Three hundred and sixty five days later, we can point at all the things CM Punk didn’t do. Punk didn’t run off with the title. Punk didn’t change the title. Punk didn’t change WWE – not more than any other champion can be said to, really. One thing CM Punk did do; broke free from a surfboard, clawed up a kendo stick, swung around and whooped the shit out of Daniel Bryan live on pay-per-view. That right there, CM Punk with one arm and one leg still in a surfboard, desperately smacking the crap out of Daniel Bryan at Money in the Bank, was my favorite moment of CM Punk’s year long title reign.
Here you’ve got two guys whose ring styles are similar enough that they could just be pallet swaps of one another; two guys who, despite coming into WWE years apart, came into and up through wrestling as part of the same crowd. OK, so we don’t have Colt Cabana or Austin Aries or, dare I say it, Low Ki – but for two months we had CM Punk versus Daniel Bryan for the WWE Championship on pay-per-view. Their second match was particularly brutal (and my particular favorite). It seemed, for one night only, the two decided to throw that homogenous ‘WWE style’ out of the window. This was indie wrestling: thrills, spills and Singapore canes. A chant for tables was not only acknowledged but rewarded – with the finishing spot. The psychology of this one was simple – two men playing a game of one-upmanship. Who could kick harder? Who could take more of a thrashing? Who would be the first to go through a table? Who was going to walk out with the WWE Championship on one arm and AJ Lee on the other? The first law of Heymanology: keep it simple, stupid.
I don’t necessarily think his match (or feud) with Bryan was Punk’s best match (or feud) over the last year – that would go to his match (and feud!) with Cena at Night of Champions. What it was was the most significant – proof that you didn’t have to be a six foot eleven, heavily tanned FCW goon to make it to the pinnacle. Want to be WWE Champion? Want to defend the belt against your mate? You can be a six foot two, skinny-fat short order cook as long as you have the talent.
