This Day in History: CM Punk Debuted and Showed Everyone Why He Would Change WWE

On this day six years ago, you had the information in front of you to believe that it was the debut of a Superstar who would forever be in the history books of WWE.

Okay, hindsight is 20/20, but looking back at the debut match of CM Punk in WWE's version of ECW, there are a lot of factors that point to success.

No routine quick squash here. CM Punk versus Justin Credible made the most out of a five-minute, bell-to-bell match. The near falls and back-and-forth nature had much more unpredictability than the majority of your debut matches that are heavily hyped.

We've seen it forever in the history of pro-wrestling, where guys don't live up to the hype. They will have a string of matches that do nothing but showcase their signature moves―only to ultimately not pan out anything near the significance level of their debut matches.

CM Punk's signature moves and talents were showcased―the right way. A story was told in a battle of offense and counters in a competition that made the five minutes breeze by. Oh, and the guy who lost the match looked strong because of it. There was no sacrificial lamb, no talk of anyone getting buried, just two guys both going over.

Of course, if you listened to the crowd, there was no doubt who they thought would and should win the match. Firmly chanting his name before he dished out his first bit of offense, the underground sensation of CM Punk was already over with the New York City crowd.

This match goes against so much of what WWE's model has been, which was so successful. It truly highlights the ignorance WWE can have with their mindset, always wanting to create something of their own.

You have a guy, one of the last, who comes into the company with ownership of his name. The same gimmick being used and allowing the fans to embrace his career prior to WWE.

This is not typical. Names get changed. Look and gimmicks get changed. When you arrive to WWE developmental, you know nothing. They don't care how many years in the independents you've worked, you're back to basics and learning their way.

CM Punk went through a year of Ohio Valley Wrestling developmental under WWE's direction, but managed to come out the other end the same guy.

From a business standpoint, it's understandable the identity changes WWE implements with guys coming from the independents. It's creating something new. Many times WWE uses the power of their machine to develop something that was done in a primitive way on the independents, via WWE resources with video production and more.

WWE couldn't ignore the positive baggage CM Punk was bringing in with him. A following and brand that WWE, with all of its resources, couldn't create through their own vision.

Everything surrounding CM Punk's WWE debut was a case of WWE swallowing their pride―the true tell sign to those watching that this guy wasn't going to allow his career in the top company to flounder in mediocrity.

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