Line #65 YMMV/CMPunk


1	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:
2	** A KnightTemplar who truly believes that the world would be better under his guidance? Or a SinisterMinister and a SleazyPolitician who uses the Straight Edge Society for personal gain and no higher goals then that? Perhaps the truth will be uncovered. It's also possible to interpret him as the truly good guy who has to put up with fans and fellow wrestlers who are misled -- the Wrestling/JeffHardy feud that turned Punk heel, and ended when Jeff left the company (and was arrested for drug trafficking soon after), helped.
3	** From his final heel turn before leaving Ring of Honor: who was [[TheFarmerAndTheViper the real snake]], Punk or the ROH fans?
4	** Punk's [[HijackedByGanon New]] [[Wrestling/TheNexus Nexus]] feud with Wrestling/JohnCena. It's really not that hard to interpret Cena's actions in the past as horrible. Using childish names like "CM Sucks" doesn't help, but one of the real kickers was on the 1/17/11 edition of RAW, when John Cena is walking to the ring to face Punk, randomly grabs a guy's cell phone, hangs it up, and tosses it at him.
5	** Was Punk truly upset that the WWE Champion is taking a backseat to less-than-meaningful storylines involving John Cena and the sudden presence of [[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson the Rock]], or is it that ''[[GreenEyedMonster he's]]'' getting upstaged? ''[[TakeAThirdOption Both]]'' seems to be a fair assumption.
6	* AmericansHateTingle: Due to his blood feud with Wrestling/{{MJF}}, Punk was booed out of the building every time he appeared at an AEW event in Long Island. For some reason this continued even after the feud ended, which is why Punk usually acted like a heel there even if he was a face everywhere else.
7	* AwesomeEgo: Holy ''crap.'' When he first called himself the "Best In The World," it should have come off like a god complex, but fans cheered the hell out of him. Fans respected him even at his most heelish, and even when he walked out on the promotion, fans were still chanting ''loudly'' for him, even the better part of a year later. Even critics of CM Punk's behavior during his time in AEW struggle to argue that he was a bad performer during his time there, or that under the time ''Collision'' was essentially his own personal realm, it wasn't one of the best shows in the AEW umbrella. Say what you want about Punk, but he embodies this trope like few others.
8	* 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]] and [[Wrestling/AllEliteWrestling AEW]].
9	* BadassDecay:
10	** After turning back heel he spent the majority of the first five months largely ducking John Cena and Wrestling/{{Ryback}} (while receiving continuous "you must fight 'em [again] if you want respect" speeches from anyone who'd approach him), infamously getting his ass kicked one on one by Vince [=McMahon=] once (who '''never''' kicks anyone's ass all by himself) and needing a [[Wrestling/BradMaddox crooked fame-hungry referee]] and [[Wrestling/TheShield three justice-toting mercenaries]] to come to his aid time and again in order to retain his title. The "ducking" part at least was largely rectified at the end of the title run thanks to his feud with the Rock.
11	** 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. Then 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]].
12	* BrokenBase:
13	** Him using Wrestling/{{KENTA\|Kobayashi}}'s moves, especially after showing up in WWE doing "Go To Sleep". Either it was awesome, totally lame imitation or too late to discuss because everyone steals from Japan anyway. Sometimes this is {{Flanderiz\|ation}}ed into CM Punk stealing all of his WWE moves from KENTA, even though he actually "appropriated" from a wide collage of Japanese wrestlers(the anaconda vice is from Hiroyoshi Tenzan) and did tributes to wrestlers from other countries too.
14	** His base, The Rock's base, and WWE's base just about exploded during his feud with The Rock. Fans adored Punk and loathed the Rock, adored Rock and hated Punk, and everything in between.
15	** His 2014 walkout.
16	*** Some say he did it to take a stand against WWE's mishandling of their hard-working talent in favor of part-timers.
17	*** Some say he was a baby throwing a tantrum because he didn't get what he wanted, and was ungrateful for great opportunities he was given.
18	*** Others think that given what he did for the business, and given his physical state[[note]]It's well known that he'd been working hurt for some time, something not made easier by his straight edge lifestyle, to the point that it was affecting his performance[[/note]] and given that he was financially secure, his decision to leave was selfish but not unreasonable.
19	*** Others counter that leaving before his contract was up was horribly unprofessional.
20	*** A final group notes that, whatever anything else, his leaving seems to have opened the door for other stars such as Daniel Bryan and Cesaro to rise and reach their full potential.
21	** Punk being granted an automatic match into UFC without any previous fighting credentials to back him up. Many pointed out that Punk would be a huge draw in increasing buys (and that seemed to be true, as the match drew more than 500,000 buys), but others, including actual MMA fighters themselves, pointed out how unfair it is that Punk gets to walk into a main show match with an 0-0 record as well as take 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 Heavyweight Champion Stipe Miocic and Alistair Overeem (who were competing in the main event of the card) got a higher payout than Punk that night.[[/note]] This is especially the case when one considers that 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 did 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.
22	** Getting a second chance in the Octagon for a UFC event in Chicago. More dedicated MMA fans made numerous jokes about how much lower the UFC would need to dig for any opponent that Punk could realistically defeat. With Punk losing a rather brutal one-sided decision, supporters of his MMA endeavors became increasingly few and far in between.
23	** The "gripebomb". The Wrestling/AllEliteWrestling fanbase is split between those that agree with CM Punk and those that agree with The Elite (Wrestling/KennyOmega and Wrestling/TheYoungBucks) in regards to who's to blame for the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBAvjOYD6hs AEW All Out 2022 Media Scrum disaster]] where Punk [[HistoryRepeats again]] aired out a company's dirty laundry publicly. This then resulted in a locker room altercation and the suspension of multiple people, including Punk himself and The Elite. During his resulting hiatus between September 2022 to June 2023, it was hotly debated among fans and talent alike on whether or not Punk could or ''should'' return, with the question now hinging around whether or not he's worth the trouble of his constant magnetism to backstage drama.
24	** Punk's 2023 return to WWE showcases the huge divide between the IWC and the casual fans. While IWC had basically declared Punk as a pariah following his highly controversial exit from AEW, the fans ''popped in excitement'' when Cult of Personality played at ''Survivor Series'' and had continued to do so since then.
25	* CatharsisFactor:
26	** His WorkedShoot promos in 2011 were ''thoroughly'' relished by smart fans. To see him chew out Wrestling/VinceMcMahon on live television was pretty amazing.
27	** MMA fans, meanwhile, would argue his fights with Mickey Gall and Mike Jackson were this for them, vindicating their beliefs that pro-wrestlers have no business stepping foot in the octagon.
28	** People who have been critical of Punk for years also relished the backlash against him for the AEW All Out 2022 Media Scrum disaster, although for the most part AEW fans are split between those supporting him and those supporting The Elite.
29	** Those who were behind Punk during the gripebomb and All In 2023 disasters were delighted when AEW made the decision to air backstage footage of Punk's scuffle with Jack Perry at All In 2023 live on the 4/10/2024 edition of Dynamite and it turned out to ''exactly'' describe Punk's point of view for the incident. AEW's decision to [[https://x.com/WrestleOps/status/1778247674874982605 almost immediately backtrack]] on this by [[StreisandEffect copyright striking anyone who posted the video of the backstage fight and removing said footage from their official]] Website/YouTube [[StreisandEffect video of the segment]] only further fueled the flames in Punk's favor, who is now generally agreed to have said the truth while AEW was heavily criticized by anyone that isn't their diehard fans for being childish and unable to move on from their fallout with Punk.
30	* CrossesTheLineTwice: Or rather in his own words:
31	-->''"I'm a [[Series/ChappellesShow habitual line stepper]]."''
32	* DracoInLeatherPants
33	** 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. Punk became the best heel in the company, and it's because of that that no matter what he did, anything short of murdering someone would not prevent him from being cheered, because fans would love him all the same.
34	** Becomes more evident in his fight vs Wrestling/RandyOrton 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.
35	** 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."
36	** 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. 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.
37	* EpicRiff: Both of his WWE theme songs.
38	* EvilIsCool: Much in the same fashion of [[Wrestling/NewWorldOrder the nWo]], CM Punk's fiery and unfiltered style of cutting promos gets him cheered even when he's playing a heel. Everyone likes the rebel and he definitely fills the niche.
39	* FanNickname: More of a Detractor Nickname, but his flawed version of the [[Wrestling/AdamPage Buckshot Lariat]] has been dubbed the "'''Botch'''shot Lariat."
40	* FansPreferTheNewHer: For most of his career he had shoulder-length long hair; then he lost a Hair vs Mask match against Wrestling/ReyMysterio and was shaved bald, something that he tried to hide via a mask for several months before Wrestling/TheBigShow got to him and revealed his shiny head to the world. Surprisingly, many fans found that Punk actually looked better bald, and with shorter hair in general. Since then, he's kept his hair relatively short, even shaving it into (in the words of Wrestling/ChrisJericho) a "stylish buzzcut" after his 2012 FaceHeelTurn, and even at the longest he has been wearing it has been in a slicked-back style.
41	* FoeYayShipping:
42	** With Wrestling/JeffHardy. Punk's entire storyline with Jeff read as him being attracted to Jeff and hating him for it, and it led to the birth of the Junk pairing, which still retains a minor following even to this day.
43	** With Wrestling/JohnCena, mostly because of the mutual respect thing. The fact that Cena went so far to make sure Punk got a fair match for the WWE Championship drove the shippers off the walls.
44	** '''Wrestling/{{MJF}}'''. Despite all his constant disses towards Punk, it was obvious to everyone that MJF still admired and looked up to him, which MJF himself would confirm in a promo about two weeks before their Dog Collar match -- before the following week revealed he was also a massive {{Yandere}} for Punk, openly hating him and resenting his "childhood hero" for abandoning wrestling for seven years and thus, by extension, MJF himself. Combined with the aforementioned Dog Collar match, which is loaded with BDSM undertones, and you have Punk's most popular pairing since he was ship-teased with his future wife Wrestling/AJLee.
45	* FountainOfMemes: '''Especially''' the Pipebomb ("[[Wrestling/StephanieMcMahon idiotic daughter]] and [[Wrestling/TripleH doofus son-in-law]]", "[[Wrestling/JohnLaurinaitis glad-handing nonsensical douche-bag yes-men]]," etc.). Even over a decade later, people still quote it, especially because it turned out to be oddly prophetic.
46	* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: His ROH title match with Samoa Joe still has the highest ringside gross of any European show and the highest attendance record of any independent wrestling show in the UK.
47	* HarsherInHindsight:
48	** On October 8, 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".
49	** In his "Summer of Punk" at ROH, 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 said he couldn't even watch it on TV anymore. It took seven years and the birth of Wrestling/AllEliteWrestling to reignite his love for it again, and it went to the point that in his first promo in AEW, he would claim that August 13, 2005 (his last day in ROH) was the actual date he retired as a professional wrestler.
50	** 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.
51	** The "gripebomb" incident at the AEW All Out 2022 Media Scrum and the subsequent post-Media Scrum fight that led to his suspension from the company has brought out plenty of this:
52	*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0aFlijwmB0 This promo]] made by Wrestling/TripleH on 2011 towards Punk, where Hunter takes a dig on the ego problems that Punk had[[note]]mind you, this is coming from the same Triple H that infamously played with the backstage politics with the "Reign of Terror"[[/note]], has been seen in a new light by the fans given that Punk's ego problems resurfaced at an arguably worse rate during his return stint at AEW than his entire time in the WWE.
53	*** Wrestling/PaulHeyman, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0IYQpYlhZE in an interview with The Ringer]] in January 2022, made this statement on how he thinks Punk is going to be perceived by the fans one year after he returned to wrestling:
54	----> '''Heyman:''' I don't know if what he's doing now is where he should be judged. I think what will be interesting is what happens when the novelty that he's back wears off, both for the audience and for him. I'm sure for him this is still "I can't believe I'm back. I'm actually walking into an arena." I think it's still very fresh for him. ''What happens a year from now? How's he going to feel? How will the audience look at him and accept him, in a year?''
55	*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ttt9DsyFzYc The "worker's right" promo]] that Wrestling/AdamPage cut to Punk on the last ''Dynamite'' show before ''Double or Nothing'' 2022 becomes harsher to look at given the knowledge that this promo was believed to be the cause of the [[HostilityOnTheSet beef]] between Punk and Page that was still unresolved by the time the All Out Media Scrum disaster happened.
56	*** His statement at the AEW ''Double or Nothing'' 2022 Media Scrum that only "nobodies" don't like him or want him in AEW is presumably towards MJF. But considering what happened in the All Out Media Scrum disaster, it's possible that it was [[StealthInsult not just towards MJF, if at all]].
57	*** Take a listen to Wrestling/JonMoxley's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Nox2U4smGU promo]] on the last ''Dynamite'' show before AEW All Out 2022. Moxley's statement that CM Punk has a "fragile ego, fragile body, weak mind, [and] weak spirit" received a lot of attention given that not only Punk made the "gripebomb" in the Media Scrum, he also legitimately tore his left triceps on a suicide dive during his match with Moxley at All Out.
58	* HeartwarmingInHindsight:
59	** Of all things, [[WorkedShoot the 2011 Pipebomb]]. More specifically, him claiming to be a Wrestling/PaulHeyman guy while also citing Wrestling/BrockLesnar as "a Paul Heyman Guy". Almost a year later, Brock returns to the WWE and brings Paul E. with him as his manager.
60	** Also from the pipebomb, he named two specific promotions he could take the WWE Championship to; Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling and Wrestling/RingOfHonor. In the 2014 interview with Wrestling/ColtCabana, he named a specific scenario he'd return to wrestling for; a one-off tag match in Wrestling/ProWrestlingGuerilla with Wrestling/SamoaJoe against Wrestling/TheYoungBucks. NJPW and ROH have since become close partners to the point their rosters are effectively shared, and the Young Bucks have invited post-wrestling Punk to join the stable they are key members of which has been strong in both promotions — the Wrestling/BulletClub.
61	* HilariousInHindsight:
62	** Punk's "Good things happen to good people" promo. Flash forward to ''[[Wrestling/ImpactWrestling Victory Road 2011]]''. Considering Jeff Hardy's TakeThat rant towards him...
63	** In late 2010-early 2011, just months before his StarMakingRole, he had a feud with Wrestling/RandyOrton, during which [[https://media2.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExM3FpcmYyN2h0bnZ2bDdiZWhrZjJwMjA1a2dqa241dGt6M2NrZmFldSZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/lUrIBYsCeAWgU/giphy.gif 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.
64	*** He told AJ bluntly, 'I'm not going to marry you'. Come 2014...
65	*** Wrestling/DanielBryan proposing to A.J. in front of Punk. Guess who's got the last laugh with April.
66	** His unhappiness about how, after Vince [=McMahon=]'s death, the WWE would probably be taken over by "[[Wrestling/TripleH his doofus son in law]]" and mismanaged further into the ground. Triple H would go on to prove himself highly capable as a booker through his management of NXT, and after he became the WWE Head of Creative following Vince's retirement, the overall product is widely considered to be far better than it was during his father in law's time. Punk and Hunter would make up backstage during an unplanned visit shortly before the former's return to WWE. Hell, just the idea that the company would go to a relative of Vince after the latter's death would end up far off the mark, as Vince sold the company in 2023 to Endeavor, who would then merge it with the UFC; while both companies are still doing business under their old names, they are now subsidiaries of a newly-formed company called TKO.
67	** Him proclaiming himself to be "a Paul Heyman guy" and comparing himself to Wrestling/BrockLesnar. He would later follow the Beast Incarnate's steps by fighting at [[UsefulNotes/UltimateFightingChampionship UFC]], even losing his first fights.
68	** 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 Creator/MarvelComics's [[Comicbook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy Drax the Destroyer]]. Guess who plays as Drax in [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse the MCU]].
69	** Following his shocking return to WWE at Wrestling/SurvivorSeries 2023, practically ALL the [[TakeThat shots]] he took against WWE during his time in AEW have aged like spoiled milk. Especially the one telling MJF (who threatened to leave for WWE) to "go main event Night 1 of a 'buy one, get one free' extravaganza" (in reference to Wrestling/WrestleMania splitting into two nights); shortly after his return he started a feud with Wrestling/SethRollins, with fans already declaring it a shoo-in to main event Night 1 of the following [=WrestleMania=] (something long-dreamed for Punk).
70	* HollywoodThin: "Wrestling/{{Daizee\|Haze}} needs to eat a sammich!" He'd also be on the receiving end from Kevin Nash, who wants to kick his "skinny-fat ass".
71	* HypeBacklash:
72	** Some wrestling fans may not understand quite why he was so hyped by the internet wrestling community prior to his WWE debut. Unlike the founding fathers, Joe, ect, when people said things like "Best Wrestler In ROH" what they meant to say was best ''heel'' in ROH, yet his main WWE roster debut was as a baby face, so much of what was mentioned obviously was not present. Then, there is a big difference between one hour time limit draws in the main event against equal opponents to five minute under card {{squash match}}es that his WWECW career started with.
73	** He's also getting this with regards to his UFC career. For up to two years, he still hasn't officially had a fight yet. And yet, the UFC has still deigned to put him as a playable character in their video games and even start making documentaries about the guy even though Punk right now is completely unproven, and has absolutely little to no MMA bouts or credentials to show that he's earned the right to have documentaries made about his as-of-now nonexistent MMA career. With all the attention and hype he's been getting for a currently unproven UFC career, it comes as no surprise that a lot of people are getting sick of CM Punk. This ended up hilariously subverted when his two matches in UFC ended with him being utterly ''demolished''.
74	* IronWoobie: Punk in RealLife, he says it best.
75	-->"My dad was an alcoholic and my parents... we didn't have any money and I grew up really poor. I watched them spend all of their money on cartons of cigarettes and stuff like that and I didn't understand how if we were broke and we couldn't afford Christmas presents, why could you smoke all of those cigarettes? It's not like they are making you better... they are killing you. It seemed real idiotic to me."
76	* JustHereForGodzilla: From his WWE debut to when he was drafted to RAW, Punk was effectively the main, if not ''only'', reason to watch WWECW. General agreement is that after he left the show, the quality of the programming went down a notch, though they at least still had most of the talented roster from Punk's time, along with drafting Wrestling/MattHardy as compensation. Then 2009 happened, where basically everyone worth watching got drafted except for the recently-returned Wrestling/{{Christian}}, Wrestling/SheltonBenjamin, and Wrestling/WilliamRegal, and when the show finally died in 2010, many called it a MercyKill.
77	* LoveToHate: Punk's good - no, GREAT, as a face. However, he's just so damn ''awesome'' at being a dick and at being a heel in general that it's gone into DracoInLeatherPants territory. Punk always manages to get heat for kicking the dog, while at the same time having his name chanted by the entire arena.
78	* [[Memes/ProfessionalWrestling Memetic Mutation]]:
79	** A running joke among the IWC is that CM Punk always has Nuclear Heat with WWE management and has become a semi-permanent resident of the WWE Doghouse.
80	** And they spilled his diet soda.
81	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2rYG3CCsKw NexSES]]
82	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bby_g2nBeGQ Long... live... the king...]]
83	** Also, he said you're a WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOORE!!!!!
84	*** And he speaks the truth!
85	** CM Punk not wearing pants.
86	** "Oops, I'm breaking the fourth wall." became unexpectedly popular in some circles.
87	** “LIKE MUSSOLINI” thanks to his theme song.
88	** The "gripebomb" has also given some memes, mostly at AEW's locker room's expense:
89	*** "I offered [Wrestling/ColtCabana] money, he said it wasn't enough. He went ahead with the lawsuit, he sued. It's his fuckin' funeral, I don't care. He shares a bank account with his mother, it tells you all you need to know about this kind of character that is."
90	*** "I'm hurt and I'm old, and I'm fuckin' tired, and I work with fuckin' children."
91	*** Mindy's Bakery.
92	*** "Contrary to popular belief, I'm a very nice guy."
93	** "IF CM PUNK RETURNS, I'LL…" [[labelnote:Explanation]]Based on the amount of people skeptical that Punk would return to WWE at the 2023 Survivor Series in Chicago, to the point of making ridiculous wagers. This included Wrestling/{{Ryback}} claiming he'd retire from pro wrestling altogether (nevermind that he hadn't wrestled for five years at the time), only to instantly walk it back once Punk actually did return at the 2023 Survivor Series in Chicago.[[/labelnote]]
94	* MemeticBadass
95	** In some portions of the IWC, to the point where he has 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 then-recently deceased Wrestling/PaulBearer), and portions of the crowd were STILL chanting his name.
96	** 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 (and longest-reigning ROH champion) Samoa Joe, however Punk lost in semifinal round to eventual winner AJ Styles.
97	* MemeticLoser: CM Punk is this for the [[UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts MMA's]] and [[UsefulNotes/UltimateFightingChampionship UFC's]] fanbases. Many jokes are made about his entrance to the UFC and unsuccessful career of 1 loss where he was defeated easily and one no-contest that was stretched out, with Punk being on the losing end. One common MMA fan goal is trying to find the absolute worst MMA fighter that could be defeated by Punk.
98	* MoralEventHorizon: If his controversial actions in the past (mocking Jerry Lawler's heart attack RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM for instance) don't count, then his mockery of the recently dead Paul Bearer (''[[RefugeInAudacity not even a week after the fact]]'') most likely will.
99	* SugarWiki/MostWonderfulSound: static (EpicRiff) "Look in my eyes, what do you see..."
100	** (EpicRiff) [[Music/KillSwitchEngage YEAHHHHHHHHHH!]]
101	** (drum fill) IT'S MISERY!
102	* {{Narm}}: When he [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome finally]] got his hands on Laurinaitis and gave him the GTS, good ol' Johnny Ace gave ''absolutely '''zero''' reaction to his predicament''. No OhCrap expression, no [[ScreamsLikeALittleGirl panicked screams]], no pleas for mercy, just [[DullSurprise a dull, blank stare]]. Totally not Punk's fault, though.
103	* NeverLiveItDown:
104	** In WWE, CM Punk started doing a slingshot elbow drop and during the time he did so and even afterwards he was always mocked for it by the former wrestlers who work as columnists for the Observer. When Punk imitated someone's else's elbow drop, such as Wrestling/BretHart or Wrestling/RandySavage, he was usually spot on with it too [[RuleOfFunny but they found it more fun]] to insist Punk couldn't do elbow drops period.
105	** 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 with a respectable 12-3 record coming into the event, and Lesnar was arguably dominating the fight 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]]
106	** His attempts at performing Wrestling/AdamPage's Buckshot Lariat in AEW have become quite ridiculed due to Punk failing to flip over the ropes and landing on his butt in an embarrassing fashion.[[note]]He eventually managed to perform a halfway-decent version of the move on Dax Harwood, but the damage was already done, not helped by the fact that Creator/LoganPaul, a celebrity, would later perform it cleanly.[[/note]]
107	* RootingForTheEmpire:
108	** 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.
109	** To give you some perspective on this one, the Boston crowd chanted his name over hometown hero John Cena, even after comparing Cena to their most hated enemy, the New York Yankees.
110	** This is one of the reasons why his 2012 FaceHeelTurn failed. Despite allying with the universally-despised slimy Wrestling/PaulHeyman, no matter how low he went, at least half the crowd ''refused to boo him''. Eventually they stopped trying to force it and when Punk returned from his 2013 hiatus, he was automatically a face despite changing literally nothing about his character. The fans were just too happy to have him back.
111	* ShockingMoments:
112	** 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.
113	** 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.
114	** His #1 contender's match for a spot at ''[=WrestleMania=] 29'' 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]], with pretty much the only thing shielding him in some RefugeInAudacity being that both Punk and Cena were the top two draws at the time, and any repercussions would have most likely been minimal.
115	** Punk ''[[HesBack returning]] to [[CueTheFlyingPigs WWE]]'' at the very end of the 2023 Wrestling/SurvivorSeries. A [[https://twitter.com/TripleH/status/1728631658054836491?lang=en "mighty cold day in hell"]] indeed.
116	* StrawmanHasAPoint:
117	** 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. This later delved into ValuesDissonance after Jeff's drug problems reached their absolute zenith at the notorious ''[[Wrestling/{{TNA}} Victory Road 2011]]''.
118	** His 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.
119	** Pulls the same thing with Orton, but this is less effective since Orton's made it perfectly clear in the past that he knows his actions have no excuse, but doesn't care and does them anyway.
120	** The epic TheReasonYouSuckSpeech on the 6/27/11 ''RAW'' was ''full'' of these, but perhaps his paragraph about Vince [=McMahon=] fit this trope the best:
121	---> '''CM Punk:''' But Vince [=McMahon=]'s gonna make money despite himself. He's a millionaire who ''should'' be a billionaire. You know why he's not a billionaire? It's 'cuz he surrounds himself with glad-handing, nonsensical douchebag yes-men like John Laurinaitis, who's gonna tell him everything he wants to hear! And I'd like to think that maybe this company will be better after Vince [=McMahon=]'s dead, but the fact is, it's gonna get taken over by his [[Wrestling/StephanieMcMahon idiotic daughter]] and his [[Wrestling/TripleH doofus son-in-law]] and the rest of his ''stupid'' family!
122	** Becomes a LampshadeHanging when [[FanNickname Trips]] told Vince the board fired him and he was replacing him at least in kayfabe.
123	** Another [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech Reason You Suck Speech]] to John Cena on July 11th's RAW. While John Cena had a point about Punk claiming to know what the fans want but still going to leave them all the same, Punk's retort that Cena [[YouAreWhatYouHate has become a dynasty]] and that Cena can't call himself the underdog anymore struck home harder.
124	** Somewhat inverted with his feud with Triple H during the WWE Summer of Punk. It's... honestly kind of hard to get 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.
125	** With Punk's feud with John Cena and Big Show, Punk has been feeling overshadowed by Cena, The Rock, Triple H, and pretty much any other talent doing main events at the time. 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.
126	** Punk's rant about John Cena being awarded the Superstar of the Year, where he pointed out that in 2012 Cena lost his "Once in a Lifetime" match against the Rock, he failed to capture the WWE Championship at ''[=SummerSlam=]'' (one of multiple occasions in fact), he was the first to cash in his Money in the Bank and fail, and he lost the TLC match for Ziggler's briefcase the night before, whereas Punk has been WWE Champion so far every day of the year. This isn't even accounting for the fact that there are several other superstars who've had far more successful 2012s than Cena, or that Cena's entire character credo has become [[DesignatedHero arguably bunk]] as well.
127	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: The Summer of Punk-esque John Cena feud in 2011 could have been more effective if CM Punk walked out for more than a single RAW. However, this trope would still be in effect had they drawn it out longer or began sooner: the symbolism of CM Punk beating Cena in Chicago and again at Summerslam was too good to pass up.
128	* ValuesResonance: One of the likely reasons why his iconic SmugStraightEdge [[StraightEdgeEvil Evil]] 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]]. Wrestling/ChrisJericho revealing the source of his decision to be Straight Edge, namely his traumatic childhood with his alcoholic father, was the final nail in the coffin as far as WWE went, and nobody's tried to use his Straight Edge lifestyle against him since.
129	* 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 Straight Edge lifestyle was 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]].\
130	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.\
131	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), 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.]]

Context YMMV / CMPunk