A few months later, CM Punk was making his WrestleMania debut. Then they teased a turn with the New Breed leading to his first ever one-on-one PPV match for the WWE. Later that year, he'd capture the ECW Championship in a memorable encounter with John Morrison and hold it into 2008, and shortly after he looked then World Heavyweight Champion dead in his eyes and told him he's better than him. A couple months later and he'd win the MITB case in a shocker. An exciting World Heavyweight Championship win followed, and although the reign was mediocre, we got to see flashes of the CM Punk I know and love -- a non-televised interview where he built his match against Batista by talking about how not everyone needs to look like him to become a champion, a forgotten segment where he rides Randy Orton for only getting a job because of who his daddy was. By this point, Punk had proven multiple times that he was a God in Chicago and Cena had proven to be less than that. In my eyes, Punk vs. Cena was a dream match and Chicago was a dream setting. But it was not to be as Punk was dropped from the top of the card shortly after his segment with Orton. He won the tag belt and IC belt in the coming months, the later in a memorable Chi-town encounter with William Regal.
And just when all seem lost and the interwebs were calling Punk a fluke and a failure, he won the MITB case again, validating my support for him one more time. Perhaps Cena vs. Punk could take place in Chicago at Judgement Day?! Alas, it was not to be. During the summer, he cashed in on Jeff Hardy and turned heel, eventually beating him in TLC and cage matches and casting Hardy out of the WWE. The Summer of Punk #3 was a rousing succes. And then the bell tolled for Punk, and Undertaker entered a feud with the talented Chicagoan. Yet even in those dark days, Punk still managed to exceed my expectations by getting booked for a Montreal Screwjob type victory over Taker. Shortly after, Punk lost the title to the ancient Deadman and was relegated to R-Truth and Matt Hardy duty. My dreams of Punk as a main event mainstay were dashed again. And while I got a great Punk vs. Cena dream match as a throwaway bout on Raw at Thanksgiving, Punk didn't exactly end 2009 on a high note.
Enter 2010. It's no wonder Punk chose not to resign with the WWE. Although he had a few memorable moments, like his segment with Mysterio's daughter, the night his hair was cut, the reveal of his mask, and the night he lost it, Punk was lost in the shuffle for most of the year. Yet, as always, Punk performed admirably as well as we all knew he could. The New Nexus was supposed to be what brought Punk into main event stardom once and for all, but come on... It was the New Nexus. He's only human.
And so the days dragged on. His feud with Randy Orton, while serviceable, was an afterthought, and Punk was marginalized in the months to come while quietly having a few more good matches with Rey Mysterio. And then we got the last month.
The point of all this? Despite Punk not getting everything we think he deserved, he got more than we ever could have predicted back when he originally signed with the WWE and has had a memorable tenure in the company. I'll take some satisfaction in that when our hero returns home tonight to tap clean for John Cena in a dream match. Do I want the Summer of Punk #4? Sure do. But I'm also willing to accept our man's likely fate.
RIP CMP
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