This article's lead section may not adequately summarize its contents. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of the article's key points. (March 2012)

DVD

DVD-R read/write side
Media type	Optical disc
Capacity	4.7 GB (single-sided, single-layer – common) 8.5–8.7 GB (single-sided, double-layer) 9.4 GB (double-sided, single-layer) 17.08 GB (double-sided, double-layer – rare)
Read mechanism	650 nm laser, 10.5 Mbit/s (1×)
Write mechanism	10.5 Mbit/s (1×)
Standard	DVD Forum's DVD Books[1][2][3] and DVD+RW Alliance specifications

DVD is an optical disc storage format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions.

Pre-recorded DVDs are mass-produced using molding machines that physically stamp data onto the DVD. Such discs are known as DVD-ROM, because data can only be read and not written nor erased. Blank recordable DVD discs (DVD-R and DVD+R) can be recorded once using a DVD recorder and then function as a DVD-ROM. Rewritable DVDs (DVD-RW, DVD+RW, and DVD-RAM) can be recorded and erased multiple times.

DVDs are used in DVD-Video consumer digital video format and in DVD-Audio consumer digital audio format, as well as for authoring AVCHD discs. DVDs containing other types of information may be referred to as DVD data discs.

History[link]

Before the advent of DVD, Video CD (VCD) became the first format for distributing digitally encoded films on standard 120 mm optical discs. (Its predecessor, CD Video, used analog video encoding.) VCD was on the market in 1993.^[4] In the same year, two new optical disc storage formats were being developed. One was the Multimedia Compact Disc (MMCD), backed by Philips and Sony, and the other was the Super Density (SD) disc, supported by Toshiba, Time Warner, Matsushita Electric, Hitachi, Mitsubishi Electric, Pioneer, Thomson, and JVC.

Representatives of the SD camp approached IBM, asking for advice on the file system to use for their disc as well as seeking support for their format for storing computer data. Alan E. Bell, a researcher from IBM's Almaden Research Center got that request and also learned of the MMCD development project. Wary of being caught in a repeat of the costly videotape format war between VHS and Betamax in the 1980s, he convened a group of computer industry experts, including representatives from Apple, Microsoft, Sun Microsystems, Dell, and many others. This group was referred to as the Technical Working Group, or TWG.

The TWG voted to boycott both formats unless the two camps agreed on a single, converged standard.^[5] Lou Gerstner, president of IBM, was recruited to apply pressure on the executives of the warring factions. Eventually, the computer companies won the day, and a single format, now called DVD, was agreed upon. The TWG also collaborated with the Optical Storage Technology Association (OSTA) on the use of their implementation of the ISO-13346 file system (known as Universal Disc Format) for use on the new DVDs.

Philips and Sony decided that it was in their best interests to avoid another format war over their Multimedia Compact Disc, and agreed to unify with companies backing the Super Density Disc to release a single format with technologies from both. The specification was mostly similar to Toshiba and Matsushita's Super Density Disc, except for the dual-layer option (MMCD was single-sided and optionally dual-layer, whereas SD was single-layer but optionally double-sided) and EFMPlus modulation.

EFMPlus was chosen because of its great resilience to disc damage, such as scratches and fingerprints. EFMPlus, created by Kees Immink (who also designed EFM), is 6% less efficient than the modulation technique originally used by Toshiba, which resulted in a capacity of 4.7 GB, as opposed to the original 5 GB. The result was the DVD specification, finalized for the DVD movie player and DVD-ROM computer applications in December 1995.

The DVD Video format was first introduced by Toshiba in Japan in November 1996, in the United States in March 1997 (test marketed),^[6] in Europe in October 1998, and in Australia in February 1999.

In May 1997, the DVD Consortium was replaced by the DVD Forum, which is open to all other companies.^[6]

Specifications[link]

DVD specifications created and updated by the DVD Forum are published as so-called DVD Books (e.g. DVD-ROM Book, DVD-Audio Book, DVD-Video Book, DVD-R Book, DVD-RW Book, DVD-RAM Book, DVD-AR Book, DVD-VR Book, etc.).^[1][2][3]

Some specifications for mechanical, physical and optical characteristics of DVD optical discs can be downloaded as freely available standards from the ISO website.^[7] Also, the DVD+RW Alliance publishes competing DVD specifications such as DVD+R, DVD+R DL, DVD+RW or DVD+RW DL. These DVD formats are also ISO standards.^{[8][9][10][11]}

Some of DVD specifications (e.g. for DVD-Video) are not publicly available and can be obtained only from the DVD Format/Logo Licensing Corporation for a fee of US $5000.^[12][13] Every subscriber must sign a non-disclosure agreement as certain information in the DVD Book is proprietary and confidential.^[12]

Etymology[link]

The official DVD charter documents specify that the basis of the DVD name stems from the term digital versatile disc.^[14] Usage in the present day varies, with Digital Versatile Disc,^[15] Digital Video Disc, and DVD being the most common.

DVD was originally used as an initialism for the unofficial term digital videodisc.^[16]

A newsgroup FAQ written by Jim Taylor (a prominent figure in the industry) claims that four years later, in 1999, the DVD Forum stated that the format name was simply the three letters "DVD" and did not stand for anything.^[17]

The DVD Forum website has a section called "DVD Primer" in which the answer to the question, "What does DVD mean?" reads, "The keyword is 'versatile.' Digital Versatile Discs provide superb video, audio and data storage and access—all on one disc."^[18]

Identification (MID)[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

This section appears to be written like an advertisement. Please help improve it by rewriting promotional content from a neutral point of view and removing any inappropriate external links. (January 2012)

The DVD is made of a spiral groove read or written starting at the center. The form of the groove encodes unalterable identification data known as the Media Identification Code (MID). The MID contains prerecorded information indicating the disc's original manufacturer, apart from any visible branding on the disc itself. Also included is the byte capacity and permitted burning speeds (dependent on both the recorder, or burner, as well as what the disc can handle). This information can be read on many disc authoring software products.

A MID code is generally seen to be more reassuring for individuals whose priority is the long-term storage of their data than just buying for the sake of a brand name. For example, members of the Internet community Club MyCE, which specialises in disc burning, maintain that anything not produced by Japanese disc manufacturers Verbatim or Taiyo Yuden will be of inferior burning quality and offer shorter longevity.

Verbatim and Taiyo Yuden have high-quality standards to ensure their discs are excellent, (and anything that fails their strict quality tests may be destroyed) whilst other famous disc manufacturers, such as CMC Magnetics Corporation or Ritek Corporation, tend to produce batches with varying quality, resulting in inconsistency and poor burning results. Another reason is the burner's firmware, a set of instructions as to how to interact with the disc, varies from burner to burner. They determine how well a burn will be, or even if it will finish at all. A burn that fails to record during burning or verifying, is referred to as a "coaster" - or an unusable disc. Several errors as such may be encountered when trying to play back the disc.

Additionally, it is the firmware that determines how well it supports the MID code. Samsung and BenQ burners for example tend to be more tolerant of less well-known MID codes, whilst a LG and a Matsushita burner (made by parent company Panasonic) might be a little pickier over what it can handle.

As a result, many disc producers have turned to "faking" MID codes in order to obtain better firmware support. UmeDisc, which produces discs on behalf of AOne, Tesco, Signellex, etc., may turn to faking a Taiyo Yuden MID or a Mitsubishi MKM MID (manufacturer for Verbatim) so the burner can interpret it better. An AOne 8x DVD-R disc uses a Taiyo Yuden MID (TYG02), although its real MID code should be UME01.

The cheaper brand of discs may turn to "outsourcing" their products. This is where a brand name of disc changes the manufacturer depending on who will sell them a batch of discs at the lowest price. Memorex is notable for changing their manufacturers frequently (one spindle of DVD blanks may be produced by one manufacturer whilst another spindle may be produced by another). Brands that outsource tend to obtain the lowest quality batches, and making them inconsistent for burning and long-term storage.

However, some brands of discs remain loyal to their supplier. Traxdata and Arita are Ritek-only brands, whilst Datasafe and Datawrite are supplied exclusively by CMC Magnetics.

Design[link]

Comparison of several forms of disk storage showing tracks (not-to-scale); green denotes start and red denotes end.
* Some CD-R(W) and DVD-R(W)/DVD+R(W) recorders operate in ZCLV, CAA or CAV modes, but most work in Constant linear velocity (CLV) mode.

As a movie delivery medium[link]

DVD was adopted by movie and home entertainment distributors to replace the ubiquitous VHS tape as the primary means of distributing films to consumers in the home entertainment marketplace. DVD was chosen for its superior ability to reproduce moving pictures and sound, for its superior durability, and for its interactivity. Interactivity had proven to be a feature which consumers, especially collectors, favored when the movie studios released their films on LaserDisc. When the price point for a LaserDisc at approximately $100 per disc moved to $20 per disc at retail, this luxury feature became available for mass consumption. Simultaneously, the movie studios decided to change their home entertainment release model from a rental model to a for purchase model, and large numbers of DVDs were sold.

At the same time, a demand for interactive design talent and services was created. Movies in the past had uniquely designed title sequences. Suddenly every movie being released required information architecture and interactive design components that matched the film's tone and were at the quality level that Hollywood demanded for its product.

As an interactive medium[link]

DVD as a format had two qualities at the time that were not available in any other interactive medium: enough capacity and speed to provide high quality, full motion video and sound, and low cost delivery mechanism provided by consumer products retailers. Retailers would quickly move to sell their players for under $200, and eventually for under $50 at retail. In addition, the medium itself was small enough and light enough to mail using general first class postage. Almost overnight, this created a new business opportunity and model for business innovators, such as Netflix, to re-invent the home entertainment distribution model. It also opened up the opportunity for business and product information to be inexpensively provided on full motion video through direct mail.

Capacity[link]

The basic types of DVD (12 cm diameter, single-sided or homogeneous double-sided) are referred to by a rough approximation of their capacity in gigabytes. In draft versions of the specification, DVD-5 indeed held five gigabytes, but some parameters were changed later on as explained above, so the capacity decreased. Other formats, those with 8 cm diameter and hybrid variants, acquired similar numeric names with even larger deviation.

The 12 cm type is a standard DVD, and the 8 cm variety is known as a MiniDVD. These are the same sizes as a standard CD and a mini-CD, respectively. The capacity by surface (MiB/cm²) varies from 6.92 MiB/cm² in the DVD-1 to 18.0 MiB/cm² in the DVD-18.

As with hard disk drives, in the DVD realm, gigabyte and the symbol GB are usually used in the SI sense (i.e., 10⁹, or 1,000,000,000 bytes). For distinction, gibibyte (with symbol GiB) is used (i.e., 1024³ (2³⁰), or 1,073,741,824 bytes).

Size comparison: a 12 cm DVD+RW and a 19 cm pencil.

Each DVD sector contains 2,418 bytes of data, 2,048 bytes of which are user data. There is a small difference in storage space between + and - (hyphen) formats:

Technology[link]

DVD-RW Drive operating with the protective cover removed.

DVD uses 650 nm wavelength laser diode light as opposed to 780 nm for CD. This permits a smaller pit to be etched on the media surface compared to CDs (0.74 µm for DVD versus 1.5 µm for CD), allowing in part for DVD's increased storage capacity.

In comparison, Blu-ray Disc, the successor to the DVD format, uses a wavelength of 405 nm, and one dual-layer disc has a 50 GB storage capacity.

Writing speeds for DVD were 1×, that is, 1,385 kB/s (1,353 KiB/s), in the first drives and media models. More recent models, at 18× or 20×, have 18 or 20 times that speed. Note that for CD drives, 1× means 153.6 kB/s (150 KiB/s), about one-ninth as swift.^[21][23]

Internal mechanism of a drive[link]

This mechanism is shown right side up; the disc would sit on top of it. The laser and optical system scans the underside of the disc.

With reference to the photo, just to the right of image center is the disc spin motor, a gray cylinder, with its gray centering hub and black resilient drive ring on top. There is a disc-shaped round clamp, loosely held inside the cover and free to rotate; it's not in the photo. After the disc tray stops moving inward, as the motor and its attached parts rise, a magnet near the top of the rotating assembly contacts and strongly attracts the clamp to hold and center the disc. This motor has an external rotor – every visible part of it spins.

The gray metal chassis is shock-mounted at its four corners to reduce sensitivity to external shocks, and to reduce drive noise from residual imbalance when running fast. The soft shock mount grommets are just below the brass-colored washers at the four corners (the left one is obscured). Running through those grommets are screws to fasten them to the black plastic frame that's underneath.

Two parallel precision guide rods that run between upper left and lower right in the photo carry the "sled", the moving optical read-write head. As shown, this "sled" is close to, or at the position where it reads or writes at the edge of the disc.

A dark gray disc with two holes on opposite sides has a blue lens surrounded by silver-colored metal. This is the lens that's closest to the disc; it serves to both read and write by focusing the laser light to a very small spot. Under the disc is an ingenious actuator comprising permanent magnets and coils that move the lens up and down to maintain focus on the data layer. As well, the actuator moves the lens slightly toward and away from the spin-motor spindle to keep the spot on track. Both focus and tracking are relatively quite fast and very precise. These servos are comparatively wideband.

To select tracks (or files) as well as advancing the "sled" during continuous read or write operations, a motor (it could be a stepping motor; one would hear it if it were) rotates a coarse-pitch leadscrew to move the "sled" throughout its total travel range. The motor, itself, is the gray cylinder just to the left of the most-distant shock mount; its shaft is parallel to the support rods. The leadscrew is the rod with evenly-spaced darker details; these are the helical groove that engages a pin on the "sled".

The irregular orange material is flexible etched copper foil supported by thin sheet plastic; these are "flexible printed circuits" that connect everything to the electronics (which is not shown).

DVD recordable and rewritable[link]

Sony DVD Read & Rewritable

HP initially developed recordable DVD media from the need to store data for backup and transport.

DVD recordables are now also used for consumer audio and video recording. Three formats were developed: DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW (plus), and DVD-RAM. DVD-R is available in two formats, General (650 nm) and Authoring (635 nm), where Authoring discs may be recorded with CSS encrypted video content but General discs may not.^[25]

Although most DVD writers can nowadays write the DVD+R/RW and DVD-R/RW formats (usually denoted by "DVD±RW" and/or the existence of both the DVD Forum logo and the DVD+RW Alliance logo), the "plus" and the "dash" formats use different writing specifications. Most DVD readers and players will play both kinds of discs, although older models can have trouble with the "plus" variants.

Some first generation DVD players would cause damage to DVD±R/RW/DL when attempting to read them.

Dual-layer recording[link]

Dual-layer recording (sometimes also known as double-layer recording) allows DVD-R and DVD+R discs to store significantly more data—up to 8.5 gigabytes per disc, compared with 4.7 gigabytes for single-layer discs. Along with this, DVD-DLs have slower write speeds as compared to ordinary DVDs. When played, a slight transition can sometimes be seen in the playback when the player changes layers. DVD-R DL was developed for the DVD Forum by Pioneer Corporation; DVD+R DL was developed for the DVD+RW Alliance by Philips and Mitsubishi Kagaku Media (MKM).^[26]

A dual-layer disc differs from its usual DVD counterpart by employing a second physical layer within the disc itself. The drive with dual-layer capability accesses the second layer by shining the laser through the first semitransparent layer. In some DVD players, the layer change can exhibit a noticeable pause, up to several seconds.^[27] This caused some viewers to worry that their dual-layer discs were damaged or defective, with the end result that studios began listing a standard message explaining the dual-layer pausing effect on all dual-layer disc packaging.

DVD recordable discs supporting this technology are backward-compatible with some existing DVD players and DVD-ROM drives.^[26] Many current DVD recorders support dual-layer technology, and the price is now comparable to that of single-layer drives, although the blank media remain more expensive. The recording speeds reached by dual-layer media are still well below those of single-layer media. A potential reason is how Dual Layer discs are not as well matured compared to the Single Layer discs, as well as consumers, on a whole, have no desire for increased burning speeds.

There are two modes for dual-layer orientation. With Parallel Track Path (PTP), used on DVD-ROM, both layers start at the inside diameter (ID) and end at the outside diameter (OD) with the lead-out. With Opposite Track Path (OTP), used on many Digital Video Discs, the lower layer starts at the ID and the upper layer starts at the OD, where the other layer ends; they share one lead-in and one lead-out.

DVD-Video[link]

DVD-Video is a standard for storing and distributing video/audio content on DVD media. The format went on sale in Japan in 1996, in the United States in 1997, in Europe in 1998 and in Australia in 1999.^[28] DVD-Video became the dominant form of home video distribution in Japan when it first went on sale in 1996, but did not become the dominant form of home video distribution in the United States until June 15, 2003, when weekly DVD-Video in the United States rentals began outnumbering weekly VHS cassette rentals, reflecting the rapid adoption rate of the technology in the U.S. marketplace.^[5][29] Currently, DVD-Video is the dominant form of home video distribution worldwide, although in Japan it was surpassed by Blu-ray Disc when Blu-ray first went on sale in Japan on March 31, 2006.

Security[link]

The Content Scramble System (CSS) is a Digital Rights Management (DRM) and encryption system employed on almost all commercially produced DVD-video discs. CSS utilizes a proprietary 40-bit stream cipher algorithm. The system was introduced around 1996 and was first compromised in 1999.

The purpose of CSS is twofold:

1. CSS prevents byte-for-byte copies of an MPEG (digital video) stream from being playable since such copies do not include the keys that are hidden on the lead-in area of the restricted DVD.
2. CSS provides a reason for manufacturers to make their devices compliant with an industry-controlled standard, since CSS scrambled discs cannot in principle be played on noncompliant devices; anyone wishing to build compliant devices must obtain a license, which contains the requirement that the rest of the DRM system (region codes, Macrovision, and user operation prohibition) be implemented.^[30]

While most CSS-decrypting software is used to play DVD videos, other pieces of software (such as DVD Decrypter, AnyDVD, DVD43, Smartripper, and DVD Shrink) can copy a DVD to a hard drive and remove Macrovision, CSS encryption, region codes and user operation prohibition.

Consumer restrictions[link]

The rise of filesharing and "piracy" has prompted many copyright holders to display notices on DVD packaging or displayed on screen when the content is played that warn consumers of the illegality of certain uses of the DVD. It is commonplace to include a 90 second advert warning that most forms of copying the contents are illegal. Many DVDs prevent skipping past or fast-forwarding through this warning.

Arrangements for renting and lending differ by geography. In the U.S., the right to re-sell, rent, or lend out bought DVDs is protected by the first-sale doctrine under the Copyright Act of 1976. In Europe, rental and lending rights are more limited, under a 1992 European Directive that gives copyright holders broader powers to restrict the commercial renting and public lending of DVD copies of their work.

DVD-Audio[link]

DVD-Audio is a format for delivering high fidelity audio content on a DVD. It offers many channel configuration options (from mono to 5.1 surround sound) at various sampling frequencies (up to 24-bits/192 kHz versus CDDA's 16-bits/44.1 kHz). Compared with the CD format, the much higher-capacity DVD format enables the inclusion of considerably more music (with respect to total running time and quantity of songs) and/or far higher audio quality (reflected by higher sampling rates and greater sample resolution, and/or additional channels for spatial sound reproduction). This DVD-Audio technique was first used by the brothers Lagkind.^{[citation needed]}

Despite DVD-Audio's superior technical specifications, there is debate as to whether the resulting audio enhancements are distinguishable in typical listening environments. DVD-Audio currently forms a niche market, probably due to the very sort of format war with rival standard SACD that DVD-Video avoided.

Security[link]

DVD-Audio discs employ a DRM mechanism, called Content Protection for Prerecorded Media (CPPM), developed by the 4C group (IBM, Intel, Matsushita, and Toshiba).

Although CPPM was supposed to be much harder to crack than DVD-Video's CSS, it too was eventually cracked in 2007 with the release of the dvdcpxm tool. The subsequent release of the libdvdcpxm library (which is based on dvdcpxm) allowed for the development of open source DVD-Audio players and ripping software, such as DVD-Audio Explorer.^[31] As a result, making 1:1 copies of DVD-Audio discs is now possible with relative ease, much like DVD-Video discs.

Blu-ray Disc/HD DVD[link]

In 2006, two new formats called HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc were released as the successor to DVD. HD DVD competed unsuccessfully with Blu-ray Disc in the format war of 2006–2008. A dual layer HD DVD can store up to 30GB and a dual layer Blu-ray disc can hold up to 50GB.^[32][33]

However, unlike previous format changes, e.g., audio tape to Compact Disc or VHS videotape to DVD, there is no immediate indication that production of the standard DVD will gradually wind down, as they still dominate, with around 75% of video sales and approximately one billion DVD player sales worldwide as of 3 April 2011. In fact, experts claim that the DVD will remain the dominant medium for at least another five years as Blu-ray technology is still in its introductory phase, write and read speeds being poor as well as the fact of necessary hardware being expensive and not readily available.^[5][34][35]

Consumers initially were also slow to adopt Blu-ray due to the cost.^[36] By 2009, 85% of stores were selling Blu-ray Discs. A high-definition television and appropriate connection cables are also required to take advantage of Blu-ray disc. Some analysts suggest that the biggest obstacle to replacing DVD is due to its installed base; a large majority of consumers are satisfied with DVDs.^[37] The DVD succeeded because it offered a compelling alternative to VHS. In addition, Blu-ray players and now defunct format HD DVD players are designed to be backward-compatible, allowing older DVDs to be played since the media are physically identical; this differed from the change from vinyl to CD and from tape to DVD, which involved a complete change in physical medium. As of 2011^[update] it is still commonplace for major releases to be issued in "combo pack" format, including both a DVD and a Blu-ray disc (as well as, in many cases, a third disc with an authorized digital copy). Also, some multi-disc sets use Blu-ray for the main feature, but DVDs for supplementary features (examples of this include the Harry Potter "Ultimate Edition" collections, the 2009 re-release of the 1967 The Prisoner TV series, and a 2007 collection related to Blade Runner). Another reason cited (July 2011) for the slower transition to Blu-ray from DVD is the necessity of and confusion over "firmware updates" and needing an internet connection to perform updates.

This situation can be best compared to the changeover from 78 rpm shellac recordings to 45 rpm and 33⅓ rpm vinyl recordings; because the medium used for the earlier format was virtually the same as the latter version (a disc on a turntable, played using a needle), phonographs continued to be built to play obsolete 78s for decades after the format was discontinued. Manufacturers continue to release standard DVD titles as of 2012^[update], and the format remains the preferred one for the release of older television programs and films, with some programs such as Star Trek: The Original Series needing to be re-scanned to produce a high definition version from the original film recordings (certain special effects were also updated in order to be better received in high-definition viewing).^[38] In the case of Doctor Who, a series primarily produced on standard definition videotape between 1963 and 1989, BBC Video reportedly intends to continue issuing DVD-format releases of that series until at least November 2013 (since there would be very little increase in visual quality from upconverting the standard definition videotape masters to high definition).^[39]

Use as backup medium[link]

Durability of DVDs is measured by how long the data may be read from the disc, assuming compatible devices exist that can read it: that is, how long the disc can be stored until data is lost. Five factors affect durability: sealing method, reflective layer, organic dye makeup, where it was manufactured, and storage practices.^[40]

The longevity of the ability to read from a DVD+R or DVD-R is largely dependent on manufacturing quality, ranging from 2 to 15 years,^[41][42][43] and is believed to be an unreliable medium for backup unless great care is taken for storage conditions and handling.

According to the Optical Storage Technology Association (OSTA), "manufacturers claim life spans ranging from 30 to 100 years for DVD, DVD-R and DVD+R discs and up to 30 years for DVD-RW, DVD+RW and DVD-RAM".^[44]

See also[link]

This "see also" section may contain an excessive number of suggestions. Please ensure that only the most relevant suggestions are given and that they are not red links, and consider integrating suggestions into the article itself. (March 2012)

• Book type
• Digital video recorder
• Disk drive performance characteristics
• DVD authoring
• DVD ripper
• DVD region code
• DVD TV game
• Professional disc
• DVD single

References[link]

Further reading[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: DVD

Wikibooks has a book on the topic of All About Converting From Several Video Formats To DVD

Wikibooks has a book on the topic of Inside DVD-Video/MPEG Format

• DVD at the Open Directory Project
• Dual Layer Explained – Informational Guide to the Dual Layer Recording Process
• DVD Frequently Asked Questions (and Answers)
• DVD Burning and Ripping: A Primer, A Glossary
• YouTube: Segment from 1997 Toshiba DVD demo disc: Technical information about the then-new DVD format, from "DVD Gallery," an in-store demonstration disc from Toshiba

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]

Money in the Bank and World Heavyweight Champion (2008–2009)[link]

CM Punk in April 2008 with his first of two Money in the Bank briefcases.

At WrestleMania XXIV, Punk won the Money in the Bank ladder match, after defeating Chris Jericho, Montel Vontavious Porter, Shelton Benjamin, John Morrison, Mr. Kennedy and Carlito.^[72]

On the June 23, 2008 episode of Raw, CM Punk was drafted to the Raw brand during the 2008 WWE Draft.^[73] His first night on Raw came the following week, and he made an immediate impact. After Batista beat down World Heavyweight Champion Edge and left him lying in the ring, Punk and referee Mike Chioda ran to the ring with Punk carrying his Money in the Bank contract. Moments later, as Edge was struggling to get up, Punk hit him with the Go to Sleep and pinned him to win the World Heavyweight Championship. Later that night, Punk won his first defense of the title against JBL, who challenged him shortly after his win.^[74] His win over Edge would eventually also earn Punk the Slammy Award for the "Oh my God" Moment of the Year.^[75] Punk continued to hold and defend the title until Unforgiven on September 7, 2008. Before the Championship Scramble match, Punk was attacked by an early version of The Legacy (Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase with Manu). Orton finished the assault by punting Punk in the head.^[76] It was announced that Punk could not participate in the match due to the attack and, as a result, he involuntarily forfeited the title. However, Punk was replaced by Chris Jericho, who went on to win the match and the title.^[77] He received a rematch eight days later on the September 15 episode of Raw, where he failed to regain the title in a steel cage match against Jericho.^[78]

CM Punk as World Heavyweight Champion during his first reign at SummerSlam.

On the October 27, 2008 episode of Raw, Punk and Kofi Kingston defeated Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase to win the World Tag Team Championship.^[79] The duo were members of Team Batista at Survivor Series, where their team lost to Team Orton.^[80] Punk was then entered in an Intercontinental Championship Tournament, in which the winner would get to challenge for the championship in the future. He would defeat Snitsky and John Morrison in the first two rounds.^[81] Punk and Kingston lost the World Tag Team Championship to John Morrison and The Miz at a live event on December 13, 2008.^[82] The next day Punk defeated Rey Mysterio at Armageddon to win the tournament.^[81] On the January 5 episode of Raw, Punk received his title match against William Regal, which ended in a disqualification, when Regal grabbed the referee's jersey.^[83] Due to this, Stephanie McMahon awarded Punk a rematch the following week, but this time it was himself that was disqualified.^[84] McMahon awarded him another rematch, this time a No Disqualification match on January 19 episode of Raw, Punk won the match and the title.^[85] With this win, he became the nineteenth Triple Crown Champion. Also, the victory made him the man to accomplish the Triple Crown in the fastest amount of time, shattering Kevin Nash's old record.^[86] Punk lost the title on the March 9 episode of Raw to John "Bradshaw" Layfield.^[87] At WrestleMania XXV, Punk won the Money in the Bank ladder match and became the first person to win the match twice.^[88]

On April 13, 2009 during the 2009 WWE Draft, Punk was drafted from Raw to SmackDown.^[89] 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. This ultimately resulted in a Samoan strap match at Extreme Rules, which was won by Punk.^[90]

At the end of the pay-per-view, Punk cashed in his Money in the Bank contract to defeat Jeff Hardy for the World Heavyweight Championship.^[91] Punk retained his title in a Triple Threat match against both Edge and Hardy eight days later on the June 15 episode of Raw.^[92] At The Bash in Sacramento, California, Punk lost to Hardy by disqualification after kicking the referee after being afflicted with a storyline eye injury, claiming he could not see the referee, but because titles do not change hands on a disqualification, Punk retained the championship. Hardy called Punk into question about his eye injury, believing he had been feigning it, leading Punk to turn heel, claiming to be the moral superior of those who support Hardy due to his drug-free lifestyle.^[93] At Night of Champions, Punk lost the championship to Hardy.^[94] Their feud continued through SummerSlam, where Punk regained the title in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match; afterward, Punk was attacked by The Undertaker.^[95] On the August 28 episode of Friday Night SmackDown, Punk concluded his program with Hardy and achieved his booked goal of excising him from the WWE, defeating Hardy in a steel cage match wherein the loser agreed to leave the company.^[96] This act would earn Punk a second Slammy that December as he was named winner for 2009's "Shocker of the Year".^[97]

At Breaking Point Punk defeated The Undertaker in a submission match to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. Undertaker originally won the match with his Hell's Gate submission hold. SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long re-started the match after stating that the ban that former General Manager Vickie Guerrero had placed on the move was still in effect. Punk would win the match with his 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).^[98] The feud between the two continued and at the Hell in a Cell PPV, Punk lost the World Heavyweight Championship to The Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell match.^[99] He lost two subsequent rematches against The Undertaker on Smackdown and in a Fatal Four Way match at Bragging Rights also involving Batista and Rey Mysterio.^[100][101]

Straight Edge Society and New Nexus (2009–2011)[link]

His character took on a more sinister demeanor on the November 27 episode of SmackDown when he 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 rid him of his mental troubles.^[102] Continuing to espouse his straight-edge philosophy, Punk began to present himself as a cult-like savior to the crowd, growing the hair on his head, face and chest in an allusion to Jesus.^[103] Through 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.^{[104][105][106]} After converting many people who were not seen again, convert Serena began accompanying Punk and Gallows to form the Straight Edge Society.^[106][107] As well as leading this alliance, Punk was also the mentor of WWE NXT rookie Darren Young who flirted with the idea of becoming straight-edge before refusing just before his head was to be shaved.^[108]

Straight Edge Society: Serena, Punk and Luke Gallows.

Punk continued to show messianic traits, frequently giving sermons including during the annual Royal Rumble match as well as during an Elimination Chamber match at both of the eponymous pay-per-views.^[109][110] In the Chamber match, he was eliminated by Rey Mysterio, whom he had feuding with leading into the PPV. Tensions escalated as Mysterio prevented him from winning a Money in the Bank qualifying match, causing Punk to interrupt Mysterio's celebration of his daughter's ninth birthday.^[111] Mysterio challenged Punk to a Street Fight at WrestleMania XXVI but lost to Gallows, meaning Punk picked the stipulation that if Rey lost he would have to join the Society.^[112] At WrestleMania, Punk lost to Mysterio^[113] sparking a rematch at Extreme Rules where Punk would have to shave his head, like his disciples, if he lost. Punk won this match after interference from a fourth member of the Society who kept his face covered.^[114] At Over The Limit, a third and final match was booked with both stipulations reactivated. In the match Punk lost and was subsequently shaved bald.^[115]

Embarrassed by being shaved bald as he considered himself always pure unlike his followers, Punk appeared on the following episode of SmackDown, May 29, wearing a mask to hide his baldness.^[116] At Fatal 4 Way, Punk challenged for the World Heavyweight Championship against Mysterio, The Big Show and the champion Jack Swagger, but was unsuccessful when he was attacked by Kane, who was accusing various people of attacking The Undertaker.^[117] On July 16's SmackDown, Punk was finally unmasked by Big Show while healing from an arm injury.^[118] The following week Show also unmasked the anonymous member of the Straight Edge Society who was revealed to be Joey Mercury.^[119] This led to a handicap match at SummerSlam where Show defeated the entire Society after Punk abandoned his teammates.^[120] Show also beat Punk in a singles match at Night of Champions.^[121] Following this Serena was released from WWE^[122] while Mercury became injured,^[123] severely thinning the Society. Gallows began showing signs of dissension too, and Punk defeated him on SmackDown, airing September 24, ending the group.^[124]

Punk as leader of the New Nexus, accompanied by Otunga and McGillcutty while confronting Shawn Michaels.

Punk was traded back to the Raw brand on October 11 after being swapped with Edge. He took part in the interbrand tag team match at Bragging Rights after injuring Evan Bourne to win a place,^[125] but the team lost. It was reported later that he was suffering with a hip injury that would stop him from competing.^[126] To keep a presence on television, he began commentating on Raw from November 22,^[127] having already commentated one episode of NXT. During his commentary, he criticized John Cena for his actions against The Nexus. Sometimes he favored heel wrestlers over face wrestlers. At the end of December, Punk left the commentary team after assaulting John Cena on Raw^[128] and SmackDown^[129] with a chair. Punk later revealed that his motives for the attacks were that he had joined and assumed control of The Nexus.^[130] He would then use the group to attack Randy Orton, blaming him for prematurely ending Punk's first World Heavyweight Championship reign in 2008; this led to a WrestleMania XXVII match^[131] and a Last Man Standing match at Extreme Rules both of which Punk lost.^[132]

WWE Champion (2011–present)[link]

Punk in his second reign as WWE Champion.

In June, after pinning WWE Champion John Cena on Raw,^[133] Rey Mysterio at Capitol Punishment^[134] and finally Alberto Del Rio again in a contendership match (which included Mysterio) all within one week, Punk revealed his contract would expire at Money in the Bank and vowed to leave the company with the WWE Championship; some of his speeches and mannerisms echoed his final months with Ring of Honor. After making a scathing on-air speech concerning the way in which WWE is run and its owner Vince McMahon, he was given a storyline suspension from televised WWE events^[135] but was reinstated the following week on Cena's insistence.^[136] Upon his return Punk ceased to appear with the remaining members of Nexus and the group would quietly dissolve the same month.^[137] This helped transition him from a villainous character back to being a fan-favorite. Two weeks later, at Money in the Bank, CM Punk defeated John Cena to become the WWE Champion on his final night under contract with WWE.^[136]

On July 21, CM Punk made an unannounced appearance at a joint WWE and Mattel panel at the San Diego Comic Con to mock new Chief operating officer Triple H and offer WWE Championship tournament finalist Rey Mysterio a match for Punk's own WWE Championship, as long as it was in Punk's hometown, Chicago.^[138][139] Punk appeared at July 23's All American Wrestling show, showing respect to Gregory Iron, a wrestler with cerebral palsy.^[140] Mysterio won the WWE Championship tournament on the July 25 episode of Raw, only to lose it to Cena later that night. After Cena's victory, Punk returned to Raw and upstaged the new WWE Champion's victory celebration while also entering into a title dispute. Triple H would later uphold both Punk and Cena's claims to the WWE Championship as legitimate and schedule the two to a match at SummerSlam to decide the undisputed WWE Champion.^[141] Punk prevailed but immediately lost the title to Alberto Del Rio, who had cashed in his Money in the Bank contract, after being attacked by Kevin Nash.^[142]

Punk, during his second WWE Championship reign, being watched by John Laurinaitis.

The night after SummerSlam Punk accused Nash of conspiring with Triple H to keep Punk away from the WWE Championship.^[143] After repeated confrontations Nash and Punk demanded to face each other at Night of Champions, to which Triple H acquiesced. However, after CM Punk's repeated verbal attacks towards him and his wife Stephanie McMahon, Triple H booked himself to replace Nash.^[144] At Night of Champions Punk lost a No Disqualification match after Nash, The Miz, and R-Truth attacked both men.^[145] Miz and Truth also attacked Punk at Hell in a Cell after he lost a WWE Championship Triple Threat match.^[146] He attempted to avenge this by teaming with Triple H against Miz and Truth at Vengeance, but lost again due to Nash attacking Triple H.^[147] This helped transition Punk's anti-establishment voice from Triple H to John Laurinaitis who became the interim Raw General Manager.^[148] CM Punk balked at Laurinaitis' promotion and verbally attacked him as a dull yes man.^[149][150]

On October 31, CM Punk strong-armed his way into a match with Del Rio at Survivor Series,^[151] where he regained the WWE Championship by way of submission with the Anaconda Vise.^[152] He went on to defend the title through the end of the year, retaining in a rematch with Del Rio on the November 28 episode of Raw^[153] and against both Del Rio and The Miz in a Triple Threat TLC match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs.^[154] On the December 26 episode of Raw, CM Punk was defeated by Dolph Ziggler in a gauntlet match; as a result Ziggler became #1 contender to the WWE championship. Had he been successful Punk would have earned the right to face Laurinaitis in a match.^[155] The following Raw, Punk was defeated by Ziggler via countout following interference from Laurinaitis; retaining the championship as a result.^[156] Intermeddling from Laurinaitis caused Punk to lose to Ziggler throughout January^[157][158] which ultimately led to Punk attacking Laurinaitis in retaliation.^[158] At the Royal Rumble event, CM Punk successfully defended his title against Ziggler, despite Laurinaitis acting as the outside enforcer.^[159]

On the January 30 episode of Raw SuperShow, Chris Jericho attacked Punk and Daniel Bryan during their Champion vs. Champion match, giving Bryan the win.^[160] The following week, Jericho explained his actions by dismissing the WWE roster as imitations of himself and singling out Punk for claiming he was the best in the world, a moniker Jericho used the last time he was in WWE.^[161][162] Their rivalry continued through Elimination Chamber where Punk retained the WWE Championship in the namesake structure; while four competitors were eliminated, Jericho was unable to continue the match after being kicked out of the chamber by Punk, causing temporary injury.^[163] The following night on Raw, Jericho earned a match against Punk at WrestleMania XXVIII,^[164] and in a bid to psychologically unsettle him, he revealed 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.^[165] 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.^[166] On the April 2 and 9 episodes of Raw SuperShow, Punk retained the WWE Championship against Mark Henry after losing to him via count-out and disqualification. Following both matches, Jericho attacked Punk and doused him with alcohol.^[167][168] On the April 16 episode of Raw SuperShow, Punk pinned Henry in a no disqualification, no countout match to retain his title.^[169] After repeated altercations, the feud between Jericho and Punk would culminate in a Chicago Street Fight at Extreme Rules where Punk defeated Jericho to retain the WWE Championship.^[170]

Punk renewed an old rivalry with Daniel Bryan at the May event Over the Limit, retaining the title after reversing Bryan's submission hold the "Yes!" Lock into a pinning combination, however, replays would show Punk visibly tapping out moments after the finish of the match.^[171]

Gimmick[link]

Punk has adopted his real-life following of the straight edge movement as his professional wrestling gimmick, but the gimmick uses different elements of Punk's personality and the beliefs of the straight edge movement depending on his alignment. While portraying a crowd favorite, the gimmick tends to be that of Punk's normal personality,^[4] largely indifferent to others who drink alcohol, smoke tobacco, partake in recreational drug use or have promiscuous sexual behavior, but emphasizing the social discipline involved with abstinence. Conversely, his villainous personality tends to be that of one who is hardline or militant straight edge, exemplifying the elitist attitudes and superiority complexes—defined by Punk's common mantra during villainous-themed promos that, because he is straight edge, he is "better than you".^[4] Punk performs the straight edge symbol of crossing his arms in an X formation while having the letter X written on the back of his hands, usually drawn on his wrist tape.

Originally, the initials CM in his ring name represented the phrase "Chick Magnet", the name of the tag team he was in as a backyard wrestler.^[4][12] Punk, however, later changed CM into an orphan initialism, declaring that it has no meaning,^[5] though when asked since he has taken to making up meanings that fit the initials, going so far as to make up long stories to explain the origins that do not match the actual origin story at all.^[5] Since beginning this practice, Punk has stated CM stands for "Cookie Monster",^[172] "Cookie Master",^[173] "Crooked Moonsault",^[174] "Chuck Mosley",^[174] "Charles Montgomery",^[12] "Charles Manson",^[12] "Crazy Mariachi", "Chicago Made",^[175] among others.

An integral part of Punk's gimmick are the numerous tattoos that adorn his body, some of which have come to become symbols associated with Punk, as well as mantras and declarations that have been integrated into his gimmick. The tattoos as a whole, due to their large quantity and variety, have also become an attribute identifiable to Punk.^[176] The most important of the individual tattoos in Punk's character, whether through association, symbol, or mantra, are:

CM Punk at a Raw taping. Prominently visible are the Pepsi Globe tattoo on his left shoulder, the "luck is for losers" sleeve tattoo on his left arm, and the "straight edge" tattoo across his stomach.

• A Pepsi Globe logo on his left shoulder that inspired the names of two of his signature moves. It also became a symbol of Punk himself, who wore the logo on his ring gear in the independent circuit, as well as a slightly modified Pepsi logo being used as part of his TitanTron entrance video.^[177] Punk, a keen Pepsi drinker, chose to receive a Pepsi tattoo to emphasize his straight edge beliefs.^[5] The tattoo is also a reference to former Minor Threat guitarist Brian Baker, who had a Coca-Cola tattoo and explained this by saying "I like Coca-Cola". When people inquire about Punk's Pepsi tattoo, he often replies "I like Pepsi" in a similar fashion.^[4]
• The words "Straight Edge" are spelled out on Punk's stomach. This is one of his oldest tattoos;^[176] he has referred to it as his identity.^[178]
• A sleeve tattoo on his left arm that reads "luck is for losers" and features numerous good luck symbols, including a rabbit's foot, four-leaf clover and a horseshoe.^[179] The tattoo also features four ace playing cards as a tribute to trainer Ace Steel.^[179]
• A tattoo on the back of his left hand reading "No gimmicks needed", a tribute to deceased wrestler Chris Candido.^[180]
• A tattoo across his knuckles with the words "DRUG FREE" ("DRUG" on his right knuckles and "FREE" on his left).^[181]
• A tattoo of his little sister's jersey number (31) behind his left ear surrounded by stars, each of which also representing his siblings as a way to bond away from home.^[182][183]
• A tattoo on his right shoulder of the Cobra Command logo, G.I. Joe's enemy. Punk is well-known for his love of comic books, considering them along with jazz and professional wrestling as three of the original arts that America has given to the world.^[182]
• A tattoo of a rose on his left wrist.^[184]

Punk's character and gimmick have been parodied by the wrestling federation Chikara who used a mascot character CP Munk, the straight edge chipmunk. The character includes references to Punk, such as X-marked wrist tape, a Pepsi logo on the costume's left shoulder, and a high-pitch version of Punk's best-known independent circuit theme song "Miseria Cantare – The Beginning", by the band AFI.^[185] On his website, Punk has said about the character CP Munk, and the people behind it:

Punk's entrance was emulated by British darts player Paul Nicholson during the 2011 World Matchplay and the 2011 PDC World Darts Championship.^[187]

Other media[link]

CM Punk at an autograph signing in Madrid, Spain.

Punk made an appearance on the February 16, 2004 episode of Monster Garage, "Box Truck Wrestling Car", performing a short match with Samoa Joe.^[188] On October 31, 2006, Punk joined The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS) to shoot the Sci Fi Channel special Ghost Hunters Live, which was a six-hour show broadcast live Halloween night from the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado. Initially skeptical about what he might find, Punk claimed to have heard children giggling and footsteps when there were not any children booked into the hotel.^[189]

In 2008, Punk appeared as the Sports Grand Marshal of the nationally-televised McDonald's Thanksgiving Parade in downtown Chicago.^[190][191]

On April 30, 2012 it was announced Punk would be featured in the WWE Studios and Kare Production Project "Les reines du ring" (English: Queens of the ring) alongside fellow wrestlers Eve Torres and The Miz.^[192]

Personal life[link]

While working for Ring of Honor, Punk was romantically linked to professional wrestlers Shannon Spruill^[193] and Tracy Brookshaw.^[15] After joining Ohio Valley Wrestling Punk began dating Maria Kanellis, who was working there as an interviewer,^[194][195] however they broke up sometime after Punk was moved to World Wrestling Entertainment and started working on the ECW brand.^[196] Punk was dating Amy Dumas,^[197] however Matt Hardy confirmed in March 2010 that Punk and Dumas were no longer dating.^[198] Punk confirmed in an November 2011 Maxim Magazine interview that he was in a relationship with WWE wrestler Beth Phoenix^[199] but revealed in December that he was single again.^[200] Punk is also one of many figures in entertainment supporting the gender reassignment surgery of Against Me! frontman/frontwoman Tom Gabel, who changed her name to Laura Jane Grace in mid-2012.

In wrestling[link]

Punk applying the Anaconda Vise on Mike Knox.

Punk about to perform the Go to Sleep on Kane.

Punk bulldogs Alberto Del Rio through a table.

Punk springboarding off the ropes to clothesline Kane.

Punk's signature taunt of putting his opponent to sleep.

• WWE
  • Finishing moves
    • Anaconda Vise (Arm-trap triangle choke)^[1][201] - 2006–present
    • GTS - Go To Sleep (Fireman's carry dropped into a knee lift)^[1] - 2007–present
  • Signature moves
    • Arm trap swinging neckbreaker^[202]
    • Arm wrench followed by stepping a leg over the wrenched arm and performing a mule kick with the leg below the opponent's face^[17]
    • Bulldog^{[86][203][204]}
    • Diving crossbody^[6]
    • Diving elbow drop^[205][206] – adopted from and used in tribute to Randy Savage^[182]
    • Double underhook backbreaker^[17]
    • Hammerlock twisted into a short-range lariat^[17]
    • Koji clutch^[1]
    • Leg lariat^[207]
    • Mongolian chop^[208]
    • Repeated elbow strikes to an opponent's chest^[209]
    • Rope hung arm trap can opener^[204]
    • Roundhouse kick^{[210][211][212]}
    • Sitout suplex slam^[213]
    • Slingshot somersault senton^[6][17][204]
    • Snap scoop powerslam^[214]
    • Springboard clothesline^{[6][204][215]}
    • Step-up enzuigiri^[17]
    • Step-up high knee to a cornered opponent^[203][204] followed by a bulldog^[86][203]
    • Suicide dive^[6]
    • Super frankensteiner^[216][217]
    • Tilt-a-whirl backbreaker^[6][17]
  • Nicknames
    • "The Best in the World"^[218]
    • "Mr. Money in the Bank"^[72][88]
    • "The Second City Saint / Savior"^[219][220]
    • "The Straight-Edge Savior / Superstar"^[221][222]
    • "The Voice of The Voiceless"^[223][224]
  • Entrance themes
    • "This Fire Burns" by Killswitch Engage^[225] (August 1, 2006–July 17, 2011)
    • "Cult of Personality" by Living Colour^[226] (July 25, 2011–present)