WWE: Power Ranking Every Summer of CM Punk

Prior to jumping ship to WWE in late 2005, CM Punk was bidding his final farewells to his fans in Ring of Honor that summer before shockingly winning the ROH World Championship on his way out. On the same night he captured the title, he turned his back on those who have supported him throughout the years and vowed to hold the company's title hostage until he left for WWE.

For those of you who may not recall, this situation is very similar to that of last summer's, when CM Punk was involved in a feud with John Cena over the WWE Championship during his final weeks with the organization. Both of these periods of times in 2005 and 2011 respectively were known as the Summer of Punk, mostly since he was what everyone was talking about from June to August.

As the summer of 2012 gradually comes to a close, it's widely speculated by fans that this year also witnessed a Summer of Punk as his swerve of a heel turn triggered the most interest in the product in months.

While these respective summers may have struck controversy in the world of wrestling as a whole, let's not forget the other summers Punk has endured since making his official WWE debut in 2006. It seems that the summer season is where the Second City Saint shines the brightest, so I'll attempt to analyze and rank each summer Punk has had and the lasting impact he's had over the last six years. 

7. 2010

As I previously mentioned, it seems as if CM Punk has accomplished something noteworthy every summer since joining the WWE, with the exception of 2010. This year as a whole certainly wasn't the best for Punk by any means, which was a true shame coming off the heels of his hot-heel turn in 2009.

After forming the Straightedge Society in late 2009, the faction attempted to take over SmackDown for a majority of 2010. However, in most of their valiant attempts, they were unsuccessful and were instead made out to look like a complete joke.

Things didn't reach an all-time low for Punk until June, where he failed to win the World Heavyweight Championship at the Fatal-4 Way event. Shortly thereafter, he had his arm broken at the hands of Kane during one of his rampages on SmackDown and was unable to compete in that year's Money in the Bank ladder match due to the injury.

Thankfully, the broken arm healed rather quickly, and he was medically cleared to compete at the SummerSlam pay-per-view. It was around this time that he entered a feud with Big Show, which was entertaining at times, but Show got the better of Punk more often than not.

When it came time for the biggest blockbuster of the summer, Show decimated all three male members of the SES that included the likes of Punk, Luke Gallows and Joey Mercury. The fact that the World's Largest Athlete had just decimated all three stablemates at once destroyed any credibility they had left and put an end to the worst summer Punk had endured since joining WWE.

6. 2007

One year following his WWE debut, CM Punk was slowly picking up momentum as a singles star. He was fresh off victories at Judgement Day and ECW One Night Stand against the New Breed, so it was time to move Punk into the ECW World Championship picture in June 2007.

During the 2007 WWE Draft, Bobby Lashley was stripped of the title after being sent packing to Raw, thus allowing a tournament to be created in order to crown a new champion. On subsequent episodes of ECW, both Punk and Chris Benoit advanced to the finals, which would culminate at the Vengeance: Night of Champions pay-per-view.

Due to Benoit's no-show, John Morrison (known as Johnny Nitro at the time) took his place and went on to become ECW World Champion by soundly defeating Punk. For the remainder of the summer, Punk was determined to capture the prestigious gold, but he came up short each time.

He was given two more title opportunities at The Great American Bash and SummerSlam respectively, but failed to walk out the belt in hand at each event. Technically, it still was summer by the time Punk finally won the ECW title from Morrison on an edition of ECW in early September, but it was too little too late (in my opinion) to save Punk's unsuccessful summer from being completely uneventful. 

5. 2006

After months of anticipation, CM Punk finally made his televised WWE debut on the July 4th edition of ECW in 2006. Punk's premiere video package established the Second City Saint as a straightedge Superstar with an extensive Muay Thai background, with similar vignettes continuing to air over the next month.

On the August 1st edition of ECW, Punk made his first appearance inside a WWE ring, defeating Justin Credible in impressive fashion. For the remainder of the summer (as well as 2006 in general), Punk continued to stack up victories against established talents and maintain his undefeated streak for nearly six months.

It's funny looking back at early footage of Punk from his ECW days as it just goes to show how much he's evolved since then. Who would've thought that in nearly two years time, he'd be a World Heavyweight Champion?

4. 2008

Speaking of said situation, it wasn't until 2008 that CM Punk's career took a major step forward towards the top of the WWE. At WrestleMania 24, Punk was able to capture the opportunistic Money in the Bank briefcase and teased cashing it in on numerous occasions over the next few months.

Only one week removed from his move to Monday nights, Punk successfully cashed in his Money in the Bank contract on Raw in late June to win his first World Heavyweight Championship. The live audience went absolutely insane; it truly was a memorable moment that helped shape the storied career of CM Punk.

Punk went on to successfully retain his title on numerous occasions for the remainder of the summer, including defenses against the likes of JBL and Batista. Unfortunately, he was forced to relinquish the strap at the Unforgiven event after being punted in the head by Randy Orton; he wasn't able to reclaim it thereafter. 

Most of his reign was overshadowed by other things occurring on Raw that summer, but it was still a nice reign that gave fans a teaser of what was to come later down the road.

3. 2012

For nearly a year, CM Punk seemed to be portraying more of a fan favorite upon his WWE return last July. The turn was promising at first, but in the eyes of some fans, Punk's face persona quickly fizzled out as he gradually became no different than any other fan favorite on the roster.

It was also around the same time that many were wondering (myself included) what this summer's big blockbuster angle was intended to be. We had Nexus in 2010 and CM Punk's earth-shattering rant promo last summer, so it seemed strange that WWE had nothing as epic planned for this year's summer season.

However, the major swerve didn't occur until Raw 1,000 a few short weeks ago where he delivered a shocking GTS in a surprising turn of events at the end of the broadcast. It has since triggered a new character development for Punk that has seen him revert back to his rebellious ways, demanding respect from the WWE Universe and his peers.

It's garnered much more interest in the WWE product in recent weeks, with the WWE Universe intrigued as to what the Voice of the Voiceless will do next. With a few more weeks still left of summer, it's hard to analyze how big of an impact Punk has had thus far, but I'm undoubtedly looking forward to what Punk brings as August comes to a close. 

2. 2009

After maintaining the same character for nearly three years, CM Punk started to grow stale by the time 2009 rolled around, especially when he started to flounder in the mid-card for the first few months of the year. At WrestleMania 25, he won his second Money in the Bank match, which guaranteed him yet another shot at either the WWE or World Heavyweight Championship at any time of his choosing.

At the very start of the 2009 summer season, Punk cashed in his opportunistic briefcase on a vulnerable Jeff Hardy at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view to capture his second World Heavyweight Championship. The mixed reaction he received upon winning the title that night was pure proof that something was definitely in the works for Punk as well as his stagnant character.

Over the next few weeks, Punk began to develop a more preachy persona that saw him proclaim that being straightedge made him better than anyone else who wasn't. This worked extremely well with Jeff Hardy's daredevil attitude, which made for some must-see matches at subsequent pay-per-views.

In the process, the Second City Saint was also able to recapture the World title for a third time at SummerSlam, of course following a hard-hitting TLC main event against Hardy. It was proven that summer that Punk worked 10 times better as a heel as he continued to shine as one of WWE's dastardly villains over the next two years.

1. 2011

There's no arguing that last summer was one of the biggest highlights of CM Punk's career to date, as well as professional wrestling as a whole. It helped revolutionize the industry, and its lasting impact is still felt to this very day.

It all started last June when Punk captured contender-ship to the WWE Championship and subsequently announced that his contract was coming to an end on the same night as the Money in the Bank pay-per-view. He vowed that he'd walk away from the company with the title in hand, but the excitement didn't end there.

A week later at the conclusion of Raw, CM Punk grabbed a microphone and aired his grievances regarding the WWE, backstage officials and much more. His near-seven minute rant was easily one of the most bold, truthful and controversial statements ever spoken in WWE history, and it sent shock waves throughout the WWE Universe that remarkable June night.

Mr. McMahon did his best to resign CM Punk to avoid the possibility of the Voice of the Voiceless leaving the company while WWE Champion, but it was done to no avail. At the Money in the Bank pay-per-view, Punk was successful in defeating John Cena and left the Allstate Arena as an unemployed WWE Champion.

A mere eight days later, Punk made his shocking return to WWE on Raw, confronting fellow WWE Champ John Cena. The two met in a clash of the champions at SummerSlam where Punk once again emerged victorious over the Cenation leader to retain his title.

Sure, Punk's Cinderella story came to an end moments later when Alberto Del Rio cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase on Punk, but it didn't take away from the stellar summer Punk already had. Those three months were easily the most entertaining and exciting months in WWE in quite some time, all thanks to Punk's premiere pipebomb that June.

Although this particular summer was arguably the best CM Punk has had to date, it's always possible that 2012 or another future year could surpass it. After ranking each summer Punk has participated in since arriving in WWE in 2006, there's no denying that Punk made a lasting impact each year, and there's something extraordinarily special about the summer season that allows Punk to truly shine his brightest and break out ever year.

Thanks for reading Bleachers, and be sure to drop a comment below with your thoughts on each Summer of Punk and what you believe the rest of the summer will hold for the Straightedge Savior. Of course, your criticism and overall feedback are welcomed and greatly appreciated.

GSM out.

Visit my website at Next Era Wrestling, as well as listen to my SAVE US GSM radio show every Thursday at 10/9c for more of my thoughts and writings, along withWWE/TNA news, reviews, recaps and more.

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