WWE: What Will Be CM Punk's Lasting Legacy in the Company?

From the moment CM Punk first stood in a WWE ring on the ECW brand in 2006, something about him stood out. 

Whether it was his tattoos, his in-ring style, his Straight Edge lifestyle or some combination of the three, the fans flocked to Punk, and his fan base quickly grew to proportions well beyond what they should have been for someone so new to the mainstream. 

Punk’s t-shirts and “X” wrist tape were worn throughout arenas, he almost instantly became one of the most popular stars on ECW, and he became viewed as someone who was going to make a lot of noise in the pro wrestling business. 

He did just that in 2008 when he won the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 24 and then went on to cash in the briefcase on Edge to win the world heavyweight championship, his first world title in the WWE. 

Punk followed that up with a repeat performance in 2009, when he won the Money in the Bank match again (this time at WrestleMania 25), later cashed in on Jeff Hardy at Extreme Rules, turned heel, put on a phenomenal feud with Hardy and became a bona fide star in the business. 

CM Punk had officially arrived. 

But he didn’t stop there, as he continued to climb up the ranks of the WWE even after losing the world heavyweight title. 

He would step into the ring with The Undertaker, create and lead a fantastic stable known as the “Straight Edge Society,” put on a memorable feud with Rey Mysterio in 2010 and have a WrestleMania rivalry with Randy Orton in 2011. 

Along the way, Punk started receiving tons of praise for his amazing skills as a professional wrestler. 

His promos were consistently better than anyone else in the business, and his always great in-ring work stood out even more as he began working full-time with some of the top names around. 

But it wasn’t until 2011 that Punk truly went from WWE superstar to one of pro wrestling’s household names. 

On June 27, 2011, Punk picked up a microphone and a cut a worked shoot promo that will go down as one of the greatest and most unforgettable moments in WWE history. 

He openly criticized the WWE for what he felt were its wrongdoings throughout his career, he “broke the fourth wall,” and for the first time in years, he made the fans genuinely wonder if he had deviated from the script. 

But what Punk really did was launch himself into super-stardom. 

From that point forward, Punk would get the superstar treatment that had previously only been afforded to guys like John Cena and Randy Orton. 

He was booked in major angles and pay-per-view main events, and given a chance to shine both in the ring and on the microphone. 

And shine is exactly what Punk did. 

He put on epic PPV matches against Cena at Money in the Bank and SummerSlam, he won the WWE championship at Survivor Series 2011, he feuded with Chris Jericho at WrestleMania, he tore the house down with anyone he stepped in the ring with (from Mark Henry to Dolph Ziggler to Daniel Bryan), and he’s currently in the midst of one of the longest WWE title reigns in recent history. 

It’s resulted in quite the resume for Punk: One-time ECW, Intercontinental and World Tag Team champion, two-time Money in the Bank winner, two-time WWE champion and three-time world heavyweight champion. 

If Punk retired today, he’d be a surefire Hall of Famer, but even saying that doesn’t do the man much justice. 

Punk hasn’t just put together a Hall of Fame-caliber career. He’s well on his way to becoming one of the best ever. 

Yes, ever. 

At 33 years old, Punk has already done things that some of the biggest names in the history of pro wrestling can’t lay claim to: He’s the only two-time Money in the Bank winner ever, he’s one of only three men to win the ECW, WWE and World Heavyweight titles, and he has more world title wins than Shawn Michaels, Roddy Piper and Andre The Giant. 

But that list doesn’t even take into account Punk’s true greatness in the ring. 

That doesn’t acknowledge his five-star match with Cena at SummerSlam in 2012, his “Feud of the Year” with Hardy in 2009, his countless great promos or his endless line of excellent TV and PPV matches. 

All of that has happened before Punk even finished six full years in the WWE, and at just 33, one would have to assume that he has another five years at the very top of the WWE and perhaps another five beyond that left in the company. 

That’s a crazy thought, especially when you consider that Punk has already developed a resume that dwarfs those of guys who are in the Hall of Fame. 

Punk is quickly approaching the territory of some of the biggest names in the history of pro wrestling, and at this very moment, you would easily have to rank him among the top 30 or 40 superstars of all-time (which, quite frankly, might even be too low). 

At this rate, you would also have to think he’s not far away from passing a slew of wrestling legends in terms of his significance in wrestling history, many of which he’s already built a better on-paper resume than. 

I wouldn’t go so far as to say that Punk will be mentioned in the same breath as The Rock, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin or Hulk Hogan just yet because he’s only been at the very top of the WWE for a year now. 

But give Punk another few years, and the Mount Rushmore of professional wrestling might very well feature “The Voice of the Voiceless.”

Drake Oz is a WWE Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter and ask him any wrestling-related questions on Formspring.