CM Punk: Breaking Down WWE Star's Upside, Direction and Long-Term Potential

When CM Punk joined the WWE in 2006, there were high hopes for the former independent star. Punk did manage to win Money in the Bank twice and was World Heavyweight Champion on three occasions, but he didn't seem to resonate with the fans. That all changed last summer when he delivered one of the decade's best promos on an episode of RAW.

Punk's popularity skyrocketed from that point forward, resulting in a face turn and two runs with the WWE Championship. Punk has now held the company's top title for eight months and is the unquestioned No. 2 in line behind John Cena in terms of being the face of the company. What a difference a year makes.

Keep reading for the latest edition of my 25-superstar countdown in which I break down the upside, direction and long-term potential of the WWE's top stars. Today I will analyze No. 2 on the list, CM Punk, and what the future holds for the straight-edge savior.

Origins

CM Punk's foray into wrestling began on the backyard circuit in the mid-1990s, but things didn't truly take off until he joined Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South in 2000. Punk had excellent matches with many future stars, including his best friend Colt Cabana. Punk held numerous titles within the promotion and was impressive enough that he was offered a contract by Ring of Honor in 2002. ROH is where Punk made a name for himself and became a star on the indy scene.

Punk would win the ROH Tag team Championships with Cabana twice as well as the ROH Heavyweight Championship once. Punk is considered by many to be the best talent in the history of ROH, as he had some of the most memorable matches ever in the history of the company. Punk was finally contracted by the WWE in 2005, and he soon began appearing with Ohio Valley Wrestling.

His success continued in OVW as he won the South Tag Team Championships, Television Championship and Heavyweight Championship prior to debuting with the WWE on ECW in 2006. Punk won the ECW Championship. His rise to stardom continued when he won the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania XXIV. That led to his first run with the World Heavyweight Championship and laid the groundwork for what he has become today.

Current Storyline

Punk has been feuding with Daniel Bryan over the WWE Championship since the lead up to Over the Limit, but things have certainly heated up in recent weeks. While Punk's main objective is to retain the title and Bryan's is to capture it, AJ has become a pivotal part of the feud. After being dumped by Bryan, AJ clung to Punk when he began feuding with D-Bry. AJ has shown affection for both Punk and Bryan, though, as well as Kane when he became involved in the WWE Championship angle.

Kane has since moved on, but AJ has gotten even crazier. Although she seems to be closer to Punk, AJ has done some strange things recently. She pushed Punk onto Bryan and through a table last week, and then on SmackDown she made out with Bryan and Punk one after another. On RAW, AJ proposed to Punk, which resulted in Bryan coming to the ring and proposing to her.

Punk rejected the proposal, so AJ slapped him, and just when it looked like she was about to run off and get married to Bryan, she slapped him too. Lost in all of this is the fact that Punk and Bryan have engaged in a pretty entertaining feud, and have already had some excellent matches against each other. AJ is going to have the ultimate say in who wins at Money in the Bank, but Punk and Bryan should continue to impress in the ring.

Strengths

In the WWE there are a lot of guys who do one or two things really well, but very few excel across multiple disciplines. Punk is part of that rare breed, though. He is so well-rounded that it is difficult to pick out one or two things, but his mic work is what sets him apart in my view. Speaking has always been a strength of Punk, but it didn't become apparent to the casual viewing audience until he formed the Straight Edge Society a few years back. Punk essentially ran SmackDown during that time and received a ton of mic time.

Punk is now a cornerstone within the company, and his ability to talk is a big reason for that. As previously mentioned, Punk became the star that we see today when he delivered a worked shoot promo last summer. Punk was cleared to say what he pleased, so it seemed like he was legitimately shooting on the company, but that wasn't the case. Punk blurred the lines between fantasy and reality, and that is something that makes him special as a performer.

On top of that, Punk is arguably the best pure wrestler in the business. Like Bryan, Punk has a move-set that isn't totally intact compared to some of the stuff he was doing in ROH, but he brings a lot more to the table than most. Punk is capable of adapting to any wrestling style and he can carry pretty much anyone to a great match. When you add that to his penchant for cutting great promos, Punk is unquestionably the WWE's best all-around performer currently.

Weaknesses

I'm not sure that Punk has a weakness that sticks out like a sore thumb, but every wrestler has something that they can improve upon. For Punk, that is his character development. I understand that a lot of what a WWE superstar does is necessitated by the direction that the creative team points them in, but Punk has changed over the past year. Punk was undoubtedly at his height when he delivered his famous promo last summer and entered Money in the Bank as somewhat of a tweener.

Punk is a full-on babyface now, and I realize that much of that has to do with crowd reaction, but he isn't the cool rebel that he once was. Punk shows flashes of his past gimmick at times, but he panders to the crowd now more than he ever has. Some people have gone so far as to call him an extension of Cena, and while I don't consider that to be a fair assessment, you could say that the WWE machine has changed him.

Punk has done a very nice job as a face, and has become one of the company's top guys, but he can maintain that standing while reintegrating some edge back into his character. The one thing that I'm not a fan of is Punk being buddy-buddy with guys like Cena, Sheamus and Randy Orton. Sometimes he is forced into teaming with those guys, but I would prefer for him to have a don't-trust-anybody, Stone Cold-esque persona about him. Hopefully Punk can get back to the guy he was a year ago at some point.

Greatest Match

Punk has at least one great match every week, but the defining match of his career was clearly his win over Cena for the WWE Championship at Money in the Bank last year. Everything about that match and the circumstances surrounding it was absolutely perfect. Most fans believed that it would indeed be Punk's final match in the WWE as his contract was set to expire. Punk apparently secretly negotiated a contract, though, because he won the title and essentially ran out of the building with it.

The angle worked because there was a thought that he might do something rash like bring the title to ROH. That didn't happen as it was all part of a storyline, but it was the most compelling thing in the WWE over the past five years at least. The pure wrestling was great as well, and while Cena deserves a lot of credit for lasting close to an hour and going toe to toe with one of the best workers in the business, there is no doubt that Punk is the one who made the match go.

Unfortunately the WWE didn't fully capitalize on Punk's new-found popularity as I believe he was brought back too soon and the "leaving WWE" angle should have been played up more. In fact, may believe that the entire Punk angle was botched following Money in the Bank. None of that was Punk's fault, though, and regardless of what happened afterward, that Money in the Bank match was one of the best in recent memory.

Career Potential

Punk is now a five-time world champion in the WWE overall, and is the second-biggest face in the company behind Cena, so many believe that he has reached his pinnacle. Punk is the longest-reigning WWE Champion is several years and is as popular as he has ever been, but perhaps there is something more. Maybe Punk is quite happy in his current spot, but I get the feeling that he aspires for more and will continue to gun for Cena's perch atop the company.

Whether Punk can grab it or not is the true question. There is a prevailing thought that Cena will be the guy for as long as he is with the company, but I'm not so sure that is the case. A favorable comparison to Cena is Hulk Hogan. He essentially made wrestling what it is today, and was extremely popular in the late-1980s and early-1990s. WWE fans began to turn on Hogan in 1992, however. That change was most obvious in the Royal Rumble that year when there was a great deal of cheering after Sid Justice eliminated him.

Hogan eventually moved onto WCW, and although his gimmick was embraced for a little while, the same thing happened there. Hogan's career was saved by a heel turn, and something similar may eventually happen with Cena, but the point is that nobody can stay at the top forever. Punk has a lot of momentum regardless of whether or not his push was handled poorly last summer, and I believe he has what it takes to be the next face of the company.

How He Gets There

I know it's an easy comparison to make, but I can't help but wonder what Punk would be like if he took on a character similar to "Stone Cold" Steve Austin's over a significant period of time. Obviously it would be without the excessive beer drinking, but Punk has all the makings of a successful anti-hero like Austin was. We saw glimpses of it a year ago, but it didn't last long. Punk needs to be more of a tweener than a pure face and there is an easy solution for that.

The best way to make Punk more like Austin is to have him feud with Austin. There has been speculation for quite some time that Punk and Austin might wrestle at WrestleMania XXIX. There hasn't been any publicized progress on that front, but both men have shown interest in facing the other, so I can see it happening. If Austin returns to feud with Punk, then he is going to be the face by default. That will result in Punk having to resemble more of a tweener than a face in order to make the feud successful.

The WWE tried to allow both Cena and The Rock to be faces during their feud, and I believe it suffered a bit because of that. I'm not saying that every feud needs a defined face and a defined heel, but Punk couldn't be the smiley WWE face against Austin. To complete Punk's transformation, he should be given the win over Austin on the grandest stage of them all. Cena lost to The Rock, but it didn't really have any effect on him. A loss would hurt Punk though, so it is important for him to come out on top. If he does, while utilizing an edgier character, he has what it takes to knock Cena from his pedestal.

Check back daily for new entries in this WWE 25-superstar countdown. Here are the five most recent editions for your viewing pleasure:

7. Cody Rhodes

6. Dolph Ziggler

5. Daniel Bryan

4. Randy Orton

3. Sheamus

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