World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE (2005–2014)
Upon being signed by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), CM Punk was assigned to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), its developmental territory, where he was mentored by Paul Heyman. He debuted in September 2005 in a dark match. In his first appearance on OVW TV later that month, Punk suffered a broken nose and ruptured eardrum in a match with Danny Inferno. In November 2005, Punk defeated Ken Doane to win the OVW Television Championship. Immediately thereafter, Punk began to feud with Brent Albright, culminating in a three way dance between Punk, Doane, and Albright in January 2006; after Doane was injured during the match, he was replaced by Aaron "The Idol" Stevens, who won the match and became the new OVW Television Champion. In February 2006, Punk entered into a tournament to crown a new OVW Heavyweight Champion, losing to Albright in the finals. In May 2006, Punk defeated Albright in a strap match to win the OVW Heavyweight Championship. In July 2006, Punk and Seth Skyfire defeated Shad Gaspard and the Neighborhoodie to win the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship, making Punk a double champion. They lost the titles to Deuce Shade and "Domino" Cliff Compton in August 2006. Later that same month, Punk lost the OVW Heavyweight Championship to Chet the Jett. Following his defeat, Punk ceased appearing regularly with OVW, but continued to make sporadic appearances until WWE and OVW ended their developmental partnership on February 7, 2008.
Punk debuted in ECW on June 24, 2006, defeating Stevie Richards at a Philadelphia house show. Punk's televised introduction followed on July 4 episode of ECW on Sci Fi, featuring a straight edge-themed promo alongside a new Muay Thai-inspired presentation. Punk wrestled his first televised match for the brand on August 1 at Hammerstein Ballroom, defeating Justin Credible, and later scored additional victories over C. W. Anderson, Stevie Richards, and Shannon Moore across subsequent ECW broadcasts.
Punk soon entered a rivalry with Mike Knox after Knox's on-screen girlfriend Kelly Kelly displayed romantic interest in him. He defeated Knox in consecutive matches on November 7 and 14 episodes of ECW. At Survivor Series on November 26, Punk made his pay-per-view (PPV) debut in a winning effort as part of the traditional elimination match. Punk's next PPV appearance came at December to Dismember on December 3, where he was the first eliminated in the Extreme Elimination Chamber match for the ECW World Championship.
Punk suffered his first ECW singles loss on January 9, 2007, episode, ending his six-month undefeated streak against Hardcore Holly. Punk later competed unsuccessfully in the WrestleMania 23 Money in the Bank ladder match on April 1. The following weeks saw Punk entangled in the New Breed vs. ECW Originals feud, initially aligning with the New Breed after being courted by both factions, turning heel in the process. Punk's heel turn proved short-lived, as he betrayed the New Breed by attacking leader Elijah Burke during a multi-man tag team match, reestablishing himself as a fan favorite. Punk defeated Burke in his first singles PPV match at Judgment Day on May 20, then closed the rivalry at One Night Stand on June 3 by teaming with Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman to defeat the New Breed in a tables match.
After ECW World Champion Bobby Lashley was drafted to Raw and stripped of the title, Punk advanced to the tournament finals at Vengeance: Night of Champions on June 24, 2007. Punk's scheduled opponent Chris Benoit was replaced last-minute by Johnny Nitro, who defeated Punk for the vacant championship. Punk challenged Nitro (later renamed John Morrison) in unsuccessful title matches at The Great American Bash on July 22 and SummerSlam on August 26. Punk finally captured the ECW Championship by defeating Morrison in a last chance match on September 4 episode of ECW.
Punk defended the title successfully throughout the fall, retaining against Elijah Burke at Unforgiven on September 16, overcoming Big Daddy V via disqualification at No Mercy on October 7, and defeating The Miz at Cyber Sunday on October 28. After surviving another challenge from Morrison on November 6 and a triple threat against Morrison and The Miz at Survivor Series on November 18, Punk's 143-day reign ended on January 22, 2008, episode of ECW when he lost to Chavo Guerrero in a no disqualification match following interference from Edge.
On March 30 at WrestleMania XXIV, Punk won the Money in the Bank ladder match, earning him a shot at either the WWE, World Heavyweight, or ECW titles at any time. On June 23, Punk was drafted to the Raw brand during the 2008 WWE draft and cashed in his Money in the Bank contract the following week on Raw, winning the World Heavyweight Championship from Edge. Punk continued to hold and defend the title (against the likes of Batista on July 20 at The Great American Bash and the July 21 episode of Raw, and JBL at SummerSlam on August 17) until Unforgiven on September 7, when he was attacked by The Legacy and Randy Orton, who punted Punk in the head before the Championship scramble match, ending his reign at 69 days. Punk could not participate in the match due to the attack and so was forced to forfeit the title, being replaced by Chris Jericho, who won the match and the title. On September 15 episode of Raw, Punk received his title rematch, but failed to regain the title in a steel cage match against Jericho.
On October 27 episode of Raw, Punk and Kofi Kingston defeated Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase to win the World Tag Team Championship. The duo were members of Team Batista on November 23 at Survivor Series, where their team lost to Team Orton after Rhodes eliminated Punk. Punk then entered a number one contender WWE Intercontinental Championship tournament, defeating Snitsky and John Morrison in the first two rounds. Punk and Kingston lost the World Tag Team Championship to John Morrison and The Miz on December 13 at a live event. The next day at Armageddon on December 14, Punk defeated Rey Mysterio in the tournament finals. On January 5, 2009, episode of Raw, Punk received his title match against William Regal, which ended in a disqualification when Regal grabbed the referee's jersey. Due to this, Stephanie McMahon awarded Punk a rematch the following week on Raw, but this time Punk got disqualified. McMahon awarded him another rematch, a no disqualification match on January 19 episode of Raw, where Punk defeated Regal to win the Intercontinental Championship. With this win, Punk became the 19th WWE Triple Crown Champion and the fastest ever to accomplish the feat, surpassing Kevin Nash's record of 203 days. He lost the title on March 9 episode of Raw to John "Bradshaw" Layfield.
On April 5 at WrestleMania 25, Punk won the Money in the Bank ladder match and became the first person to win the match twice. On April 13 during the 2009 WWE draft, Punk was drafted to the SmackDown brand. In the period after the draft, Punk feuded with Umaga over Umaga's repeated surprise attacks while Punk was attempting to cash in his Money in the Bank contract, ultimately resulting in a Samoan strap match at Extreme Rules on June 7, which was won by Punk. Later that night, Punk cashed in his Money in the Bank contract to defeat Jeff Hardy for the World Heavyweight Championship immediately after Hardy won the title from Edge in a ladder match. Punk made his first successful title defense in a triple threat match against both Edge and Hardy on June 15 episode of Raw. On June 28 at The Bash, Punk retained the title even though he lost to Hardy by disqualification (because titles do not change hands on a disqualification) after kicking the referee. As part of the storyline, Punk injured his eye and said that he could not see the referee, but Hardy called his eye injury into question, believing it to be feigned, with Punk claiming to be the moral superior of those who support Hardy, due to his drug-free lifestyle, resulting in Punk turning heel in the process. On July 26 at Night of Champions, Punk lost the World Heavyweight Championship to Hardy. Their feud continued through SummerSlam on August 23, when Punk regained the title in a TLC match only to be attacked by The Undertaker.
On August 28 episode of SmackDown, Punk concluded his feud with Hardy and achieved his booked goal of excising him from WWE, defeating Hardy in a steel cage match to retain the World Heavyweight Championship, wherein the loser agreed to leave the company. On September 13 at Breaking Point, Punk defeated The Undertaker in a submission match to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. The Undertaker originally won the match with his "Hell's Gate" submission hold, but SmackDown general manager Theodore Long restarted the match after stating that the ban that former SmackDown general manager Vickie Guerrero had placed on the move a year earlier was still in effect and Punk won the match with the anaconda vise when referee Scott Armstrong called for the bell despite Undertaker never submitting (reminiscent to the Montreal Screwjob, which took place in the same venue in 1997). The feud between the two continued and on October 4 at Hell in a Cell, Punk lost the World Heavyweight Championship to The Undertaker in convincing fashion in a Hell in a Cell match. Punk went on to lose two subsequent rematches for the World Heavyweight Championship against The Undertaker on October 23 SmackDown, and on October 25 at Bragging Rights in a fatal four-way match also involving Batista and Rey Mysterio.
In late 2009, Punk's character began taking on a more sinister direction. On November 27 episode of SmackDown, Punk revealed that he had converted Luke Gallows, who had previously been portrayed as the mentally incompetent wrestler Festus, to the straight-edge lifestyle which had subsequently rid him of his mental troubles. Throughout January 2010, Punk began to convert planted members of the audience to a straight-edge lifestyle, making them take a pledge of allegiance to him and shaving their head as a sign of renewal and devotion. After converting many people who were not seen again, convert Serena began accompanying Punk and Gallows to form The Straight Edge Society. As well as leading this alliance, Punk was also the mentor of NXT rookie Darren Young, who flirted with the idea of becoming straight edge, before refusing just before his head was to be shaved. Punk would also give sermons, including during the annual Royal Rumble match on January 31, as well as during an Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship on February 21 at both of the eponymous pay-per-view events.
During the first half of 2010, Punk feuded with Rey Mysterio, being eliminated by him during the Elimination Chamber match. After Mysterio prevented him from winning a Money in the Bank qualifying match, Punk interrupted Mysterio's celebration of his daughter Aalyah's ninth birthday. Mysterio and Punk faced each other in a match at WrestleMania XXVI on March 28, where if Mysterio lost, he would join the Straight Edge Society, but Punk lost to Mysterio at WrestleMania. They had a rematch at Extreme Rules the following month on April 25 where Punk would have to shave his head like his disciples if he lost, but he won this match after interference from Joey Mercury, a fourth member of the Straight Edge Society. On May 23 at Over The Limit, a third and final match between Punk and Mysterio was booked with both stipulations reactivated, but Punk lost and was subsequently shaved bald. After the match, Punk began wearing a black mask, since he considered himself always pure unlike his followers and was embarrassed by his baldness.
On June 20, 2010, at WWE Fatal 4-Way, Punk challenged for the World Heavyweight Championship against Mysterio, Big Show and the champion Jack Swagger, but he was unsuccessful when he was attacked by Kane, who was accusing various people of attacking The Undertaker. Punk and his stable started a feud with Big Show when on July 16 episode of SmackDown, Big Show unmasked Punk. Big Show faced the Straight Edge Society in a three-on-one handicap match on August 15 at SummerSlam, winning the match after Punk abandoned his teammates. The next month, at Night of Champions on September 19, Punk lost to Big Show in a singles match. The Straight Edge Society angle ended after Serena was released from WWE and Mercury became injured, and Punk defeated Gallows in a singles match on September 24 SmackDown.
On October 11 episode of Raw, Punk was traded back to the Raw brand after being swapped with Edge and took part in the interbrand tag team match on October 24 at Bragging Rights after defeating Evan Bourne to win a place, but Team Raw lost when Punk was last eliminated by Rey Mysterio. During the event, Punk suffered a hip injury that prevented him from wrestling for several months. To keep a presence on television, he began commentating on Raw on November 22.
At the end of December 2010, Punk left the commentary team after assaulting John Cena on December 20 episode of Raw and the December 21 episode of SmackDown with a chair. Punk later revealed that his motives for the attacks were that he had joined and assumed control of The Nexus. Punk then made each member of the group prove themselves worthy of a spot, with some instead choosing to join The Corre, which had been started by former Nexus leader Wade Barrett on SmackDown.
On January 30, 2011, Punk and The New Nexus cost Randy Orton his match with The Miz for the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble as revenge for Orton prematurely ending Punk's first World Heavyweight Championship reign in 2008. In turn, Orton responded by taking out all of the New Nexus members by punting them in the head, leaving Punk alone as the sole surviving member of the group. This led to a match at WrestleMania XXVII on April 3 and a Last Man Standing match on May 1 at Extreme Rules, both of which Punk lost.
In June, after pinning WWE Champion John Cena on June 13 episode of Raw, Rey Mysterio at Capitol Punishment on June 19, and finally Alberto Del Rio in a number one contender's triple threat match (which also included Mysterio) all within one week, Punk revealed that his WWE contract was set to expire on July 17 at Money in the Bank and vowed to leave the company with the WWE Championship. On June 27 edition of Raw, Punk made arguably his most popular promo, a scathing, yet highly acclaimed on-air speech, often referred to as "the Pipe Bomb", concerning the way in which WWE is run and its owner Vince McMahon, as well as referencing other promotions, such as Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro-Wrestling.
John Cena, while you lay there, hopefully as uncomfortable as you possibly can be, I want you to listen to me. I want you to digest this, because before I leave in three weeks with your WWE Championship, I have a lot of things I wanna get off my chest.
I don't hate you, John. I don't even dislike you. I do like you, I like you a hell of a lot more than I like most people in the back. I hate this idea that you're the best – because you're not. I'm the best. I'm the best in the world. There's one thing you're better at than I am and that's kissing Vince McMahon's ass. You're as good at kissing Vince's ass as Hulk Hogan was. I don't know if you're as good as "Dwayne", though. He's a pretty good ass-kisser. Always was and still is. Oops – I'm breaking the fourth wall. I am the best wrestler in the world. I've been the best ever since day one when I walked into this company. And I've been vilified and hated since that day because Paul Heyman saw something in me that nobody else wanted to admit. Yeah that's right, I'm a Paul Heyman guy. You know who else was a Paul Heyman guy? Brock Lesnar. And he split, just like I'm splittin', but the biggest difference between me and Brock is that I'm going to leave with the WWE Championship.
I've grabbed so many of Vincent K. McMahon's imaginary brass rings that it's finally dawned on me that they're just that. They're completely imaginary. The only thing that's real is me. And the fact that day in and day out, for almost six years, I've proved to everybody in the world that I am the best on this microphone, in that ring, even on commentary. Nobody can touch me. And yet, no matter how many times I prove it, I'm not on your lovely little collectors' cups, I'm not on the cover of the program, I'm barely promoted, I don't get to be in movies, I'm certainly not on any crappy show on the USA Network, I'm not on the poster of WrestleMania, I'm not on the signature that's produced at the start of the show. I'm not on Conan O'Brien, I'm not on Jimmy Fallon, but the fact of the matter is I should be. And trust me, this isn't sour grapes, but the fact that "Dwayne" is in the main event of WrestleMania next year and I'm not, makes me sick!
Oh hey, let me get something straight. Those of you who are cheering me right now – you are just as big a part of me leaving as anything else, because you're the ones that are sipping out of those collector cups right now, you're the ones that buy those programs that my face isn't on the cover of, and then at five in the morning at the airport, you try to shove it in my face so that you can get an autograph and sell it on eBay, because you're too lazy to get a real job.
I'm leaving with the WWE Championship on July 17 and hell, who knows, maybe I'll go defend it in New Japan Pro Wrestling. Maybe I'll go back to Ring of Honor. Hey, Colt Cabana, how you doing? The reason I'm leaving is you people because after I'm gone you're still going to pour money into this company – I'm just a spoke on the wheel – the wheel's gonna keep turning and I understand that. But Vince McMahon's gonna make money despite himself. He's a millionaire who should be a billionaire. You know why he's not a billionaire? It's because he surrounds himself with glad-handing nonsensical douche bag yes-men like John Laurinaitis, who's gonna tell him everything that he wants to hear. And I'd like to think that maybe this company will be better after Vince McMahon is dead, but the fact is, it's gonna be taken over by his idiotic daughter and his doofus son-in-law and the rest of his stupid family.
Let me tell you a personal story about Vince McMahon. You know we do this whole bully campaign—[the microphone is turned off, Punk taps on it a few times, and then calls out without the microphone] I've been silenced!"At Money in the Bank, Punk defeated Cena to win the WWE Championship. On July 21, Punk made a surprise appearance at a joint WWE–Mattel panel at San Diego Comic-Con, where he mocked new chief operating officer Triple H, and offered WWE Championship tournament finalist Rey Mysterio a match for the WWE Championship as long as it was in Punk's hometown of Chicago. Punk appeared at July 23's All American Wrestling show, showing respect to Gregory Iron, a wrestler with cerebral palsy. Mysterio won the WWE Championship tournament on July 25 episode of Raw only to lose it to Cena later that night. After Cena's victory, Punk, now a face, returned and upstaged Cena's celebration while also entering a title dispute. Triple H later upheld both Punk and Cena's claims to the WWE Championship as legitimate and scheduled the two to a match at SummerSlam on August 14 to decide the undisputed WWE Champion, with Triple H to serve as the special guest referee. At SummerSlam, Punk defeated Cena, but he lost the title minutes later to Alberto Del Rio, who had cashed in his Money in the Bank contract after Kevin Nash attacked Punk.
The following months, Punk lost at Night of Champions on September 18 against Triple H, at Hell in a Cell on October 2 in a WWE Championship triple threat Hell in a Cell match, and at Vengeance on October 23 against The Miz and R-truth in a tag team match with Triple H as his partner. This helped transition Punk's anti-establishment voice from Triple H to John Laurinaitis, who, around this time, became the interim Raw general manager. Punk balked at Laurinaitis' promotion and verbally attacked him as a dull yes man. At Survivor Series on November 20, Punk defeated Del Rio to win his second WWE Championship. Punk went on to defend the title through the end of the year, retaining in a rematch with Del Rio on November 28 episode of Raw SuperShow, and then against both Del Rio and The Miz in a triple threat TLC match on December 18 at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs. At the Royal Rumble on January 29, 2012, Punk successfully defended his title against Ziggler despite Laurinaitis acting as the outside enforcer.
On January 30 episode of Raw SuperShow, the returning Chris Jericho attacked Punk and Daniel Bryan during their Champion vs. Champion match, giving Bryan the win. The following week on Raw SuperShow, Jericho explained his actions by dismissing the WWE roster as cheap imitations of himself and singling out Punk for calling himself "the best in the world", a moniker Jericho used the last time he was in WWE. Their rivalry continued through Elimination Chamber on February 19, when Punk retained the WWE Championship in the namesake structure, but while four competitors were eliminated, Jericho was unable to continue the match after being kicked out of the chamber by Punk, causing temporary injury. The next night on Raw SuperShow, Jericho earned a match against Punk on April 1 at WrestleMania XXVIII and in a bid to psychologically unsettle him, revealed that Punk's father was an alcoholic and alleged that his sister was a drug addict, asserting that Punk's straight edge philosophy was paranoia to avoid the same vices and vowing to make Punk turn to alcohol by winning the title from him. John Laurinaitis added the stipulation that the WWE Championship could change hands via disqualification, which led to Jericho inciting Punk into using a weapon, but Punk resisted and retained the title.
On the April 2 and 9 episodes of Raw SuperShow, Punk retained the WWE Championship against Mark Henry after losing to him via countout and disqualification, being attacked by Jericho following both matches and doused with alcohol. On April 16 episode of Raw SuperShow, Punk pinned Henry in a no disqualification, no countout match to retain the title. After repeated altercations, the feud between Jericho and Punk culminated in a Chicago street fight on April 29 at Extreme Rules, where Punk defeated Jericho to retain the WWE Championship. On May 20 at Over the Limit, Punk retained the title against Daniel Bryan after reversing Bryan's submission hold the ""Yes!" Lock" into a pinning combination, as the pinfall saved Punk from his own submission only moments later. Shortly before Over the Limit, Bryan interfered in a non-title match between Punk and Kane to frame Punk for attacking Kane with a steel chair, starting a three-way rivalry. On June 1 episode of SmackDown, a WWE Championship match between Punk and Kane ended in a double disqualification after Bryan attacked both men. Meanwhile, Bryan's jilted ex-girlfriend AJ Lee turned her affections to both Punk and Kane. This feud culminated in a triple threat match on June 17 at No Way Out, where Punk managed to retain the title after AJ distracted Kane. On July 15 at Money in the Bank, Punk defeated Bryan in a no disqualification match with AJ as the special guest referee to retain the title and end the feud.
On July 23 at Raw 1000, Punk defended the title against Money in the Bank winner John Cena and lost by disqualification after interference from Big Show. When the night's special guest The Rock – who had interrupted Punk earlier to announce he would wrestle for the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble on January 27, 2013 – intervened to save Cena from Big Show's assault, Punk attacked The Rock, turning heel in the process. Punk justified his actions the following week on Raw, explaining he was tired of people like Cena and The Rock overshadowing him when the WWE Champion should be the focus of the company, asserting himself further soon after by disrupting a number one contender's match between Cena and Big Show. As a result, both men were entered into the title match against Punk on August 19 at SummerSlam, where he successfully retained the title by pinning Big Show after both Punk and Cena submitted Big Show at the same time and Raw general manager AJ Lee restarted the match. In the following weeks on Raw, Punk demanded respect from people like AJ Lee, Jerry Lawler and Bret Hart and eventually aligned with Paul Heyman in his feud with Cena. On September 16 at Night of Champions, Punk retained the WWE Championship after he fought Cena to a draw. Punk continued to feud with Cena despite the latter's arm injury, rejecting the requests of Mick Foley and Jim Ross to pick him as his Hell in a Cell opponent on October 28 and leading to a brawl with WWE chairman Vince McMahon. Cena was eventually pulled from the title match and replaced by Ryback, whom Punk would defeat at Hell in a Cell in a Hell in a Cell match with help from referee Brad Maddox to retain the title and also ending Ryback's thirty-eight match undefeated streak.
The next night on Raw, a furious Mick Foley confronted Punk for refusing to pick John Cena as his Hell in a Cell opponent, leading the two to agree to meet at Survivor Series on November 18 in a Survivor Series match with Punk choosing Alberto Del Rio, Cody Rhodes, Damien Sandow and The Miz for his team. However, Punk was replaced as captain by Dolph Ziggler the following week on Raw and was instead booked in a triple threat WWE Championship match against John Cena and Ryback by Vince McMahon. At Survivor Series, Punk won the match by pinning Cena following interference from the debuting faction called The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins), allowing him to retain the WWE Championship and officially hold the championship for one full year. On December 4, Punk underwent surgery to repair a partially torn meniscus, removing him from his scheduled title match against Ryback on December 16 at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs. Despite his injury, Punk became the longest-reigning WWE Champion in the past 25 years on December 5, when he hit 381 days, surpassing John Cena's 380-day reign. Punk returned to in-ring action on January 7, 2013, episode of Raw, retaining the WWE Championship against Ryback in a TLC match following interference from The Shield.
On January 27 at the Royal Rumble, Punk defended the WWE Championship against The Rock in a match that stipulated that Punk would be stripped of the title if The Shield interfered. Punk originally pinned The Rock to retain after The Shield put Rock through a table while the arena lights were out, leading Vince McMahon to come out and announce that Punk would be stripped of the title, but he instead restarted the match at The Rock's request. Punk lost, ending his reign at 434 days. WWE recognized this reign as the longest world championship reign in WWE of the "modern era" (after 1988) until Universal Champion Brock Lesnar broke that record in June 2018. Punk received a title rematch with The Rock on February 17 at Elimination Chamber, stipulated that The Rock would lose the title if he was disqualified or counted out, but Punk was pinned by The Rock after miscommunication with Heyman. On February 25 episode of Raw, Punk faced Royal Rumble winner John Cena for his number one contendership to the WWE Championship, but he lost.
On March 4 episode of Raw, Punk defeated Big Show, Randy Orton and Sheamus in a fatal four-way match to earn the right to face The Undertaker at WrestleMania 29 on April 7. After the real-life death of Paul Bearer, The Undertaker's former manager the next day, a somewhat controversial storyline involving Punk regularly spiting The Undertaker through displays of flippancy and disrespect towards Bearer's death began, including Punk stealing Bearer's trademark urn. At WrestleMania, Punk was defeated by The Undertaker. Punk then took a two-month hiatus away from WWE television to recover from injuries.
Punk returned at Payback on June 16, defeating Chris Jericho. Punk started a storyline where he told Heyman to no longer accompany him to his matches and was later attacked by Heyman's other client Brock Lesnar, thus turning Punk face once again. Heyman also cost Punk a WWE Championship Money in the Bank ladder match at Money in the Bank on July 14 when Heyman attacked Punk. This led to a match between Punk and Lesnar at SummerSlam on August 18, when Punk lost to Lesnar in a No Disqualification match after Heyman interfered. His feud with Heyman continued during the following months, facing his other client, the Intercontinental Champion Curtis Axel. First, at Night of Champions on September 15, Punk faced Axel and Heyman in a no disqualification two-on-one handicap elimination match in which he made Axel submit, leaving only Heyman left, but Punk lost the match after Ryback interfered and put him through a table. Then on October 6, Punk defeated Ryback at Battleground and the feud ended at Hell in a Cell on October 27, where Punk faced Heyman and Ryback in a two-on-one handicap Hell in a Cell match, winning the match by pinning Ryback and after the match performing a "Go to Sleep" to Heyman on top of the cell.
Punk moved on to a feud with The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Erick Rowan and Luke Harper), forming an alliance with Daniel Bryan, with the duo defeating Harper and Rowan in a tag team match on November 24 at Survivor Series. The next night on Raw, Punk was attacked by The Shield while attempting to save Bryan from being "taken hostage" by The Wyatt Family. Punk then insinuated that The Authority, a villainous group who controlled WWE led by Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, ordered the attack, which resulted in the Director of Operations Kane booking Punk in a three-on-one handicap match against The Shield at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 15. At TLC, Punk won the match after Reigns accidentally performed a spear on Ambrose. After further altercations between Punk and Kane, Kane made Punk the first entrant in the annual Royal Rumble match on January 26, 2014. At the Royal Rumble, near the end of the match, Kane, who was already eliminated earlier in the match by Punk, eliminated Punk from the outside and proceeded to perform a chokeslam on him through the announce table.
I was sick and hurt and burnt out, and I walked. And I can do that because I'm an independent contractor.
Punk did not appear on January 27 episode of Raw, nor did he appear at the SmackDown taping on Tuesday despite being advertised for both events. By Wednesday, WWE.com stopped advertising Punk for future events. The Wrestling Observer reported that on Monday and prior to Raw, Punk had legitimately walked out after telling Vince McMahon and Triple H that he was "going home". On February 20 during a conference call to investors, McMahon said Punk was "taking a sabbatical". On March 3 episode of Raw, which took place in Punk's hometown of Chicago, WWE acknowledged his absence on television for the first time when the show started with Punk's entrance music playing, only for former manager Paul Heyman to walk out to a loud chorus of boos. WWE then proceeded to remove Punk from footage of their promotional videos. This lasted until the first half of July, where WWE used footage of Punk to promote the WWE Network. In an interview published in late May, Punk was asked how it felt "to be retired at 35" and replied that "it feels good". On July 15, WWE.com officially moved Punk from the active roster to the alumni section of their page without releasing a statement. On the same day, Punk thanked his fans without mentioning WWE. In late July, Punk said that he was "never ever" going to return to wrestling.
When Punk told [another] doctor that he wrestled with a staph infection for three months, Punk said [that] doctor told him: "You should be dead. You could have died".
On an episode of Colt Cabana's Art of Wrestling podcast released in November 2014, Punk finally broke his silence regarding his exit from WWE. In a detailed interview, Punk said that he was suspended for two months after walking out on WWE in January and that after the suspension ended, nobody from WWE contacted him. Punk also said WWE executives gave him a run-around when he reached out to them for unpaid royalties until he was ultimately handed his termination papers and was fired by WWE on his wedding day on June 13, 2014. The manner of firing was the last straw for Punk, stating that he would never return to WWE and that there would be no further working relationship between him and WWE following a legal settlement. The settlement included Punk giving WWE permission to sell his remaining merchandise.
Punk cited his health as the main reason he left WWE, describing that during his final months in WWE, he had been working through an untreated and potentially fatal MRSA infection (Punk later acknowledged on the witness stand that he was not diagnosed with an MRSA staph infection, but that a physician's assistant said he exhibited certain symptoms consistent with an ordinary staph infection), broken ribs, injured knees and multiple concussions, including one at the 2014 Royal Rumble, as well as having lost his appetite and ability to sleep well. Punk felt that WWE was pressuring and rushing him to wrestle before fully recovering. According to Punk, he found a lump on his back in November 2013, and it was diagnosed as a "fatty deposit" by Dr. Chris Amann, who refused to remove it despite Punk's repeated requests. The week after Punk left WWE, his wife April Mendez convinced him to get the lump checked by her doctor. The doctor told Punk that he could have died due to ignoring it for such a long time. Punk had the doctor evacuate the infection, describing it as the worst pain in his life, but said that once it was treated and he was on stronger medication, he was able to sleep better than he had in months.
Other sources of unhappiness Punk had with WWE were his failure to main event a WrestleMania (deeming his entire career to be a failure as a result), being paid less than the other wrestlers in the three most significant matches of WrestleMania 29, doing favors for Vince McMahon and not being owed back, being "creatively stifled", feeling that there were no long-term plans for wrestlers other than John Cena, as well as receiving less pay and not getting answers as to how the advent of the WWE Network would affect wrestlers' salaries. Lastly, Punk described having left with "zero passion" for wrestling and described himself at the time of the interview to be the happiest he had ever been in many years. Less than one week later, while being interviewed on The Steve Austin Show on the WWE Network, Vince McMahon apologized to Punk for the manner of his termination, which he regarded as an unfortunate coincidence due to a lack of communication within WWE. McMahon also said that he was open to working with Punk again. In a second Art of Wrestling podcast, Punk publicly rejected McMahon's apology, brushing it off as "insincere" and a "publicity stunt" as McMahon did not contact him directly to apologize and could have apologized much earlier.
