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No matter what CM Punk does next in his career, he will forever be associated with the wrestling business.
“The Best In The World” rose to prominence during his time with Ring of Honor between 2002-2006, while he went on to become one of WWE’s top Superstars during his nine-year association with the company between 2005-2014.
Given the acrimonious circumstances surrounding his departure, it feels like the five-time WWE World Champion has lots of unfinished business with his former employers, especially as he is only 41 and he could have plenty of years left as an in-ring performer.
We often hear fans speculate about what Punk could do if he ever returns to WWE, but we want to take a look back at what happened in the weeks leading up to his dramatic exit in January 2014.
Who did he face? Why was he so unhappy? What plans did WWE have for him next?
In this article, let’s answer those questions as we recap the final five matches of Punk’s WWE career.
#5 CM Punk vs. Roman Reigns
WWE went old school on the January 6, 2014 episode of RAW, with legendary names including Ric Flair, Jake Roberts, Roddy Piper and Sgt. Slaughter making special appearances.
The main event saw CM Punk take on Roman Reigns in a match that would no doubt be considered worthy of headlining WrestleMania if it took place in the future. Back then, however, it was simply another chapter in the ongoing feud between The Shield and Punk, who had The New Age Outlaws as his allies.
The finish to the match came when Punk turned around after a distraction from Dean Ambrose, only to find himself on the receiving end of a crowd-popping spear from Reigns.
Just as The Shield were set to celebrate Reigns’ victory, Jake Roberts’ music hit and the WWE Hall of Famer made his way down to the ring. Punk, Billy Gunn and Road Dogg then took out all three Shield members, allowing Roberts to place a snake over Ambrose’s body.
#4 CM Punk & The New Age Outlaws vs. The Shield
One night after Roman Reigns’ statement-making win over CM Punk, the two men went head-to-head again at a SmackDown taping. This time, their allies were added to the match, with Reigns teaming with his fellow Shield members and Punk teaming with The New Age Outlaws.
Prior to the match, The Shield cut an entertaining promo in the middle of the ring. Rollins mentioned how his group were the future of WWE, which turned out to be true, and Reigns declared himself “The New Best In The World” after his win over Punk on RAW.
Just like the previous night, Reigns emerged with the victory on this episode of SmackDown, sealing a 1-2-3 pinfall win for his team after taking out Billy Gunn with a spear.
As for Punk, he was recovering at ringside after landing a suicide dive to the outside, which looked like it legitimately hurt him a lot more than the man he connected with, Dean Ambrose.
#3 CM Punk & The New Age Outlaws vs. The Shield
The storyline between CM Punk & The New Age Outlaws and The Shield continued on the January 13, 2014 episode of RAW, where the two teams battled it out in a six-man tag team rematch from the previous week’s SmackDown.
Towards the end of the match, Punk had been the legal man for several minutes and attempted to tag one of his partners. However, just as he tried to do so, both Billy Gunn and Road Dogg hopped off the ring apron and walked to the backstage area, betraying Punk and leaving him all alone against three opponents.
“The Best In The World” tried to put up a fight but it did not take long for Reigns to, you guessed it, win with a spear for the third time in a week. The Shield then added insult to injury by triple powerbombing Punk following the match.
Later in the night, Punk confronted Corporate Kane, who allayed the five-time WWE World Champion’s fears that The Authority were out to get him by announcing that he would have the opportunity to main-event WrestleMania 30 if he won the 2014 Royal Rumble.
#2 CM Punk vs. Billy Gunn
One week after betraying CM Punk, Billy Gunn and Road Dogg played rock-paper-scissors on their way to the ring to determine who would face their ally-turned-enemy in a one-on-one match. Gunn lost, which meant he took on Punk while Road Dogg joined the commentary team.
With no Shield to get in the way, the nine-minute match ended in a victory for Punk, who attacked Road Dogg at ringside before hitting a GTS on Gunn to pick up the win.
Following the match, General Manager Brad Maddox looked set to make an announcement on the stage area. However, Corporate Kane interrupted him and revealed that “The Best In The World” would be the #1 entrant in the 2014 Royal Rumble.
It is worth noting that Punk, who complained about injuries that he had following his WWE exit, looked exhausted at stages of this match, especially towards the end when he launched himself through the ropes to take out Road Dogg with a suicide dive.
#1 Royal Rumble 2014
At the time, it was clear that WWE was building towards a match between CM Punk and Triple H at WrestleMania 30, and that has since been confirmed by both men in interviews.
As you might gather from what you’ve read so far in this article, the storyline in the month leading up to Punk’s departure was not too bad. The betrayal from Triple H’s D-Generation X buddies made perfect sense, while the introduction of Corporate Kane to the story would have nicely set up the HHH match at ‘Mania.
But, as it turned out, Punk’s 49-minute appearance in the 2014 Royal Rumble proved to be the final match of his WWE career. He eliminated three men (Damien Sandow, Rusev and Kane), but the latter elimination came back to bite him, as “The Big Red Machine” pulled his rival over the top rope, causing an elimination, before chokeslamming him through the announce desk.
The next day, Punk – who suffered a concussion in the Rumble match, courtesy of a clothesline from Kofi Kingston – was informed backstage by Vince McMahon that he would indeed be facing Triple H at WrestleMania 30. The former WWE Champion responded by listing the grievances that he had with the company, including the prospect of facing HHH, and he walked out… never to be seen in a WWE ring again!
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