10 Should-See CM Punk Matches Earlier than WWE Survivor Collection: WarGames
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CM Punk returns to the squared circle Saturday night time on the Rogers Enviornment in Vancouver at Survivor Collection: WarGames within the premium stay occasion’s same-titled males’s match, his newest alternative so as to add one other traditional contest to a resume brimming with them.
Prematurely of his newest in-ring look, and his first since conquering Drew McIntyre inside Hell in a Cell at Dangerous Blood on Oct. 5, relive these 10 must-see Punk matches and discover out why they stand out from the remaining.
10. Bash in Berlin 2024 vs. Drew McIntyre
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After his feelings received the higher of him and price him victory in opposition to Drew McIntyre at SummerSlam, Punk and The Scottish Warrior ran it again at Bash in Berlin in a strap match.
The brutal affair noticed each males’s our bodies painted with welts, bruises and cuts, and it saved followers in Germany invested all through. With the added drama of the winner having to the touch all 4 corners in succession, and two professional storytellers bringing their very own twists to an previous idea, the bout exceeded all expectations and shortly grew to become the most effective of the 12 months.
Punk received and earned a measure of revenge in opposition to his tormentor, however it could not be the final time they squared off of their epic rivalry in 2024, neither is it their final look on this countdown.
9. WrestleMania 27 vs. Randy Orton
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Credit score: WWE.com
Take two of the most effective wrestlers on the planet, give them quarter-hour on The Grandest Stage of Them All, exclude all the bells and whistles, and allow them to work their magic.
WWE did simply that at WrestleMania 27 in April 2011 when Punk battled Randy Orton within the newest chapter of a rivalry that started at Elimination Chamber.
The Second Metropolis Saint labored Orton’s knee, seeking to take his taller opponent’s dimension benefit away whereas doing all he might to keep away from an RKO.
He succeeded for some time earlier than deciding to take to the air for an ill-fated springboard clothesline that ended with him struggling the three most threatening letters in skilled wrestling.
The Viper received the match, nevertheless it was the newest show-stealing effort from Punk, who made 2011 one among his most interesting years on document.
8. SummerSlam 2009 vs. Jeff Hardy
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Credit score: WWE.com
An intense rivalry between Punk and Jeff Hardy, which featured the Superstars buying and selling the World Heavyweight Championship forwards and backwards in the summertime of 2009, culminated at that 12 months’s SummerSlam in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match.
Hardy’s death-defying spots, together with a Swanton Bomb from the highest of a ladder and thru the announce desk, combined with unbridled physicality and Punk’s knack for in-ring storytelling, resulted in a match that was not as dangerous as others of the identical kind however equally nearly as good.
A heel Punk received the match and the title, finishing a breakout summer season that proved he could possibly be a top-tier performer for WWE, even when it took one other two years for these in energy to acknowledge it.
7. WWE Payback 2013 vs. Chris Jericho
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Credit score: WWE.com
Punk and Chris Jericho had a number of matches in opposition to one another, however their finest got here in the course of The Second Metropolis Saint’s finest profession 12 months, 2013, in his hometown of Chicago at WWE Payback.
Punk overcame every part Jericho threw at him over the 21-minute contest, together with a springboard clothesline try that his rival answered with a picture-perfect Codebreaker for a near-fall.
Like his opponent, Punk knew what to search for when and leveled Jericho with two consecutive Go To Sleeps to safe the victory.
It is not the traditionally important match that others on this listing are, nevertheless it’s proof of the otherworldly stage Punk was on that 12 months and a reminder that two greats do not should have an excessively difficult story to captivate followers.
6. Over the Restrict 2012 vs. Daniel Bryan
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Credit score: WWE.com
Two of probably the most revered and celebrated in-ring performers of their era, champion and challenger arrived in Raleigh, North Carolina with the burden of expectation on their shoulders.
All they did was ship a Match of the 12 months candidate, a technical wrestling match highlighting Daniel Bryan’s in-ring arsenal, placing Punk on the defensive.
Every part the WWE champion threw on the heel, Bryan answered with a counter or reversal. On multiple event, it regarded like Punk’s run with the title would finish at Over the Restrict…till Bryan utilized the Sure Lock.
Displaying nice situational consciousness, Punk countered the maintain right into a pinfall and scored the victory, not a lot successful as surviving.
5. WrestleMania 29 vs. The Undertaker
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Credit score: WWE.com
On the heels of a two-year run that noticed him silence his doubters by establishing himself as a professional foremost occasion man in WWE, Punk took to the WrestleMania stage to problem The Undertaker’s unbeaten streak in 2013.
Getting into to a stay efficiency of Dwelling Color’s “Cult of Persona” and performing in entrance of over 80,000 followers at MetLife Stadium, Punk seized the second and turned in the most effective particular person performances of his profession.
He hung with The Deadman and satisfied followers in East Rutherford, New Jersey that for a second, he would possibly simply do the unthinkable and finish the fabled streak.
Nonetheless, Punk fell prey to the identical Tombstone piledriver that felled numerous others over 23 years, however he did etch his title in WrestleMania lore with a Match of the 12 months candidate and one among The Phenom’s finest on the grandest stage.
4. Dangerous Blood 2024 vs. Drew McIntyre
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The fruits of a year-long rivalry that noticed every man take a look at the opposite’s psyche with private assaults and thwarted championship alternatives, Punk and McIntyre clashed inside Hell in a Cell and returned that gimmick to the violent conflict of attrition it as soon as was.
Each rivals bled buckets, and their will to proceed was stronger than their our bodies’ willingness to at occasions. A scary bump off a missed Claymore by McIntyre on the ring steps led to Punk filling his mouth with the beads from a bracelet that had been on the heart of the feud and delivering one final Go To Sleep to safe the victory.
A Match of the 12 months contender in 2024, it not solely put an exclamation level on the most effective feud of the 12 months however was additionally the newest instance of Punk proving age is however a quantity and that grasp storytellers will all the time produce greatness.
3. WWE Uncooked vs. John Cena (February 25, 2013)
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Credit score: WWE.com
Punk and John Cena had numerous matches with one another getting into the February 25, 2013 episode of WWE Uncooked. On that night time, they battled for the precise to problem The Rock for the WWE Championship in the primary occasion of WrestleMania 29.
What they did do was produce the most effective pure match of their rivalry, a dramatic back-and-forth that conveyed how properly they knew one another between the ropes and compelled them to provide new and ingenious methods to beat one another.
Punk dipped into his huge data of wrestling historical past to provide the identical piledriver made well-known by Jerry “The King” Lawler, nevertheless it was Cena breaking out a hurricanrana and including the Angle Adjustment that secured the win in the most effective TV match in trendy wrestling historical past.
2. SummerSlam 2013 vs. Brock Lesnar
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Credit score: WWE.com
David vs. Goliath is a method that can proceed to endure when executed correctly, and Punk and Brock Lesnar delivered the most effective incarnations of that at SummerSlam 2013.
Lesnar rag-dolled Punk, overwhelming him together with his dimension, energy and fury. Counting on the resiliency that had outlined his profession, The Second Metropolis Saint fought from beneath and seemed to be on his option to an upset win till the craze he had for former buddy Paul Heyman diverted his consideration.
Lesnar took benefit, delivered an F-5 on a metal chair and secured the win. Nonetheless, in a 12 months through which he turned in his finest work, Punk delivered one other show-stealing efficiency.
1. Cash within the Financial institution 2011 vs. John Cena
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Credit score: WWE.com
Following his well-known pipebomb promo that injected life right into a stagnant professional wrestling business and elevated him to the forefront of WWE, Punk rolled into his hometown of Chicago for a WWE Championship match with Cena at Cash within the Financial institution in July 2011.
With the burden of the wrestling world on his shoulders to repay the momentum he all of a sudden had on his aspect, The Finest within the World delivered one of many biggest matches of all time with a person with whom he would ceaselessly be intertwined.
A gripping traditional with dramatic near-falls, Punk’s promise to go away the corporate with the WWE title and a crowd as sizzling as any ever, it was as near an ideal wrestling match as potential and the one which silenced doubters questioning his capacity to excel as a foremost occasion competitor in wrestling’s most distinguished promotion.
A screwy end involving John Laurinaitis and Vince McMahon docked it ever so barely, however not sufficient to erase the pictures of Punk beating Cena and absconding with the WWE Championship via the gang and out the door because the present got here to a detailed.
It was the seminal Punk match and second.