The Incredible True Story Of The Original Summer Of Punk

While WWE’s Summer of Punk from 2011 is the more famous of the two, Ring of Honor had its own Summer of Punk in 2005 at a time when CM Punk was actually on his way out of the promotion. 

With a few exceptions, the sequel never lives up to the original. Was the Summer of Punk just another example in a sea of worse second acts?

Having made his wrestling debut in 1999 and impressed in promotions such as IWA: Mid South, CM Punk joined ROH in its first year of existence - 2002 - and had his first match at All Star Extravaganza that November. Punk joined a roster of incredible names who would be responsible for not only the rise in popularity of the promotion, but of American indy wrestling as a whole - taking advantage of the power vacuum left by the collapse of World Championship Wrestling at the end of the Monday Night Wars.

Punk shared a locker room with the likes of Bryan Danielson, Samoa Joe, AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels - incredible talents who wrestled a fast-paced, highly technical, hard-hitting style, with an overall sense of realism that stood in stark contrast to WWE’s brand of sports entertainment.

Punk quickly became as important a part of ROH’s early history as anyone, creating a collection of iconic moments that are still looked back on fondly today, such as his brutal feud with Raven, which was many people’s first exposure to Punk’s heelish sense of straight edge superiority. It culminated at Death Before Dishonor 2003 in a Dog Collar Match. Other early highlights include Punk capturing tag gold alongside then-best friend Colt Cabana, and becoming the head trainer at Ring of Honor’s wrestling school.

The most iconic of these early moments, though, was the 2004 feud with Samoa Joe over the ROH World Championship. The pair had an incredible trilogy of matches, the first two of which went the distance, both finishing as 60-minute draws. The second match even became the Wrestling Observer’s first five-star match in North America since the first-ever Hell in a Cell Match in 1997.

In between his first two matches with Joe, Punk saw a surprising development at Reborn: Completion. A 50-year-old Ricky Steamboat was trying to see the good in Punk and allow him to fulfil his potential, but Punk wasn’t too keen, instead battering the Dragon in an unsanctioned brawl. At the end of the segment, however, Punk surprisingly turned babyface, saving Steamboat from a beatdown at the hands of the upstart Generation Next stable.

The third match with Samoa Joe followed later in 2004 and saw the champion finally beat Punk. It meant that despite quickly becoming one of the promotion’s biggest and most important stars, Punk was still unable to win the title.

Moving away from his series with Joe, Punk spent the first half of 2005 feuding with Jimmy Rave - but interesting events were also taking place away from Ring of Honor.

In May, Punk wrestled a tryout match in WWE, losing to Val Venis on Heat. WWE were impressed and offered Punk a deal, which he accepted in June.

There was an issue back in ROH, though, because Punk was again gunning for that world title - which by now was held by Austin Aries. With this being the internet age, Punk’s decision to join WWE was no insider secret. The news was quickly out, and Ring of Honor fans knew he’d be leaving in the near future - so while Punk vs. Aries would certainly be a great match, the outcome wasn’t really in doubt. A hard-fought loss to Aries would be the most logical outcome, and a nice sendoff for one of the promotion’s most important figures.

By 2005, thanks to the work of figures like Punk, Ring of Honor was now clear as the third biggest promotion in the United States. It sat behind only WWE and TNA, both of whom benefitted from greater star power, production values and TV exposure.

His title match with Austin Aries came at Death Before Dishonor 3 in New Jersey on June 18, 2005. By this point, the secret was fully out, with fans chanting “Thank you Punk” and “Please don’t go” before the match got underway. On commentary, Jimmy Bower (the alter ego of head booker Gabe Sapolsky) explained that if Punk won the title, he’d vacate it and there would be a tournament to crown the new champion.

Punk and Aries went back and forth in a compelling 30-minute match, which included the champion using Punk’s own finisher - the Pepsi Plunge - only for Punk to kick out at one. Later, Punk hit his own version and pinned Aries clean as a whistle, shockingly winning the Ring of Honor World Championship. To a rapturous reception, an emotional Punk grabbed the mic and prepared to deliver what many assumed would be a tearful farewell speech. It wasn’t.

The promo that followed would begin the 2005 Summer of Punk and become one of the most iconic pro wrestling promos of the 21st century. 

While it has drawn comparisons to Punk’s pipe bomb in 2011, this promo, immediately after winning the ROH World title, was far more sinister. In 2005, Punk didn’t believe for a second that he was doing the right thing, but he also didn’t care. He began by telling Aesop’s fable of the old man and the snake - the reveal being that he himself was the snake, and Ring of Honor and its fans are the naive old man who gets bitten. 

The now infamous line, ‘You stupid old man, I’m a snake’, triggered a startling heel turn and Punk fully bought in, noting the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist. As opposed to Satan, though, Ring of Honor's devil was none other than CM Punk himself. 

After mocking the fans, Ring of Honor, and even Ricky Steamboat for believing he’d changed his ways a year before, Punk spelt out that it had all worked out - he was leaving and taking the ROH World Championship with him to Vince McMahon and WWE. 

This would produce some compelling events, with the rest of the ROH locker room scrambling desperately for someone - anyone - to get the belt back from Punk before he left for the big leagues.

Death Before Dishonor ended with Punk being attacked by Christopher Daniels - whose appearance was a surprise in itself, as he’d not been in Ring of Honor for a year and a half. But instead of saving the day, Daniels could only watch in vain as Punk ran away with the belt, another parallel deliberately made in future storylines. There would be no last-second title switch, just Punk running off into the night with the company’s biggest prize. 

The next event was Sign of Dishonor in Long Island, and Punk marked the occasion by showing up with a new image. His blonde highlights were now a dark purple, but more surprisingly than that, he was wearing a suit - antagonising the fans by playing the role of a corporate champion heading off to Titan Towers. There was also new theme music - Cult of Personality, the same song Punk would adopt in 2011 in his first appearance after running off with the WWE Title. 

New suit-wearing Punk opened the show with a now-iconic act of villainy - signing his WWE contract on the ROH Title belt itself. 

Fast forward to the end of the show, where Punk simply refused to defend the championship. Why would he risk losing it before leaving for WWE? Eventually, he was provoked into a title defence by none other than Mick Foley. In this storyline Foley played the role of a babyface middleman between ROH and WWE, trying to get Punk to do the right thing.

Punk chose to face an up-and-coming Jay Lethal, and beat him with the Coquina Clutch - the submission finisher of Samoa Joe who was watching on from ringside. 

The following night at ROH’s next show, Escape from New York, Punk appeared on the balcony midway through the show and called out Roderick Strong - but only in a non-title match. Foley appeared behind Punk and threatened to drop him off the balcony if he didn’t put his belt on the line. He did, and won after a sneaky rope-assisted pinfall. With his actions causing increasing desperation in the ROH locker room, Punk was beaten down after this match by Foley, Samoa Joe, and James Gibson - formerly known as Jamie Noble in WWE.

Who was going to save Ring of Honor from CM Punk, though? 

The first was obvious: Samoa Joe, the man who alongside Punk had put on arguably the greatest series of matches in Ring of Honor history - and whose 645-day world title reign still stands as the longest in company history. 

The second was Christopher Daniels, a man who - like Punk - was crucial to Ring of Honor in their first couple of years. He was a big heel in those early days, refusing to stick to the Code of Honor, ROH’s traditional policy of shaking hands before and after a match. It was even Punk who had sent Daniels out of Ring of Honor in the first place back in early 2004, putting the Fallen Angel through a table in a match between their respective stables - the Second City Saints and the Prophecy - leading to a 16-month hiatus.

In reality, Daniels had left because he was signed to TNA, who had cancelled their talent-sharing agreement with Ring of Honor in the aftermath of the 2004 Rob Feinstein scandal. Following Feinstein’s resignation from ROH and his stake in the company being taken over by Cary Silkin, the TNA issue was over and Daniels was back, a prime candidate to save the title from Punk.

The third candidate was James Gibson. In the aftermath of Punk being beaten down by Gibson, Mick Foley, and Samoa Joe, Gibson covered Punk and Foley counted an imaginary 1-2-3, after which Gibson raised the belt. This was maybe the storyline’s only misstep, because even though Punk was clearly Ring of Honor’s ultimate heel at this point, the fans didn’t like this. They chanted "You’re not champ" at Gibson, who lay the belt back down and challenged Punk for the next show. 

The next event in the Summer of Punk was Fate of an Angel in Connecticut. The fate of one angel in particular was a bad one that night, as Punk cost Christopher Daniels his match against Matt Hardy - Daniels’ first match back since returning to ROH.

In the main event, Gibson got his title shot, but had been injured by Punk earlier in the night with a chain shot to the head. Gibson battled bravely like Lethal and Strong before him, and maybe even came the closest, but Punk squeezed through with another rope-assisted pinfall. 

After the match, Daniels gained a measure of revenge for earlier, laying Punk out and stealing the belt itself - claiming that if Punk wanted it back, he’d have to wrestle him for it.

What followed at the next show - The Homecoming in Philadelphia - was an astonishing 60-minute time limit draw. Daniels came the closest of anybody so far, but fell agonisingly short of rescuing the title, hitting Punk with his Angel’s Wings finisher and making the cover…only for time to expire.

After this hour-long epic, Punk laid out both Daniels and James Gibson with the belt, only for Samoa Joe to send him scurrying away - still the man Punk could never quite get the better of. 

This set up the Summer of Punk’s final act, with the champion booked for just two more shows before leaving for WWE.

First, he’d have to survive a Four-Way Elimination Match in Dayton, Ohio against Samoa Joe, James Gibson, and Christopher Daniels. Then the following night, in his hometown of Chicago, he’d have a singles match against former tag partner Colt Cabana.

The four-way at Redemption was fought under tag rules, with only 2 men allowed in the ring at one time until eliminations - so the match had a very unique and strategic dynamic. At times all 3 challengers worked together to try and keep Punk in the ring, while the desperate champion tried to tag out and survive. 

40 minutes in with no eliminations yet made, Punk blasted Gibson with a chair shot on the outside, busting him wide open. A dazed Gibson was taken to the back, and Joe then choked out and eliminated Daniels with the coquina clutch, with Punk sneakily knocking the Fallen Angel’s foot off the ropes in the process. Once he regained consciousness, a furious Daniels attacked Punk, but accidentally hit Joe with an enziguiri, allowing Punk to roll up Joe and finally pin his nemesis to retain the title yet again.

Except - in a moment of Hollywood storytelling - out from the curtain came a bloodied James Gibson staggering back to the ring to continue the match. After a very tense back and forth, Gibson reversed the Pepsi Plunge into a terrifying top rope Tiger Bomb. The crowd then came unglued as Gibson made the cover…1, 2, 3…pinning CM Punk to dramatically bring home the ROH World Title. 

After the match Punk was dragged to his feet and shared an embrace with James Gibson as, in a wonderful moment, the Ring of Honor crowd forgave him, chanting “Thank you Punk” over and over again. 

There was still one last show, though. 

Named Punk: The Final Chapter, in his hometown of Chicago, the show saw the beaten former champion take on Colt Cabana in a Two out of Three Falls Match. What had once been billed as a last desperate chance for Ring of Honor was now an emotional goodbye to its favourite son. 

Punk entered already in tears, switching the triumphant ‘Cult of Personality’ for the far more bittersweet ‘Night Train’ by New Jersey punk band The Bouncing Souls. It was a fitting soundtrack as Punk made his way around ringside hugging fans goodbye, before getting in the ring and being absolutely showered in streamers. 

The match was a less intense affair than those of his title reign - a technical encounter fought in good spirits with his old tag partner. Punk did the traditional thing, losing to Cabana on his way out of the company he helped build. 

Punk was celebrated after the match by the ROH roster, as he raised a toast with, fittingly, a champagne glass of Pepsi. 

Punk’s departure for WWE in 2005 was an incredible piece of booking, storytelling and wrestling, but it was also a very bittersweet moment. This was a young man who had helped build something in ROH, and in indy wrestling in general, who was now going off to seek his fortune on a bigger stage. For the longest time, the original Summer of Punk was a story with a sad ending due to how badly things ended for Punk in his first WWE run, being fired on his wedding day in 2014 no less. 

That ultimately wasn’t the ending, though. The 2005 Summer of Punk came full circle and finally had the ending it deserved in August 2021 when Punk made his debut in AEW, returning to pro wrestling in the process. In his debut promo, Punk directly referenced that final night in 2005. In the same city he left indy wrestling, he had finally returned to that other side of the business, the alternative side - and he found it in a far bigger state than when he went away.