Phillip Jack "Phil" Brooks (born October 26, 1978), better known by the ring name CM Punk, is an American former professional wrestler and an upcoming mixed martial artist. He is best known for his time in WWE, where he is "the longest-reigning WWE Champion of the modern era" (since Hulk Hogan's 1,474 day reign ended in 1988), having held the title for 434 days from November 20, 2011 to January 27, 2013. Punk's reign is officially recognized as the sixth-longest of all time.
In professional wrestling, Punk has held world championships including the ROH World Championship, OVW Heavyweight Championship, and ECW World Championship once each, the IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Championship five times, WWE's World Heavyweight Championship three times, and the WWE Championship twice. He won the World Tag Team Championship (with Kofi Kingston) and the WWE Intercontinental Championship, making him the 19th WWE Triple Crown Champion and the fastest man in WWE history to achieve this feat, in 203 days. He was a two-time ROH World Tag Team Champion (with Colt Cabana as part of the The Second City Saints). Punk also won the 2008 and 2009 Money in the Bank ladder matches (the only wrestler to win the match twice),and the 2011 Superstar of the Year Slammy Award in WWE.
Punk initially came to prominence through his career on the U.S. professional wrestling independent circuit, primarily as a member of the Ring of Honor (ROH) roster, where he was also the first head trainer of the ROH wrestling school. In 2005, he signed a contract with WWE and was sent to its developmental promotion, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), where he won every championship available in that promotion. On June 24, 2006, Punk made his WWE television debut, performing in ECW, which was then a branch of WWE. In 2008, he rose to the main event scene on the main WWE roster and remained a company fixture until his acrimonious departure in 2014. He is the only WWE talent whose merchandise sales eclipsed those of company face John Cena, accomplishing this feat in 2011.[15] Despite his prominence within the company, Punk never headlined WWE's premier annual pay-per-view event, WrestleMania, which became a source of professional dissatisfaction.
Throughout his career, Punk consistently used the gimmick of being an outspoken, sharp-tongued, anti-establishment, and straight edge iconoclast. Punk's straight edge principals and outspokenness when in character were based on his actual demeanor and way of life out of character.Depending on Punk's alignment as a fan favorite or villain, he emphasized different aspects of the culture to arouse the desired audience reaction.
Following his retirement from professional wrestling, Punk signed a deal with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and began to pursue a career in mixed martial arts, planning to begin fighting in 2015.
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