WWE Power Rankings: Rating the Top 5 Matches of CM Punk's Current Title Reign

Approaching an eight-month reign as WWE Champion, CM Punk has brought legitimacy back to a title that had been traded like candy amongst the top Superstars in World Wrestling Entertainment for the last three years.

During that reign, Punk has been apart of a number of tremendous title defenses, some of which will be considered for Match of the Year honors when 2012 wraps up, others that stole any given show they were a part of. Beginning with his title victory over Alberto Del Rio at Survivor Series in November of 2011, these are the five best matches of CM Punk's current WWE Championship run.

They include the likes of Daniel Bryan, Chris Jericho, Alberto Del Rio, The Miz and Dolph Ziggler and have made the WWE title match a must-see, something it should always be.

5. CM Punk vs. Dolph Ziggler (Raw, November 21, 2011)

The night following CM Punk's WWE Championship win over Alberto Del Rio at Survivor Series, the new title-holder wasted no time in angering Vice President of Talent Relations—and (at the time) Interim General Manager of Raw—John Laurinaitis. As a result, "Big Johnny" scheduled the champ in a match with the consistently great (and consistent victim of the proverbial glass ceiling) Dolph Ziggler.

The match was sandwiched right in the middle of the post-Survivor Series edition of Raw, and little did anyone expect the pay-per-view quality, show-stealing match fans across the globe would bear witness to on free television.

One night after a tremendous match with Del Rio, Punk helped to elevate Ziggler's performance to a new level. The former United States and Intercontinental Champion did not appear out of place in the high-profile match, gelling perfectly with the WWE's top title-holder. They had a match where nothing was evidently wrong, its only weakness being the fact that it occured on Raw rather than a pay-per-view event.

CM Punk would win the match while Ziggler's performance was more than enough to earn him a rematch a month and a half later at the Royal Rumble, a match Punk would once again leave victorious.

4. CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho (Wrestlemania 28)

There were great expectations leading into Wrestlemania 28 and the clash between CM Punk and Chris Jericho for the WWE Championship. Anytime two performers as talented as Punk and Jericho step foot into a squared circle, there are bound to be heightened levels of excitement. Add to it the grandest stage the sport of professional wrestling has to offer and you are guaranteed to have a high pressure situation.

Both Champion and challenger rose to occasion, but it was not always smooth.

A stipulation added to the match just moments before the bell sounded, indicating that Punk would lose the WWE title should he be disqualified, hampered the contest as could be clearly seen early. As it became clear that Punk would be able to keep his cool and the match progressed, it methodically built into a technical wrestling clinic.

Both Punk and Jericho utilized counters to each other's signature maneuvers and submission holds to keep one another from scoring the victory. On a card lined from top to bottom with glitz, grandeur and extracurricular activity, Punk and Jericho chose to emphasize the "wrestle" part of the Wrestlemania event.

After a series of submission reversals, Punk locked in the Anaconda Vise and forced his rival to tap out, securing one of (if not the) biggest wins of his career.

3. CM Punk vs. the Miz vs. Alberto Del Rio (TLC 2011)

The TLC pay-per-view was a unique one for World Wrestling Entertainment. For the first time in years, the company did not ask John Cena to carry the show as its so-called "face." Instead, Vince McMahon put his trust in CM Punk, plastering his face on all of the show's marketing materials and placing him in the main event, a triple threat match in which he would defend the WWE Championship against Alberto Del Rio and the Miz.

The shadow of John Cena would be nowhere in sight. Randy Orton would not be lurking near the main event. There was no match on the undercard hyped more than the match involving Punk, the WWE title, and tables, ladders, and chairs.

In his first shot at carrying the entire event, Punk succeeded. The main event TLC match, while no better than the originals (featuring the Hardys, Edge and Christian and the Dudleys) and no worse than other bout of the same type (Edge vs Cena, Punk vs Hardy), proved CM Punk could be "the guy" at the top of the card and deliver a match with two performers not as talented as him.

Punk was the sympathetic crowd favorite, and it worked to the advantage of the match. There was a very real sense of danger when Del Rio and Miz battled for the title while Punk was handcuffed to the turnbuckle. The suspense created and the fan support for the WWE Champion made the match that much better and trumpeted Punk's arrival as one of the unquestioned two most popular stars in the company.

CM Punk won the match, retained his title and entered 2012 with the company's top prize in his grasp.

2. CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho (Extreme Rules 2012)

If the match between CM Punk and Chris Jericho for the WWE Championship at Wrestlemania 28 was a clinic in hold and counter-hold, the rematch between the two at Extreme Rules one month later more resembled a classic "Stone Cold" Steve Austin Attitude Era brawl.

The personal animosity between the to elevated on a weekly basis, thanks to Jericho making digs at Punk's family and repeatedly dousing the champion in alcoholic beverages. As Extreme Rules approached, and the stipulation of a Chicago Street Fight was announced, fans wondered if the in-ring greats would finally have the match so many expected them to have.

For the second month in a row, the WWE Championship match between CM Punk and Chris Jericho started slow and built gradually. Whereas Wrestlemania's contest was "very good," the Extreme Rules match easily exceeded it in terms of quality.

Punk and Jericho used weapons around the ringside to beat and batter one another before the challenger interjected Punk's sister (the same sister he had insulted in the weeks prior to the match) into the match. It was a small spot in a nearly-30-minute match that helped add to the emotion and made it better as a result.

With the type of story being told, there really was no question that CM Punk had to leave with the WWE Championship intact. After all, Jericho had done just about every dastardly and devious thing he could to Punk and, eventually, the champion had to get his revenge. But the Street Fight was so well done, with a number of near-falls and near submissions that lack of suspense did not hurt it a single bit.

Upstaged by the brutality of the Brock Lesnar-John Cena match later in the evening, Punk-Jericho II is a match that deserves more attention than it received and, possibly, should receive a few looks for Match of the Year candidacy.

1. CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan (Over the Limit 2012)

Is this that much of a surprise?

One of the most anticipated matches of early 2012, the clash between CM Punk and Daniel Bryan over the WWE Championship at the May pay-per-view spectacular is a Match of the Year candidate and one of the best in either man's critically acclaimed career.

It was a wrestling purist's kind of match, a match with no outside interference, no stupid gimmicks weighing it down and no ending marred by over-booking. Punk and Bryan had a hard-fought, exciting, action-packed match that was more reminiscent of the golden era of Crockett Promotions and the NWA and the Ring of Honor promotion than the more entertainment-friendly world of today's WWE.

A stiff match came to its climax when Bryan locked in the YES lock in an attempt to force Punk into tapping out, only for the champion to roll over and pin the challenger's shoulders to the mat.

Two of the best professional wrestlers in any company, in any country, Punk and Bryan had a match that the Bret Harts, the Ric Flairs, the Randy Savages, Rick Steamboats and Shawn Michaels of the world could appreciate. It was a match befitting of the WWE Championship and the all-time greats that have held it.