Was CM Punk's Historic Title Reign Actually Good

Sportskeeda Wrestling

Relive the historic era of professional wrestling with our latest video as we take you down the memory lane of the legendary reign of CM Punk as the WWE Champion!  From November 20, 2011, to January 27, 2013, Punk held the coveted title for an astounding 434 days, leaving an indelible mark on the industry.  Join us on a journey through the highs and lows of Punk's reign, exploring the incredible matches, compelling storylines, and the unmatched charisma that made him the "Best in the World.  From his classic encounters with John Cena to the intense rivalries with Daniel Bryan and The Rock, every moment contributed to the greatness of Punk's championship run. -------  You can also visit our site: https://www.sportskeeda.com/wwe  #cmpunk #johncena #therock #undertaker #wrestlemania #wwe #wrestling #sportskeedawrestling

Transcript

00:00 434, a number that defines one man in one specific period of professional wrestling,

00:08 CM Punk.

00:09 For 434 days he reigned as WWE Champion, 13 PPV title defenses and many more on television,

00:17 generational rivalries, twists and turns, and record breaking moments.

00:23 Those are only a few of the things that sum up the incredible, memorable reign that CM

00:28 Punk had with the WWE Championship.

00:32 434 days seems like nothing in comparison to the time that we've recently seen Brock

00:40 Lesnar and Roman Reigns in 1200 days as Universal Champion.

00:44 You could also consider ones from the past decades like the long title reigns of Hulk

00:50 Hogan and Bruno San Martino, but at the time it was the longest world title reign that

00:55 WWE had in decades.

00:59 This is Sportskeeda Wrestling, I'm Kevin.

01:01 What did you think of CM Punk's time as WWE Champion?

01:05 Let us know in the comments below.

01:07 To understand we need to go all the way back to 2011.

01:10 CM Punk was a verified superstar within WWE.

01:15 There well over half a decade had already won multiple world championships and his contract

01:20 with the company was coming to an end.

01:22 And it led to a rivalry that many still consider the best of the decade, Punk getting into

01:28 it with John Cena.

01:29 He got louder every single week until Money in the Bank 2011 when in his hometown of Chicago

01:35 at the Allstate Arena they gave him one of the all time greatest receptions for a main

01:41 event.

01:42 It is easily one of the best pay per view main events in WWE history in terms of a storyline

01:47 payoff that delivered with him as the central player.

01:52 Would CM Punk leave in his hometown with the WWE Championship, taking it off John Cena

01:58 and leaving the company in the process?

02:01 And that's exactly what happened.

02:03 CM Punk would be the talk of the WWE while not being on WWE television, even interrupting

02:09 WWE officials at a comic book convention.

02:12 He would become WWE Champion again after returning after he first walked out on the company

02:17 with the title, and storyline anyway, before unifying it against John Cena at Summerslam.

02:25 Punk was on top of the world only for Alberto Del Rio to come out and foil everything, putting

02:31 a damper on the end of the Summer of Punk with a Money in the Bank cash in to become

02:36 the WWE Champion.

02:38 Around this time Punk also got into it with Kevin Nash and Triple H, whom he clashed heads

02:44 with backstage and brought up in that infamous Pipe Bomb promo.

02:48 This was a clash of generations, and CM Punk alleged that his loss to Triple H at Night

02:53 of Champions that followed really put a damper on everything.

02:56 They really were not running with this whole CM Punk thing, and it's hard to argue against

03:01 that given how much momentum he had coming out of the Summer.

03:04 Still, CM Punk remained in the WWE title scene, and at Survivor Series 2011, he won the WWE

03:12 title back at the world's most famous arena, Madison Square Garden, against Alberto Del

03:18 Rio.

03:19 WWE was getting things back on track when they would have a history making run with

03:24 CM Punk as WWE Champion.

03:26 Apart from his two title defenses that started off this run with the title, he beat The Miz

03:31 and Alberto Del Rio in a tables, ladders and chairs match.

03:35 Then Dolph Ziggler would try to show off at the Royal Rumble, but Punk would be valiantly

03:40 still Champion.

03:41 And at the same time, none of these title defenses felt predictable.

03:45 CM Punk, the WWE Champion, was ready for WrestleMania in the Sunshine State of Florida.

03:52 At WrestleMania 28, he would face Chris Jericho.

03:57 Punk Rock vs. Hard Rock in a match to retain the WWE Championship, a card that was headlined

04:03 by The Rock and John Cena, and Undertaker and Triple H and Hell in a Cell still had

04:09 a very underrated in retrospect Punk victory over Jericho.

04:14 But the issue was there, with all the things that were going on in WWE and CM Punk as the

04:19 WWE Champion, he wasn't THE GUY in WWE.

04:24 He wasn't even closing out the show at the show of shows while still having the company's

04:28 championship.

04:29 This would come around again a year later, but we'll get to that in a bit.

04:33 The feud with Chris Jericho was really underrated.

04:36 Jericho made it very serious, playing into CM Punk's turbulent youth, alleging that

04:41 his father was a drug addict and his sister was an alcoholic.

04:45 Punk retained at WrestleMania and had an ongoing feud with Jericho, and a little mini-program

04:51 with Mark Henry.

04:52 Facing him in three matches, the first two, Jericho attacked him and reignited their issue.

04:57 It culminated in an extreme rules match, a Chicago Street fight to end their feud, with

05:03 Punk coming out on top.

05:05 But once again, he took the back seat to John Cena, who faced a returning Brock Lesnar in

05:11 his own hometown.

05:13 This was becoming a clear pattern.

05:16 CM Punk may have had his following, he may have had the WWE Championship, but he wasn't

05:21 going to have the main event.

05:22 He headlined only one show at this point as WWE Champion.

05:28 You can make the argument that during the Royal Rumble, the actual Rumble match is a

05:31 bigger thing than the championship.

05:33 That's fair.

05:34 In WrestleMania, he took a back seat to Cena and The Rock, while delivering a personally

05:39 motivated title defense against Jericho.

05:41 And in Extreme Rules, Brock Lesnar's return was the real main attraction.

05:46 Punk was getting bumped out of the spot, and then he felt he deserved.

05:50 But his Elimination Chamber title defense may have been the most ridiculous oversight.

05:55 He was in the opening match on the show, inside the chamber, while John Cena faced Kane in

06:02 a freaking ambulance match.

06:04 You have a chamber, it's way cooler than an ambulance.

06:07 Imagine naming a PPV Elimination Chamber and ending it with an ambulance match.

06:13 But it was even more insulting when his next title defense came against another Ring of

06:18 Honor veteran, someone that people wanted to see him clash with in WWE for quite some

06:22 time, Daniel Bryan.

06:24 They would face each other at the over the limit PPV event, and it was placed behind

06:29 John Cena vs John Laurinaitis.

06:32 We now find ourselves in the summer of 2012.

06:35 It's fairly easy to assess that Punk's reign so far as WWE Champion has featured consistently

06:41 great matches, giving him the unfortunate designation of being the number 2 star in

06:46 the company despite holding that title.

06:49 It was still John Cena at the top, and he had to fight that perception with other champions

06:54 and other performers in the company all the time.

06:57 It would be a foreshadowing of things to come, renewing his feud once again with the franchise

07:03 player John Cena, who just won the Money in the Bank briefcase.

07:08 Cena had that anywhere, anytime cash it in championship opportunity, and Cena decided

07:14 to be a bit unwise and audibly cash in ahead of time with his Money in the Bank contract

07:21 in advance to set up a clash against Punk.

07:24 Cena couldn't see the surprise element of a random cash in.

07:28 The match would take place on the big 1000th episode of Monday Night Raw, but earlier in

07:33 the night, The Rock came in to announce that he would be facing Punk for the WWE Championship

07:39 a half a year later at the Royal Rumble.

07:42 But when Punk retained the WWE Championship that night over John Cena after the interference

07:49 of the Big Show, making it the first failed Money in the Bank cash in in quite some time,

07:55 he didn't stop the Big Show from attacking Cena.

07:59 Instead when The Rock came in to make the save, he attacked him.

08:03 That's right, Punk hit the GTS to cement a shocking character change, kicking off the

08:09 second part of his historic title reign with a massive chip on his shoulder and the WWE

08:16 Championship still around his waist.

08:18 It was a big shock at the time because he went from being the anti-hero, the voice of

08:23 the voiceless, to a bitter, narcissistic, resentful man.

08:28 But the character change was a crucial part of the title run because it probably saved

08:32 it from maybe losing its luster and made Punk a reinvigorated performer on screen.

08:39 Even though he technically had been the WWE Champion for less than a year, fans weren't

08:43 used to seeing long title runs around this time with WWE television.

08:48 The longest title run in recent memory at that point was Cena holding the title for

08:53 381 days between 2006 and 2007 before vacating the title due to injury.

09:00 While the first half of his WWE Championship reign was carried by being a fighting champion

09:05 with consistently great show-stealing matches, the second part was all about twisted psychology

09:11 of his character and how despicable he would become to those people that promoted him to

09:16 the top.

09:17 Following this villainous change, the Big Show was added to the WWE title mix, but ended

09:22 up being the fall guy at Summerslam, Punk once again retaining the title in controversial

09:28 fashion after both he and Cena made him tap out.

09:33 After AJ Lee restarted the match with her authority figure powers, Cena hit an attitude

09:39 adjustment on the Big Show, Punk taking Cena out to get a sneaky, unhonorable victory.

09:46 But a victory nonetheless.

09:48 Unfortunately for Punk, he was once again left off the main event, WWE choosing to focus

09:53 on Brock Lesnar vs Triple H instead.

09:56 Another true cementing of CM Punk's status as a bad guy who the fans should boo was aligning

10:03 himself with one of the most slimy characters in WWE history, Paul Heyman.

10:09 That's right, he was a Paul Heyman guy the whole time.

10:12 He continued to hit brick walls when it came to Cena, retaining his title against him at

10:17 Night of Champions because it went into the draw territory.

10:21 Cena sustained an arm injury and had to be replaced at the Hell in a Cell by Ryback,

10:27 a man who had notoriously become one of CM Punk's least favorite opponents ever.

10:32 Ryback was going through a surge in popularity, WWE going with him due to a Cena injury objectively

10:39 felt like the right thing to do, but around this time, CM Punk also got into verbal altercations

10:44 with legendary Mick Foley and Jim Ross while physically assaulting Vince McMahon.

10:50 Punk was getting into it with everyone, and if he wasn't the top guy on the card, he was

10:55 probably the most valuable guy on the card.

10:58 It would be a difficult match though, Punk defeated Ryback to end his 38 match undefeated

11:05 streak.

11:06 Feed me more and take a knee to the face.

11:08 The Ryback later said on his podcast that he had a bad feeling about suddenly being

11:13 bumped up to the main event so fast to fill in for Cena and said that his career fell

11:18 down after this.

11:19 The Ryback still remained in WWE's title picture after this loss, and when he faced Punk and

11:25 Cena at Survivor Series 2012, his all but guaranteed WWE title win was taken away by

11:33 the debut of The Shield.

11:35 Three generational players for WWE would make a big splash.

11:39 Coming out of NXT, it was Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Dean Ambrose.

11:44 I was there and it sucked the air out of the room.

11:48 With Punk in the main event of the PPV, this new trio of goons would help him retain the

11:55 title.

11:56 CM Punk now playing the desperate champion who would resort to any tactic or any help

12:01 whatsoever to retain the title was also dealing with the physical weight of being the WWE

12:07 champion as he was enduring a slightly torn meniscus in one of his knees that kept him

12:12 out of a title defense against Ryback at TLC.

12:15 But he managed to dispatch him thanks to The Shield.

12:19 CM Punk became one of the most hated men in WWE, kept defying everybody and finding different

12:25 ways to keep the title.

12:27 Even felt like a hypocrite and completely different from the person people were really

12:31 behind when this whole thing got going.

12:34 He got his big comeuppance against The Rock.

12:37 Everybody knew where this was going to go.

12:39 The end of a historic title run at the hands of a people's elbow.

12:44 Ultimately business was business for WWE and twice in a lifetime came again at WrestleMania

12:51 29 with The Rock defending the title against John Cena.

12:56 This became an even bigger source of frustration.

12:59 That chunk of salt on CM Punk's shoulder became a mountain of it.

13:03 Many felt he earned the right at this point to headline a Wrestlemania, but can you deny

13:08 The Rock and Cena?

13:09 He said that he pitched the idea of a triple threat elimination match and even volunteered

13:13 to be eliminated in 10 minutes so he could get that precious Mania main event.

13:19 But it didn't happen.

13:20 Punk would get to do something else at Wrestlemania that was headlined by Cena and The Rock.

13:24 He'd steal the show.

13:25 They may have sold the tickets, but he and The Undertaker had a phenomenal match.

13:31 Maybe one of the best matches that Undertaker's ever had in his momentous and legendary Wrestlemania

13:38 streak.

13:39 Punk may have even been in a position to end the streak.

13:43 The fact that he was once again pushed aside for bigger names like Cena and The Rock was

13:49 a tipping point.

13:50 That didn't stop him from having an incredible match, but it was an undercurrent that was

13:54 growing.

13:55 The context was there.

13:57 The legitimate frustration shared by a character on screen felt like something that was very

14:03 real.

14:04 So was CM Punk's 434 day reign as WWE Champion and main event run worth all the hype?

14:12 You're goddamn right it was.

14:14 It may have been the best stuff from a single performer for WWE in that decade.

14:19 He consistently delivered in big pay-per-view matches, on the microphone to make those matches

14:25 mean more, make his opponents mean more, while still having a championship mean more in the

14:31 process.

14:32 The entire time Punk bragged about being the champion for so long, it made it mean more

14:36 every single day he added to that record.

14:39 If you look at it from a character arc point of view, that answer is still yes.

14:44 How many championship reigns can you think of where a champion changes character while

14:48 still having the title?

14:50 Also Punk reinvigorated the love of wrestling in a certain audience that felt underserved

14:55 in Cena's WWE.

14:57 If WWE is a three ring circus, Cena has his ring and Punk has his.

15:02 It's hard to deny that he was second fiddle to Cena the entire time.

15:06 But that's not really the point.

15:07 We keep going back to it, but you can look back in wrestling history and see where maybe

15:11 the main event sells some tickets.

15:14 But there's another match that sends fans home happy talking about the next time they're

15:19 gonna see wrestling.

15:20 CM Punk is that type of player.

15:23 Still you can have your bittersweet perspective on it that maybe WWE was never 100% on the

15:28 CM Punk train, but think about it.

15:30 They gave him the longest WWE title reign of the modern era at that point.

15:35 All of the TV time to build up to those matches, all of the promotion, the publicity, all of

15:40 the products putting him on the cover of video games, all those different things that he

15:45 didn't feel he deserved in 2011, he got to experience, most of it, in 2012 and 2013,

15:52 and still had to endure all of the injuries to get there.

15:55 When one guy is the reason why so many people tune in, that's a pretty big deal.

16:00 An undeniable deal.

16:01 It may not have been the perfect run, but Punk wouldn't have been as big a star today

16:07 without that momentous 434 day reign as WWE Champion.

16:12 He may be considered one of the most important WWE Champions of all time.

16:17 What do you think?

16:18 Let us know in the comments below.

16:19 (dramatic music)

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