Analyzing CM Punk's WWE Title Run

CM Punk is approaching a milestone rarely seen in the WWE: a yearlong title reign.

The current WWE Champion won the coveted prize at last year’s Survivor Series by making Alberto Del Rio submit. Since then, Punk has had a relatively quiet reign only headlining one pay-per-view before his heel turn. Punk’s heel turn has placed him in the past two main events for Night of Champions and Hell In a Cell.

He’s bounced around establishing credibility to the WWE title, battled authority figures and joined forces with Paul Heyman. Quite a busy year for the WWE Champion!

Let’s take a look at CM Punk’s title reign from Nov. 20, 2011.

Matches and Opponents

No one should question Punk’s matches for the WWE Title in the past 12 months.

His victory over Del Rio was a solid effort for the richest prize in the WWE. Punk used the Anaconda Vise, a move he utilized even before the WWE, to make Del Rio submit and become champion.

Punk’s matches have gotten better since then. He’s had stellar matches with Dolph Ziggler both on Raw and at the Royal Rumble. His WrestleMania encounter with Chris Jericho was a pure wrestling battle, but their street fight at Extreme Rules was far superior.

Punk’s one-on-one matches with Daniel Bryan not only stole the show from Over the Limit and Money in the Bank but should also be considered Match of the Year candidates, especially their match at Over the Limit.

Punk also excelled at his triple threat title defenses. Although not as good as his singles matches, the triple threat matches against Kane and Daniel Bryan provided enough intrigue and entertainment for the fans. However, a slight flub slowed down his SummerSlam triple threat victory over John Cena and the Big Show.

Punk rebounded his efforts with Cena at Night of Champions in a stellar match despite the draw finish. Although his victory over Ryback was disappointingly short, Punk has proven to the WWE he can carry the workload and keep the fans invested.

Storylines

During his reign as champion, Punk has been back and forth with his character and his journey.

Punk kept his cool face transition going the minute he won the title, feuding with John Laurinaitis for the first half of 2012. However, the WWE shifted Laurinaitis to fight Cena and kept the WWE Champion focused on himself.

Punk also got embroiled with A.J., who began her time with Punk as a  “crazy chick” apparently “head over heels” for the champion. When she became the general manager at Raw 1000, Punk feuded with her and changed their dynamic. He even mentioned their past encounters during his days as a heel.

Punk bounced around storylines around others. When centered on himself, that’s when Punk excelled. His slow turn to a heel again made waves and changed the status quo once more.

That’s how exciting CM Punk is during storylines. He brings the best from both sides no matter what storyline it is and makes the most of it.

Friends and Enemies

The storylines have altered Punk’s allegiances with the current roster of WWE Superstars. But have they really?

The champion feuded with the heels in the first half of his reign. If the plans didn’t change for the Survivor Series main event, he would have been joining forces with those same heels he’s defeated.

That first half featured Punk teaming with Cena in tag matches on Raw. Now, their rivalry renewed once Punk turned. The same goes for A.J., Jerry Lawler and most recently, Mick Foley.

Punk’s rivalry with Daniel Bryan would have flipped as well if the elimination tag were scheduled as planned. First Bryan was the heel and Punk the face, now both men switched sides.

The biggest change is having Paul Heyman at his side. However, everyone remembers Punk was always a “Paul Heyman guy.” He said that in his infamous shoot promo before his title run.

In fact, Heyman is featured prominently in Punk’s documentary. No one should be surprised at their alliance. 

Where It Stands Amongst Others

Many great wrestlers held that WWE Title. It’s a shame that some of them didn’t carry the title as long as Punk did.

Mick Foley said it himself when he confronted Punk two weeks after Night of Champions. Foley held the title for a combined 29 days during his three title reigns. During that time, he feuded with household names like The Rock, Triple H and Stone Cold Steve Austin for the title.

Those three men never had that yearlong reign as WWE Champion. Austin’s longest reign lasted from WrestleMania 17 to Unforgiven, a total of five months of 2001. Rock’s longest reign was in 2000, from June to October. Triple H never held the title that long until 2007, where he held the championship from April to November.

Not even Shawn Michaels had that yearlong reign, but he had the title from WrestleMania 12 to Survivor Series 1996, a total of roughly eight months.

Yearlong title reigns ended when guys like Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage held the WWE title that long during their careers. Only John Cena has had that reign from September 2006 to October 2007.

Punk’s reign surpassed others in length. However, the level of established stars those men feuded with make their reigns understandably tougher. No disrespect to Punk, but those men fought legends and future Hall-of-Famers. Punk’s fighting people in his prime. To judge those reigns to Punk’s is unfair.

Punk is a statistic, but in time, his reign will be amongst those same legends of the past.

Final Verdict

CM Punk’s close to a yearlong reign as WWE Champion. The resume of wrestlers and superstars he’s fought has proved to the world he can carry a company on the grandest stage.

The list of opponents compared to others is unjust. Considering the current crop of superstars Punk’s defeated will only grow, but they will not be near the level of those in the past.

Add Punk’s standing for the past few months playing second fiddle until two months ago, and it doesn’t look that impressive.

Those cons are outweighed by the pros. CM Punk is the Bret Hart of the PG era. He has great matches and steals the show even though he’s forced to play second fiddle to John Cena.

Bret Hart had that problem during his reign before losing the title to Michaels. Ironically enough, Michaels was the main attraction compared to Hart. Plus, both Hart and Punk are considered the best wrestlers in the WWE in each of their respective reigns.

Punk’s reign will grow and be remembered in the same vein as Hart’s was. It may not be what Punk wanted, but being compared to Bret Hart should suit CM Punk just fine.