CM Punk

/wiki/CM Punkcreator
Look in my eyes, What do you see?

I have no breaking point, and all you have to do is look in my eyes and realize I have laughed in the face of temptation time and time again. I have never tapped out to society's attempts at peer pressure. You try to stick a beer in my hand with the same commercials that have hypnotized all of you people, and that sell you all your narcotics and things you're addicted to. Well, I'm harder than any alcohol you can drink, I'm straighter than any line you can snort up your nose, and I certainly can hurt you a lot faster than any pill you put on your tongue.

CM Punk (real name Phil Brooks) is a professional wrestler, having worked with various promotions over the years - most notably, Ring of Honor and World Wrestling Entertainment. He made a name for himself in the indies for his "Straight Edge" gimmick: he flaunted his Straight Edge lifestyle (which, according to pretty much everyone who's ever known him, is completely legit) over other wrestlers, and told them that "I'm better than you!" because of it. He used to head a growing faction in WWE called the Straight Edge Society, which promised to "save" people from their self-destructive lifestyles by helping them embrace the principles and beliefs of a Straight Edge lifestyle. He left WWE on 7/17/11, having beat John Cena to win the WWE Championship, becoming the first man to leave the company with the title; he returned eight days later, staring down Cena to end RAW.

You can read all about his career in the indies and WWE over on That Other Wiki.

CM Punk provides examples of the following tropes:
  • Anti-Hero: Most definitely as a face. Usually a solid Type III but can slip upward to Type II or downward to Type IV depending on the situation/feud.
  • Anti-Heroic BSOD: Jericho bringing up Punk's alcoholic father as a sticking point for his Straightedge lifestyle and promising to make Punk "drink" his loss away after Wrestlemania sent Punk into this. All he did after Jericho's promo was pick up his championship and walk away, head tilted down, in a sullen mood.
  • Arch Enemy: Raven in the early Ring of Honor era. Jeff Hardy in 2009, and Rey Mysterio, Jr. in 2010. In 2011 we had John Cena, and probably Vince McMahon as well, Triple H, John Laurinaitis, Alberto Del Rio and Chris Jericho. Daniel Bryan has managed to enter the list.
  • Aside Glance: Gives these whenever someone (usually Triple H, John Laurinaitis, or Michael Cole) says something off-the-wall, nonsensical, or just plain stupid. It's also the basis for the recently created "CM Punk Is Not Impressed" meme.
  • Atomic S Bomb: After what Jericho brought up about Punk and his family's addiction issues, you could hardly blame Punk for what he said next:

CM Punk: Jericho, YOU'RE BULLSHIT!! You're bullshit and that's exactly what I'm gonna beat of you!

  • Badass: As much as he is a whiny, lying, preachy and obnoxious jackass, Punk is a very talented wrestler.
  • Bad Boss: After Randy Orton destroyed all of his minions in The Nexus, Punk openly admitted he didn't give a shit about any of them and didn't care that Orton essentially hospitalized them all. Even when they weren't getting kicked in the head, he didn't care about the well being of Nexus.
    • Never mind that, what about his initiation methods??
    • Although it's a little ironic since while he was actually punting them, Punk seemed almost desperate to stop him. Likely an attempt to make Punk actually look like the heel in this feud.
      • Granted, he preferred to have minions around to do his dirty work. Now that it's done and they're crippled, he doesn't really give a shit about them any more.
    • He's seemingly facing one now in John Laurinaitis, whose "efforts" to be spontaneous and unpredictable have been a thorn in Punk's side.
  • Bald of Evil: Punk has hair, but part of joining the Straight Edge Society involves the person's head being shaved. Punk explained the reasoning behind not shaving his own head by saying that his hair was a sign of purity - a sign that he had never let any drugs or illicit substances enter him.
    • At Over The Limit 2010, Punk was shaved bald after losing to Rey Mysterio (per a pre-match stipulation). For weeks, Punk refused to show his bald head and wore a specially-designed SES mask to hide it (he received a legitimate head injury during the match that required stitches, which may have also contributed to the decision to use the mask). On the July 16, 2010 episode of WWE Smackdown, The Big Show dragged him on top of a giant ladder, put him in a headlock, and removed the mask, letting the world see a bald CM Punk for the first time.
  • Beard of Evil: While not the traditional goatee, Punk has grown a "Jesus beard" to go with his evil cult-leader SES persona.
    • Now he's trimmed it back to a shorter, unkempt shag...in any case, he's tended toward less facial hair as a face, instead opting for the Perma-Stubble look.
  • Berserk Button: Real life example: according to Punk's old LiveJournal, he will be livid if a cop pulls him over and then calls for a drug-sniffing dog to go over the car. Allison Danger was with him at the time, and the instant she saw the dog she knew he was about to go apeshit, which is kind of funny.

Allison Danger (looking in the side mirror of [Punk's] car): Um, Punker, I want you to keep calm.
Punk: Huh? I am calm, I just think it's stupid that (Punk sees that the second squad is a K-9 unit) WHAT THE FUCK?!?!?!?

    • Bringing up his family's past drug and alcohol problems apparently doesn't go over too well with him either. Jericho did it, and Punk blew his top.
  • Big Word Shout: "YOU ARE A WHOOOOOOOOOORE!"
  • Blatant Lies: As a WWE heel, one of his major tactics for garnering heat. He claimed to defeat Rey Mysterio without interference, and turned NXT-1's eight-man beatdown on him and Cena into an attack on only him by thirty six armed opponents. Or that he didn't defeat The Big Show and Kane because he had a one hundred and twenty degree fever.
    • He's beaten Rey Mysterio, Jr. 600 times and has never lost to him.
    • The time he was a guest commentator on an episode of NXT season 3. At the end of the broadcast he said he'll return the following week. He never did.
      • This wasn't by choice, he was initially supposed to remain on NXT until the season ended but WWE removed him, apparently because his presence made the show entertaining.
        • YMMV Or, you know...distracted from the real point of the show. As in, the wrestlers and pros on it.
  • Blond Guys Are Evil: A really weird case, Punk's natural hair color seems to be a very dark blond, and when he was a Face his hair was long and dark looking, but after he got his hair cut, it's regrowing in it's blond state, coincidentally, he's gotten even more diabolical and vicious as a heel.
    • Except that he seems to have dyed it black again...
    • He sported long blonde hair back in his Ring of Honor and indie days.
  • Borrowed Catchphrase: Before and sometimes during a match, Punk will yell, "IT'S CLOBBERIN' TIME!"
  • Breaking the Fourth Wall: During his Author Filibuster rant on the 2011-06-27 Raw.

"Whoops, I'm breaking the fourth wall!" [Grins and waves at the camera]

  • Breakup Breakout: Colt Cabana and Ace Steel, his teammates in the Second City Saints, joined him in signing with WWE, but Punk was the only one to make it big. Ace Steel never made it out of developmental, while Colt Cabana's run on WWE programming lasted all of four months and he'd be the first to tell you that it didn't exactly work out.
  • Brick Joke: His first championship reign had these. He became champion after Batista gave Edge a Batista Bomb: Punk took advantage of the ambush and cashed in his Money In The Bank. He lost his championship after Kevin Nash gave him a Jackknife Powerbomb and Alberto Del Rio cashed in his Money In The Bank.
    • Internet rumor is that he goes to lengths to provide writers with these. Two examples, in particular, were when he reminded everyone during his Nexus feud with John Cena that Cena spilled his Diet Pepsi and when he reminded writers that he had already feuded with Randy Orton for Orton's Legacy costing him his first WWE championship reign.
  • Call Back
  • Card-Carrying Villain: Was extremely proud of his award for "Dick Move of the Year".
  • Carpet of Virility: One of the few wrestlers in the 'E with actual chest hair; of course, he went with a Beard of Evil too, so maybe he's just playing into Beauty Equals Goodness and trying to make himself appear uglier than he actually is.
    • Recently, he's gotten tattoos all across his upper chest. At this point, he looks like he has a nice pelt going whether he actually does or not.
  • The Casanova: Apparently he won't take drugs, but he can't get enough of women. His list of conquests reportedly includes Daffney, Traci Brooks, Mickie James, Maria, Kelly Kelly, Lita, and Beth Phoenix. As those examples show, this is mostly a real life trope for him, especially considering the list could be even larger than that, but there is some in-character merit to folks needing to hide their girlfriends around him. Just ask Mike Knox, whom Punk stole Kelly from with literally no effort on his part, and whoever might've been close to Serena Deeb around the time she jumped the rail to be saved and held on tight to CM Punk.
  • Catch Phrase: "Straight edge means I'm better than you!"
    • Since mid-2011, he's been using "Pipe bomb!" as his new Catch Phrase.
  • Cheshire Cat Grin: During the October 10th, 2011 episode of Raw, Triple H, with vastly limited resources due to the 51-person walkout, makes a match between John Cena and Sheamus, two of three Superstars remaining on the show, with himself as ref. Punk, rightfully, feels left out, until Trips points out there's an empty announce table with Punk's name on it. You can see Punk's face light up at 2:29.
  • "Chess Master" Punk: On the December 28, 2010 episode of Raw, John Cena called Punk out to the ring, but Punk refused to bite, saying that he would call out Cena later. Towards the end of the show, Cena refused to let Punk call him out and returns to the ring, calling Punk out again. Instead, The Nexus come out, with David Otunga remarking that Nexus "is under new management" before offering Cena a truce (which Cena refuses). The Nexus then attack Cena, leaving him laying in the ring once again...then CM Punk comes to the ring and reveals that he's the new leader of the group. Punk falls under both this and Magnificent Bastard when you realize that Punk had figured out everything Cena would do before Raw had even started.
  • "Chick Magnet" Punk: The first meaning of the CM, and part of his Face persona (which is based on real life), women just flock to him, Kelly Kelly, Serena...
    • ...and Maria, and Beth Phoenix, and...
  • Chivalrous Pervert: Punk doesn't take kindly to people hitting on his coworkers loudly and pathetically.
  • Comically Missing the Point: On the October 10th, 2011 edition of RAW, the majority of Punk's explanation for not walking out with the majority of the roster is this. While he and the 51 walk-outs both wanted change, Punk was upfront about his problems, confronting Vince McMahon and settling his issues with Cena and Triple H in the ring, not hiding behind lawyers and staging "hippie barbecues", in his own words, in the parking lot.
    • He also said this on Twitter even before that, including a couple of precision F strikes he would quickly rephrase within hours, such as "Walking out is a pussy move."
  • Continuity Nod:
    • On the 900th Episode of Raw, Punk showed some clips from Raw's past shows to show the show's lack of "Family Values". One clip he showed was from Episode #691 where John Cena threw Edge into the Long Island Sound. After watching the clip, Punk quoted "Ladies and Gentlemen, I, for one would never throw another competitor into any body of water". This Blatant Lie is in all likelihood a direct reference to Punk's "Gulf Of Mexico Match" that he had with Chavo Guerrero on ECW in February 2008.
    • When accepting his 2010 Slammy award, he greeted Kelly Kelly, a girl he dated as part of a feud in WWECW (and if the rumors are true, in real life as well), with a rather passionate hug.
    • His feud with Randy Orton was started because Orton KICKED HIM IN THE HEAD two years ago.
    • He plans on leaving the WWE with the WWE title just like he did ROH.

"In anybody else's hands, this is a microphone. In my hands, it's a pipe bomb."

    • He is one of the few Superstars who really does keep continuity as much as possible. In addition to the Kelly and Orton moments above, he also hung a lampshade about Vince's stip to have Cena fired if Cena did not beat Punk at Money in the Bank, stating that Cena's stipulated "retirement" in 2010 lasted all of a week. He also brought up the failed runs of Colt Cabana and Luke Gallows during his worked-shoot run during that feud.
    • He also brought up being part of Cena's gangster posse at Wrestlemania 22 during his feud with him, something that had not really been acknowledged on-air before.
    • During the first Summer of Punk in ROH, Punk switched his music to "Cult of Personality" by Living Colour. When he returned to WWE television in the second iteration, his music had changed to..."Cult of Personality."
  • Cult: The Straight Edge Society.
    • And during his tenure as leader it appeared as if the New Nexus was one as well.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Punk is awesome at this.

"That's a very appropriate color he's wearing. Green." On Jay Lethal.

  • Defeat Means Indifference: Punk was one of the first people against Triple H becoming C.O.O. and there was at least a month of build-up of their feud. Following his defeat at Night Of Champions, Punk just doesn't seem to care anymore, even though none of his issues were directly addressed. He was even conspicuously absent during the whole vote of confidence thing.
    • 1. Punk came out the night after NOC and admitted that Hunter wasn't part of the conspiracy like he originally suspected, so he's somewhat in the dark on the matter, that being he now suspects "Funkman".
      2. Triple H also came out and allayed Punk's complaints by giving him what he deserved, a WWE Title match without outside interference (albeit, Hell in the Cell, but Punk wasn't picky).
      3. Punk explained after the walkout, first on Twitter then the following week on Raw, why he didn't show up or follow: that the so-called "Agents of Change" were Comically Missing the Point on making change by not doing it personally and physically in the ring like he did.
  • Delinquent Hair: Especially as a teenager.
  • Determinator: Punk wrestled through a fractured skull, without pain medication.
  • Do Not Call Me Paul: Punk has mentioned on his website that he really hates being called Phil by fans.
    • On the 7/11/11 episode of Raw, Vince himself called Punk Phil right to his face, and the look on Punk's face was priceless.
      • Of course, when it serves his purposes, like on the 9/12/11 Raw, he's Phil again.
  • Dumb Muscle: Played with, in that former Straight Edge Society member Luke Gallows was, for some time, the retard-with-super-strength Festus; Punk claimed that it was pills that caused Luke to act "how other people wanted him to act", that those people were the ones who got him addicted to said pills, and that Punk had "saved" Gallows from those people by pulling him into the Straight Edge lifestyle.
  • Dye Hard: In the very beginning of his career he dyed his hair blond or red, a bit of a Funny Aneurysm Moment when you look at his feud with Jeff Hardy and his amazing technicolor dream-hair dye.
  • Enemy Mine: When most of the WWE walked out, CM Punk came to support Triple H and John Cena (Sheamus was there too, but Punk has nothing against him) in standing up for the WWE. He lampshades this trope pretty effectively in the process.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: Despite being a heel, even Punk was disgusted by Michael Cole cheering (and interfering) for The Miz over his own broadcast partner Jerry "the King" Lawler in the TLC match involving the two for the WWE Championship.
    • He was also the announcer who had the Oh Crap reaction when The Miz interrupted the angry little girl from the night he won the WWE title as she accepted the Slammy for "Most Memorable Fan Reaction" at the 2010 Slammy awards.
      • Kinda ironic when you consider that Punk won an award that night, that he got because he also "interrupted a little girl"
  • Expy: As a commentator, he channels a good deal of Bobby Heenan.
  • Face Heel Turn: Punk accomplished this in WWE by feuding with Jeff Hardy in the summer of 2009, eventually bringing the dickish "Straight Edge means I'm better than you" persona that made him a star in the indies into WWE.
    • During the end of his run in Ring of Honor, he won the ROH title as a face and immediately proclaimed his plans to take it WWE, going so far as to sign his development contract in the middle of the ring on top of the belt.
  • The Farmer and the Viper: Referenced directly in Punk's very first promo after winning the ROH World Title, where he declared his intention to take the belt with him to WWE and signed his WWE contract on said belt.
    • And he planned on doing the exact same thing at Money In The Bank. He did, but then returned.
  • Finishing Move: In his early days on WWE's ECW brand, he used the Anaconda Vice; nowadays, his chief finisher is the GTS, or "Go To Sleep".
    • In the indies, he also had a top-rope Pedigree which he called the "Pepsi Plunge".
  • Fleeting Demographic Rule: Punk feud's with John Cena in the Summer of 2011 appears to be a rehash of the 2005 "Summer of Punk" storyline where Punk threatened to leave Ring of Honor for WWE with the ROH Championship. Unlike the first time, he successfully pulled it off with the WWE Championship... only to make his triumphant return two weeks later with "Cult of Personality", his old theme during the "Summer of Punk". The similarities are so striking the storyline has already earned the Fan Nickname of the "Summer of Punk II".
    • The storyline also incorporates elements of the Montreal Screwjob after Punk rants about everything that is wrong with the WWE, and Mr. McMahon responded by suspending him, ending his career with the WWE, until Cena convinced McMahon to reinstate Punk. McMahon's response to the plea take more from the prelude which involved McMahon being worried that one of his wrestlers would jump ship with a belt which turned out to be for a reason; he attempted to pull the same thing off against Punk, and it didn't work out thanks to Cena punching out the one sent to tell the timekeeper.
    • Also, the entire character of Punk, the straight-talking Anti-Hero who resonates so well with the fans that will ultimately lead to a new era of Darker and Edgier programming, is very similar to the push of Stone Cold Steve Austin in the late 90s before the start of the Attitude Era. Hell, fans have been comparing Punk to Austin, and this being the foreshadowing to the Second Attitude Era. Punk is only a step away from flipping off John Laurinaitis and giving him the GTS.
      • Well, the second one has happened at least once, in any case.
  • Follow the Leader: Darts player and CM Punk Fan Boy Paul Nicholson has to this to a tee. Just compare this video of Nicholson's walk-on to Punk's entrance at Money in the Bank 2011 and it's practically a carbon copy. Past entrances also include wearing a Nexus-branded scarf, coming out to "We Are One" (Nexus' entrance theme), and having Xs drawn on his hand like Punk.
  • Fourth Wall Observer: Punk has subtly become this ever since his whole "Leaving with the title" story. After all, Punks whole idea of change in the WWE revolves around real life issues and the stuff he talks about can only barely make the cut to fit with the kayfabe world of wrestling. Example: Did anyone other then just me feel that at the contract signing for Punk and Cena's Summer Slam match, when Cena was talking about earning your opportunities, was anyone else waiting for Punk to flip the table and shout "Wrestling is scripted you idiot!! I cant earn my opportunities because its not up to me if I win my match!!!"
  • Full Name Ultimatum: During his feud with Randall Keith Orton.
    • and later

"...and right now this isn't CM Punk talking to Triple H. This is Phil Brooks talking to Paul Levesque!"

  • Fun with Acronyms: The "CM" in "CM Punk" used to stand for "Chick Magnet", the name of a tag team he was in during his backyard wrestler days. Later on, he declared that it had no real meaning, but has humorously made up different stories and meanings for it when asked about it.
    • Cookie Monster Punk takes no guff!
    • Fear the power of Chuck Mosley Punk!
    • Nothing is quite as excellent as the wrestling of Charles Montgomery Punk!
    • John Morrison once "theorized" that the letters stood for "Craves Men."
    • To Michael Cole:

"Don't worry buddy, you know the CM stands for Cole Miner."

    • To Scott Stanford:

"CM means Caring Man."

      • Which was followed up by

Scott Stanford: What does CM stand for again?
"Company man."
"Changing Mondays"
Chicago Made, Championship Material...

  • The Fundamentalist: When he's a heel, he's a straight edge fundamentalist.
  • Genre Savvy / Genre Blindness: Punk somehow showed off both these skills within the last 20 seconds off his match with Randy Orton at Wrestlemania 27. First, you have Punk approaching what looks like a vulnerable Randy Orton, cue the RKO outta nowhere!...except Punk is able to avoid it by ducking away right when Orton jumps, showing that Punk is familiar with Orton's technique of playing possum. But immediately after that, Punk decides to go for a springboard aerial move, showing that Punk is apparently not familiar with Orton's tendency to catch people in the air with an RKO (which inevitably happened, causing Punk to lose the match).
    • After winning the WWE Championship at the Money In The Bank PPV, Punk prevented Alberto Del Rio from pulling the classic Your Princess Is in Another Castle MITB cash-in by simply kicking him in the head and leaving with the title. (He didn't even bother pinning him, because what the hell does he care if Del Rio still has a guaranteed title shot?) Doubles as a Crowning Moment of Awesome.
    • Fridge Brilliance also, because Punk had won a championship doing just what Del Rio tried to do. On two separate occasions.
    • And Vince McMahon had just gone for a headset obviously calling for Del Rio.
    • A rather Genre Blindness moment has happened in his recent feud with John Cena. He decided to try to get to Cena by insulting his Broken Base. Seems he forgot that just last year Cena personally led the crowd in the traditional "Let's go Cena!/Cena sucks!" chant and actively embraces his Broken Base.
    • It less likely Genre Blindness and more like he forgot, or honestly thought it would get to Cena.
    • At Night of Champions 2011 he attacked Triple H after the water spit part of his entrance.
    • At Hell In A Cell 2011 when Cena went for the signature taunt before his Five-Knuckle Shuffle, Punk kicked him in the face.
    • At the 11/28/11 Raw, during Del Rio's rematch for the WWE Championship, a stipulation was added to the match; unlike most championship matches, if Punk was disqualified, then he would lose the championship. Del Rio then tried to use this to his advantage by distracting the ref by undoing a turnbuckle. While the ref has his back turned, trying to fix the exposed turnbuckle, Del Rio then struck a chair against the ground and tossed it to Punk. However, Punk caught the chair, tossed it back to Del Rio, and hit the ground like a ton of bricks while clutching his head.
    • A small in-ring example, albeit important, is when Punk's opponent shoots their arm and shoulder up to break a pin count. Emphatic? Yes, but it makes it much easier for Punk to cinch in the arm for the Anaconda Vice. It's how he beat Del Rio for the WWE Title at Survivor Series 2011.
  • Good Hair, Evil Hair: Punk's changes in hair has matched his heel and face status.
    • Ring of Honor and Face WWE Punk had long, unkempt hair and no beard, marking him as a tough guy that had a strong streak of individuality to him.
    • Straight Edge Evil Punk grew a beard and chest hair, marking him as crazed and dangerous which fit with his character of an evil holy man.
    • His shaved head went hand in hand with a Humiliation Conga that saw the end of his tenure on Smackdown.
    • When he moved to Raw, his hair was at a scruff that really didn't stand out at all, he was a tweener commentator with a penchant for snark.
    • As he grew evil and took over The Nexus, his hair grew longer and now he's slicking it back and he now looks almost demonic, combined with his status as an uber-Heel Manipulative Bastard, it fits perfectly.
    • As for in Chicago, where he was practically a full blown Anti Hero Face? Started off slicked back, got scruffier as the show went on until he looked like a battle weary Badass, enjoying the fight he had and the fact he got the title in his hometown. Oh, and he shaved the evil looking goatee.
  • Groin Attack: Extreme Rules 2012. Chris Jericho's balls, meet kendo stick. Yeowch.
  • Handwraps of Awesome
  • Heel Face Turn: Recently Punk has been going full blown anti hero, what with fighting with the faces in a 12 man tag match and staying on Raw during the walk out. Hell, after Triple H saved him from a post match beatdown from Miz and R-Truth, he even did the standard face "thanks bro" handshake.
  • He's Back: The 7/25/11 edition of RAW ends with John Cena winning the "championship" from Rey Mysterio, Jr.. Just before the show ends, "Cult of Personality"[1] blares over the arena, and CM Punk enters, holding the real WWE Championship belt.
    • Correctly and eerily predicted by Archie, the six-year-old son of Cousin Sal on Jimmy Kimmel Live, which was taped prior to that Raw's airing but aired an hour after Raw went off the air.
  • Hijacked by Ganon: Punk took over leader of Nexus from Wade Barrett.
  • Honor Before Reason: On the October 24th, 2011 episode of WWE Raw, Johnny Ace offers Punk the one-on-one WWE Title shot against Alberto Del Rio that he wants, but Punk knows there's a catch. The catch is that Punk has to tell the WWE Universe that he respects Johnny Ace. Punk first responds by saying he respects "Funk Man", while doing a pretty good impression of the guy's voice. Johnny Ace isn't amused, and gives Punk one more chance. Punk, for a moment, considers it, then goes on to remind us why he's the master of ""The Reason You Suck" Speech." (It's a bit paraphrased):

CM Punk: "Ok... I respect the fact that each week, you come out each week, live, with this completely lost deer in the headlights look on your face. I respect the fact that you don't know how to hold a mic. I respect the fact that you would wrestle with a mullet and was never any good yet somehow still got to the top, showing the world new found levels of ass kissing, but above all I respect the fact that someone with so little has done so much. I. Respect. You."

  • How Much More Can He Take?: His match with John Cena at Money in the Bank 2011.
  • Humans Are the Real Monsters: In early 2011, he climbed to the top of the TitanTron and threatened to jump off. The crowd chanted, "Jump! Jump!" Punk mocked them and stated he had no intention of jumping, he was testing them to see how they would react, and they failed miserably.
  • Hypocrite: Shows up during his feud with Cena and Orton, particularly when he tells Cena that "Good things happen to good people, and I am a good person." Look, Punk may have legitimate criticisms against Cena and Orton, but a good person he is not.
    • This is actually a large part of CM Punk's entire heel persona. Despite calling out his opponents for all the crap they pull, not only is he just as bad if not worse, but he's often guilty of the same exact things.
    • Cena eventually calls him out on this as part of a very well done Kirk Summation.
    • Punk himself has lampshaded this a lot recently by putting variations of the following quote in the same segments where he is calling others out on their garbage:

"Am I a bad guy? Absolutely! I don't wear a white hat!"

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

  • It's Personal: What started as a feud over who was the best in the world, turned in to this when Chris Jericho revealed to the world that Punk's father and sister was addicts, alcoholic and drugs respectively. Punk was not pleased.
  • Jack of All Trades: Good striker? He knows Muay Thai, so check. Submission maneuvers? Anaconda Vice and others, so check. Top-rope moves? Yep. A couple of power moves? Yes. He tends toward strikes and submissions, but mostly everything he does in the ring, he does well.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Punk's Live Journal (and, in more recent times, his Twitter) oftentimes comes off as the writings of a grumpy old man.
    • Also, his actual on-screen character. He openly admits that he might be a bad guy for some people, but he only wants the best for the wrestling business in general and will do anything to accomplish that.
  • Jerkass Has a Point: His speech on 7/11/11 brought up a few interesting points, most notably that his speeches have made wrestling interesting to non-wrestling fans for the first time in god knows how long.
  • Kick the Dog: Singing Happy Birthday to Rey Mysterio's daughter. No seriously...He even won an award for it.
  • Knight Templar
  • Knuckle Tattoos: DRUG FREE
  • Large Ham: He actually avoided veering into this territory when he did the Straight Edge gimmick on the indies, but the WWE version of it saw Punk turn up the hamminess pretty much after Luke Gallows showed up and Punk started adding religious overtones to his promos.
    • Matt Striker giving Serena the distinction of being "Punk's Mary Magdalene" aided the religious overtones, so it's not just Punk's doing.
  • Laser-Guided Karma: Punk won his first world title by doing this to Edge in 2008 via the Money in the Bank contract.
    • At Summerslam 2011 he himself lost his WWE Championship thanks to a Money in the Bank contract
  • Loser Leaves Town: Or, in this case, WWE - CM Punk's defeat of Jeff Hardy in a steel cage match on SmackDown in 2009 sent Hardy packing.
    • Subverted with hits 2011 Money In The Bank match with John Cena. Punk's leaving either way, but if Cena loses the match and Punk leaves WWE with the title, Cena is also fired. Punk won, but Cena was saved by Triple H relieving Vince McMahon of his duties due to a vote of no confidence.
  • Manly Tears: Punk was so overwhelmed by the loudly positive response to his ECW debut match that he cried afterward. In a taped segment the next week, he gave thanks.
  • Mask of Power: After being shaved bald until Big Show removed it.
  • Mean Character, Nice Actor: At least regarding his Straight Edge gimmick. Reportedly, in real life, he's closer to his face gimmick, for the most part indifferent to those who do drink, smoke, etc. It's only when he's playing a heel that the more militant "Better than you" persona comes into play.
    • Away from his straight edge gimmick, it's more of a mix. He does seem more polite than the character he plays (although it'd be hard not to), but he seems to have a low tolerance for stupidity and a short fuse. If you're deliberately being obnoxious, expect to get a verbal beatdown.
  • Memetic Mutation: 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.
  • Messianic Archetype: Since starting his Straight Edge Society, he claims to be able to "save" people from their addictions. He even grew the Jesus beard and, at Elimination Chamber 2010, urged people watching the show to put their hand on the screen and "feel CM Punk flow through you."
  • Metal Scream: At the beginning of his opening. YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!
  • No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: His match with Cena at MitB 2011. On both ends.
  • Not Me This Time: Said he didn't put The Undertaker in a coma, though he did say he wanted to. The July 2nd, 2010 episode of Smackdown confirmed he was telling the truth.
  • Not So Above It All: This is exemplified in his promo on the 11/7/2011 Raw, when Alberto Del Rio criticizes him for not asking him upfront about a WWE Title match and instead waited after Del Rio had been KO'd by Big Show to lock him in the Anaconda Vice and force him to grant Punk's title match. Punk turns it around on Del Rio, citing how he used shortcuts and blunt weaponry to garner his two title reigns. Punk lampshades the hypocrisy of that notion by admitting he's been just as "slimy and underhanded" in the past as Del Rio when it comes to some of his championship victories, but what surprised and disappointed him was that Del Rio wasn't expecting Punk to go that route.
  • Oh Crap: Part of Punk's excellent Wrestling Psychology is his expressive face; CM Punk is great at putting people over with the speed of his shift in attitude. Punk can go from smirking at his eminent victory to shitting his pants in terror at an unexpected turn of events in a matter of seconds.
  • One of Us: Big fan of Marvel Comics, especially Larry Hama's G.I. Joe.
    • Also, he's a fan of many aspects of pop culture, as he often quotes other media. A good example would be him comparing Lauranitis to Lumbergh from Office Space without any of the comedy and blasting Lauranitis for being so out of touch.
  • Only Sane Man: This is how Punk views himself, now whether he actually is or not...
  • Perky Female Minion: Serena, Serena, Serena...how can a bald women look so hot? She kicked ass in SHIMMER and it's a shame we never got to see her Dark Action Girl roots.
  • Pet the Dog: Repeatedly taking a beatdown from Kane, who was targeting him as being guilty for attacking The Undertaker. Why is this Pet the Dog? Punk had an alibi, but didn't want to reveal that Serena had been caught breaking her pledge to the Straight Edge Society (he forgave her the following week, though).
  • Pint-Sized Powerhouse: He's at the practically midget-like height of six one.
    • "Midget-like"? Then what does that make Chris Jericho, who's nearly two inches shorter?
      • He is considered to be a small to average sized wrestler.
    • Considering the power moves he uses, especially picking the Go To Sleep (a fireman's carry drop with a knee to the face) as his finisher, and that he can execute this move on huge men like Luke Gallows and Kane, this is pretty true.
  • Playing Drunk: Manages to Out-Gambitted Chris Jericho by doing this.
  • Popularity Power: The recent angle with John Cena landed him the complete opposite of X-Pac Heat. For the purposes of his feud with Cena, he was technically supposed to be a heel, but what Punk did with the angle was so awesome that by about a week before the PPV, most people in the crowd just couldn't boo him.
    • Referenced by John Cena, who commends Punk for being able to get this reaction. Interestingly enough, this has worked both ways and to some made Cena more likable as well, making their feud one of the most entertaining feuds in recent memory.
  • Power Stable: The Straight Edge Society was supposed to be one, but it fizzled out rather quickly. The Nexus, on the other hand... also fizzled out quickly once he was in charge.
  • Precision F-Strike: On the second day of 2012, no less. This is what Punk says will happen if Johnny Ace screws him out of the WWE title.

"I'm gonna beat you like a bitch."

    • And it's not the harshness of the language, either. Punk probably swears the most out of any other wrestler (minus Steve Austin and The Rock) as he went on a Cluster Bitch Bomb with liberality. It's the context in which he used it, basically saying that he'll beat Lauranitis like a dog if screwed.
    • On the 3/19/2012 edition of Raw, they had to censor some the words he said to Jericho.

"You're bullshit!!!"

  • The Quiet One: This is just about the last trope you find on the page of someone known for being outspoken in Punk, but he pulled it off. Punk comes out to face Jericho on the 2/6/2012 Raw, after Jericho bashed him for being a "Jericho wannabe", walks up to him, "pipe bomb" in hand and looks like he's about to go off on the former Y2J, but instead drops the mike, holds up his WWE title to incite the crowd, turns around and leaves a fuming Jericho in the ring, all without saying a word, a mocking, nonverbal Ironic Echo of Jericho's return and his subsequent "trolling" of the WWE fans.
  • Real Life Writes the Plot: CM Punk legitimately lives a Straight Edge lifestyle, and this eventually became the basis for his career-defining heel gimmick.
    • Also, CM Punk's winning Ring of Honor's world title in what was said to be his last scheduled match before leaving for WWE; instead of telling fans that he had more appearances scheduled before his actual departure, ROH let Punk lead the fans on that he was going to steal the title, take it to WWE with him, and break the title's line of succession. He even went so far as to sign his WWE contract on the belt in one of his most infamous promos.
      • Rumors of him not resigning with WWE led to a similar angle in which Punk has vowed to take the WWE title with him in exile upon defeating John Cena at Money in the Bank 2011. (Which he did.)
    • Potentially a Worked Shoot, but his feud with Jeff Hardy has many, many elements of this, Punk brought up some extremely reasonable points when pointing out the enabling nature of the fans and Jeff towards each other.
    • In WWE, there are a multitude of references towards Punk being extremely gifted in the women department, references that (by all accounts) are all true.
    • Punk's ECW championship win occurred when it did because John Morrison was about to go on a Wellness Vacation. It's believed that his initial Money In The Bank win happened under similar circumstances, as Jeff Hardy (whom WWE was pushing as their next big face at the time) did the same thing and missed WrestleMania because of it.
  • Real Men Wear Pink: But only as a tribute to the recently deceased Randy Savage.
    • Fridge Brilliance: Also Bret Hart was the referee in said match.
  • Really Gets Around: While it's never played as part of his character, Punk is said to have had relations with quite a few women in wrestling.
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech: At the end of the 6/27/11 edition of Raw, Punk went off. Calling out Cena and Rock for kissing Vince's ass, name dropping ROH and other wrestling promotions, applauding Paul Heyman, and even acknowledging a wall break. The show ends abruptly with his mic being cut off, though the audience was enjoying every second.
    • Also he was wearing a Stone Cold Steve Austin T-shirt
    • On the 7/11/11 edition of RAW, Punk manages back to back speeches on Vince McMahon and John Cena.
      • After talking about how Cena had always liked to consider himself the underdog just like the Boston Red Sox, Punk told him that it was no longer the case for either the man or the team.

Punk: I'm not gonna have you sit here and belittle me, say I've lost sight, I've lost sight of things, John? The reason I say I'm gonna take that and walk out is because I don't fit a certain mold, because I am the underdog, and that's exactly what you've lost sight of! Earlier in this ring, you mentioned great wrestlers like Eddie Guerrero and you said that they used to look at you and say "the kid couldn't hang," and now you stand here and look at me as the kid that can't hang...What you are is what you hate! You're the ten-time WWE Champion, you're the man! Ladies and gentlemen, the champ is here! You, like the Red Sox, like Boston, are no longer the underdog! You're a dynasty! You are what you hate! You have become the New York Yankees!"

    • The above with the result of a "The Reason You Suck" Speech from Cena, which likewise made some good points.
    • Gives one to Triple H, John Laurinaitis, and John Cena on the August 8, 2011 RAW, calling the former two out on the firings of several superstars and the latter out on being above it all.
    • He would then level a MASSIVE one two weeks before the 2012 Royal Rumble at Johnny Ace, seen here. It's especially notable in that it was the one thing that finally caused Johnny to lose his cool.

Punk: You don't like me, but it has nothing to do with who I am and if I could be your psychologist for a moment, it has everything to do with who you are not. See, the people have no idea who you are. That's because when you were a competitor in sports entertainment as you like to call it, you had the look, but oh boy oh boy did you ever suck. And that must have been really, really difficult Johnny, your brother being one half of the legendary Road Warriors, and you never amounting to much more than roadkill. See you were boring, you weren't charismatic, you were vanilla--that's right, boring! And it kills you that you never made it to this stage, the WWE, as a competitor, so you traded in your lame-ass tights for your equally lame-ass suit. You went from somebody who just sucked to somebody who just sucked up. And now that you're your corporate Yes-Man, you take your eyes and you look at a guy like me and you can't stand the fact that the last year of my career, I've achieved more than you have in your entire life!

  • Recognition Failure: On filming the last Smackdown of 2011, a security guard refused to let Punk into the building, claiming he had never heard of him and refused to believe he was a wrestler. A second security guard was able to confirm Punk's identity and let him in.
  • Refuge in Audacity: Any time he gets his hands on a microphone.
  • Revival by Commercialization: His revival of "Cult of Personality" by Living Colour as a theme in 2011 led to a resurgence of popularity in the iTunes charts, especially in the U.S. and the UK.
  • Romance on the Set: Dated Beth Phoenix until December last year.
  • Running Gag: At the Royal Rumble 2010 event, Punk would find himself the only man in the ring several times, and would preach his Straight Edge lifestyle during the downtime. At the following PPV Elimination Chamber, Punk and R-Truth would start the match. Punk made short work of Truth and started right back where he left off at the Rumble.
  • Sarcasm Mode: Seems to be Punk's default setting.
  • Screw This, I'm Outta Here: In the summer of 2011, Punk had growned tired of his place in the WWE and decided to leave, but not before giving one of hell speech about what just was wrong with WWE in general. He also decided to take the WWE title with him on his way out.
  • Shadow Archetype: He and John Cena are almost complete opposites that also have a lot in common. John is a clean shaven, heavily muscled, classically handsome, rap loving, football playing, suburban born, WWE raised, uber face. Punk is a slight, scruffy, tattooed, that has his own appeal, metal and punk loving, poor city kid that spent years in the indies and became a heel to raise himself to stardom. Yet both are determined, charismatic men that are adamant in their beliefs and define the casual fan vs. Smark Broken Base of WWE.
  • Shout-Out: In one promo, he's threw out a lot of references to Straight Edge bands.

"I'm not just a Minor Threat."

    • He once wore a Colt Cabana T-shirt while commentating on Raw. Colt Cabana was one of the Second City Saints alongside Punk and Ace Steel.
    • On the Raw following the death of Randy Savage, Punk wore the exact same ring gear as Savage during his classic Wrestlemania III match with Ricky Steamboat (except he had his own name on the trunks).
      • He's recently added the Savage Elbow Drop to his regular moveset.
    • "Hey, Colt Cabana, how you doin'?"
    • Posted on his Twitter the morning after he won the WWE title from John Cena at Money In The Bank 2011: "On my couch. About to put the title on the line against Piston Honda."
    • Simplest of all, he has a tattoo of the Cobra emblem on his arm.
    • Punk ended up on the receiving end of one of these on October 13, 2011, when during a hockey match between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals, the Penguins' Arron Asham got in a fight with Capitals' Jay Beagle. Asham cleanly punched Beagle out, after which he did Punk's trademark "Go To Sleep" motion.
  • Shut UP, Hannibal: A serious..ly funny one directed at Alberto Del Rio and his tiresome "Destiny" speeches:

Punk: If you say "Because it's my destiny!", I swear to Jeebus I'm going to start drinking.

  • Smug Smiler: ESPECIALLY in his heel role.
  • So Unfunny It's Funny: When Cena got injured, Punk showed up on the next Raw to rub it in the fans' faces. He told the crowd he had searched for Cena in the building all day and couldn't find him. He then came to the conclusion of "I couldn't SEE him!" while doing Cena's signature hand wave taunt. The delivery was so groan-worthy and Punk acted so smugly proud of himself for that joke that it was kind of hilarious.
  • Stalker with a Crush: Punk's latest disciple, Serena, very briefly started as this.
    • And now he has AJ
  • Straight Edge Evil
  • Stop Helping Me!: This is the problem he's been having with Raw GM John Laurinaitis. In the gauntlet match on Raw at the end of 2011 with Dolph Ziggler, Punk has Ziggler pinned, but the ref is talking with Laurinaitis, who came out and "fairly" removed Swagger and Vickie Guerrero from ringside for earlier interference, during the match. Punk goes to ward him off, only to get Zig-Zagged by Dolph for the 1-2-3, which earns him a WWE Title match the following week. In that match, Punk has Ziggler locked in the Anaconda Vice and tapping, only for the ref to miss it again because the Raw GM is "dutifully" instructing the man to replace a turnbuckle pad that came loose during the match.
    • This has resulted in Laurinaitis installing himself as the special referee for the Punk-Ziggler title rematch at Royal Rumble, and the Precision F-Strike of a warning delivered above.
  • Take That: Both a recipient and a giver. In CHIKARA, CP Munk (a straight edge chipmunk) is a sendoff of Punk in response to him noshowing an event. Punk's response?

"Some days I get real pissed about it, because it's disrespectful. [...] Most other days I just laugh it off because nobody from Chikara will ever be over enough anywhere for anybody else to parody them."

      • Though now that Claudio Castagnoli is signed, with other former CHIKARA workers in the wings, that might come back to bite Punk in the ass.
    • Also after his feud with Jeff Hardy that ended with Jeff leaving the company, Punk mentioned Jeff Hardy's arrest for drug trafficking on the air.
      • Jeff would throw one Punk's way in a drugged-out tirade in a video against Punk in a diner. It more just proved Kayfabe!Punk's point than anything.
      • 1/11/11 Raw, keep in mind that Jeff Hardy is a bit of a Spot Monkey.

"Only an idiot would jump off the Titantron."

    • He took a potshot at Shawn Michaels, saying that not only was William Regal better as a trainer of Bryan Danielson, but that Shawn "took $3,000 from him and that's it."
    • Various ones at The Miz.
      • And his "apprentice" Alex Riley - When Riley fired a Take That towards Punk's repeated remarks about his recent DUI by remarking that Punk's commentary was "Godawful". Punk's response?

"That's funny, because 'Godawful' is how Alex Riley wrestles.

"my twitter account was hacked", is the new: "I'm a sloppy drunk douche".

    • Not sure if this counts, but CM Punk showed up at the WWE Panel at San Diego Comic-Con, with the WWE title as he making comments about how they are trying to crown a new champion. See for yourself.
    • He tried doing this in regards to John Cena being a Base Breaker, but that didn't work out so well.
    • Pulled one on Triple H when he asked if Triple H made his own decisions or did what his wife (Stephanie McMahon) told him to do. Included a spot on impersonation of Triple H. Didn't work out so well in annoying the target when Trips pointed out that people have been making that accusation for 8 years.
    • A MASSIVE one leveled at John Laurinaitis at the 2011 Slammys, which included all the cheesiness of an 80s style montage complete with Stan Bush's "The Touch" (doubles as a Shout-Out to the Transformers.
    • Take a shot at Chris Brown. The latter responds by accusing him of steroids. Punk was not amused.
  • Tall, Dark and Snarky: An extremely charismatic, oddly attractive and highly talented wrestler. The only problem? He's a manipulative, jerkass of nearsociopath levels.
  • Trademark Favorite Food: Pepsi. The soda inspired the name of one of his famous finishing maneuvers (the Pepsi Plunge) as well as signature move the Pepsi Twist, and he has a tattoo of the old Pepsi logo on one of his shoulders. He originally got the tattoo as a joke, since members of his fraternity were getting beer logo tattoos.
    • His old nickname "The choice of a new generation" was originally a Pepsi slogan from the 80s.
    • Airbrushing Around Trademarks: The tattoos on his shoulders, a Pepsi logo and a tattoo of the COBRA logo, are usually airbrushed/photoshopped out of WWE promotional photos and video games featuring Punk to avoid lawsuits.
  • Troll: Part of his heel persona; he'll fake out the audience by pretending to jump from the Titantron, pretend to have The Undertaker or Stone Cold Steve Austin come out and kick his ass, steal other wrestlers lines and implement them into his promos, and he even taunted Randy Orton by doing The Pose right in front of him.
    • He's also been known to mimic certain wrestlers in-ring style. Most prominent was during his tag match against Rey Mysterio, Jr. and Alex Riley, which featured Bret Hart as the special referee; throughout the entire match, Punk could be seen performing many of Bret's classic moves, including the Five Moves of Doom. Most memorable moment was when he performed a backbreaker very slowly right in front of Bret, smiling and making eye contact the whole time. He got his comeuppance at the end.
  • Ungrateful Bastard: On July 11, 2011, he cites Cena as the reason he's leaving the WWE and generally treats him like dirt. This is despite the fact that he'd not even have his Title Match on Sunday if Cena hadn't put his own career on the line to get Punk's suspension revoked out of respect for the fact Punk earned said match.
    • Continues after his return, despite the fact Cena was willing to be fired to prevent Punk from being screwed out of the WWE Title by Vince McMahon.
  • Unperson: It lasted all of a week.
  • Unsportsmanlike Gloating: The day after leaving WWE as champion, Punk posted a picture on Twitter of the WWE Championship belt...now being kept in his refrigerator.
  • Weapon of Choice: A microphone, which he refers to as a pipebomb in his hands. While this usually refers to what he has to say, Jeff Hardy, Triple H, and even Zack Ryder found it has another meaning...
  • Wham! Line: Seems to deliver one per promo.
  • What Do You Mean It's Not Heinous?:
    • Whatever you do, don't spill his Diet Pepsi. He currently holds grudge against Cena for it.
      • Punk's been Cena's biggest critic since he started commentating on Raw. The spill probably didn't help though.
      • And subverted as Punk made it clear that his What the Hell, Hero? moments are what his real issue is. The soda was just more of a smaller thing in a bigger issue.
    • Singing to Rey Mysterio's daughter, it often lists him as being a Complete Monster for some reason. Yes, it was definitely creepy and a total dick move, but it's not clear how that puts him on par with total monsters.
    • "WHERE THE HELL ARE MY DAMN ICE-CREAM BARS?"
  • What the Hell, Hero?: Commentator!Punk is really fond of pointing out the Moral Dissonance of the Designated Hero John Cena. Punk has called him out for his brutal beatdown of Wade Barrett after Wade's defeat, his constant trespassing during the three weeks he was fired, and when he called Vickie Guerrero fat, repeatedly, Punk got pissed enough to go after Cena with a chair.
    • This continued on the following Raw when Punk called Cena out on all of the above, pointing out the Blatant Lies about Cena saying he was going to leave and then showing right back up to trespass repeatedly; when Cena went to defend himself for attacking Wade Barrett after their match at TLC 2010 by bringing up his multiple Nexus beatdowns and the fact that they (technically) ended his career, Punk proceeded to call him a hypocrite because he ended Batista's career by tossing him through a stage after having won an I Quit match just for the sake of doing it.
      • And he's gone on to base to as his reason for targeting Cena as he's gotten tired of this.
    • And his newest target of New Nexus has been Randy Orton. Why? Because of when Orton called him a fluke champion, jumped him from behind with Legacy, beat him down, and punted him in the head, causing him to forfeit his World Championship then pointing out Orton as being a selfish, cold individual. You know it's bad when no matter what King tries to say on commentary, Orton will always looks like he deserves every single thing he gets.
  • The Windy City: Punk's hometown. Majorly in ROH back when he ran the Second City Saints. It hasn't been very important to the character during his WWE run, but we do see glimpses of it; the motif of four six-pointed stars on his wrestling trunks mirrors the flag of the city of Chicago.
    • One of his trademark moves in the indies was called "Welcome to Chicago, Motherfucker".
    • After one of his matches in WWE, Punk actually brought out the Chicago flag; Matt Striker has also referred to him as "the Second City Saint", which is also a reference to his indy days (where he teamed with Colt Cabana and Ace Steel as the Second City Saints).
    • And at WrestleMania 22, John Cena paraded into Chicago's Allstate Arena accompanied by a vintage car and some actors portraying "Al Capone's gangsters" in 1920s garb. One of the actors was - guess.
      • This also led to a Crowning Moment of Funny backstage when Punk in his suit and tommy gun met up with Triple H (who was dressed as "Conan the Barbarian"); the two took one look at each other and dissolved into hysterical laughter.
  • Worked Shoot: This.
  • Worthy Opponent: John Cena. Despite his frequent criticisms, he doesn't hate Cena, he just hates the fact that Cena's being presented as the best wrestler in the company while he's toiling away in mid card hell after being the top guy of Ring of Honor and heralded as one of the best wrestlers in the world. This goes both ways, as Cena considers him a great wrestler and did everything in his power to give him a fair shot at the WWE title. This is arguably one of the reasons their match at Money In The Bank was so excellent.
  • Wrestler Existence Failure: Punk was scheduled to wrestle Chris Benoit for the vacant ECW Championship at Vengeance: Night of Champions in 2007. Benoit never made it to the show, and a day later, everyone found out why.
  • Yank the Dog's Chain: Punk loves to fake out the audience (as stated above) and then mock the audience for believing it.
    • One of his earliest ones in the WWE was after he managed to get Jeff Hardy out of the WWE. Afterwards, Jeff's music hits and the fans lose their minds as "Jeff" comes bobbing out to the ring in facepaint, arm stockings, and "Hardy Boyz" tattoo. After a little, it becomes fairly obviously it's not Jeff Hardy returning but Punk simply dressed as Jeff. The Jeff Hardy fans were not amused, bordering on Angry Miz Girl level discontent.
    • John Cena eventually calls him out on this as part of a Kirk Summation.
  • You Can Leave Your Hat On: Early in his career, at the tender age of 22, he performed a lap dance at an indy show for a raffle winner alongside Real Life best friend Colt Cabana. Watch it here.
  • Your Princess Is in Another Castle: Punk pulled this on Jeff Hardy in 2009; after Hardy had just beaten Edge in a Ladder Match for the World Heavyweight Championship, Punk cashed in his Money in the Bank contract and made Jeff's reign as champion a very, very short one.
    • Pulled yet another one of them on John Cena, who thought he had finally defeated The Nexus. See Hijacked by Ganon.
    • Alberto Del Rio attempted this on Punk by trying to cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase (at Vince McMahon's insistence) immediately after Punk won the WWE Title from John Cena. It failed when Punk gave him a boot to the head and high-tailed it through the crowd.
      • Unfortunately the second time he wasn't as successful.
      • Pulled yet another one on the 7/25/11 RAW. John Cena had just won the "WWE Title" from Rey Mysterio, Jr., who had won the fake title himself earlier that night (because of Punk leaving with the belt a couple of weeks before; he was never defeated, therefore RAW actually had no champion). Then a strange theme began playing, and several tense moments later, who else should appear but Punk himself, carrying the real title belt.
      • Ended up on the wrong end of this on the 1/23/12 RAW. After one too many confrontations with John Laurinaitis, the latter of which ended with Laurinaitis setting his Amoral Attorney (David Otunga) on Punk in a sneak attack, Punk finally snapped, choked out Otunga with the Anaconda Vice, then give a red-letter GTS to Laurinaitis...only to have Dolph Ziggler appear from out of nowhere and drop Punk on the back of his head with a Zig Zag.
  1. ↑ his entrance theme when working in Ring of Honor and other indy shows
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