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Former WWE Champion CM Punk is arguably one of the biggest superstars in the history of WWE. One of the crowning accomplishments for CM Punk during his WWE career was his record-setting WWE Championship reign from 2011 to 2013.
CM Punk defeated Alberto Del Rio at Survivor Series 2011 to become the WWE Champion for the second and final time in his WWE career. The WWE title reign would last an incredible 434 days before CM Punk finally lost it to The Rock at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view in January 2013.
At the time, WWE recognized CM Punk's WWE Championship reign as the longest World Championship reign of any kind in the "modern era" of WWE. This record lasted until Brock Lesnar's WWE Universal Championship reign broke it in June 2018.
CM Punk had several high-profile opponents throughout his historic WWE Championship reign. This led to some impressive and huge victories for the Second City Savior over the course of 434 days.
Let's take a closer look at CM Punk’s 5 biggest victories as WWE Champion.
#5 CM Punk def. Dolph Ziggler (WWE Royal Rumble 2012)
After winning the WWE Championship in November, CM Punk entered a feud on WWE television with Executive Vice President of Talent Relations and Interim RAW General Manager John Laurinaitis. Punk would often mock Laurinaitis for the way he spoke and acted on Monday Night RAW.
This led to the Interim RAW General Manager booking CM Punk in a gauntlet match on RAW against several WWE Superstars. After facing several opponents, CM Punk was eventually defeated by Dolph Ziggler, making Ziggler the number one contender for the WWE Championship.
Throughout January 2012, John Laurinaitis cost CM Punk several matches on Monday Night RAW against Dolph Ziggler, causing the WWE Champion to lose by disqualification and count-out. This constant outside interference eventually led to CM Punk hitting John Laurinaitis with the GTS on Monday Night RAW.
CM Punk was then booked to defend the WWE Championship against Dolph Ziggler at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view, with John Laurinaitis serving as the special guest outside enforcer for the match. A pre-match stipulation stated that Dolph Ziggler's tag team partner, Jack Swagger and manager, Vickie Guerrero, were both banned from ringside.
After a back and forth match, which also saw the referee incapacitated for a period of time, CM Punk hit the GTS on Dolph Ziggler to retain the WWE Championship. Outside enforcer John Laurinaitis even made the three count, much to the surprise of CM Punk.
#4 CM Punk def. The Miz, Dolph Ziggler, Chris Jericho, R-Truth and Kofi Kingston (WWE Elimination Chamber 2012)
CM Punk entered a feud with the recently returned Chris Jericho during the early part of 2012 on WWE television. The rivalry between Punk and Jericho continued at the WWE Elimination Chamber pay-per-view in February.
CM Punk defended the WWE Championship against Monday Night RAW Superstars The Miz, Dolph Ziggler, Chris Jericho, R-Truth and Kofi Kingston in an Elimination Chamber match.
To even further stack the odds against CM Punk, the WWE Champion started off the match against Kofi Kingston. CM Punk's opponent the prior month at the Royal Rumble, Dolph Ziggler, was the next entry into the match. Ziggler immediately targeted his long-term rival.
R-Truth was the next WWE Superstar to enter the match. However, Truth was quickly eliminated by CM Punk after the WWE Champion hit R-Truth with a "Macho Man" inspired diving elbow drop from the top rope.
The Miz was the next WWE Superstar to enter the Elimination Chamber match, followed by Chris Jericho who had earned the opportunity to enter the match as the final entrant during a prior episode of Monday Night RAW.
Chris Jericho quickly eliminated Dolph Ziggler after hitting The Showoff with a Codebreaker for a pinfall. This was then followed by forcing Kofi Kingston to submit to the Walls of Jericho submission, eliminating Kingston from the match. Chris Jericho was then struck by a roundhouse kick by CM Punk, causing him to fall out of the Elimination Chamber door and land on a ringside camera operator.
Due to injuries sustained, the WWE medical team ruled that Chris Jericho was unable to compete and therefore eliminated from the match. This led to CM Punk and The Miz being the final competitors remaining in the match.
Despite The Miz hitting his Skull Crushing Finale finishing move, CM Punk was able to kick out and eventually hit The Miz with the GTS to eliminate his opponent and retain the WWE Championship in the process.
#3 CM Punk def. Kane and Daniel Bryan (WWE No Way Out 2012)
CM Punk entered a storyline with Daniel Bryan, Kane and AJ Lee throughout the summer of 2012 on WWE television.
Prior to CM Punk's WWE Championship defense against Daniel Bryan at Over The Limit, Bryan interfered in a match between Punk and Kane on Monday Night RAW.
Daniel Bryan attempted to frame CM Punk for attacking Kane with a steel chair, causing Kane to become involved in Punk and Bryan's rivalry.
Daniel Bryan interferred once again in a WWE Championship match between CM Punk and Kane on an episode of SmackDown in June. Concurrently, Daniel Bryan's former girlfriend AJ Lee also became involved in the storyline, turning her affections to both CM Punk and Kane on respective episodes of Monday Night RAW.
The feud between the three WWE Superstars culminated at the No Way Out pay-per-view where CM Punk faced off against Daniel Bryan and Kane in a triple threat match for the WWE Championship.
In the closing moments of the match, Kane inadvertently collided with AJ Lee who had appeared at ringside during the match. This distraction allowed CM Punk to hit Kane with the GTS and retain the WWE Championship in the process.
#2 CM Punk def. Chris Jericho (WWE WrestleMania XXVIII)
CM Punk entered a feud with Chris Jericho after Y2J returned to WWE television following an 18-month hiatus in 2012.
After returning to much fanfare following a series of mystery vignettes, Chris Jericho accused several WWE Superstars, including WWE Champion CM Punk, of attempting to "rip-off" Y2J.
Chris Jericho was furious with CM Punk for billing himself as "the best in the world" in WWE as Jericho had referred to himself by a similar moniker on WWE television several years earlier.
After winning a match against several WWE Superstars on Monday Night RAW, Chris Jericho became the number one contender for the WWE Championship. This set up a match between Jericho and CM Punk at WrestleMania XXVIII for the WWE Championship.
Prior to the match, Chris Jericho began a series of mindgames with CM Punk on WWE television. Chris Jericho began throwing accusations at CM Punk, revealing that Punk's father was an alcoholic, in addition to his sister also being a drug addict. This was the polar opposite of CM Punk's well documented straight edge lifestyle.
After seriously getting under the skin of CM Punk, it was announced that if the WWE Champion was disqualified during his WWE Championship match at WrestleMania, he would lose the WWE Title.
However, despite Y2J's constant attempts to make the WWE Champion lose his cool, CM Punk held his nerve and defeated Chris Jericho at WrestleMania XXVIII. Punk forced Jericho to submit to his anaconda vice submission hold for the victory, retaining the WWE Championship in the process.
#1 CM Punk def. Daniel Bryan (WWE Over The Limit 2012)
CM Punk entered a feud with former long-time Ring of Honor opponent Daniel Bryan on WWE television in the spring of 2012. Their rivalry resulted in a WWE Championship match between the former ROH wrestlers at the Over The Limit pay-per-view.
Daniel Bryan and CM Punk even referred to their Ring of Honor past by shaking hands prior to the beginning of the match.
The match was a technical wrestling masterclass. The WWE Universe in attendance and fans watching around the world were wowed by a series of near falls, false finishes and intricate submission holds.
In the closing moments of the match, Daniel Bryan was able to successfully lock in the YES! Lock on the WWE Champion. However, CM Punk was able to reverse Daniel Bryan's submission hold into a pinning combination, allowing Punk to successfully get the pinfall on Daniel Bryan to retain the WWE Championship.
This was incredibly fortunate for the WWE Champion as CM Punk submitted to Daniel Bryan's YES! Lock just seconds after he successfully defeated his opponent to retain the WWE Championship.
