WWE Monday Night RAW 25th anniversary: Ranking the 25 biggest stars

14. CM Punk

In what many consider one of the most unlikely success stories in WWE history, CM Punk made his way from a backyard federation to the independent circuit to WWE in just six years and became one of the best wrestlers in the world in the process.

He started off in the ECW brand, later won the ECW Championship, and made his way to Monday Night RAW in 2008, a few months after winning his first Money in the Bank Ladder Match at WrestleMania XXIV. On his first night, he cashed in his briefcase on Edge to win the World Heavyweight Championship and held the title for more than two months. He was scheduled to participate in a Championship Scramble Match for the title at Unforgiven but was attacked by Legacy beforehand and forfeited the championship.

Over the next few months, he won the tag titles with Kofi Kingston and also the Intercontinental Championship, becoming the fastest to win WWE’s version of the Triple Crown. He then won his second consecutive Money in the Bank Ladder Match at the 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania but was drafted to SmackDown a short time later.

He thrived on the blue brand, winning another World Heavyweight Championship. After losing the title to The Undertaker, Punk formed the Straight Edge Society, which was very entertaining, before being traded back to RAW in October 2010, at which point he became the leader of The New Nexus. This led to a feud with Randy Orton, which resulted in a great match at WrestleMania XXVII, before he got into the program that led to him becoming one of the most controversial stars in RAW history, which in turn catapulted him to being one of the most popular stars in the company.

With his contract expiring right after the Money in the Bank pay-per-view, an event in which he was set to face John Cena for the WWE Championship, CM Punk sat on the ramp on the June 27, 2011 episode of Monday Night RAW and let it fly. In what’s now known as the “pipe bomb” promo, Punk let everyone have it. He went after John Cena, Hulk Hogan, The Rock, Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, made mention of other promotions like New Japan and Ring of Honor (“How you doing, Colt Cabana?”) and essentially broke every rule we thought we knew. Sure, the promo was a worked shoot, but it was so effective that we had no idea at the time what was real and what wasn’t. In quite the shock, this was named the second-biggest moment in RAW history, which is crazy, especially since the promotion goes out of its way to never mention him at all anymore.

He went on to beat Cena at Money in the Bank and left with the WWE Championship, only to return eight days later. He beat Cena again at SummerSlam and continue don to feud with Alberto Del Rio, who cashed in on him that same night. Yes, I’m trying to forget about the Kevin Nash thing. Punk finally regained his title at Survivor Series and held it for 434 days, the longest reign of the modern era. This included feuds with Chris Jericho, Daniel Bryan, Kane, Cena, Ryback and The Rock, who finally beat him at the 2013 Royal Rumble. Punk never held another title in WWE.

He got into a controversial WrestleMania program with The Undertaker, a SummerSlam program with Brock Lesnar and later feuded with The Wyatt Family and The Shield. Following his elimination at the Royal Rumble in 2014, Punk was never seen in WWE again. His promos became reality as he was often overlooked, even as the WWE Champion. There were many instances in which he was the champion and still wasn’t in the main event, which can’t be easy to deal with. He led RAW as the WWE Champion for more than a year, put on great matches and cut can’t-miss promos. He easily earns this spot on the list.