| “ | There's good guys and there's bad guys in this world, and make no mistake about it ladies and gentlemen. I am a bad, bad man. | „ |
| ~ CM Punk |
Phillip Jack "Phil" Brooks (CM Punk) (Born October 26, 1978 in Chicago, Illinois) is a American mixed martial artist and retired American professional wrestler from Chicago, Illinois who is best known for his time in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) on their flagship show Monday Night Raw. He is currently working for UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship).
In the first half of 2011 Punk served as the secondary antagonist, but in the second half Punk now served as the main protagonist. Also in the first half of 2012 Punk still served as the main protagonist, but in the second half Punk served as the main antagonist. In the beginning of 2013 Punk still served as the main villain, but in the middle he served as an anti-hero, and in the end he served as the main tritagonist.
He is a two time WWE Champion, and held the title for 434 consecutive days in his second reign, making him the sixth longest reigning WWE Champion of all time, the longest running champion of the past twenty-five years, and one of only seven men to continuously hold the championship for more than one year. This makes him known by WWE as the "longest reigning WWE Champion of the modern era." He won the title from Alberto Del Rio at Survivor Series on November 20, 2011, and later lost it to The Rock at the Royal Rumble on January 27, 2013.
He abruptly left the WWE on January 26, 2014, the night after the negatively recieved Royal Rumble.
WWE (August 1, 2006 - January 26, 2014)
Some of this most notable matches across his career include bouts against Chris Hero, Samoa Joe, Jeff Hardy, John Cena, Chris Jericho, Daniel Bryan, The Rock, The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar.
CM Punk would turn face after being betrayed by his former friend and ally Paul Heyman, who double crossed him in favor of his main client, Brock Lesnar. Punk unsuccessfully faced Brock Lesnar in a match at SummerSlam, but would go on to defeat Curtis Axel and Ryback, and would eventually take his revenge on Heyman by trapping him in top of Hell in a Cell and beating him with a Kendo stick.
In 2014, in what would be his final televised appearance in the WWE, Punk was a participant in the 27th Royal Rumble match. He started the match at #1 and was one of the last 4 remaining wrestlers in the match before being eliminated by Kane, who was already eliminated by Punk. He then chokeslammed Punk through the announce table. The next night, just hours before Monday Night Raw, Punk would legitimately walk out of WWE for unknown reasons, telling Vince McMahon he was "going home and not coming back."
On February 20, during a conference call to investors, McMahon said Punk was "taking a sabbatical". On the March 3 episode of Raw, WWE acknowledged Punk's absence on television when the show started with Punk's entrance music playing, only for former manager Paul Heyman to walk out. WWE removed Punk from footage of their promotional videos, until July, when a retrospective on his Money in the Bank wins was advertised for the WWE Network.
On July 15, 2014, CM Punk's profile was moved to the Alumni section of the WWE website.
Breaking Silence on leaving the WWE
On an episode of Colt Cabana's Art of Wrestling podcast released in November 2014, Punk broke his silence regarding his exit from WWE. In a detailed interview, Punk said that he was suspended for two months after walking out on the company in January, and was fired by WWE months later on his wedding day in June 2014. The manner of firing was the last straw for Punk regarding WWE, as Punk said that he would never return to WWE and that following a legal settlement with WWE, he had no more working relationship with them. The settlement included Punk giving permission to WWE to sell his merchandise. Punk cited his health as the main reason he left WWE, describing that in his final months in the company, he had been working through a possibly-fatal and untreated staphylococcal infection, broken ribs, injured knees, multiple concussions including one at the Royal Rumble, as well as having lost his appetite and ability to sleep well. Punk felt that WWE was pressuring and rushing him to wrestle before he had fully recovered. Other sources of unhappiness Punk had with WWE were his failure to main event a WrestleMania, been paid less than other top wrestlers for WrestleMania 29, being "creatively stifled" and feeling that there were no long-term plans for wrestlers other than John Cena, as well as receiving smaller paychecks and not getting answers as to how the WWE Network would affect wrestlers' salaries. Lastly, Punk described having left with "zero passion" for wrestling, but described himself at this point in time to be the happiest in many years.
Less than a week later, when Vince McMahon was interviewed on The Steve Austin Show podcast via the WWE Network, he apologized to Punk for the manner of his termination, which he termed a "coincidence" while blaming a lack of communication within the organization. McMahon said that he was open to working with Punk again. In a second Art of Wrestling podcast, Punk rejected McMahon's apology as insincere and a "publicity stunt" as McMahon did not contact him directly to apologize and could have apologized earlier.
UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) (2015 - Present)
At UFC 181 on December 6, 2014, Brooks announced that he had signed a multi-fight contract with Ultimate Fighting Championship and will fight as a professional mixed martial artist in the middleweight or welterweight division in 2015. Brooks, 36 at the time of signing, has no amateur wrestling background, but has a background in kempo and also trained in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
Regarding Brooks' signing, UFC President Dana White mentioned that while he "can definitely sell some pay-per-views", that was not the sole motivation for it. On Brooks' future longevity in UFC, White said: "He could be one and done, or he could have a career here. I don't know. We'll see." White did not confirm a date for Punk's UFC debut, but predicted it to be around six or seven months later. Punk will likely debut against someone who, like himself, has completed very few fights.
White did not confirm a date for Punk's UFC debut, but predicted it to be around six or seven months later. Punk will likely debut against someone who, like himself, has completed very few fights. Jason David Frank, best known as Tommy Oliver, the Green Ranger from Power Rangers, but also a 41-year-old mixed martial artist with a 1–0 record, offered to fill that role. According to Frank's manager, he has been considering fighting Punk for over a year, stemming from fan interest for the idea while the two toured Wizard World conventions together. When asked during a pre-UFC 182 fan Q&A session what he thought of the challenge, Punk said he had been challenged by a lot of fighters, and would need a long career to fight them all.
Regarding his ring name, he expected ring announcer Bruce Buffer will call him Phil "CM Punk" Brooks. He told the Las Vegas Sun, "I've come this far with CM Punk. That's what people know. I'm trying to stick with that. I'm not shying away from it. I'm not ashamed of it." His later UFC profile listed him as simply CM Punk.
Punk will train for his debut match under Duke Roufus at Roufusport MMA Academy, alongside UFC Lightweight Champion Anthony Pettis and ONE FC Welterweight Champion Ben Askren. The gym is based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, relatively close to his home in Chicago.
Recent team member, UFC maincarder and former amateur wrestler Tyron Woodley told Ariel Helwani, when asked of Punk's preparation, that he "had a new level of respect" for his work ethic. Punk trains three times a day, with twelve private sessions a week, always shows up an hour early and puts in "ridiculous" solo cardio training between sparrings. Woodley says Punk sure "isn't ready to beat Anderson Silva", but is doing all the things a person trying to "make up the gap" in experience can do. Ben Askren, who referred to Punk as a "fake wrestler" and his UFC signing an "amateur move" when it was announced, has since said he was "just talking shit on Twitter", and that Punk has been "outstanding in the gym".
Personal life
He is currently married to April Mendez, or better known as AJ Lee. The two were wed on Friday, June 13, 2014.
Villainous acts
- Belittling Jeff Hardy's past issues with substance abuse; Claiming to be better than Hardy and everyone else
- Forcing Hardy to leave the WWE by defeating him in a Steel Cage match
- Manipulating the officials to guarentee his submission victory over the Undertaker
- Berating Rey Mysterio in front of his family
- Verbally abusing his followers in the Straight Edge Society
- Abandoning his team mates in a Handicap match against the Big Show
- Usurping power from Wade Barrett to control the Nexus
- Using the Nexus to assault Randy Orton
- Verbally attacking his employers on live televison
- Holding the WWE title hostage to make sure his demands were met
- Cheating in his match against John Cena at Raw 1000; Assaulting the Rock (turning heel)
- Taking advantage of a rogue referee, Brad Maddox, attacking Ryback in order to retain the WWE title
- Mocking Jerry Lawler's near fatal heart attack; Note that Lawler was clinically dead for several minutes
- Had Paul Heyman pay The Shield to help him win his title defences
- Pouring human ashes from an urn on to an incapacitated Undertaker; Note that the urn was stolen by Punk to disrespect the recently deceased Paul Bearer as well as to throw off the Undertaker en route to their WrestleMania 29 showdown
Championships and Accomplishments
World Wrestling Entertainment
- WWE Championship (2 Times)
- World Heavyweight Championship (3 Times)
- ECW Championship (1 Time)
- Intercontinental Championship (1 Time)
- World Tag Team Championship (1 Time with Kofi Kingston)
- 19th Triple Crown Champion
- Money in the Bank (2008, 2009)
Ring of Honor
- ROH World Championship (1 Time)
- ROH Tag Team Championship (2 Times with Colt Cabana)
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
- Five Star Match (2004) Samoa Joe vs CM Punk II; ROH Joe vs Punk II
- Five Star Match (2011) John Cena vs CM Punk; WWE Money in the Bank 2011
- Match of the Year (2011) John Cena vs CM Punk; WWE Money in the Bank 2011
- Feud of the Year (2009) Jeff Hardy vs CM Punk
- Feud of the Year (2011) John Cena vs CM Punk
- Best Gimmick (2009) Straight Edge Messiah
- Best Gimmick (2011) Anti Corporate Rebel
- Best on Interviews (2011, 2012)
- Best Pro Wrestling DVD (2012) CM Punk: Best in the World
Gallery
Trivia
- Punk is the fastest Triple Crown winner in WWE history, achiving the accolade in 203 days, breaking the previous record held by Kevin Nash of 227 days.
- CM Punk is the only man to win back to back Money in the Bank contracts, one in 2008 (WrestleMania XXIV), and the other in 2009 (WrestleMania XXV). The only other man to win the contract twice was Edge, though his victories were not consecutive.
- He is recognized as the only man to make The Undertaker tap out. Though the circumstances surrounding this event were marred in controversy, the record still stands.
- CM Punk has competed in the first ever Triple Threat Hell in a Cell and Tables, Ladders and Chairs matches. He is also 3-0 in TLC matches in WWE, and the only man thus far to remain undefeated in that type of stipulation.
- Punk is one of three men to win all three of WWE's world titles, (WWE, World Heavyweight, ECW) the others being Kane and Big Show.
- CM Punk and his wife, AJ Lee, have many similarities:
- Both have held a championship for a very long time in the modern-era of the WWE. CM Punk being the "longest reigning WWE Champion of the modern era," having held the WWE Championship from November 20, 2011 (Survivor Series 2011, from Alberto Del Rio via submission) - January 27, 2013 (Royal Rumble 2013, to The Rock via pinfall), making it a total of 434 days. AJ Lee having held the WWE Divas Championship from June 16, 2013 (Payback 2013, from Katilyn via submission) - April 7, 2014 (Raw, to Paige via pinfall), making it a total of 295 days, making her the longest reigning Divas Champion, beating Maryse's previous record of 216 days.
- They are also both retired in-ring wrestlers from WWE, with CM Punk retiring and departing on January 26, 2014, and AJ Lee retiring on April 3, 2015, although AJ no longer competes in-ring, as she's still in contract with the company.