still wasn't finished.
** Punk's the best heel in the company right now, no doubt about it. It's because of that that no matter what he does, anything short of murdering someone will not prevent him from being cheered, because fans will love him all the same.
** Of course, Taker beat him (21-0), and Punk had his VillainousBSOD[=/=]HeelRealization the next night that he had been BullyingADragon and bordered on TooDumbToLive and proceeded to take the next month or so off until Jericho called him out again.

* '''''FountainOfMemes''''': '''Especially''' his big promo ("[[Wrestling/StephanieMcMahon idiotic daughter]] and [[Wrestling/TripleH doofus son-in-law]]", "[[Wrestling/JohnLaurinaitis glad-handing nonsensical douche-bag yes-men]]," etc.)

** In late 2010-early 2011, just months before his StarMakingRole, he had a feud with Wrestling/RandyOrton, during which he cornered Orton's wife lecherously at Orton's tour bus during one backstage segment. Orton's wife was played by an actress who bore a ''very'' strong resemblance to Wrestling/AJLee..

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjBXuVFBbjo "Cult of Personality"]] by Music/LivingColour. It even went to the point that [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHzT69ntGBI the band itself played the song]] in ''Wrestling/WrestleMania 29'' and became Punk's own [[SignatureSong signature entrance song]] in ''[[UsefulNotes/UltimateFightingChampionship UFC]]''.

** Any semblance of Punk being viewed as a legit badass was destroyed after his fight with Mickey Gall in the UFC, where Punk threw one punch, was taken down, and quickly beaten with virtually no resistance.
*** Any credit given to Punk for the quality of his opponent vanished when he fought fellow 0-1 fighter Mike Jackson, and showed virtually no skill in real fighting, losing an embarrassingly one-sided decision despite having over a year to train and improve. Even fans of Punk, while admiring his tenacity, expressed their desire after the fight for Punk to never compete in the UFC again. The commentary didn't help either, with announcer Joe Rogan barely able to conceal his complete disdain for what was occuring in the Octagon, [[https://youtu.be/yxleZpWSKQE while later elaborating on his podcast that Punk had no talent or athleticism for real fighting]].

*** RefugeInAudacity: Both Punk and Cena were the top two draws at the time; any repercussions would have most likely been minimal.

** His most recent match (essentially a #1 Contender's match for a spot at ''[=WrestleMania=]'') against John Cena saw him busting out a picture-perfect Piledriver against Cena to try to put him down. And, yes, that was a '''real piledriver''', which WWE superstars [[DangerousForbiddenTechnique haven't been allowed to use for several years,]]

** Punk's "Good things happen to good people" promo. Flash forward to ''[[Wrestling/{{TNA}} Victory Road 2011]]''. Considering Jeff Hardy's TakeThat rant towards him...