Why CM Punk Is WWE's Most Underrated Superstar

CM Punk is one of the most decorated, celebrated, popular, and controversial stars in pro wrestling history.

He has headlined WrestleManias, won championships, battled the best and brightest the industry has to offer, and will be a first-ballot Hall of Famer when he finally hangs up his boots.

He is also WWE's most underrated Superstar.

Quality of His Ring Work

In an age when fans are easily dazzled by the uber-athleticism of a younger generation, Punk manages to get the audience to invest emotionally in his matches through the stories he tells between the ropes.

At age 47, he is delivering some of his finest work between the ropes, and that can be attributed to his storytelling prowess. He knows what facial expressions to flash and how to use his body to tell a story between the ropes.

Sure, he still brings the physicality and will take a risk from time to time, but he has mastered the art of selling the moment by using his body, and that has gone a long way toward convincing the audience to invest emotionally in what he is doing.

Look no further than his matches with Drew McIntyre, Seth Rollins, John Cena, Finn Balor, Bron Breakker, Roman Reigns, Sami Zayn, Cody Rhodes, and Kevin Owens. Those are a mix of top-tier stars who work in a variety of styles, and Punk had strong-to-great matches with all of them.

What he has managed to bring to the ring has been nothing short of extraordinary. That he has done it amid concerns that he was becoming injury-prone late in his career is all the more impressive.

An All-Time Promo

There was a point on the road to WrestleMania where the buzz surrounding the event was low, bordering on nonexistent, and there was concern that this year's show would be a bust.

Then, Punk took the microphone, headed into the arena, stood atop the announce table, and cut one of his trademark "pipebomb" promos that meshed fiction and reality to produce the most electric segment in months while simultaneously elevating his upcoming main event with Roman Reigns in the process.

It was a must-have moment for the WWE product and a reminder that Punk may be less controversial on the mic these days. Still, when the company badly needs a killer verbal performance from one of the best talkers of all time, he can deliver that jolt of energy needed to reinvigorate its shows.

Willingness to Work With Younger Talent

Nobody did more to elevate Breakker over the last 12 months than Punk.

That may seem like a loaded sentence given The Badass' place in The Vision and rivalry with Rollins, but Punk went out of his way to present Breakker as the premier, top-tier, main-event talent that he has the look and potential to be.

Then, he gave him one of his best matches to date on the January 5 episode of Raw, putting him over as a force of nature, despite retaining his title.

He recently joined an NXT house show in Petersburg, Virginia, teaming with Tavion Heights and Myles Borne to defeat The Vanity Project in a Six-Man Tag Team Match, something few (if any) others in his position, at this point in his career, and with his stature, would do.

He has shouted out Trick Williams, Ricky Saints, and Carmelo Hayes, and Je'Von Evans has named him as one of his backstage mentors during an interview with Denise Salcedo (h/t Fightful).

Punk was once a young star looking for an opportunity in a company dominated by aging veterans.

While some may argue that he is now what he once battled, his willingness to share his knowledge, information, and experience so that the next generation can make a seamless transition to the top of the card when his time is up sets him apart from some of his predecessors.

Some will debate that Punk is perfectly rated, that he is recognized as an all-timer, and that as a main event star and the reigning Undisputed WWE champion, he is the company's most underrated star, insulting to those outstanding performers still waiting for an opportunity.

There are instances, however, in which someone has been so good for so long that audiences tend to take their excellence for granted. Others will hold his demeanor, attitude, past indiscretions, or philosophies against him, thus refusing to acknowledge how great the Chicago-born wrestler is.

He is an all-time performer who shook off the "indie god" label, excelled in a land of giants that refused to accept him, consistently worked on his craft, respected the greats of a bygone era, and is instilling his knowledge in a new generation. That he has accomplished all of that while performing at an incredibly high level and delivering some of his best work makes Punk somehow better than he is already celebrated for being.

And the most underrated Superstar in pro wrestling's most prominent promotion.