CM Punk

Phil Brooks (October 26, 1978) is an American Professional wrestler better known as CM Punk. He is currently working for WWE on the RAW brand as a result of the 2009 WWE Draft. Before he was hired by the WWE, he worked with such promotions as Ring of Honor, where he had multiple title runs, and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling where he was a member of The Gathering. He quit TNA in the March of 2004 when TNA stopped allowing their wrestlers to work ROH events. His final match with ROH took place on August 13, 2005, after which he joined the WWE. Punk would make one last appearance in ROH in February 2006. He was assigned to Ohio Valley Wrestling for a time, where he won the OVW Heavyweight Championship. After losing the title he was moved up to ECW, making his debut on June 24, 2006. He would later be drafted to the RAW brand on June 23, 2008.

Within the WWE he holds the distinction of winning the World Heavyweight, Intercontinental, and World Tag Team Championships in the shortest amount of time (203 days), thus making him the 19th Triple Crown Champion of the company. He is a former ECW Champion, and holds the record for winning the most Money in the Bank Ladder matches at two consecutive WrestleManias.

Early career
Punk's first venture into wrestling was a stint in a backyard wrestling federation called the Lunatic Wrestling Federation with his friends and brother Mike Brooks in the mid-late 1990s. He first started using the ring name CM Punk when he was put into a tag team named the Chick Magnets with CM Venom after another performer skipped out on the card. Unlike his friends, Punk genuinely wanted to be a wrestler and saw it as more than simple fun. When the promotion started taking off, doing spot shows out of a warehouse in Mokena, Illinois, Punk found out that his brother Mike had embezzled thousands of dollars from the small company, causing them to become estranged. Mike has not wrestled since.

He soon left the federation and enrolled as a student at the "Steel Dominion" wrestling school in Chicago, where he was trained by Ace Steel, Danny Dominion and Kevin Quinn to become a professional wrestler. As part of the training, he wrestled at Steel Domain Wrestling in St. Paul, Minnesota. It was in the Steel Domain that he met Scott Colton, who soon adopted the stage name Colt Cabana. Punk and Cabana became best friends and spent most of their early career together working in the same independent circuit promotions, as opponents or allies. In the independents, Punk, along with fellow Steel Domain graduates Colt Cabana, Chuckee Smooth, Adam Pearce and manager Dave Prazak, formed an alliance named the Gold Bond Mafia.

Punk's home promotion for his early career is usually considered to be Independent Wrestling Association: Mid-South (IWA:Mid-South). During Punk's time in IWA:Mid-South, he had high profile feuds with Colt Cabana and Chris Hero while also rising to the top of the roster winning the IWA Mid-South Light Heavyweight Championship twice and the IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Championship on five separate occasions, beating stars like A.J. Styles, Cabana and even Eddie Guerrero for that Championship. Punk's feud with Hero included a 55-minute TLC match,a 93-minute two out of three falls match, and several 60-minute time limit draws.

Punk's matches with Cabana led him to being hired by the Ring of Honor promotion. From February 2003 until May 2004, Punk refused to wrestle for IWA:Mid-South, because he claims that this was in protest to Ian Rotten's mistreatment of Chris Hero in the company. Hero, however, has stated he believes there were other reasons, and Rotten's treatment of him was just an excuse by Punk to stop working for the company. Eventually Punk returned to IWA:Mid-South and continued to perform as a wrestler and commentator for them until 2005 when he was signed to World Wrestling Entertainment. His last appearance in IWA:Mid-South was on July 2, 2005 in which he competed in a 60-minute time limit draw against Delirious.

Ring of Honor and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
Initially, Punk joined Ring of Honor (ROH) as a crowd favorite, but quickly became a villain in a feud with Raven that featured numerous variants of no disqualification matches. At the same time, Punk joined the wrestling promotion NWA Total Nonstop Action (TNA), in which he was paired with Julio Dinero as members of Raven's TNA alliance The Gathering.

Punk started climbing the ranks of ROH, including coming in second at the Second Anniversary Show during the tournament to crown the first ROH Pure Champion, losing to A.J. Styles in the finals and winning the ROH Tag Team Championship twice with Colt Cabana as the Second City Saints. Both times Punk and Cabana defeated the Briscoe Brothers to win the championship. Circa October 2003, Punk was hired as the first head trainer of the Ring of Honor wrestling school, having previously been a trainer for the Steel Domain and Primetime Wrestling.

Shortly before a TNA show on February 25, 2004, Punk had a physical scuffle with Teddy Hart outside of a restaurant that was broken up by Sabu. The scuffle reportedly stemmed from an ROH show in which Hart performed three unplanned spots putting several other wrestlers in danger of injury. Around the time of the scuffle, Punk and Dinero stopped appearing on TNA shows, leading to speculation he was fired for the incident. Punk, however, has stated that the scuffle had no bearing on his TNA career. He said the reason he and Dinero stopped appearing on TNA pay-per-views was that TNA officials believed that he and Dinero had not connected with the fans as villains, having recently turned against the popular Raven and instead formed a villainous tag team managed by James Mitchell. The officials decided that as the teams as villains was not working decided to put the storyline on hold indefinitely, and thus had no work for Punk or Dinero. Punk officially quit TNA in March 2004 during the Rob Feinstein controversy, after having a dispute with the TNA offices over his ability to compete in ROH following a TNA order that their contracted wrestlers were to no longer wrestle in ROH.

In ROH, Punk faced off against ROH World Champion Samoa Joe for the championship in a three match series. The first match, on June 12, 2004 at World Title Classic in Dayton, Ohio, resulted in a 60-minute time limit draw when neither Punk nor Joe could pin or cause the other to submit in the 60 minutes. The second match between Punk and Joe was planned for December 4, 2004; however, due to Steve Corino being pulled from a match with Joe by Pro Wrestling ZERO-ONE, the second match was hastily rescheduled on October 11, 2004 for October 16 in Punk's hometown of Chicago. At Joe vs. Punk II on October 16, they wrestled to a second 60-minute draw. In addition to Joe vs. Punk II becoming Ring of Honor's best-selling DVD at the time, the match received a five-star rating by Dave Meltzer's Wrestling Observer Newsletter. It was the first match in North America to receive a five-star rating in seven years—the last one being the Hell in a Cell match between Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker at Badd Blood: In Your House in 1997. Joe ended the series by defeating Punk in the third and final match on December 4, 2004 at All-Star Extravaganza 2 in which there was a no time limit stipulation.

In June 2005, Punk accepted a deal with World Wrestling Entertainment, after a try-out match against Val Venis on its Sunday Night Heat show. Even though he had accepted the deal, Punk went on to defeat Austin Aries with his Pepsi Plunge move, winning the ROH World Championship on June 18, 2005 at Death Before Dishonor III. Immediately after the match, Punk proceeded to become a villain and started a storyline where he threatened to bring the ROH World Championship to WWE with him. For weeks, Punk teased the ROH locker room and the ROH fans as well as mocking the championship he possessed, going so far as to sign his WWE contract on it. During the storyline, Mick Foley made several ROH appearances, attempting to convince Punk to do the right thing and defend the title on his way out. On August 12, 2005 in Dayton, Ohio, Punk lost the ROH World Championship to James Gibson in a four corner elimination match consisting of himself, Gibson, Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels, who re-debuted after a year-and-half absence. Punk's final scheduled match in Ring of Honor took place at Punk: The Final Chapter on August 13, 2005 against long-time friend Colt Cabana in a two out of three falls match, which he lost. In his last match, Punk was visibly crying and was showered with streamers when he posed in the middle of the ring.

Punk made a special appearance at the ROH show Unscripted II on February 11, 2006, when the original card had to be scrapped due to Low Ki leaving ROH the week prior. In addition, most of the ROH roster contracted to TNA were pulled from the show because of a snowstorm that TNA officials thought might prevent performers from reaching a pay-per-view scheduled the next day. In the main event, Punk teamed with Bryan Danielson to wrestle and ultimately defeat Jimmy Rave and Adam Pearce in a tag team match.

Ohio Valley Wrestling (2005–2006)
In September 2005, Punk was assigned to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), a WWE developmental territory. He made his debut on September 8, 2005, in a dark match, where he, Nigel McGuinness and Paul Burchill were defeated by Deuce Shade, Elijah Burke and Seth Skyfire. On September 26, 2005 in his OVW television debut, Punk suffered a ruptured eardrum and broken nose after Danny Inferno hit him with an overly stiff right hand. Despite the injury, Punk finished the match and quickly recovered.

On November 9, 2005, Punk became the OVW Television Champion after defeating Ken Doane, which immediately led to a feud between Punk and Brent Albright, who had previously been feuding with Doane for the Television Championship and had lost his chance to wrestle Doane after Punk hit him with a chair so he himself could wrestle Doane. They wrestled in series of matches, including one that ended in overtime with Albright having Punk submit to Albright's finisher, the Crowbar, but Punk was able to keep the championship, as he had not agreed to the extra time. On January 4, 2006, Punk lost the OVW Television Championship during a three way dance among himself, Albright and Doane. Doane was injured halfway through the match and was replaced by Aaron "The Idol" Stevens. Punk submitted to Albright's Crowbar and was eliminated, but he returned later in the match to distract Albright allowing Stevens to pin Albright and become the new OVW Television Champion. The feud continued after a short period in which Albright and Punk were a tag team, but they became opponents again after Albright wanted the respect of Punk, who would never give it to him, and instead proceeded to "punk out" (get the better of) Albright repeatedly. This feud continued for weeks with Punk always getting the better of Albright until a double turn occurred on February 1, 2006 when Albright became a villain during a tag match, allowing the Spirit Squad to beat Punk and, in doing so, making Punk a crowd favorite. During this time, Punk had a minor appearance at WrestleMania 22 on April 2, 2006 as one of the gangsters who rode a 1930s era car to the ring before John Cena's entrance.

After Matt Cappotelli vacated the OVW Heavyweight Championship because of a brain tumor in February 2006, a tournament was held to crown a new champion. The finals were Brent Albright vs CM Punk with Albright defeating Punk to become the new champion. Punk and Albright continued their feud, with Albright becoming more unstable and paranoid about maintaining his championship after several close call matches against Punk, resulting in acts such as threatening Maria. On May 3, 2006, Punk finally defeated Albright in a strap match to win the OVW Heavyweight Championship. As champion, Punk retained the title in matches against opponents such as Shad Gaspard, Ken Kennedy, Johnny Jeter and Mike "The Miz" Mizanin.

On July 28, 2006, Punk and Seth Skyfire defeated Shad Gaspard and the Neighborhoodie to win the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship at a house show. They lost the Tag Team Championship on August 2, 2006 to Deuce Shade and "Domino" Cliff Compton after an injured Skyfire tagged in an already injured Punk. This altercation led to a feud between Punk and Skyfire after a rematch for the Tag Team Championship on August 7, 2006 in which a healthy Punk purposefully tagged in an injured Skyfire to be beaten by Shade and Compton. On August 30, 2006, a match was scheduled to take place between Punk and Skyfire for the OVW Heavyweight Championship. Prior to the match, however, Skyfire was attacked by Charles "The Hammer" Evans, with whom Skyfire had also been feuding, and was replaced in the match by Chet Jablonski (Chet the Jet) who pinned Punk to win the OVW Heavyweight Championship. As Punk no longer possessed the championship, OVW no longer required him. He was removed from the roster and brought up to the WWE roster full-time. He continued to make sporadic appearances for the company, such as at the 400th episode of OVW on television, up until WWE announced it was ending its developmental territory agreement with OVW on February 7, 2008.

ECW (2006–2008)
On June 24, 2006, Punk made his ECW debut during a house show at the former ECW Arena, defeating Stevie Richards.[34] He made his TV debut on the July 4 episode of ECW on Sci Fi, cutting a brief pre-taped promo about his straight edge lifestyle emphasizing the disciplinary aspects of being drug and alcohol free.[35] Although he had retained the straight edge gimmick, he now had a Muay Thai training background. Punk made his TV wrestling debut on August 1, 2006 at the Hammerstein Ballroom, defeating Justin Credible.[36] CM Punk established himself in ECW by going undefeated, defeating opponents such as Christopher W. Anderson,[37] Stevie Richards[38] and Shannon Moore.[39]

Soon after, Punk began feuding with Mike Knox after Knox's girlfriend, Kelly Kelly, was seen to have feelings for Punk.[39] Punk defeated Knox in their first singles match (qualifying for the Elimination Chamber at December to Dismember in the process)[40] as well as the rematch, after which Kelly Kelly celebrated CM Punk's victory over her boyfriend.[41] Punk then teamed with D-Generation X and the Hardy Boyz in their Survivor Series match against Rated-RKO, Knox, Johnny Nitro and Gregory Helms, a match in which all the participants on DX's side survived elimination.[42] At December to Dismember, Punk participated in the Elimination Chamber for the ECW World Championship; however, he was the first person eliminated by Rob Van Dam.[43] CM Punk as ECW Champion on September 30, 2007 in Hammond, Indiana.Following the pay-per-view, Punk entered into a feud with Hardcore Holly, who ended Punk's six-month unbeaten streak in singles competition on January 9, 2007.[44] Punk went on to feud with Matt Striker, who gave him his second singles loss since being in ECW on January 30.[45] Punk then qualified for the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 23 by defeating Johnny Nitro.[46] In the final week leading up to WrestleMania 23, Punk made appearances on both Raw and Friday Night SmackDown!, defeating Kenny Dykstra[47] and former World Heavyweight Champion King Booker,[48] respectively. At WrestleMania 23, Punk competed in, but did not win, the Money in the Bank ladder match, being knocked off the ladder just seconds before the winner, Mr. Kennedy, claimed the briefcase.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-48">[49]

On the April 10, 2007 edition of ECW on Sci Fi, Punk briefly became a villain by officially joining the New Breed alliance,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-49">[50] after several weeks in which both the New Breed and the ECW Originals had attempted to recruit him.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-50">[51] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-51">[52] Two weeks later, however, Punk betrayed the New Breed during a four on four elimination match between the New Breed and ECW Originals by kicking New Breed leader Elijah Burke in the back of the head and costing them the match. After the match, Punk proceeded to deliver his finisher, the Go To Sleep, on Burke and sarcastically apologized before leaving the ring alone, becoming a fan favorite again. WWE.com later confirmed that Punk was no longer a member of the New Breed.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-52">[53] At Judgment Day, Punk wrestled and defeated Burke in his first singles match on a pay-per-view.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-53">[54] Punk then went on to One Night Stand and teamed up with Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman in a tables match to defeat the New Breed.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-54">[55]

Because of the drafting of ECW World Champion Bobby Lashley to Raw and stripped of the ECW World Championship, and a mini-tournament was announced to declare a new champion among Punk, Elijah Burke, Marcus Cor Von and the recently drafted Chris Benoit. Punk defeated Marcus Cor Von on the June 19, 2007 edition of ECW on Sci Fi. By doing so, CM Punk was meant to face Chris Benoit at Vengeance: Night of Champions for the vacant ECW World Championship.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-55">[56] Benoit, however, was hastily replaced by Johnny Nitro when Benoit no-showed the event due to what was described on-air as "personal reasons". Nitro subsequently defeated Punk at Vengeance for the vacant championship.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-56">[57] Punk won another shot at the title at The Great American Bash against Nitro, who had changed his moniker to John Morrison by this point; however, Punk was defeated again by Morrison.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-57">[58] The next week, Punk challenged Elijah Burke and Tommy Dreamer in a triple threat match to determine the next competitor in Morrison's 15 Minutes of Fame Challenge, in which Punk came out victorious.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-58">[59] A week later, Punk defeated Morrison with the Go To Sleep to earn an ECW Championship title match at SummerSlam. At SummerSlam, however, Punk lost the match when Morrison used the ropes for leverage.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-59">[60]

At the September 1, 2007 (aired September 4) ECW taping, in a "last chance" title match, Punk defeated Morrison for the ECW Championship.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-60">[61] Punk then went on to have successful title defenses against the likes of Elijah Burke (at Unforgiven),<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-61">[62] Big Daddy V via disqualification (at No Mercy)<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-62">[63] and The Miz (at Cyber Sunday).<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-63">[64] On the November 6, 2007 edition of ECW, Punk retained the ECW Championship in a match against Morrison following The Miz's interference.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-64">[65] At Survivor Series, Punk retained his title in a Triple Threat match, beating The Miz and John Morrison.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-65">[66] On the January 22, 2008 edition of ECW, Chavo Guerrero defeated CM Punk in a No Disqualification match to win the ECW Championship after Edge, (acting as a guest commentator at ringside) ran in and speared Punk.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-66">[67] CM Punk with his first Money in the Bank briefcaseAt WrestleMania XXIV, Punk won the Money in the Bank ladder match, after defeating Chris Jericho, Montel Vontavious Porter, Shelton Benjamin, John Morrison, Mr. Kennedy and Carlito.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-WM24_Res_67-0">[68]

SmackDown, Heel Turn and The Straight Edge Society (2009–2010)
Main article: Straight Edge SocietyOn April 13, 2009 during the 2009 WWE Draft, Punk was drafted from Raw to SmackDown.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-84">[85] In the period after the draft, Punk feuded with Umaga over Umaga's repeated surprise attacks while Punk was attempting to cash in his Money in the Bank Contract. This ultimately resulted in a Samoan strap match at Extreme Rules which was won by Punk.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-85">[86]

At the end of the pay-per-view, Punk cashed in his Money in the Bank contract to defeat Jeff Hardy for the World Heavyweight Championship.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-86">[87] Punk retained his title in a Triple Threat match against both Edge and Hardy eight days later on the June 15 episode of Raw.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-87">[88] At The Bash in Sacramento, California, Punk lost to Hardy by disqualification after kicking the referee after being afflicted with a storyline eye injury, claiming he could not see the referee, but because titles do not change hands on a disqualification, Punk retained the championship. Hardy called Punk into question about his eye injury, believing he had been feigning it, leading Punk to turn heel, claiming to be the moral superior of those who support Hardy due to his drug-free lifestyle.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-88">[89] At Night of Champions, Punk lost the championship to Hardy.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-89">[90] Their feud continued through SummerSlam, where Punk regained the title in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match; afterward, Punk was attacked by The Undertaker.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-90">[91] On the August 28 edition of Friday Night SmackDown, Punk concluded his program with Hardy and achieved his booked goal of excising him from the WWE, defeating Hardy in a steel cage match wherein the loser agreed to leave the company.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-91">[92] This act would earn Punk a second Slammy that December as he was named winner for 2009's "Shocker of the Year".<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Slammy2_92-0">[93]

At Breaking Point Punk defeated The Undertaker in a submission match to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. Undertaker originally won the match with his Hell's Gate submission hold. SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long re-started the match after stating that the ban that former General Manager Vickie Guerrero had placed on the move was still in effect. Punk would win the match with his Anaconda vise when referee Scott Armstrong called for the bell despite Undertaker never submitting (reminiscent to the Montreal Screwjob, which took place in the same venue in 1997).<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-93">[94] The feud between the two continued and at the Hell in a Cell PPV, Punk lost the World Heavyweight Championship to The Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell match.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-94">[95] He lost two subsequent rematches against The Undertaker on Smackdown and in a Fatal Four Way match at Bragging Rights also involving Batista and Rey Mysterio. EnlargeLuke Gallows (right) with fellow Straight Edge Society members Serena (left) and CM Punk (center)His character took on a more sinister dimension on the November 27 episode of SmackDown when he revealed that he had converted Luke Gallows, who had previously been portrayed as mentally incompetent, to the straight-edge lifestyle which had rid him of his mental troubles.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-95">[96] Continuing to espouse his straight-edge philosophy, Punk began to present himself as a cult-like savior to the crowd, growing his hair, beard and chest hair long in an allusion to Jesus.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-saviour_96-0">[97] Through January 2010 Punk began to convert planted members of the audience to a straight-edge lifestyle, making them take a pledge of allegiance to him and shaving their head as a sign of renewal and devotion.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-97">[98] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-98">[99] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-99">[100] The third convert, Serena, from thereafter accompanied Punk and ran interference in his matches, acting with Gallows as Punk's Straight Edge Society.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-100">[101] On the February 16 episode of ECW, it was announced that CM Punk would appear on WWE NXT, partnering with Darren Young. On the premiere of NXT on February 23, CM Punk said in an interview that he didn't know why he was on NXT mentoring the "South Beach Party Boy". Over the weeks, however, Young became fascinated with Punk's straight-edge lifestyle and Punk became impressed at Young's skills. Luke Gallows, however, showed signs of jealousy towards Young.

Punk began a feud with Rey Mysterio in February leading up to the WWE Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, during which Punk was eliminated by Mysterio. In the weeks to follow, tensions between the two increased, especially after Mysterio interfered in a Money in the Bank qualifier, causing Punk to lose. During the on-screen celebration of Rey Mysterio's daughter's ninth birthday the Straight Edge Society showed up, taunting Mysterio and challenging him to a match at WrestleMania XXVI and also a match then and there, a challenge Mysterio declined to answer as he escorted his family away from the arena to the sound of CM Punk declaring that Rey was a coward. Later in the night, during Luke Gallows' match against Kane, Mysterio returned to the ring and proceeded to attack Punk after the latter interfered in the match. This caused Punk to run from the arena.

The following week, Mysterio accepted the challenge at a match at WrestleMania, albeit in a street fight. Punk told Mysterio he would have to beat Luke Gallows for him to accept the challenge as a street fight. Mysterio lost the match, however, and Punk said that if Mysterio were to lose at WrestleMania, he would be forced to join the Straight Edge Society stating that his influence will help bring even more members to the Straight Edge Society. Punk's attempt to convert Mysterio would fail when Mysterio defeated Punk at WrestleMania. Five days later on SmackDown, Punk challenged Rey to one more match at WWE Extreme Rules, and if Rey won Punk would shave his head bald. On April 25, 2010, at Extreme Rules, Punk defeated Mysterio due to an interference by a masked hooded man. After Mysterio attacked Punk who was observing a match involving Luke Gallows and Montel Vontavious Porter, both of them agreed to one more match at Over the Limit reinstating previous stipulations (Punk's hair vs. Mysterio's allegiance to Straight Edge Society). At Over the Limit, Punk lost the match and his hair, with some post match interference from the Straight Edge Society and Kane. After being shaved, he started wearing a mask, similar to Rey Mysterio's, to cover his baldness. At Fatal 4 Way, Punk challenged for the World Heavyweight Championship against Mysterio, The Big Show and the champion Jack Swagger, but was unsuccessful when he was attacked by Kane who accused him of putting The Undertaker in a vegetative state and ran backstage.

On the June 25 edition of SmackDown, Punk fled the arena during a "No Disqualification" match with Kane ending the match in a no contest. On the following edition of SmackDown, after a match between Luke Gallows and Kane, a video aired showing Serena drinking in a bar on the day that The Undertaker had been put in a vegetative state and showed Punk stopping her from drinking, proving he wasn't responsible for The Undertaker's attack. Punk and Gallows left Serena in the ring as punishment. The following week, however, Punk forgave Serena for her actions. On the July 16 edition of SmackDown, Punk and Big Show began a feud between them where during the segment, Show took off Punk's mask showing his bald head to the world. Punk would then stop sporting his mask to cover his baldness and the Straight Edge Society plotted revenge on The Big Show when Luke Gallows was set to compete, but instead the masked member of the Straight Edge Society was selected to fight. Big Show removed his mask and it was revealed to be Joey Mercury. The three then challenged Big Show to a match at SummerSlam in what would be a losing effort after Punk abandoned his fellow teammates.

On August 20, 2010 one of the members, Serena, had been legitimately released by WWE, thus leaving only three in the group. On September 1, it also became widely known that Joey Mercury required surgery, thus putting the future of the group in doubt. On the September 3 episode of SmackDown, Punk delivered his signature move to Luke Gallows after losing a handicap match to the Big Show. On the September 24 episode of SmackDown, Punk defeated Gallows following Gallows leaving the Straight Edge Society, thus officially disbanding the group.

On the September 21 episode of NXT, Punk joined Josh Mathews for one night only on commentary after Michael Cole quit the previous week, though Cole would return during the broadcast.

Return to Raw, Possible Face Turn (2010–present)
On the October 11 episode of Raw, CM Punk was traded back to the Raw brand for Edge, who was traded to SmackDown the week before. That same night, he successfully defeated Evan Bourne to become the fifth member of Team Raw at Bragging Rights. At the pay-per-view, Team Raw lost to Team SmackDown. During this time, Punk dyed his hair blonde, which he debuted at a house show on October 16. On the October 25 episode of Raw, Punk joined Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler on commentary during the Daniel Bryan vs Dolph Ziggler match, in what he said was "scouting talent". It was reported that Punk was suffering a hip injury, which could sideline him for the rest of the year. On the November 18 edition of WWE Superstars, Punk joined Scott Standford on commentary for both Raw matches, showing signs of a face turn as he was behind wrestlers and divas Yoshi Tatsu, Melina and Gail Kim. The following Monday, he joined Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler on the Raw announce team.

Gimmick
Punk has adopted his real-life following of the straight edge movement as his professional wrestling gimmick, but the gimmick uses different elements of Punk's personality and the beliefs of the straight edge movement depending on his alignment. While portraying a crowd favorite, the gimmick tends to be that of Punk's normal personality, largely indifferent to others who drink alcohol, smoke tobacco, partake in recreational drug use or have promiscuous sexual behavior, but emphasizing the social discipline involved with abstinence. Conversely, his villainous personality tends to be that of one who is hardline or militant straight edge, exemplifying the elitist attitudes and superiority complexes—defined by Punk's common mantra during villainous-themed promos that, because he is straight edge, he is "better than you". Punk performs the straight edge symbol of crossing his arms in an X formation while having the letter X written on the back of his hands, usually drawn on his wrist tape.

A common question about Punk's gimmick, and one that comes up often with fans, is the meaning of the initialism CM. Originally the CM represented the phrase "Chick Magnet", the name of the tag team he was in as a backyard wrestler. Punk, however, later changed CM into an orphan acronym, declaring that it has no meaning, though when asked since he has taken to making up meanings that fit the initials, going so far as to make up long stories to explain the origins that do not match the actual origin story at all. Since beginning this practice, Punk has stated CM stands for "Cookie Monster", "Cookie Master", "Crooked Moonsault", "Chuck Mosley", "Charles Montgomery", "Charles Manson", "Crazy Mariachi", "Chicago Made" "Championship Material", among others.

An integral part of Punk's gimmick are the numerous tattoos that adorn his body, some of which have come to become symbols associated with Punk, as well as mantras and declarations that have been integrated into his gimmick. The tattoos as a whole, due to their large quantity and variety, have also become an attribute identifiable to Punk. The most important of the individual tattoos in Punk's character, whether through association, symbol, or mantra, are: Punk's character and gimmick have been parodied by the wrestling federation Chikara with the mascot character CP Munk, the straight edge chipmunk. The character includes references to Punk, such as X-marked wrist tape, a Pepsi logo on the costume's left shoulder, and a high-pitch version of Punk's best-known independent circuit theme song "Miseria Cantare – The Beginning", by the band AFI. On his website, Punk has said about the character CP Munk, and the people behind it:
 * A Pepsi Globe logo on his left shoulder that inspired the names of two of his signature moves. It also became a symbol of Punk himself, who wore the logo on his ring gear in the independent circuit, as well as a slightly modified Pepsi logo being used as part of his TitanTron entrance video. He got the tattoo as a joke, as many fraternity members in his school were getting beer logos tattooed on their bodies. Punk, a keen Pepsi drinker, chose to receive a Pepsi tattoo to emphasize his straight edge beliefs. The tattoo is also a reference to former Minor Threat guitarist Brian Baker, who had a Coca-Cola tattoo and explained this by saying "I like Coca-Cola". When people inquire about Punk's Pepsi tattoo, he often replies "I like Pepsi" in a similar fashion.
 * The words "Straight Edge" are spelled out on Punk's stomach. This is one of his oldest tattoos; he has referred to it as his identity.
 * A sleeve tattoo on his left arm that reads "luck is for losers" and features numerous good luck symbols, including a rabbit's foot, four-leaf clover and a horseshoe. The tattoo also features four ace playing cards as a tribute to trainer Ace Steel.
 * A tattoo on the back of his left hand reading "No gimmicks needed", a tribute to deceased wrestler Chris Candido.
 * A tattoo on his right shoulder of the Cobra Command logo, G.I. Joe's enemy
 * He also has a rose tattooed on his left wrist.
 * A tattoo on his knuckles are the words "DRUG FREE" ("DRUG" on his right knuckles and "FREE" on his left).
 * A tattoo behind his left ear of the number 31 with 3 stars surrounding it.
 * A tattoo on his chest, the design of which is unknown but includes a skull and a snake.
 * A tattoo on the back of his hand, the logo of the, now defunct, rock band, Rocket from the crypt.

Personal life
While working for Ring of Honor he was romantically linked to professional wrestlers Shannon Spruill and Tracy Brookshaw. After joining Ohio Valley Wrestling, Brooks began dating Maria Kanellis, who was working in OVW as an interviewer, however they broke up sometime after Brooks was moved to World Wrestling Entertainment and started working on the ECW brand. Brooks was dating Amy Dumas. However, as stated in Matt Hardy's interview in March 2010, Brooks and Dumas are no longer dating.

In wrestling

 * World Wrestling Entertainment
 * Finishing moves
 * Anaconda Vise
 * GTS – Go To Sleep (Fireman's carry dropped into a knee strike to the face) – 2007–present
 * Signature moves
 * Arm wrench followed by stepping a leg over the wrenched arm and performing a mule kick with the leg below the opponent's face
 * Diving crossbody
 * Double underhook backbreaker
 * Jumping hammerlock twisted into a short-range lariat
 * One-handed bulldog
 * Rope hung arm trap can opener
 * Shining wizard
 * Slingshot somersault senton
 * Snap scoop powerslam
 * Spinning wheel kick
 * Springboard clothesline
 * Step-up enzuigiri
 * Suicide dive
 * Tilt-a-whirl backbreaker
 * Nicknames
 * "The Straight Edge Superstar"
 * "Mr. Money in the Bank"
 * "The Second City Saint"
 * "The Straight-Edge Savior"
 * Managers
 * Luke Gallows
 * Serena
 * Joey Mercury
 * Wrestlers managed
 * Darren Young
 * Luke Gallows
 * Serena
 * Joey Mercury
 * Entrance themes
 * '''"This Fire Burns" by Killswitch Engage


 * Independent circuit


 * Finishing moves
 * Anaconda Vice or an arm triangle choke
 * Pepsi Plunge (Diving double underhook facebuster)
 * Shining wizard
 * Signature moves
 * Arm wrench followed by stepping a leg over the wrenched arm and performing a mule kick with the leg below the opponent's face
 * Corkscrew diving neckbreaker
 * Crooked Moonsault (Split-legged moonsault)
 * Delayed vertical suplex
 * Devil Lock DDT (Hammerlock legsweep DDT)
 * Facewash
 * Inverted facelock neckbreaker
 * Inverted frankensteiner
 * Jackie Chan (While sitting in a corner Punk grasps the top rope with one hand on each side of the turnbuckle and when the opponent attempts to pull Punk off the ropes by his legs, Punk performs a back tuck, landing on his feet)
 * Pepsi Twist (Jumping hammerlock twisted into a short-range lariat)
 * Punk–Handle Piledriver (Pumphandle reverse piledriver)
 * Rolling fireman's carry slam
 * Slingshot somersault senton
 * Springboard corkscrew crossbody
 * Suicide dive
 * Welcome to Chicago, Motherfucker (Double underhook backbreaker)
 * With Julio Dinero
 * Double superkick
 * Near Death Experience (Diving neckbreaker (Punk) / Powerbomb (Dinero) combination)
 * Managers
 * Milo Beasley
 * Tracy Brooks
 * Bobby Heenan
 * Alexis Laree / Vicki Adams
 * Lucy
 * Joshua Masters
 * James Mitchell
 * Dave Prazak
 * Entrance themes
 * South of Heaven" by Slayer
 * A Call for Blood" by Hatebreed
 * Miseria Cantare (The Beginning)" by AFI
 * Cult of Personality" by Living Colour
 * Night Train" by The Bouncing Souls
 * ¡Olé!" by The Bouncing Souls
 * This Fire Burns by Killswitch Engage
 * This Fire Burns (Remix) by Killswitch Engage