This article's factual accuracy is disputed. Please help to ensure that disputed facts are reliably sourced. See the relevant discussion on the talk page. (December 2011)

Hardcore punk (often referred to simply as hardcore) is a music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock.^[1] The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A. may have helped to popularize the term with the title of their 1981 album, Hardcore '81.^[2][3][4]

Hardcore has spawned the straight edge movement and its associated submovements, hardline and youth crew. Hardcore was heavily involved with the rise of the independent record labels in the 1980s, and with the DIY ethics in underground music scenes. It has influenced a number of music genres which have experienced mainstream success, such as alternative rock, metalcore, grunge, thrash metal, emo and post-hardcore.

Hardcore sprouted underground scenes across the United States in the early 1980s — particularly in Washington, D.C., California, New York/New Jersey, and Boston—as well as in Canada and the United Kingdom.

While traditional hardcore has never experienced mainstream commercial success, some of its early pioneers have garnered appreciation over time. Black Flag's album Damaged was included in Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2003,^[5] and the Dead Kennedys have seen one of their albums reach gold status over a period of 25 years.^[6] Although the music started in English-speaking western countries, scenes have also existed in Brazil, Japan, Europe and The Middle East.^[7]

Music and clothing style[link]

In the vein of punk rock, most bands followed the traditional singer/guitar/bass/drum format. The songwriting had more emphasis on rhythm rather than melody. Hardcore vocalists screamed, chanted and used spoken word poetry. Drummers would play fast D beat one moment and then drop tempo into elaborate musical breakdowns the next. Guitarists were not afraid to play solos, octave leads, and grooves as well as tapping into the various feedback and harmonic noises available to them. The guitar sound was almost always distorted and amplified.

In critic Steven Blush's description, "The Sex Pistols were still rock'n'roll...like the craziest version of Chuck Berry. Hardcore was a radical departure from that. It wasn't verse-chorus rock. It dispelled any notion of what songwriting is supposed to be. It's its own form."^[8]

This distillation of punk was further emphasized through dress. Hardcore punk fans adopted a dressed-down style of T-shirts, jeans, and crewcut-style haircuts. The style of the 1980s hardcore scene contrasted with the more provocative fashion styles of late 1970s punk rockers(elaborate hairdos, torn clothes, patches, safety pins, studs, spikes, etc.). Keith Morris, "the...punk scene was basically based on English fashion. But we had nothing to do with that. Black Flag and the Circle Jerks were so far from that. We looked like the kid who worked at the gas station or submarine shop."^[9]

History[link]

Late 1970s-early 1980s[link]

United States[link]

Los Angeles[link]

Michael Azerrad, author of Our Band Could Be Your Life, calls Black Flag the "godfathers" of hardcore punk.^[10] Formed in Hermosa Beach, California by guitarist and lyricist Greg Ginn, they played their first show in December 1977. Originally called Panic, they changed their name to Black Flag in 1978.^[11]

By 1979, Black Flag were joined by other Los Angeles-area bands playing hardcore punk, including X, Fear, The Germs and the Circle Jerks (featuring Black Flag's original singer, Keith Morris). This group of bands was featured in Penelope Spheeris' 1981 documentary The Decline of Western Civilization.^[12] By the time the film was released, new hardcore bands had formed in Los Angeles and neighboring Orange County, including The Adolescents, Agent Orange, Angry Samoans, Bad Religion, Descendents, Dr. Know, Ill Repute, Minutemen, New Regime, Social Distortion, Suicidal Tendencies, T.S.O.L., Wasted Youth, and Youth Brigade.

Whilst popular traditional punk bands such as the Ramones, The Clash, and Sex Pistols were on major record labels, the hardcore punk bands were not. Black Flag, however, was briefly signed to MCA subsidiary Unicorn Records, but were dropped because an executive considered their music to be anti-parent.^[13] Instead of trying to be courted by the major labels, hardcore bands started their own independent record labels and distributed their records themselves. Ginn started SST Records, which released Black Flag's debut EP Nervous Breakdown in 1978. SST went on to release a number of albums by other hardcore artists, and was described by Azerrad as "easily the most influential and popular underground indie of the Eighties."^[10] SST was followed by a number of other successful artist-run labels — including BYO Records (started by Shawn and Mark Stern of Youth Brigade), Epitaph Records (started by Brett Gurewitz of Bad Religion), New Alliance Records (started by the Minutemen's D. Boon) — as well as fan-run labels like Frontier Records and Slash Records.

Bands also funded and organized their own tours. Black Flag's tours in 1980 and 1981 brought them in contact with developing hardcore scenes in many parts of North America, and blazed trails that were followed by other touring bands.^[14][15][16] Youth Brigade was one of the first hardcore punk bands to tour, chronicling it in the 1984 documentary Another State of Mind.^[17]

The Another State of Mind tour was funded by "Youth Movement '82", a concert organized by BYO at the Hollywood Palladium that — in addition to Youth Brigade — featured T.S.O.L., The Adolescents, Wasted Youth, Social Distortion and Blades. The concert was one of the largest punk shows ever held around that time, attended by more than 3,500 people.^[18]

Concerts in the early Los Angeles hardcore scene increasingly became sites of violent battles between police and concertgoers. Violence at hardcore concerts was portrayed in episodes of the popular television shows CHiPs and Quincy, M.E.^[19]

San Francisco[link]

Shortly after Black Flag debuted in Los Angeles, Dead Kennedys were formed in San Francisco. While the band's early releases were played in a style closer to traditional punk rock, In God We Trust, Inc. (1981) marked a shift into what is considered hardcore. Similar to Black Flag and Youth Brigade, Dead Kennedys released their albums on their own label Alternative Tentacles. In addition to Dead Kennedys albums, Alternative Tentacles released the seminal hardcore punk compilation Let Them Eat Jellybeans!

While not as large as the scene in Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area hardcore scene of the 1980s included a number of noteworthy bands, including Crucifix, Flipper, Kwik Way, and Whipping Boy. Additionally, during this time seminal Texas-based bands The Dicks, MDC, Verbal Abuse, and Dirty Rotten Imbeciles (D.R.I.) relocated to San Francisco.

This scene was helped in particular by the San Francisco club Mabuhay Gardens, whose promoter, Dirk Dirksen, became known as "The Pope of Punk".^[20] Another important local institution was Tim Yohannan's fanzine, Maximumrocknroll, as well as his show on Berkeley, California public radio station KPFA Maximum RocknRoll Radio Show, which played the younger Northern California bands. One of those bands was Tales of Terror from Sacramento. Many, including Mark Arm, cite Tales of Terror as a key inspiration for the then-burgeoning grunge scene.^[21]

Washington, D.C.[link]

The first hardcore punk band to form on the east coast of the United States was Washington, D.C.'s Bad Brains. Formed in 1977 and consisting of all African-American members, their early songs featured some of the fastest tempos in rock music.^[22] The band released its debut single, "Pay to Cum", in 1980, and were influential in establishing the D.C. hardcore scene.

Ian MacKaye and Jeff Nelson, influenced by Bad Brains, formed the band Teen Idles in 1979. The group broke up in 1980, and MacKaye and Nelson formed Minor Threat, who became a big influence on the hardcore punk genre. The band used faster rhythms and more aggressive riffs than was common at the time. Minor Threat inspired the straight edge movement with its song "Straight Edge", which spoke out against alcohol and drugs. MacKaye and Nelson ran their own record label, Dischord Records, which released records by D.C. hardcore bands including: The Faith, Iron Cross, Scream, State of Alert, Government Issue, Void, and DC's Youth Brigade. The "Flex Your Head" compilation was a seminal document of the early 1980s DC hardcore scene. The record label was run out of the Dischord House, a Washington, D.C. punk house.

Boston[link]

Seminal Boston hardcore bands included Jerry's Kids, Gang Green, The F.U.'s, SS Decontrol, Negative FX, The Freeze and Siege. A faction of the scene was influenced by D.C.'s straight edge scene. Members of bands such as DYS, Negative FX, and SS Decontrol formed the Boston Crew, a militant straight edge group that frequently assaulted punks who drank or used drugs. The controversy surrounding this crew and their antics sparked a debate about violence within the hardcore scene. In the late 1980s, Elgin James became involved in the militant faction of the Boston straight edge scene, and he later helped found the organization Friends Stand United.

In 1982, Modern Method Records released This Is Boston, Not L.A., a seminal compilation album of the Boston hardcore scene. The compilation included songs by The Proletariat, The Freeze, The F.U.'s, Jerry's Kids and Gang Green. Curtis Casella's Taang! Records was also pivotal in releasing material by bands from this era.

New York[link]

The New York City hardcore scene emerged in 1981 when Bad Brains moved to the city from Washington, D.C.^[23][24] Starting in 1981, there was an influx of new hardcore bands in the city, including The Mob, The Abused, Heart Attack, Kraut, Beastie Boys, Murphy's Law, Urban Waste, Agnostic Front, Reagan Youth, No Thanks, The Icemen and Warzone. A number of bands associated with the New York City hardcore scene came from nearby New Jersey, most famously the Misfits. Others included Adrenalin OD, Mucky Pup and The Undead. In the early 1980s, the New York hardcore scene was headquartered in a small after-hours bar, A7, on the lower east side of Manhattan. Later, New York's hardcore scene was centered around CBGB, whose owner, Hilly Kristal, embraced hardcore punk. For several years, CBGB held weekly hardcore matinees on Sundays. This stopped in 1990 when violence led Kristal to ban hardcore shows at the club.

Facade of legendary music club CBGB, New York

Early radio support in New York's surrounding Tri state area came from Pat Duncan, who had hosted live punk and hardcore bands weekly on WFMU since 1979.^[25] Bridgeport, Connecticut had an early show that featured hardcore called Capital Radio, hosted by Brad Morrison on WPKN, beginning in February 1979 and continuing weekly until late 1983. In New York City, Tim Sommer hosted Noise The Show on WNYU.^[26] In 1982, Bob Sallese produced The Big Apple Rotten To The Core compilation on S.I.N. Records, featuring The Mob, Ism and four other bands from the early A7 era. The album gained notoriety on the commercial radio station WLIR, and nationally on college radio. The LP was followed by The Big Apple Rotten To The Core, Vol. 2 in 1987 on Raw Power Records.

Other North American regions[link]

From left: Richard Bowser of Violent Apathy, Scott Boman of the Degenerates and Spite, and John Brannon of Negative Approach.

Minneapolis hardcore consisted of bands such as Hüsker Dü and The Replacements, while Chicago had Articles of Faith, Big Black and Naked Raygun. The Detroit area was home to Crucifucks, Degenerates, The Meatmen, The Necros, Negative Approach, Spite and Violent Apathy. JFA and Meat Puppets were both from Phoenix, Arizona, 7 Seconds from Reno, Nevada, and Butthole Surfers, Big Boys, The Dicks, Dirty Rotten Imbeciles (D.R.I.), Really Red, and MDC were from Texas. Portland Oregon bands included Poison Idea, Final Warning and The Wipers. Hardcore bands in Washington state included The Accüsed, The Fartz, Melvins, and 10 Minute Warning. Raleigh, N.C. Hardcore included Corrosion of Conformity, Aftermath, The Wartz, and Final Option. Corrosion of Conformity was the longest-lived of the Raleigh/Durham area hardcore bands. Final Option, was started in 1986 by frontman, Panzer Vortex when he was still a sophomore at Needham Broughton High School. Aftermath's lead Singer, Ronnie Dalgo, a friend of Panzer Vortex, was also a high school student at this time. Aftermath had a more hard-edged sound than Final Option, which preferred more humorously absurd and offensive lyrics.

D.O.A. formed in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1978 and were one of the first bands to refer to its style as "hardcore", with the release of their album Hardcore '81. Other early hardcore bands from British Columbia included Dayglo Abortions and The Skulls.

Europe[link]

In the United Kingdom a hardcore scene eventually cropped up. Referred to under a number of names including "U.K. Hardcore", "UK 82", "second wave punk",^[27] "real punk",^[28] and "No Future punk",^[29] it took the previous punk sound and added the incessant, heavy drumbeats and distorted guitar sound of New Wave of British Heavy Metal bands, especially Motörhead.^[30]

Formed in 1977 in Stoke-on-Trent, Discharge played a huge role in influencing other European hardcore bands. Their style of hardcore punk was coined as D-beat, a term a number of 1980s by imitators of Discharge associated with.^[31] Another U.K. band, The Varukers, were one of the original D-beat bands,^[32] and Sweden in particular produced a number of D-beat bands during this time period including Anti-Cimex, Disfear, and Totalitär.

Scottish band The Exploited were also influential, with the term "UK 82" being taken from one of their songs. They contrasted with early American hardcore bands by placing an emphasis on appearance with frontman Walter "Wattie" Buchan's giant red mohawk, and the bands continuance of wearing swastikas a la Sid Vicious. Because of this they were labeled by others in the scene as "cartoon punks".^[33]

Other U.K. hardcore bands from this period included Broken Bones, Chaos UK, Charged GBH, Dogsflesh, Disorder, English Dogs, and Napalm Death.

Mid-1980s[link]

The mid 1980s were a time of transition for the hardcore scene. Bands such as Husker Du, Articles of Faith, and new bands formed by members of bands like Deep Wound and Minutemen experimented with other genres and were embraced by college radio, coining the term "College Rock". Many Boston bands such as SS Decontrol, Gang Green, DYS, and The F.U.'s, as well as Midwestern hardcore bands Necros, Negative Approach and The Meatmen moved in a slower, heavier hard rock direction. Crossover thrash was another influential movement in mid-1980s hardcore, with bands like D.R.I., Corrosion of Conformity, Final Option, Suicidal Tendencies, Cro-Mags, Agnostic Front, Rich Kids on LSD, The Accüsed and Cryptic Slaughter embracing the thrash metal of bands like Slayer. And most of the Washington D.C. hardcore scene eschewed hardcore in favor of a college rock-influenced style of punk. With hardcore punk diverging in so many directions, the mid-80s scene was a very fragmented one.

Late 1980s[link]

By the mid to late 1980s, many of the most prominent hardcore punk bands had broken up. Bad Religion made a progressive rock album with Into the Unknown,^[34] the Beastie Boys gained fame by playing hip hop, and Bad Brains incorporated more reggae into their music, such as in their 1989 album Quickness.^[35] Social Distortion went on hiatus after its first album was released, due to Mike Ness's drug problems, and returned with a sound based more on country music, which was referred to as cowpunk.^[36]

Youth crew[link]

While hardcore punk was declining in many American cities, New York City was becoming an even bigger epicenter for hardcore, particularly the youth crew movement. Influenced by Bl'ast, and Uniform Choice, Youth of Today spearheaded the movement, which went further than straight edge by lyrically expressing views against drugs, alcohol and promiscuous sex, and views in favor of vegetarianism or veganism.^[37] In the late 1980s, other New York bands associated with youth crew included Bold, Gorilla Biscuits and Side by Side. Youth crew spread beyond New York to Southern California bands such as Chain of Strength and Inside Out.

1990s[link]

At the beginning of the 1990s, bands such as Born Against, Rorschach, Burn and Drive Like Jehu took the 1980s styles of hardcore and pushed them into more contemporary sounds. Many of the bands from this era were strongly influenced by other genres, such as heavy metal, alternative, pop, and even rap. Hardcore subsequently became a broad umbrella term, as a variety of different sub-genres arose, such as; melodic hardcore (Avail, Lifetime, Kid Dynamite), emo (Ashes, Endpoint, Saves the Day), d-beat (Avskum, Aus Rotten, Skitsystem), powerviolence (Spazz, Dropdead, Charles Bronson), thrashcore (What Happens Next?, Voorhees, Vivisick), mathcore (Dillinger Escape Plan, Botch, Converge), screamo (Heroin, Antioch Arrow, Swing Kids) and rapcore.

While the 1990s had many different sounds and styles emerging, the genre primarily branched into two directions; new school metallic hardcore (sometimes referred to as metalcore), which incorporated aspects of thrash metal and death metal for a heavier and more technical sound, and old school, reminiscent of classic styles of hardcore punk like youth crew. "New school" bands such as Strung Out, Earth Crisis, Snapcase, Strife, Hatebreed, 108, Integrity and Damnation A.D. dominated the scene in the early 1990s, but towards the end of the decade, a new-found interest in "old school" had developed, represented by bands like Battery, Ten Yard Fight, In My Eyes, Good Clean Fun, H₂O and Ray Cappo's new band Better Than a Thousand.^{[38][39][40][41]}

Many of the bands during this time wrote lyrics about straight edge, politics, civil rights, animal rights and spirituality. Ray Cappo's views led him to become a Hare Krishna and fellow members of the New York scene, John Joseph and Harley Flanagan of the Cro-Mags also converted, as would new bands embracing youth crew.^[42] While most of the bands embraced the straight edge lifestyle, some prominent ones from this era did not, such as Biohazard, Madball and Sick of It All. As a result of the Internet, music festivals such as Hellfest, and the commercial success of Victory Records and Trustkill Records, various bands such as Refused went on to find success with a larger audience and eventually brought the term "hardcore" into the mainstream.^[43][44]

2000s[link]

With the increased popularity of punk rock in the mid-1990s and the 2000s, some hardcore bands signed with major record labels. The first was New York's H2O, who released its album Go (2001) for MCA. Despite an extensive tour and an appearance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, the album was not commercially successful, and when the label folded, the band and the label parted ways. In 2002, California's AFI signed to DreamWorks Records and changed its sound considerably for its successful major label debut Sing the Sorrow. Chicago's Rise Against were signed by Geffen Records, and three of its releases on the label were certified platinum by the RIAA.^[45] Rise Against gradually diminished hardcore elements from their music, culminating with 2008's Appeal to Reason, which lacked the intensity found in their earlier albums.^[46][47] And with Endgame, it was substituted with a more melodic hardcore approach.

United Kingdom band Gallows were signed to Warner Bros. Records for £1 million.^[48] Their major label debut Grey Britain was described as being even more aggressive than their previous material, and the band was subsequently dropped from the label.^[49] Los Angele's band The Bronx briefly appeared on Island Def Jam Music Group for the release of their 2006 self-titled album, which was named one of the top 40 albums of the year by Spin magazine.^[50] They appeared in the Darby Crash biopic What We Do Is Secret, playing members of Black Flag.

In 2007, Toronto's Fucked Up appeared on MTV Live Canada, where they were introduced as "Effed Up".^[51] During the performance of its song "Baiting the Public", the majority of the audience were moshing, which caused $2000 in damages to the set.^[52]

Influence on other genres[link]

Alternative rock[link]

Some hardcore bands began experimenting with other styles as their careers progressed in the 1980s, becoming known as alternative rock.^[53] Bands such as Minutemen, Meat Puppets, Hüsker Dü, and The Replacements drew from hardcore but broke away from its loud and fast formula. Critic Joe S. Harrington suggested that the latter two "paraded as Hardcore until it was deemed permissible to do otherwise."^[54]

In the mid-1980s, northern West Coast state bands such as Melvins, Flipper and Green River developed a sludgy, "aggressive sound that melded the slower tempos of heavy metal with the intensity of hardcore," creating an alternative rock subgenre known as grunge.^[55] One of the most popular grunge bands Nirvana was particularly influenced by a number of hardcore bands (Black Flag, MDC, etc.), with band members Dave Grohl and Pat Smear being recruited from Scream and The Germs, and singer Kurt Cobain listing hardcore albums among his top 50 favorites.^[56]

Electronic music[link]

Digital hardcore is a music genre fusing elements of hardcore punk and various forms of electronic music and techno.^[57][58] It developed in Germany during the early 1990s, and often features sociological or left-extremist lyrical themes.^[57][58] Nintendocore, another musical style, fuses hardcore with video game music, chiptunes, and 8-bit music.^[59][60][61]

Emo and post-hardcore[link]

The 1980s saw the development of post-hardcore, which took the hardcore style in a more complex and dynamic direction, with a focus on singing rather than screaming. The post-hardcore style first took shape in Chicago, with bands such as Big Black, The Effigies and Naked Raygun,^[62] while later developed in Washington, DC within the community of bands on Ian MacKaye's Dischord Records with bands such as Fugazi, The Nation of Ulysses, and Jawbox.^[63] The style has extended until the late 2000s.^[63]

The mid-80s Washington D.C. post-hardcore scene would also see the birth of emo. Guy Picciotto formed Rites of Spring in 1984, breaking free of hardcore's self-imposed boundaries in favor of melodic guitars, varied rhythms, and deeply personal, impassioned lyrics dealing with nostalgia, romantic bitterness, and poetic desperation.^[64] Other D.C. bands such as Gray Matter, Beefeater, Fire Party, Dag Nasty, also became connected to this movement.^[65][66] The style was dubbed "emo", "emo-core",^[67] or "post-harDCore"^[68] (in reference to one of the names given to the Washington D.C. hardcore scene^[69]).

Metal[link]

The Melvins, aside from their influence on grunge, helped create what would be known as sludge metal, which is also a combination between Black Sabbath-style music and hardcore punk.^[70] This genre developed during the early 1990s, in the Southern United States (particularly in the New Orleans metal scene).^[71][72][73] Some of the pioneering bands of sludge metal were: Eyehategod,^[70] Crowbar,^[74] Down,^[75] Buzzov*en,^[72] Acid Bath^[76] and Corrosion of Conformity.^[73] Later, bands such as Isis and Neurosis,^[77] with similar influences, created a style that relies mostly on ambience and atmosphere^[78] that would eventually be named atmospheric sludge metal or post-metal.^[79]

Metalcore is another metal-based fusion genre which combines hardcore ethics and heavier hardcore music with heavy metal influences. It has been used to refer to bands that weren't purely hardcore and weren't purely metal such as Earth Crisis, Deadguy and Integrity.^[80]

Metallica and Slayer, pioneers of the heavy metal subgenre thrash metal, were influenced by a number of hardcore bands. Metallica's cover album Garage Inc. included covers of two Discharge and three Misfits songs, while Slayer's cover album Undisputed Attitude consisted of covers of predominately hardcore punk bands. Younger groups such as Sepultura also began to incorporate hardcore punk influences, resulting in a leaner and more direct sound. In turn, hardcore bands such as Corrosion of Conformity, Suicidal Tendencies, and Dirty Rotten Imbeciles, started to incorporate thrash metal into their own music to create a style that DRI coined as crossover thrash.^[81] Mathcore bands such as The Dillinger Escape Plan also draw heavily on both metal and punk influences.

Thrashcore[link]

Often confused with crossover thrash and sometimes thrash metal, is thrashcore.^[82][83] Thrashcore (also known as fastcore^[84]) is a subgenre of hardcore punk that emerged in the early 1980s.^[85] It is essentially sped-up hardcore punk, with bands often using blast beats.^[84]

Thrashcore spun off into powerviolence, another raw and dissonant subgenre of hardcore punk.^[83][86]

Politics[link]

Punk fans burning a United States flag.

Many bands took left wing political stances and were vocally against Republican U.S. President Ronald Reagan, who served in office from 1981 to 1989. Reagan's policies, including Reaganomics and social conservatism, were common subjects for these bands.^[87][88] Shortly after Reagan's death in 2004, the Maximumrocknroll Radio Show composed an episode made up of anti-Reagan songs from the 1980s including material by Dead Kennedys, Government Issue, DRI, Youth Brigade, Crucifucks, Wasted Youth, Dayglo Abortions, Reagan Youth, T.S.O.L., The Fartz and others.^[89]

Similarly during the 2001–2009 presidency of George W. Bush, a number of bands actively espoused anti-Bush stances. During the 2004 United States presidential election, artists and bands including Brian Baker, Jello Biafra, Mike Watt, Bad Religion, Rise Against,^[90] Circle Jerks, Ensign, Sick of It All, The Unseen, Western Addiction, and Youth Brigade involved themselves with the anti-Bush political activist group Punkvoter.^[91]

A minority of hardcore artists were more right wing, such as Antiseen, whose guitarist Joe Young ran for office in North Carolina as a Libertarian. Former Misfits singer Michale Graves also infamously appeared on an episode of The Daily Show, voicing his support for George W. Bush.^[92][93]

Hardcore dancing[link]

Crowdsurfing over a mosh pit.

The early 1980s hardcore punk scene developed slam dancing and stage diving. A performance by Fear on the 1981 Halloween episode of Saturday Night Live was cut short when slam dancers, including John Belushi and members of a few hardcore bands, invaded the stage, damaged studio equipment and used profanity.^[94][95] They included John Joseph of Cro-Mags, as well as Ian Mackaye of Minor Threat.^[96] In the second half of the 1980s, the thrash metal scene adopted this form of dancing, with bands such as Anthrax and Stormtroopers of Death (an Anthrax-affiliated project) popularizing the terms mosh and moshing with the metal scene.^[97]

See also[link]

• List of hardcore punk bands

Notes[link]

• Hurchalla, George, Going Underground: American Punk 1979–1992 (Zuo Press, 2005)
• Manley, Frank, Smash the State: A Discography of Canadian Punk, 1977-92 (No Exit, 1993), ISBN 0-9696631-0-2

References[link]

v t e Hardcore punk Styles Christian hardcore Crossover thrash Crust punk D-beat Deathcore Digital hardcore Electronicore Emo Grindcore Grunge Melodic hardcore Metalcore Nardcore Nintendocore Oi! Post-hardcore Powerviolence Queercore Rapcore Screamo Skate punk Sludge metal Street punk Taqwacore Thrash metal Thrashcore UK 82 Youth crew Regional scenes International Argentina Australia Brazil Canada Italy Greece Japan Scandinavia Yugoslavia United States Boston California Chicago Minneapolis New Jersey New York Washington, DC Other topics DIY ethic Hardcore bands Moshing Hardline Punk ideologies Second wave punk musicians Straight edge Portal

v t e Punk rock Sub-Genres 2 Tone Anarcho-punk Art punk Celtic punk Christian punk Cowpunk Crust punk Dance-punk Deathrock Digital hardcore Folk punk Garage punk Glam punk Gothic rock Gypsy punk Hardcore punk Horror punk Nazi punk New Wave No Wave Noise rock Oi! Pop punk Post-hardcore Post-punk Psychobilly Punk blues Punk jazz Punk Pathetique Queercore Rapcore Riot grrrl Scottish Gaelic punk Ska punk Skate punk Street punk Synthpunk Taqwacore Trallpunk Other topics Afro-punk Protopunk DIY ethic First wave punk musicians Second wave punk musicians List of punk bands #–K L–Z Punk subculture Punk fashion Punk ideologies Punk visual art Moshing Punk literature Punk zine Straight edge Punk films (list) Punk filmmakers Timeline of punk rock Portal

CM Punk
Punk at the 2011 Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards
Ring name(s)	CM Punk[1]
Billed height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[1]
Billed weight	218 lb (99 kg)[1]
Born	(1978-10-26) October 26, 1978 (age 33) Chicago, Illinois[2]
Resides	Lockport, Illinois
Billed from	Chicago, Illinois[1]
Trained by	Ace Steel[3] Danny Dominion[4] Kevin Quinn[4] Dave Taylor[5] Fit Finlay[5] William Regal[5] Steel Dominion Wrestling School[5]
Debut	1999[6]
Website	CMPunk.com

Phillip Jack Brooks^[7] (born October 26, 1978),^[2] better known by his ring name CM Punk, is an American professional wrestler signed to WWE and appearing on its Raw brand as the reigning WWE Champion.

In professional wrestling, Brooks is a seven time World Champion, having held the ROH World Championship and ECW Championship once, the World Heavyweight Championship three times and the WWE Championship twice.

In addition to these championships Punk has also won the World Tag Team Championship (with Kofi Kingston), and the WWE Intercontinental Championship making him the nineteenth WWE Triple Crown Champion and the man to achieve this honor fastest at 203 days.^[8] Between WWE and Ring of Honor (where he is also a two-time World Tag Team Champion), Punk has won a total of eleven championships. He was also the winner of the 2008 and 2009 Money in the Bank ladder matches (the only wrestler to win the match twice in a row),^[9] and was the 2011 Superstar of the Year Slammy Award winner.^[10]

Punk initially came to prominence through his career on the professional wrestling independent circuit, primarily as a member of the ROH roster, where he was the first head trainer of the ROH wrestling school as well as winning both of their championships. In 2005, Punk signed a contract with WWE and was sent to its developmental promotion, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), where he won every championship available in the promotion. Throughout his career, Punk has consistently used the gimmick of being straight edge, a lifestyle he follows in his actual day-to-day life.^[4] Depending on Punk's alignment as a crowd favorite or villain, he emphasizes different aspects of the culture to encourage the desired audience reaction.^[4]

Professional wrestling career[link]

Early career[link]

CM Punk in a cage match against Danny Dominion at an NWA Midwest event on November 23, 2002 in Grayslake, Illinois.

Punk's first venture into wrestling was a stint in a backyard wrestling federation called the Lunatic Wrestling Federation with his friends and brother Mike Brooks in the mid-late 1990s. He first started using the ring name CM Punk when he was put into a tag team named the Chick Magnets with CM Venom after another performer skipped out on the card.^[4][11][12] Unlike his friends, Punk genuinely wanted to be a wrestler and saw it as more than simple fun.^[4] When the promotion started taking off, doing spot shows out of a warehouse in Mokena, Illinois, Punk found out that his brother Mike had embezzled thousands of dollars from the small company, causing them to become estranged. They have not spoken since.^[13]

He soon left the federation and enrolled as a student at the "Steel Dominion" wrestling school in Chicago, where he was trained by Ace Steel,^[3] Danny Dominion and Kevin Quinn to become a professional wrestler. As part of the training, he wrestled at Steel Domain Wrestling in St. Paul, Minnesota.^[4][5] It was in the Steel Domain that he met Scott Colton,^[14][15] who soon adopted the stage name Colt Cabana. Punk and Cabana became best friends and spent most of their early career together working in the same independent circuit promotions, as opponents or allies.^[14] In the independents, Punk, along with fellow Steel Domain graduates Colt Cabana, Chuckee Smooth, Adam Pearce and manager Dave Prazak, formed an alliance named the Gold Bond Mafia.^[4]

Independent Wrestling Association: Mid-South (2000–2005)[link]

Punk's home promotion for his early career is usually considered to be Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South (IWA:Mid-South).^[4] During Punk's time in IWA:Mid-South, he had high profile feuds with Colt Cabana and Chris Hero while also rising to the top of the roster winning the IWA Mid-South Light Heavyweight Championship twice and the IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Championship on five separate occasions, beating stars like A.J. Styles, Cabana and even Eddie Guerrero for that Championship. Punk's feud with Hero included a 55-minute TLC match,^[4] a 93-minute two out of three falls match,^[5] and several 60-minute time limit draws.^[15]

Punk's matches with Cabana led him to being hired by the Ring of Honor promotion.^[5] From February 2003 until May 2004, Punk refused to wrestle for IWA:Mid-South, because he claims that this was in protest to Ian Rotten's mistreatment of Chris Hero in the company.^[4] Hero, however, has stated he believes there were other reasons, and Rotten's treatment of him was just an excuse by Punk to stop working for the company.^[16] Eventually Punk returned to IWA:Mid-South and continued to perform as a wrestler and commentator for them until 2005 when he was signed to World Wrestling Entertainment. His last appearance in IWA:Mid-South was on July 2, 2005 in which he competed in a 60-minute time limit draw against Delirious.^[17]

Ring of Honor and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling[link]

Storylines with Raven (2002–2004)[link]

Initially, Punk joined Ring of Honor (ROH) as a crowd favorite,^[4] but quickly became a villain in a feud with Raven that featured numerous variants of no disqualification matches.^[18] Their rivalry lasted most of 2003 and was considered one of ROH's top feuds of the year,^[19] and was based around Punk's straight-edge lifestyle, with him likening Raven to his alcoholic father.^[20] Their rivalry was settled at The Conclusion in November 2003, where Punk defeated Raven in a Steel Cage match.^[18] At the same time, Punk joined the wrestling promotion NWA Total Nonstop Action (TNA), in which he was paired with Julio Dinero as members of Raven's TNA alliance The Gathering.^[4]

CM Punk during a cage match against Raven at Ring of Honor's The Conclusion on November 28, 2003 in Fairfield, Connecticut.

Punk started climbing the ranks of ROH, including coming in second at the Second Anniversary Show during the tournament to crown the first ROH Pure Champion, losing to A.J. Styles in the finals^[18] and winning the ROH Tag Team Championship twice with Colt Cabana as the Second City Saints. Both times Punk and Cabana defeated the Briscoe Brothers to win the championship.^[21] Circa October 2003, Punk was hired as the first head trainer of the Ring of Honor wrestling school,^[4][22] having previously been a trainer for the Steel Domain^[4] and Primetime Wrestling.^[23]

Shortly before a TNA show on February 25, 2004, Punk had a physical scuffle with Teddy Hart outside of a restaurant that was broken up by Sabu. The scuffle reportedly stemmed from an ROH show in which Hart performed three unplanned spots putting several other wrestlers in danger of injury.^[24][25] Around the time of the scuffle, Punk and Dinero stopped appearing on TNA shows, leading to speculation he was fired for the incident.^[26] Punk, however, has stated that the scuffle had no bearing on his TNA career.^[26] He said the reason he and Dinero stopped appearing on TNA pay-per-views was that TNA officials believed that he and Dinero had not connected with the fans as villains, having turned against the popular Raven and instead formed a villainous tag team managed by James Mitchell.^[26] The officials decided that as the teams as villains was not working decided to put the storyline on hold indefinitely, and thus had no work for Punk or Dinero.^[26] Punk officially quit TNA in March 2004 during the Rob Feinstein controversy, after having a dispute with the TNA offices over his ability to compete in ROH following a TNA order that their contracted wrestlers were to no longer wrestle in ROH.^[27]

Pursuit of the World Championship (2004–2005)[link]

In ROH, Punk faced off against ROH World Champion Samoa Joe for the championship in a three match series. The first match, on June 12, 2004 at World Title Classic in Dayton, Ohio, resulted in a 60-minute time limit draw when neither Punk nor Joe could pin or cause the other to submit in the 60 minutes. The second match between Punk and Joe was planned for December 4, 2004; however, due to Steve Corino being pulled from a match with Joe by Pro Wrestling ZERO-ONE, the second match was hastily rescheduled on October 11, 2004 for October 16 in Punk's hometown of Chicago.^[15] At Joe vs. Punk II on October 16, they wrestled to a second 60-minute draw.^[18] In addition to Joe vs. Punk II becoming Ring of Honor's best-selling DVD at the time, the match received a five-star rating by Dave Meltzer's Wrestling Observer Newsletter. It was the first match in North America to receive a five-star rating in seven years—the last one being the Hell in a Cell match between Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker at Badd Blood: In Your House in 1997.^[15] Joe ended the series by defeating Punk in the third and final match on December 4, 2004 at All-Star Extravaganza 2 in which there was a no time limit stipulation.^[18]

CM Punk in Ring of Honor.

In June 2005, Punk accepted a deal with World Wrestling Entertainment, after a try-out match against Val Venis on its Sunday Night Heat show. Even though he had accepted the deal, Punk went on to defeat Austin Aries with his Pepsi Plunge move, winning the ROH World Championship on June 18, 2005 at Death Before Dishonor III.^[21] Immediately after the match, Punk proceeded to become a villain and started a storyline where he threatened to bring the ROH World Championship to WWE with him. For weeks, Punk teased the ROH locker room and the ROH fans as well as mocking the championship he possessed, going so far as to sign his WWE contract on it. During the storyline, Mick Foley made several ROH appearances, attempting to convince Punk to do the right thing and defend the title on his way out. On August 12, 2005 in Dayton, Ohio, Punk lost the ROH World Championship to James Gibson in a four corner elimination match consisting of himself, Gibson, Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels, who re-debuted after a year-and-half absence.^[21] Punk's final scheduled match in Ring of Honor took place at Punk: The Final Chapter on August 13, 2005 against long-time friend Colt Cabana in a two out of three falls match, which he lost.^[18] In his last match, Punk was visibly crying and was showered with streamers when he posed in the middle of the ring.

Punk made a special appearance at the ROH show Unscripted II on February 11, 2006, when the original card had to be scrapped due to Low Ki leaving ROH the week prior.^[18] In addition, most of the ROH roster contracted to TNA were pulled from the show because of a snowstorm that TNA officials thought might prevent performers from reaching a pay-per-view scheduled the next day.^[28][29] In the main event, Punk teamed with Bryan Danielson to wrestle and ultimately defeat Jimmy Rave and Adam Pearce in a tag team match.^[29]

World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE[link]

Ohio Valley Wrestling (2005–2006)[link]

In September 2005, Punk was assigned to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), a WWE developmental territory. He made his debut on September 8, 2005, in a dark match, where he, Nigel McGuinness and Paul Burchill were defeated by Deuce Shade, Elijah Burke and Seth Skyfire.^[30] On September 26, 2005 in his OVW television debut, Punk suffered a ruptured eardrum and broken nose after Danny Inferno hit him with an overly stiff right hand. Despite the injury, Punk finished the match and quickly recovered.^[31][32]

On November 9, 2005, Punk became the OVW Television Champion after defeating Ken Doane,^[31] which immediately led to a feud between Punk and Brent Albright, who had previously been feuding with Doane for the Television Championship and had lost his chance to wrestle Doane after Punk hit him with a chair so he himself could wrestle Doane. They wrestled in series of matches, including one that ended in overtime with Albright having Punk submit to Albright's finisher, the Crowbar, but Punk was able to keep the championship, as he had not agreed to the extra time.^[31] On January 4, 2006, Punk lost the OVW Television Championship during a three way dance among himself, Albright and Doane. Doane was injured halfway through the match and was replaced by Aaron "The Idol" Stevens. Punk submitted to Albright's Crowbar and was eliminated, but he returned later in the match to distract Albright allowing Stevens to pin Albright and become the new OVW Television Champion.^[33] The feud continued after a short period in which Albright and Punk were a tag team, but they became opponents again after Albright wanted the respect of Punk, who would never give it to him, and instead proceeded to "punk out" (get the better of) Albright repeatedly. This feud continued for weeks with Punk always getting the better of Albright until a double turn occurred on February 1, 2006 when Albright became a villain during a tag match, allowing the Spirit Squad to beat Punk and, in doing so, making Punk a crowd favorite.^[33] During this time, Punk had a minor appearance at WrestleMania 22 on April 2, 2006 as one of the gangsters who rode a 1930s era car to the ring before John Cena's entrance.^[34]

After Matt Cappotelli vacated the OVW Heavyweight Championship because of a brain tumor in February 2006, a tournament was held to crown a new champion. The finals were Brent Albright vs. CM Punk with Albright defeating Punk to become the new champion.^[33] Punk and Albright continued their feud, with Albright becoming more unstable and paranoid about maintaining his championship after several close call matches against Punk, resulting in acts such as threatening Maria. On May 3, 2006, Punk finally defeated Albright in a strap match to win the OVW Heavyweight Championship.^[33] As champion, Punk retained the title in matches against opponents such as Shad Gaspard,^[33] Ken Kennedy,^[33] Johnny Jeter^[33] and Mike "The Miz" Mizanin.^[35]

On July 28, 2006, Punk and Seth Skyfire defeated Shad Gaspard and the Neighborhoodie to win the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship at a house show.^[36] They lost the Tag Team Championship on August 2, 2006 to Deuce Shade and "Domino" Cliff Compton after an injured Skyfire tagged in an already injured Punk.^[33] This altercation led to a feud between Punk and Skyfire after a rematch for the Tag Team Championship on August 7, 2006 in which a healthy Punk purposefully tagged in an injured Skyfire to be beaten by Shade and Compton.^[33] On August 30, 2006, a match was scheduled to take place between Punk and Skyfire for the OVW Heavyweight Championship. Prior to the match, however, Skyfire was attacked by Charles "The Hammer" Evans, with whom Skyfire had also been feuding, and was replaced in the match by Chet Jablonski (Chet the Jet) who pinned Punk to win the OVW Heavyweight Championship.^[33] As Punk no longer possessed the championship, OVW no longer required him. He was removed from the roster and brought up to the WWE roster full-time. He continued to make sporadic appearances for the company, such as at the 400th episode of OVW on television,^[33] up until WWE announced it was ending its developmental territory agreement with OVW on February 7, 2008.^[37]

ECW (2006–2008)[link]

CM Punk with a portrait as the ECW Champion in 2008.

On June 24, 2006, Punk made his ECW debut during a house show at the former ECW Arena, defeating Stevie Richards.^[38] He made his TV debut on the July 4 episode of ECW on Sci Fi, cutting a brief pre-taped promo about his straight edge lifestyle emphasizing the disciplinary aspects of being drug and alcohol free.^[39] Although he had retained the straight edge gimmick, he now had a Muay Thai training background. Punk made his TV wrestling debut on August 1, 2006 at the Hammerstein Ballroom, defeating Justin Credible.^[40] CM Punk established himself in ECW by going undefeated, defeating opponents such as Christopher W. Anderson,^[41] Stevie Richards^[42] and Shannon Moore.^[43]

Soon after, Punk began feuding with Mike Knox after Knox's girlfriend, Kelly Kelly, was seen to have feelings for Punk.^[43] Punk defeated Knox in their first singles match (qualifying for the Extreme Elimination Chamber at December to Dismember in the process)^[44] as well as the rematch, after which Kelly Kelly celebrated CM Punk's victory over her boyfriend.^[45] Punk then teamed with D-Generation X and the Hardy Boyz in their Survivor Series match against Rated-RKO, Knox, Johnny Nitro and Gregory Helms, a match in which all the participants on DX's side survived elimination.^[46] At December to Dismember, Punk participated in the Elimination Chamber for the ECW World Championship; however, he was the first person eliminated by Rob Van Dam.^[47]

CM Punk as ECW Champion on September 30, 2007 in Hammond, Indiana.

Following the pay-per-view, Punk entered into a feud with Hardcore Holly, who ended Punk's six-month unbeaten streak in singles competition on January 9, 2007.^[48] Punk went on to feud with Matt Striker, who gave him his second singles loss since being in ECW on January 30.^[49] Punk then qualified for the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 23 by defeating Johnny Nitro.^[50] In the final week leading up to WrestleMania 23, Punk made appearances on both Raw and Friday Night SmackDown!, defeating Kenny Dykstra^[51] and former World Heavyweight Champion King Booker,^[52] respectively. At WrestleMania 23, Punk competed in, but did not win, the Money in the Bank ladder match, being knocked off the ladder just seconds before the winner, Mr. Kennedy, claimed the briefcase.^[53]

On the April 10, 2007 episode of ECW on Sci Fi, Punk briefly became a villain by officially joining the New Breed alliance,^[54] after several weeks in which both the New Breed and the ECW Originals had attempted to recruit him.^[55][56] Two weeks later, however, Punk betrayed the New Breed during a four on four elimination match between the New Breed and ECW Originals by kicking New Breed leader Elijah Burke in the back of the head and costing them the match. After the match, Punk proceeded to deliver his finisher, the Go To Sleep, on Burke and sarcastically apologized before leaving the ring alone, becoming a fan favorite again. WWE.com later confirmed that Punk was no longer a member of the New Breed.^[57] At Judgment Day, Punk wrestled and defeated Burke in his first singles match on a pay-per-view.^[58] Punk then went on to One Night Stand and teamed up with Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman in a tables match to defeat the New Breed.^[59]

When ECW World Champion Bobby Lashley was drafted to Raw and stripped of the ECW World Championship, a mini-tournament was announced to declare a new champion among Punk, Elijah Burke, Marcus Cor Von and Chris Benoit. Punk defeated Marcus Cor Von on the June 19, 2007 episode of ECW on Sci Fi. By doing so, CM Punk was meant to face Chris Benoit at Vengeance: Night of Champions for the vacant ECW World Championship.^[60] Benoit, however, was hastily replaced by Johnny Nitro when Benoit no-showed the event due to what was described on-air as "personal reasons". Nitro subsequently defeated Punk at Vengeance for the vacant championship.^[61] Punk won another shot at the title at The Great American Bash against Nitro, who had changed his moniker to John Morrison by this point; however, Punk was defeated again by Morrison.^[62] The next week, Punk challenged Elijah Burke and Tommy Dreamer in a triple threat match to determine the next competitor in Morrison's 15 Minutes of Fame Challenge, in which Punk came out victorious.^[63] A week later, Punk defeated Morrison with the Go To Sleep to earn an ECW Championship title match at SummerSlam. At SummerSlam, however, Punk lost the match when Morrison used the ropes for leverage.^[64]

At the September 1, 2007 (aired September 4) ECW taping, in a "last chance" title match, Punk defeated Morrison for the ECW Championship.^[65] Punk then went on to have successful title defenses against the likes of Elijah Burke (at Unforgiven),^[66] Big Daddy V via disqualification (at No Mercy)^[67] and The Miz (at Cyber Sunday).^[68] On the November 6, 2007 episode of ECW, Punk retained the ECW Championship in a match against Morrison following The Miz's interference.^[69] At Survivor Series, Punk retained his title in a Triple Threat match, beating The Miz and John Morrison.^[70] On the January 22, 2008 episode of ECW, Chavo Guerrero defeated CM Punk in a No Disqualification match to win the ECW Championship after Edge, (acting as a guest commentator at ringside) ran in and speared Punk.^[71]