WWE: 10 Reasons Why CM Punk Is at the Top of His Game

The summer of Punk is over and we are now transitioning into the fall of...?

There has been talk lately about CM Punk's rise to stardom being negated in favor of older stars making up storylines.  Many feel that because he is not officially involved in the WWE Championship scene that everything he worked so hard for this past summer has now gone down the drain. 

Except, that's not entirely true.  In reality, CM Punk's works are just getting started.  His famous shoot promo is behind him and now he can build off of it. 

He's got the right look, right attitude and perfect amount of confidence in his own abilities.  He's the perfect storm of what a superstar should be. 

Although he may have dropped a bit in story mode, Punk is just getting started when it comes to being the top draw in the WWE. 

There are a number of reasons why it's only just begun for Punk, but here are the top 10 reasons. 

Confidence in Himself

It's been a well known fact for some time now that Punk is one of, if not THE best wrestler the WWE has to offer.  Of course, Punk has known this longer than the rest of us have. 

It wasn't until that promo back in June when he finally let the rest of the world in on his little dirty secret: He is the best wrestler in the world. 

Two men prior to Punk have used the motto of being "the best" in the WWE and both have gone on to great success through their careers.  Of course I'm talking about Brett Hart and Chris Jericho.  Both of them have been highly regarded as two of the best wrestlers to set foot in a ring.  Now add Punk to that list.

Punk's confidence in his own ability makes him more credible in the ring when he really is quite possibly "The Best in the World."

He's a Tweener

Look at that smile and tell me he's not a guy you want to cheer for.  You can't do it, can you?

Punk's resurgence on Raw happened in a matter of minutes.  There wasn't a drastic change in personality or finding his reasoning for being the bad guy suddenly wrong.  Punk changed without even changing.

When Punk's popularity skyrocketed to heights unimaginable before, he was technically considered a heel. 

The great thing about Punk's character right now is that he doesn't have a label.  Some do consider him to be a face, but don't let Punk know that.  He's not about to start throwing his shirts into crowds and expecting little kids to love him.  His fans are those who can see past what he was in the past and what he is now and just enjoy who he is. 

The crazy thing about it is that Punk's flip from the dark side over to the slightly muddied side of WWE characters came when he was feuding with John Cena, the biggest baby face the company has ever seen. 

Being a tweener gives Punk so much more flexibility in his character it's incredible.  Not only can he feud with full-blown heels, but he can also battle faces and pull it off like nobody ever before him could. 

His Love of Controversy

In today's WWE, only Alberto Del Rio could hold a candle to Punk's self-love. 

Like no other superstar today, Punk loves himself as much as one sane person should. What's so intoxicating about his love of himself is that everybody loves him for that same reason.   He's so into himself he could produce a motivational video about how to find your inner Punk.  That movie could generate more revenue than any of the 40,000 horribly produced movies WWE Studios has put out over the years.

It goes without saying that part of the reason Punk is wildly popular now is because he's so into himself.  And with Punk's personality, don't expect that to change anytime soon. 

He Keeps Putting on Incredible Matches

When was the last time you saw a match of Punk's that you didn't automatically love?

Punk lives up to his moniker of being the Best in the World by proving it each and every match he's in.  He has the ability to control the tempo and momentum of every contest he's in. 

Case in point: Money in the Bank and SummerSlam.  For weeks leading up to both events, fans were questioning whether or not it could be a good contest because of their belief in Cena's lack of ring ability.  Where are we now?  Now both matches are in consideration for match of the year honors because of the great work both competitors showed on those two occasions. 

To this day, it is widely regarded that Punk was leading the way for Cena to showcase his abilities.  It took Punk's savvy to bring out the best in Cena, something that most people never thought could happen. 

Punk's talents are no longer going unnoticed by the masses.  In fact, Punk is good at putting on a good match with even the most incompetent of stars; he could make Great Khali look good.  That may be a little bit of a stretch, but you get my point. 

As long as Punk continues to work as hard as he does, it's safe to say his future is incredibly bright inside the ropes. 

He's Only 33 Years Old

While his appearance may make him look like your crazy uncle who once had a problem with the needle, Punk makes it work. 

His straight edge lifestyle is something he is extremely proud of, as it should.  Not drinking, smoking or doing drugs has done wonders for his body, and it shows. 

He may not be the most cut guy in the business, but he makes it work.  Not being extremely cut also makes it perfectly clear he is not on performance enhancing drugs. 

All of these factors makes for a guy to be in top physical shape as long as he wants to.  That's good news, especially when you consider he's only 33 years of age.

He's not the youngest guy in the business, but he's also not the oldest.  If a guy as big and brutal as the Undertaker can wrestle regularly until he's 45 years old, imagine how long Punk can go. 

He's in the prime of his life and can only accomplish even more in the years to come.

His Loyalty to Friends

There are few people who can make a lot of friends in the business of professional wrestling.  In a business where you do whatever it takes to be the best you can and battle whoever you have to to get to the top, friends are hard to come by. 

That is not the case for Punk. 

He's made a lot of friends through his career and has taken his opportunities to mention their names on live television whenever possible.  Luke Gallows, Colt Cabana—he's even pledged his loyalty to the man who gave him a job—Paul Heyman. 

It's not quite clear who his friends are on the current roster, but having other people's back can only be helpful.  Remaining loyal to friends who are no longer working alongside you means you truly care about those people. 

Punk genuinely cares about who he wants to.  Get on Punk's good side and you could be looking at a possible tenure and success in the WWE.

Which leads me to my next point.

His Relationship with Beth Phoenix

What a cute couple.

CM Punk and Beth Phoenix are in a full-fledged relationship.  Who better for the best wrestler in the WWE to date than the best diva in the WWE, Beth Phoenix?

When the summer of Punk began, Beth was nothing more than an afterthought in the divas division.  Look where she is now. She has won her first Diva's Championship, is in a partnership with fellow elite diva Natalya and strikes fear in all other divas to boot. 

She's getting a lot better on her mic work and has been trying to change the diva's division from being the joke that it is.

Sound familiar?

Some would like to write her push off as a CM Punk power-trip and one of his main demands for re-signing with the WWE.  That's completely wrong.  Think of it as the company finally realizing the talent they have in Beth and Punk at the same time.  The fact they are dating is a mere coincidence. 

These two on top of the company is something that has been a long time coming, and this is just the beginning for success for these two. 

He Only Has 1 WWE Title Reign to His Credit

How is it that a guy with this much wrestling ability and attitude has only held the most prestigious championship once in his career thus far?

The long answer could take days to dissect.  The short answer, though, is much more simple.

He's just getting started. 

During his time on Smackdown and his beginning stages on Raw, Punk was lost in the shuffle.  He was attached to the company label, and pure wrestling ability won't get you very far.  He's always had the talent to be the top dog, it just wasn't until this summer that Vince McMahon decided to realize it. 

Punk revolutionized the walkout before the most recent walkout even came to fruition.  He walked away after winning the WWE Championship.  Who could blame him?

It took him years of repeated feuds and what felt like a three-year pay-per-view losing streak to get where he is right now.  No other superstar would take that kind of punishment and disrespect and stick around. 

Punk took what he felt belonged to him and walked away.  For that, he's being punished by being kept away from the championship by the mysterious figure currently running Raw.  Sooner or later, Punk is going to get what he deserves and hold the WWE Championship on more than one occasion. 

One title reign is nice.  Eventually, Punk will be racking up titles faster than Cena can complete the five knuckle shuffle. 

He's a Social Media Sensation

WWE has finally started to embrace the world of social media rather than acting like it doesn't exist.  For decades, professional wrestling, mainly Vince, was trying to pretend that the Internet had no grounds in the business.

Now, it's a completely different story.  Superstar's Twitter names are displayed with their entrances, feuds are being brought to attention based on tweets sent back and forth and we constantly hear Michael Cole talking about what's currently trending worldwide.

While right now it seems like a bit of an overkill, this has to have guys like Zack Ryder and CM Punk foaming at the mouth.

Ryder has made his popularity through the world of Twitter, but Punk was tweeting cool things ever before Twitter was considered cool to do.  He'd go out of his way to speak his mind to the world off camera, even starting a feud with Shawn Merriman in the process. 

And who can forget those epic photos of Punk's newly-won WWE Championship chilling in his fridge (pun intended) next to the 12-pack of Wild Cherry Pepsi.  It's off-the-cuff acts like this that has made Punk a fan favorite, and his following can only grow if he continues to keep his online activity frequent, as he is now. 

PIPE BOMBS

You didn't really think I was going to forget his greatest asset, did you?

CM Punk is possibly one of the greatest workers on the mic in WWE history.  Not since The Rock has there been a superstar who can put so much emotion into a promo without it appearing forced.  He works his aggressive, in-your-face approach and couples that with well-timed jokes and puns. 

He's not afraid to piss a couple people off with his words and even got himself suspended for his troubles.  He'll call out the boss, other superstars, even make fun of the way you talk.  You give Punk any sort of ammo to use against you, you better believe he has something snarky to say before you even finish your sentence.

He possesses the ability to make you believe in exactly what he's saying.  He could have convinced Bill Gates to invest in Apple if he was given the chance. 

Who else do you know could pretend to make snow angels in the middle of the summer and make it look cool?  That's the kind of power this guy has whenever he has a microphone in his hands. 

If he started a radio show once his wrestling career is over, it could quite possibly be more successful than the Howard Stern Show.

Punk is the type of man who speaks his mind and doesn't care what anybody else thinks.  There will never be a time when he's afraid he has crossed a line.  In his world, crossing a line with your words means you're making progress. 

His promos have been top notch as of late and it's not about to get any worse. 

In Closing

For those who feel that Punk has lost steam in his character as of late, think again. 

Not only is he gaining steam, there is no end in sight for where the train finally pulls into the station. 

The future is awfully bright for Punk.  So bright, it can only be comparable to that of a sweltering Miami sun. 

Speaking of Miami, Punk's roll is all downhill from here, in a good way.  It's like a boulder rolling down a downward slope.  There may be a few bumps along the way, but in the end, there is no stopping that boulder.

Thanks for reading.  Leave your comments/opinions below.

Don't forget to check out Kevin Berge managing Smackdown as we one-up Raw.  Look for it out later Thursday or early Friday.