CM Punk Is The Luckiest Man Alive

[NegativeFeedback]

This is going to be a long post so you can skim it to get the gist of it, but I find CM Punk's history in the WWE very interesting. CM Punk is one of the best in this business, there's no disputing that, but he's also one of the luckiest guys to have entered the WWE ring. Here's why:

Paul Heyman and some other agents went to OVW to find guys for the resurrected ECW brand and Paul Heyman immediately fell head-over-heels for CM Punk. Why wouldn't he? The guy was great in the ring, he had a great character, loads of experience and had the badass hardcore look. Paul Heyman brought him into the ECW brand where he had a pretty good push until Paul Heyman went up to Vince McMahon and told him he wanted CM Punk to win the Elimination Chamber. He told Vince that CM Punk had to pin Big Show in the first few minutes and keep on until he won the Chamber and become ECW's newest star. Vince hated the idea, went with Lashley winning, and when that PPV failed and Heyman was fired, Punk was hated ever since.

Lucky Break #1: Shawn Michaels helped him keep his job

Punk was out first in the Chamber, started losing all his matches and according to Dave Lagana, people were talking about releasing him. Then one day, Shawn Michaels was in the Creative Team meeting and when he heard people talking about how Punk should be released, Shawn stood up and said that if they don't like what he's doing, they should take him aside and help him out. He said they shouldn't fire him just because he isn't "guessing" what they want. The creative team's outlook changed so they kept him around and didn't release him.

Lucky Break #2: CM Punk was left to carry ECW

A year had past since the ECW revival, and Vince was already sick of the brand. He tried to build it up his own way (the wrong way) and it didn't work. He fired Heyman, released a bunch of originals, and guys like Big Show, RVD and Kurt Angle all quit. So he gave up and moved everyone who was left to Raw and Smackdown. Top stars of ECW like Lashley, Sandman and Hardcore Holly were all drafted and lowly midcarders were moved to ECW to fill the hole. Although CM Punk was on a dying brand, this meant he was the main event now. So right off the bat, Chris Benoit and CM Punk were booked in an ECW Championship match for Vengeance. According to Stephanie, Benoit was supposed to win. He no-showed the event (he was too busy playing Jack the Ripper) and Nitro ended up replacing him and winning the ECW title, but CM Punk was still in the main event.

Lucky Break #3: Signature Pharmacy gets busted

John Morrison and CM Punk feuded endlessly for months where Punk lost cleanly each time. WWE was still not on his side. The Boogeyman was going to win a Fatal 4 Way to be booked as Johnny Nitro's next opponent, but Vince McMahon told the referee DURING the match that he changed his mind and wanted Punk to win again extending the feud even more. But this time, all Signature Pharmacy customers were busted and suspended by WWE including guys like Umaga, Edge, Chavo Guerrero and John Morrison himself. This meant WWE had to take the title off Morrison. And who was left to hold it? CM Punk, who gained the title the next week and became the face of ECW.

Lucky Break #4: Jeff Hardy is an addict

After carrying ECW, defending the title against Elijah Burke, The Miz and Big Daddy V, someone backstage gave the order for Punk to lose the title to Chavo Guerrero after the Tony Atlas incident. Apparently, CM Punk was pissed as hell and told everyone about it backstage. That put Punk in the doghouse for a while, but not for long. Punk was in the Money in the Bank ladder match for the second time at WrestleMania 24. Jeff Hardy was booked to win it as he was getting a huge push around this time beating guys like Randy Orton, Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels in singles matches. But weeks before the big event, Jeff was busted by the Wellness Policy and had to miss WrestleMania. With Jeff gone, WWE went with Punk to win the briefcase which practically guaranteed him a world title reign. Obviously, there were 6 other guys who could have won that match so Punk being chosen wasn't entirely about luck, but if it weren't for Jeff, he wouldn't have had his shot.

Lucky Break #5: Smackdown moves to MyNetworkTV and takes Triple H with it

As was reported around the time, WWE needed big names for Smackdown's move to SyFy. They took guys like Jeff Hardy, Big Show and Jim Ross so they can push the brand as big as they could. They needed that one big established superstar to take the brand and it was rumored that the choice was between Cena and Triple H. And it was reported that the night before, Triple H decided to go, but by doing so, he took the WWE title with him. That meant Raw was without a World Champion. But CM Punk had the briefcase... A lightbulb lit up in one of the writers' heads and Punk ended up bring the World title to Raw. He had a not-so-great reign, but it was still a lucky break at the beginning of his career.

Lucky Break #6: Vladimir Kozlov wasn't ready

WWE gave Punk a lackluster reign, had him lose the title to Jericho and moved him into the tag team division where he tagged with Kofi Kingston for a while. After that, he stayed in the midcard where he even won the Intercontinental Championship. After that, he lost the title to JBL who would go on to retire at WrestleMania. So where does that leave Punk?

Well, Vladimir Kozlov was getting the Lesnar treatment feuding with Triple H for the WWE title on Smackdown and challenging The Undertaker for WrestleMania. The big story was that Kozlov was supposed to win Money in the Bank and eventually win the world title later in the year. BUT Vince flipped a gasket when one creative team member said "he isn't ready" and loads of others agreed with him. He ranted about them pushing someone before he was ready without saying anything and now they didn't know what to do.

So instead of giving that last spot to Kozlov, they gave it to Finlay instead. The reasoning was that Finlay was a veteran and deserved to be on the show. The thing was that WWE wasn't ready to push anyone in that match. Finlay was too old, Vince didn't like Christian, No one believed in Mark Henry, MVP was a former criminal, Kane was past his prime, and no one believed in Benjamin or Kofi. That left Punk as the default guy to win the briefcase and this was all because WWE lost faith in Vladimir Kozlov.

Lucky Break #7: Jeff Hardy decides to quit

So CM Punk was moved to Smackdown, cashed in on Jeff Hardy, turned heel and gave us feud of the year. Jeff Hardy won the title back at Night of Champions and would have easily stayed champion heading into the fall had it not been because he was quitting. Due to him leaving, WWE gave the title back to CM Punk at SummerSlam and had him retire Jeff Hardy on the following Smackdown. Had it not been for Jeff quitting, Punk could have easily been delegated back to the mid-card.

Lucky Break #8: Commentary!

Punk then had an unlucky break. The Undertaker supposedly told him to "dress like a champion" and Punk told him Cena wears jorts which meant he could wear whatever he wanted. The Undertaker got upset and told management about it which in turn led to Undertaker winning the World title at Hell in a Cell. Punk was delegated back to mid-card where he feuded with R-Truth, Matt Hardy and a few other guys before forming the Straight Edge Society and feuding with Rey Mysterio. Rey pitched an idea for Mania and they both got their Mania match which Rey ended up winning. The feud kept on, Punk lost his hair, then he lost his mask, and then started jobbing to The Big Show for weeks. Then Punk was moved to Raw in exchange for Edge where he stayed on the midcard beating guys like Evan Bourne up. Then his injury happened, but he tells WWE he wants to stick around so they put him on commentary. And what happens? VINCE FALLS IN LOVE WITH HIM. He loves everything Punk says on the microphone and starts telling announcers to be more like Punk. So when Punk is ready to return, Vince gives him the Nexus and has him lead 2011 with a big feud against John Cena. All because he got to sit on the announcer's desk.

Lucky Break #9: Randy Orton's got nothing for WrestleMania

The truth was that even though Orton was champion for most of the year, Cena was always booked as the face of Raw. WWE decided to go with John Cena vs. The Miz for the WWE title at WrestleMania which left Randy Orton with nothing to do. Just like the year before with Rey, Punk went backstage and pitched to Orton a feud based on the punt Randy gave him in 2008. Orton went along with the idea, gave it to management and Punk had his big match at WrestleMania. Punk was still pissed that he wasn't being treated like a star, but he was at least getting big matches due to always being in the right place at the right time. Still, he grew tired with this and decided he wanted to quit...

Lucky Break #10: The Promo heard around the World!

CM Punk told WWE he wanted to quit, but Vince wanted to keep him around. After all, he was a great heel that helped put over his top guys like Rey, Cena and Orton. Still, Punk felt he should have been the one facing Cena at WrestleMania for the title, not Miz. He told Vince that he wasn't being treated right. To prove Punk is that good, Cena pitched to feud with him. Punk becomes #1 Contender and goes on to face John Cena at Money in the Bank, all while his contract is STILL EXPIRING. One day Vince tells him to go out and say why he's quitting, to tell the truth, to say whatever he wanted and he'll cut the mic whenever it gets too rough. And that ladies and gentlemen, was exactly what Punk needed. He went out there, told the truth, and became the internet sensation he is now. Punk became a hot commodity, Vince realized this, knew what he had on his hands and immediately signed him to a lucrative contract. The rest is history and now CM Punk is our WWE Champion.

None of these events would have happened without Punk being trusted and/or respected backstage, but luck had a lot to do with it. He had the talent and they all knew it, but no one really thought he was good enough to be at the top. CM Punk was always that #2 guy. He was #2 behind Chris Benoit to carry ECW, #2 behind Nitro to be ECW Champion, #2 behind Jeff Hardy for the Money in the Bank, he was #2 behind Miz to face Cena at Mania, etc. He was never treated as the best pick for anything, but certain circumstances helped him overcome that and gain titles, pushes and main event spots along the way. He's one lucky mo********er all right, but he deserves that luck more than anyone.

 

[Paralyzer Z]

Just to get it out of the way, what Tony Atlas Incident are you talking about?

Secondly, this was an excellent read, many of these things I had not read before. I think the main reason why Vince did not like Punk in the first place was because he was a big star in the independent scene prior to his confrontation with Heyman. Vince likes his guys to be made out of the WWE right out of the start of their careers. Spending a lot of time in FCW/OCW was what he liked the most and Punk was more of a guy that he was not used to. Anyway Punk has always been great, he opened the door for more guys that had wrestled plenty before FCW like Daniel Bryan, and Sin Cara. Punk will be a big star in WWE from this point on and he can thank his patience, persistence, and luck for that.

 

[LegendKiller716]

Just to get it out of the way, what Tony Atlas Incident are you talking about?

Secondly, this was an excellent read, many of these things I had not read before. I think the main reason why Vince did not like Punk in the first place was because he was a big star in the independent scene prior to his confrontation with Heyman. Vince likes his guys to be made out of the WWE right out of the start of their careers. Spending a lot of time in FCW/OCW was what he liked the most and Punk was more of a guy that he was not used to. Anyway Punk has always been great, he opened the door for more guys that had wrestled plenty before FCW like Daniel Bryan, and Sin Cara. Punk will be a big star in WWE from this point on and he can thank his patience, persistence, and luck for that.

You should Google the Tony Atlas thing, it's pretty interesting. In short Punk went down and worked a match in OVW (he was the ECW champ at the time). After the match Tony Atlas was talking shit on him in the back saying Punk would never make it to TV if he didn't listen to what trainers tell him, and Punk was like maybe you should watch more, because I'm the ECW champion. So Atlas was an ass hole and Punk was disrespectful. Punk was put in the dog house for disrespecting a legend.

This was a pretty good read though. I thought you were reaching a little bit on a few of the subjects like Punk's MITB wins, but overall pretty interesting to see it layed out like this. The man did have a few lucky breaks, but pure skill got him to where he is today.

 

[Steve-O-Matt]

I heard Atlas got pissed at Punk because he said something like he doesn't get why Punk was straight edge. The X's on Punk's arms brought this up and he said to Punk "How can you go thorugh life without drinking?" or something like that and Punk responded, correctly, LOL. He said it made no difference to his life in the slightest. I'm guessing Atlas took this as him disrespecting him which sparked it off.

Great read by the way, everything you said was spot on in my opinion, I think that Punk going through all of that to begin with made him really pay his dues and pay royally. It defined Punk and molded him into the man he is today. Those acts you talked about can be compared to Stone Cold in a way. Stone Cold had to bring himself up from almost nothing, starting from WCW where he was mistreated by Bischoff and how Pauly let him voice his grievences. That defined Stone Cold, the suffering he went through, the same as Punk, made him a world class wrestler.

If you think about it, Pauly always seems to have a good eye for talent, LOL, the WWE shouldn't of let him go.

 

[GameOver]

I can sum this up in 1 simple sentence
In the words of Jessie Ventura.
"It's better to be lucky then good"

Punk creates his own luck too though by performing in the ring and not being awfull on the mic, he is workable...

 

[GameOver]

I heard Atlas got pissed at Punk because he said something like he doesn't get why Punk was straight edge. The X's on Punk's arms brought this up and he said to Punk "How can you go thorugh life without drinking?" or something like that and Punk responded, correctly, LOL. He said it made no difference to his life in the slightest. I'm guessing Atlas took this as him disrespecting him which sparked it off.

Great read by the way, everything you said was spot on in my opinion, I think that Punk going through all of that to begin with made him really pay his dues and pay royally. It defined Punk and molded him into the man he is today. Those acts you talked about can be compared to Stone Cold in a way. Stone Cold had to bring himself up from almost nothing, starting from WCW where he was mistreated by Bischoff and how Pauly let him voice his grievences. That defined Stone Cold, the suffering he went through, the same as Punk, made him a world class wrestler.

If you think about it, Pauly always seems to have a good eye for talent, LOL, the WWE shouldn't of let him go.

Austin wasn't totally mistreated in WCW, neither was Jericho, they were on TV each and every week and were in either a high profile tag team or were multi time singles champion b4 Bischoff decided they were useless lol

WTH was going through that guys head, the guys that would become Undertaker, Triple H, Jericho and Stone Cold would never amount to anything beyong midcarders LOL Maybe it's the useless prick that doesn't know how to market/manage people

 

[wrestler36]

Bret Hart was the luckiest man alive

Lucky Break #1: Hart Foundation lost to the Nasty Boys for the tag titles, helping to separate the Hart Foundation

Lucky Break #2: Mr. Perfect had a bad back going into Summerslam, therefore giving the Hart the IC Title

Lucky Break #3: Ric Flair was leaving the company, giving next in line Bret Hart the world title.

Lucky Break #4: Lex Luger wasn't catching on as the flagship of wwf, leading to Bret's 2nd title reign at Wrestlemania X

yada yada yada. Catch my drift?? If you do enough research on ANY champion, you can do the same thing on ''lucky breaks.'' Every champion is 'lucky' in their own way. Every wrestler works their butt off to get into the right position and it's an opportunity and luck that gets them to the next level.

 

[NegativeFeedback]

Just to get it out of the way, what Tony Atlas Incident are you talking about?

Secondly, this was an excellent read, many of these things I had not read before. I think the main reason why Vince did not like Punk in the first place was because he was a big star in the independent scene prior to his confrontation with Heyman. Vince likes his guys to be made out of the WWE right out of the start of their careers. Spending a lot of time in FCW/OCW was what he liked the most and Punk was more of a guy that he was not used to. Anyway Punk has always been great, he opened the door for more guys that had wrestled plenty before FCW like Daniel Bryan, and Sin Cara. Punk will be a big star in WWE from this point on and he can thank his patience, persistence, and luck for that.

You should Google the Tony Atlas thing, it's pretty interesting. In short Punk went down and worked a match in OVW (he was the ECW champ at the time). After the match Tony Atlas was talking shit on him in the back saying Punk would never make it to TV if he didn't listen to what trainers tell him, and Punk was like maybe you should watch more, because I'm the ECW champion. So Atlas was an ass hole and Punk was disrespectful. Punk was put in the dog house for disrespecting a legend.

This was a pretty good read though. I thought you were reaching a little bit on a few of the subjects like Punk's MITB wins, but overall pretty interesting to see it layed out like this. The man did have a few lucky breaks, but pure skill got him to where he is today.

This was something I always thought about and wanted to write it, but never had the medium to do so. I thought it would make a good forum discussion so I finally got to post it here. These are all based on stories, intereviews and reports from Paul Heyman, Dave Lagana, CM Punk and online news sites like WrestleZone and the Wrestling Observer. I love how all of them have given me small details that help map out the whole story.

I don't think I was "Reaching a little bit" with the Money in the Bank wins. Obviously, there are still somethings that aren't clear like why CM Punk was chosen to win Money in the Bank after Jeff Hardy got suspended instead of Chris Jericho, but the fact is that if Jeff hadn't been suspended, he wasn't going to win the briefcase.

Obviously, CM Punk worked hard to become Jeff's understudy, but what sealed the deal was Jeff getting suspended. It's funny though. Punk twice benefitted from other people failing the wellness policy (Morrison and Hardy). Seems like being Straight Edge is definitely paying off.

 

[xxxdaniel_ariesxxx]

Maybe the best backstage story in YEARS!!! Especially the part where Vince is talking about eating shit and Punk's response...

FROM AN INTERVIEW WITH CM PUNK: http://www.sescoops.com/wrestling-n...ses-his-problems-with-vince-the-rock-the-miz/
Clashes with Vince McMahon: “There was the Tony Atlas story. Tony wrote about it in his book but I didn’t read it so I don’t know exactly how accurate it was. I was ECW Champion at the time. I was still living in Louisville, Kentucky. I would go to OVW still and I would maybe work a Dark Match for them and watch the show, talk to guys. Long story short, there was some backstage OVW politics that unbeknownst to me was going on. I went up to Tony to introduce myself because he was down there to talk to the guys about saving your money and drugs and what not.

“I said, ‘Hi, Mr. Atlas. My name’s CM Punk. How are you doing?’ He grabbed my arm and he’s like, ‘What is this?’ I didn’t get where he was going. I was like, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about. Oh the X’s. I’m straight edge and I explained it to him.’ He’s like, ‘No, no, no, your arms. They’re taped up.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, yeah, I tape up my arms so I can ‘x’ up. It’s a straight edge thing.’ He looks at me and he says, ‘It looks like you have two broken arms.’ I was just like, ‘Great, okay.’ I didn’t know where he was going and I was confused. ‘Okay, sir, alright.’ He said, ‘I don’t think you get it. If you don’t listen to your coaches, you’re never going to make it to television.’ Then I was like, ‘Alright I appreciate whatever this is. Thank you, sir.’

“Then I worked the dark match and we had this great dark match. It was like this eight man tag and there was a whole bunch of talented guys in it. Then in the post show meeting, Tony Atlas goes on and on about how everyone’s great, everyone has a great attitude, the show is great, the only match he didn’t like was that last one. That last match sucked. There was a guy in it with a bad attitude. He basically just started singling me out. I had already lost my mind at this point. I stood up like legit De Niro, ‘Are you talking to me?’ He was like, ‘Yes, you have a bad attitude and I’m going to put it in the report and I hope you get fired.’ He said a lot of ridiculous things.

“I stood up and started walking down and was like, ‘Are we fighting?’ It turned into this big legendary thing where he just started giving me a bunch of s–t and I gave it right back to him. I was like, ‘Look, I’m on television and I’m one of Vince’s champions.’ It turned into this thing and two weeks later we were in England and Vince is like, “I need to talk to you for a minute.

“He’s like, ‘The Tony Atlas thing – what happened?’ I explained to him the story and he’s like, ‘These old timers don’t watch the show. You got to be respectful.’ He said, ‘Sometimes, you just got to eat a little s–t. I eat s–t all day. I eat red s–t, green s–t, blue s–t, all kinds of s–t. I’m eating s–t all day.’ I laughed and I looked at Vince and said, ‘I had eaten enough of his s–t and I was full and he looked a little hungry so I thought maybe he wanted to eat a little s–t of his own.’ He smiled and said, ‘I like that. That’s good.’”

 

[RoyalSkull]

I had never heard the full Tony Atlas story, that's great.

Maybe the best backstage story in YEARS!!! Especially the part where Vince is talking about eating shit and Punk's response...


“He’s like, ‘The Tony Atlas thing – what happened?’ I explained to him the story and he’s like, ‘These old timers don’t watch the show. You got to be respectful.’ He said, ‘Sometimes, you just got to eat a little s–t. I eat s–t all day. I eat red s–t, green s–t, blue s–t, all kinds of s–t. I’m eating s–t all day.’ I laughed and I looked at Vince and said, ‘I had eaten enough of his s–t and I was full and he looked a little hungry so I thought maybe he wanted to eat a little s–t of his own.’ He smiled and said, ‘I like that. That’s good.’”

Indeed, especially this part

 

[HamSwissman]

I think Punk made his own luck. He outperformed and outshined most of the others, while at the same time reaped the benefits of a drug-free lifestyle. Interesting read, but you could look at nearly any successful career and break it down into moments of "luck", as you have.

 

[TM Punk]

Bret Hart was the luckiest man alive

Lucky Break #1: Hart Foundation lost to the Nasty Boys for the tag titles, helping to separate the Hart Foundation

Lucky Break #2: Mr. Perfect had a bad back going into Summerslam, therefore giving the Hart the IC Title

Lucky Break #3: Ric Flair was leaving the company, giving next in line Bret Hart the world title.

Lucky Break #4: Lex Luger wasn't catching on as the flagship of wwf, leading to Bret's 2nd title reign at Wrestlemania X

yada yada yada. Catch my drift?? If you do enough research on ANY champion, you can do the same thing on ''lucky breaks.'' Every champion is 'lucky' in their own way. Every wrestler works their butt off to get into the right position and it's an opportunity and luck that gets them to the next level.

#1: bret hart was already super popular and they were already planning on splitting them. And jim neidhart was well on his way to getting fired.

#2: mr perfect was already set to drop the belt to hart regardless of his back. All him having a bad back tells us is that he cared a lot for the hitman and wanted to put him over.

#3: ric flair wasn't over a whole lot in WWF. At least not as much as he should have been. I believe him leaving and that are about 50/50 reasoning as to why hart won.

#4: fuck lex luger

Its different man. No one was holding bret hart back. Vince openly didn't like punk. He had a father son relationship with bret. ( until 1997)

 

[InaneAffliction]

This is going to be a long post so you can skim it to get the gist of it, but I find CM Punk's history in the WWE very interesting. CM Punk is one of the best in this business, there's no disputing that, but he's also one of the luckiest guys to have entered the WWE ring. Here's why:

Paul Heyman and some other agents went to OVW to find guys for the resurrected ECW brand and Paul Heyman immediately fell head-over-heels for CM Punk. Why wouldn't he? The guy was great in the ring, he had a great character, loads of experience and had the badass hardcore look. Paul Heyman brought him into the ECW brand where he had a pretty good push until Paul Heyman went up to Vince McMahon and told him he wanted CM Punk to win the Elimination Chamber. He told Vince that CM Punk had to pin Big Show in the first few minutes and keep on until he won the Chamber and become ECW's newest star. Vince hated the idea, went with Lashley winning, and when that PPV failed and Heyman was fired, Punk was hated ever since.

Lucky Break #1: Shawn Michaels helped him keep his job

Punk was out first in the Chamber, started losing all his matches and according to Dave Lagana, people were talking about releasing him. Then one day, Shawn Michaels was in the Creative Team meeting and when he heard people talking about how Punk should be released, Shawn stood up and said that if they don't like what he's doing, they should take him aside and help him out. He said they shouldn't fire him just because he isn't "guessing" what they want. The creative team's outlook changed so they kept him around and didn't release him.

Lucky Break #2: CM Punk was left to carry ECW

A year had past since the ECW revival, and Vince was already sick of the brand. He tried to build it up his own way (the wrong way) and it didn't work. He fired Heyman, released a bunch of originals, and guys like Big Show, RVD and Kurt Angle all quit. So he gave up and moved everyone who was left to Raw and Smackdown. Top stars of ECW like Lashley, Sandman and Hardcore Holly were all drafted and lowly midcarders were moved to ECW to fill the hole. Although CM Punk was on a dying brand, this meant he was the main event now. So right off the bat, Chris Benoit and CM Punk were booked in an ECW Championship match for Vengeance. According to Stephanie, Benoit was supposed to win. He no-showed the event (he was too busy playing Jack the Ripper) and Nitro ended up replacing him and winning the ECW title, but CM Punk was still in the main event.

Lucky Break #3: Signature Pharmacy gets busted

John Morrison and CM Punk feuded endlessly for months where Punk lost cleanly each time. WWE was still not on his side. The Boogeyman was going to win a Fatal 4 Way to be booked as Johnny Nitro's next opponent, but Vince McMahon told the referee DURING the match that he changed his mind and wanted Punk to win again extending the feud even more. But this time, all Signature Pharmacy customers were busted and suspended by WWE including guys like Umaga, Edge, Chavo Guerrero and John Morrison himself. This meant WWE had to take the title off Morrison. And who was left to hold it? CM Punk, who gained the title the next week and became the face of ECW.

Lucky Break #4: Jeff Hardy is an addict

After carrying ECW, defending the title against Elijah Burke, The Miz and Big Daddy V, someone backstage gave the order for Punk to lose the title to Chavo Guerrero after the Tony Atlas incident. Apparently, CM Punk was pissed as hell and told everyone about it backstage. That put Punk in the doghouse for a while, but not for long. Punk was in the Money in the Bank ladder match for the second time at WrestleMania 24. Jeff Hardy was booked to win it as he was getting a huge push around this time beating guys like Randy Orton, Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels in singles matches. But weeks before the big event, Jeff was busted by the Wellness Policy and had to miss WrestleMania. With Jeff gone, WWE went with Punk to win the briefcase which practically guaranteed him a world title reign. Obviously, there were 6 other guys who could have won that match so Punk being chosen wasn't entirely about luck, but if it weren't for Jeff, he wouldn't have had his shot.

Lucky Break #5: Smackdown moves to MyNetworkTV and takes Triple H with it

As was reported around the time, WWE needed big names for Smackdown's move to SyFy. They took guys like Jeff Hardy, Big Show and Jim Ross so they can push the brand as big as they could. They needed that one big established superstar to take the brand and it was rumored that the choice was between Cena and Triple H. And it was reported that the night before, Triple H decided to go, but by doing so, he took the WWE title with him. That meant Raw was without a World Champion. But CM Punk had the briefcase... A lightbulb lit up in one of the writers' heads and Punk ended up bring the World title to Raw. He had a not-so-great reign, but it was still a lucky break at the beginning of his career.

Lucky Break #6: Vladimir Kozlov wasn't ready

WWE gave Punk a lackluster reign, had him lose the title to Jericho and moved him into the tag team division where he tagged with Kofi Kingston for a while. After that, he stayed in the midcard where he even won the Intercontinental Championship. After that, he lost the title to JBL who would go on to retire at WrestleMania. So where does that leave Punk?

Well, Vladimir Kozlov was getting the Lesnar treatment feuding with Triple H for the WWE title on Smackdown and challenging The Undertaker for WrestleMania. The big story was that Kozlov was supposed to win Money in the Bank and eventually win the world title later in the year. BUT Vince flipped a gasket when one creative team member said "he isn't ready" and loads of others agreed with him. He ranted about them pushing someone before he was ready without saying anything and now they didn't know what to do.

So instead of giving that last spot to Kozlov, they gave it to Finlay instead. The reasoning was that Finlay was a veteran and deserved to be on the show. The thing was that WWE wasn't ready to push anyone in that match. Finlay was too old, Vince didn't like Christian, No one believed in Mark Henry, MVP was a former criminal, Kane was past his prime, and no one believed in Benjamin or Kofi. That left Punk as the default guy to win the briefcase and this was all because WWE lost faith in Vladimir Kozlov.

Lucky Break #7: Jeff Hardy decides to quit

So CM Punk was moved to Smackdown, cashed in on Jeff Hardy, turned heel and gave us feud of the year. Jeff Hardy won the title back at Night of Champions and would have easily stayed champion heading into the fall had it not been because he was quitting. Due to him leaving, WWE gave the title back to CM Punk at SummerSlam and had him retire Jeff Hardy on the following Smackdown. Had it not been for Jeff quitting, Punk could have easily been delegated back to the mid-card.

Lucky Break #8: Commentary!

Punk then had an unlucky break. The Undertaker supposedly told him to "dress like a champion" and Punk told him Cena wears jorts which meant he could wear whatever he wanted. The Undertaker got upset and told management about it which in turn led to Undertaker winning the World title at Hell in a Cell. Punk was delegated back to mid-card where he feuded with R-Truth, Matt Hardy and a few other guys before forming the Straight Edge Society and feuding with Rey Mysterio. Rey pitched an idea for Mania and they both got their Mania match which Rey ended up winning. The feud kept on, Punk lost his hair, then he lost his mask, and then started jobbing to The Big Show for weeks. Then Punk was moved to Raw in exchange for Edge where he stayed on the midcard beating guys like Evan Bourne up. Then his injury happened, but he tells WWE he wants to stick around so they put him on commentary. And what happens? VINCE FALLS IN LOVE WITH HIM. He loves everything Punk says on the microphone and starts telling announcers to be more like Punk. So when Punk is ready to return, Vince gives him the Nexus and has him lead 2011 with a big feud against John Cena. All because he got to sit on the announcer's desk.

Lucky Break #9: Randy Orton's got nothing for WrestleMania

The truth was that even though Orton was champion for most of the year, Cena was always booked as the face of Raw. WWE decided to go with John Cena vs. The Miz for the WWE title at WrestleMania which left Randy Orton with nothing to do. Just like the year before with Rey, Punk went backstage and pitched to Orton a feud based on the punt Randy gave him in 2008. Orton went along with the idea, gave it to management and Punk had his big match at WrestleMania. Punk was still pissed that he wasn't being treated like a star, but he was at least getting big matches due to always being in the right place at the right time. Still, he grew tired with this and decided he wanted to quit...

Lucky Break #10: The Promo heard around the World!

CM Punk told WWE he wanted to quit, but Vince wanted to keep him around. After all, he was a great heel that helped put over his top guys like Rey, Cena and Orton. Still, Punk felt he should have been the one facing Cena at WrestleMania for the title, not Miz. He told Vince that he wasn't being treated right. To prove Punk is that good, Cena pitched to feud with him. Punk becomes #1 Contender and goes on to face John Cena at Money in the Bank, all while his contract is STILL EXPIRING. One day Vince tells him to go out and say why he's quitting, to tell the truth, to say whatever he wanted and he'll cut the mic whenever it gets too rough. And that ladies and gentlemen, was exactly what Punk needed. He went out there, told the truth, and became the internet sensation he is now. Punk became a hot commodity, Vince realized this, knew what he had on his hands and immediately signed him to a lucrative contract. The rest is history and now CM Punk is our WWE Champion.

None of these events would have happened without Punk being trusted and/or respected backstage, but luck had a lot to do with it. He had the talent and they all knew it, but no one really thought he was good enough to be at the top. CM Punk was always that #2 guy. He was #2 behind Chris Benoit to carry ECW, #2 behind Nitro to be ECW Champion, #2 behind Jeff Hardy for the Money in the Bank, he was #2 behind Miz to face Cena at Mania, etc. He was never treated as the best pick for anything, but certain circumstances helped him overcome that and gain titles, pushes and main event spots along the way. He's one lucky mo********er all right, but he deserves that luck more than anyone.

Ironically, I think this shows that Vince McMahon is in fact, the luckiest man in the world.

Here's a guy that walks in the door of his company with a strong indie following, who while unspectacular at the time was solid and got shit on by a lot of fellow wrestlers and higher ups. Rather than getting him to where they supposedly wanted him to be, they used him as stepping stones for other wrestlers.

Only when Vince finally let CM Punk be CM Punk (and after years of eating shit and "paying dues") did he finally become what they were looking for. All around the time that Punk was wrapping up his prior contract. Most guys would have told Vince to GFY and went to wrestle in Japan/ROH/etc. Punk stood and is now arguably the top guy in the company but there were many ways it could have turned out NOT to be.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

Luck is for losers.

EVERYONE who is successful looks lucky. Punk isn't lucky, he just makes the most of opportunities because he's damn good. He connects to the audience. If he didn't, HBK could say anything he wants and he'd still be gone.

Saying Punk is lucky is about as ridiculous as that thread that said Cena was lucky. The difference between a "lucky" situation and an "unlucky" situation is taking advantage of the situation.

 

[SPR*VLN]

TWJC, damn you took the words outta my mouth. He worked for where he was plus I believe everything happens for a reason. If that's the case put everyones career on paper, all of them have had their share of breaks/luck. Luckiest man alive hell no! You'd have a argument if you said WWE, Hugh Hefner is luckier then Punk lol. Nice post tho.

 

[SD619]

Saying that Punk got lucky undermines all of his efforts in getting to where he is today. Luck may have been a factor in his initial pushes, but if he was not talented and connected so well with the audience.

And also, the 'got lucky' argument can be made for almost every wrestler. Ultimately , it is talent mixed with little luck that results in success, not luck alone.

 

[bjdc1204]

Everybody's stuck on this whole Tony Atlas thing right now. I know about the incident, but i'm not quite sure it had something to do in him dropping the belt to Chavo. But here's my question..........

Where's the sources & confirmation to everything else you put.........I mean, Really??

 

[mdj2010]

Luck is for losers.

EVERYONE who is successful looks lucky. Punk isn't lucky, he just makes the most of opportunities because he's damn good. He connects to the audience. If he didn't, HBK could say anything he wants and he'd still be gone.

Saying Punk is lucky is about as ridiculous as that thread that said Cena was lucky. The difference between a "lucky" situation and an "unlucky" situation is taking advantage of the situation.

I couldn't agree more. Everything you have noted in the initial (very good) post, does nothing more than highlight the fact that when the chips were down and the odds were against him, CM Punk kept on working and working hard. I think CM Punk is now seeing the advantages of that hard work truly pay off. You could say CM Punk has been lucky. If you ask me, WWE should be thanking their lucky stars that Shawn Michaels stood up to question their judgement in releasing him, because without CM Punk, the WWE would have had a pretty depressing 2011. With him, it gave us one of the most fascinating years since the E went PG.

 

[NegativeFeedback]

Everybody's stuck on this whole Tony Atlas thing right now. I know about the incident, but i'm not quite sure it had something to do in him dropping the belt to Chavo. But here's my question..........

Where's the sources & confirmation to everything else you put.........I mean, Really??

If you don't believe anything, just google it. You'll find it. Because I have some spare time on my hands, I'll help you out with the major stuff:

• The CM Punk/Elimination Chamber scandal: http://is.gd/m1O6wW
• Shawn Michaels saved CM Punk: http://is.gd/UKWWtj
• Chris Benoit was booked to win ECW Championship: http://is.gd/MmD4Xf
• The Boogeyman was supposed to be the new #1 Contender: http://is.gd/5C9pfJ
• John Morrison suspended due to Signature Pharmacy scandal: http://is.gd/HQjiCX
• Jeff Hardy was supposed to win Money in the Bank: http://is.gd/gU1FnH
• Tony Atlas incident: http://is.gd/C6a09H
• Triple H moves to Smackdown for the MyNetworkTV move: http://is.gd/5btRtt
• Vladimir Kozlov wasn't ready and McMahon threw a fit about it: http://is.gd/kENWLN
• Jeff Hardy quits: http://is.gd/U7FnOq
• The CM Punk/Undertaker altercation: http://is.gd/bITV7g
• Punk pitched Rey his idea for WM26: http://is.gd/TnsVgy
• Vince LOVES Punk's commentary!: http://is.gd/FQc8wt
• CM Punk was on WM27 solely because Orton had nothing: http://is.gd/Bo9Fod
• John Cena pitches to work with Punk in the summer: http://is.gd/5KuRKS

In 10 minutes, I got sources for all of that. If there is anything else you feel skeptical about, just look it up, I didn't lie about anything. These are all stories I've read throughout the years about how CM Punk came to prominence as I've always followed his career closely. Punk's always been my favorite and I'm glad he has had so much success. Hopefully he continues his lucky streak for the next few years.

 

[legendkiller1979]

I have to say that Bret Hart being the luckiest wrestler ever is the dumbest thing I've ever read. It was already covered why EVERY SINGLE POINT is wrong so I'm not gonna do it again. I can't believe you could that was so obvious and so widely known and try to twist it around.

I have to say the points about Punk being lucky was very well put together. I don't know that I disagree with any point made, but I've heard it said a few times that Punk was turned heel because he was getting over. He did a great job getting himself over and he didn't have to be shameless like Zack Ryder.

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

When I first saw the thread title, I thought that this was going to be another thread made for the purpose of trolling Punk's fans. But I think that it's a pretty good post though it isn't that I agree with everything. I'll get to that in a second but what I will say right at the start is that in every field, you do need a bit of luck to succeed. Hogan, Austin, Cena are all great superstars but without luck heping them out at critical junctures in their career, they would have been nobodies.

Lucky Break #1: Shawn Michaels helped him keep his job

I do not quite think that this was luck. HBK must have been genuinely impressed with Punk's skills, which are not a result of luck, and that is why he backed him. He must have observed him for some time before backing him. HBK isn't someone who praises people easily.

Lucky Break #2: CM Punk was left to carry ECW

I agree that this could be termed as luck. Lots of legends left ECW and that is why it became this youth brand that people fondly remember. Punk was lucky to get pushed during this time.

Lucky Break #3: Signature Pharmacy gets busted

This might be termed as a lucky break but it cannot be ascertained before knowing everything. Maybe Vince changed his mind altogether on Punk before the pharmacy got busted and maybe that why he had Punk win the No 1 contenders match. Maybe he intended Punk to be champion before the pharmacy got busted. You never know.

Lucky Break #4: Jeff Hardy is an addict

While the incident itself may be a stroke of luck, it would not be wrong to say that Punk's first title run did not help him much either. So this is good luck mixed with bad luck!! He could have, for all we know, ended up like a Jack Swagger.


Lucky Break #5: Smackdown moves to MyNetworkTV and takes Triple H with it

See above.

Lucky Break #6: Vladimir Kozlov wasn't ready

From what I have read on this subject, Kozlov lost support with the upper echelon of the WWE long before any plans about the MITB. So, not really sure here.

Lucky Break #7: Jeff Hardy decides to quit

It's presumptious to think that Jeff would have been given a long title reign because Jeff's previous title reigns had been short and there was a theory that Jeff was better draw when chasing the title than keeping it. Also Undertaker was returning and so don't you think that it would have made more sense to feud him with a heel. Enter Punk.

Lucky Break #8: Commentary!

Well, for all we know the commentary idea could have been pitched in by Punk himself. Secondly Vince beginning to like him has to do more with his own skill than luck. And thirdly, Vince probably did not love him too much because he was given only a TV feud with Cena while Miz was the bigger story at that time.

Lucky Break #9: Randy Orton's got nothing for WrestleMania

Again, I think Punk put the idea to the management and to Orton and gave them ideas for this feud as well. Yes, luck played it's part here but so did skill.

Lucky Break #10: The Promo heard around the World!

Again Vince trusted him because of his prowess with the mic rather than some sort of magic. And as we all know that promo required skill, so Punk's popularity is because of his skills rather than his luck.

 

[HorsemenNo4]

Punk has caught a lot of breaks in his career. It shows how good he is by capitalizing on all of them. He took the ball and ran with it each time. A lot of guys would drop it after the 2nd or 3rd break.

The commentary really helped him with re-introducing him with the RAW audience. Sadly, the New Nexus really slowed him down instead of helping him.

Good read and some great points brought up. When you see it all in front of you like that, he truly did catch some great breaks.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

If a pitcher hangs a curveball and I over swing and pull it foul, but then strikeout on his next pitch. Then someone else gets another hanger and crushes it, is he lucky? Or just good?

EVERYONE is given situations and "luck" it's just that most don't capitalize on it. People who think the world is luck-driven aren't successful. They have what's called an "external locus of control" you feel like you aren't in control. CM Punk, Bret Hart, John Cena, and surely Vince McMahon (people who I've read on these boards as "lucky") all seem to have internal locuses of control. They feel like they control their own destiny. It's why they're successful. It's why Punk has a tatoo that says "luck is for losers".

 

[HBsam31]

I think most successes have a little to do with luck, but you have to have the skills to make that luck work for you. You can't fool people for long that you are great at what you do. The way that it is put in this post is insinuating that it is all luck that got him to where he is, but is ignoring all years of work put in to get him in the position for the lucky breaks in the first place. One could get a lucky break and fail miserably with the chance. Punk didn't really really break out until he did the shoot style promo. It got people to pay attention and then they really got to see what he could do. Luck can only get you so far.

 

[Flip36]

great read! i love posts without any kayfabe inbetween, very interesting stuff, I am actually going to forward this to a few people I have recently got into WWE since I took them to SS at MSG last month.