CM Punk - Intercontinental Triple Crown Champion

CM Punk has won the Intercontinental Championship!

On WWE RAW CM Punk faced off with William Regal in Punk's hometown of Chicago. The match was long and grueling, with both opponents getting to do wrestling moves back and forth to each other in a showcase of struggling and what I think might have been grit. At one point it looked like Regal's mouth got busted open, though the announcers didn't acknowledge that.

Later on into the match, CM Punk did a springboard clothesline that he does all the time and it was awesome.

Finally CM Punk hoisted William Regal up on his shoulders for the Go 2 Sleep. Regal threw viscious elbows to CM Punk's face but CM Punk continued to show what I think might have been grit or determination or some sort of emotion possibly and then finally dropped William Regal's Face onto his knee, pinned him one-two-three, and sent him back home to the nursery.

CM Punk hoisted the WWE Intercontinental Title, but there is something that the announcers and WWE have yet to acknowledge.

CM Punk is the fastest ever WWE Triple Crown Champion, like a year or something crazy like that. Amazing show of faith in a young and amazing talent. He's held the ECW Title, WWE World Title, Intercontinental Title, and WWE Tag Titles.

CM Punk truly is and has been destined for many great things in the WWE and as a wrestler. Congratulations on your Intercontinental Championship, you'll need it on your mantle to go with the rest of your WWE gold and bling. BTW, you still have that ROH Title on your mantle?

CM Punk vs. Batista at WWE's Great Amaerican Bash - A Preview

Soon, CM Punk will make his first PPV Title defense of a major title at WWE's Great American Bash. He will be defending it against a man who very much typifies everything that CM Punk is not. That man is Batista.

Batista is a muscled out... well, "freak." He has a massive physique that could only possibly be described as unnatural. Needless to say, it is pretty safe to assume that Batista has been popping some pills, if not using some syringes.

When Batista first showed up, he wasn't nearly as muscled. However as soon as he got into the Evolution group and started getting a push, all of a sudden his size ballooned. As a result, over the course of the next year or two his in-ring work went downhill because of his lumbering form. Huge, unnatural muscles tend to work against a performer expected to move around at high speeds.

Batista's matches ceased to be very entertaining, unless he was placed against someone smaller like Shawn Michaels. Even though Batista's size has gone down considerably since the Chris Benoit tragedy, he still lumbers about the ring, and has obviously lost a good deal of the flexibility and speed he used to possess, all due to his drug use.

So here is my question: Why doesn't CM Punk mention that? CM Punk is drug free and straight edge - what is the purpose of being that way if the WWE will not allow him to point out the advantages that gives him? CM Punk is in peak physical condition - Batista is an unnatural, roided out monster.

CM Punk should stand in the middle of the ring before the Great American Bash, and talk about Batista's drug use. He should show old videos of Batista performing, moving faster, then should show clips of some of his recent matches, where even small movements seem labored.

Maybe then, the WWE wrestling fans would realize why being straight edge really matters in professional wrestling.

CM Punk: WWE - The Pinnacle of Professional Wrestling

CM Punk debuted in the WWE on the ECW brand starting in July of 2006. He immediately started cutting face style promos about his straight straight edge lifestyle. He also began to claim a Muay Thai background. He made his TV WWE wrestling debut on August 1st, 2006 at the Hammerstein Ballroom. The roof nearly came off of the place as the crowd went absolutely nuts for CM Punk. The journey had begun.

Our straight edge superstar then began a feud with Mike Knox over Knox's (kayfaybe) girlfriend, Kelly Kelly. After that feud, Punk went on to team with Degeneration-X and The Hardy Boyz at Survivor Series 2006, which his team one. At the abysmally awful ECW Pay-Per-View December To Dismember, CM Punk was the first knocked out of the elimination chamber match.

Soon after the PPV, CM Punk started a feud with Hardcore Holly who ended his 6 month singles undefeated streak on January 9th, 2007. He bounced around on ECW feuding with the likes of Matt Striker before qualifying for the 2007 Money in the Bank ladder match at Wrestlemania 23 by defeating Johnny Nitro. In that match CM Punk was knocked off the ladder mere seconds before Mr. Kennedy pulled the briefcase down - highway robbery if you ask me.

From then on CM Punk got involved with a stable named The New Breed, lead by Elijah Burke. He feuded with them for several months, which included a singles match between them at Judgement Day which he won. The feud culminated in a tag match at ECW One Night Stand 2007 that saw Tommy Dreamer, CM Punk & The Sandman defeat The New Breed in a tables match.

When then-ECW champion Bobby Lashley was drafted to RAW, he was forced to vacate the ECW title. A tournament was set up that eventually ended with a match at the Vengeance PPV. The scheduled participants in this match were CM Punk and Chris Benoit, however Benoit no-showed the event due to what the WWE called "personal reasons". Johnny Nitro was substituted for Chris Benoit and won the ECW Title, defeating CM Punk. We would find out a few days later that Chris Benoit had tragically murdered his wife and son, then taken his own life. CM Punk was torn apart as he looked at the opportunity before the PPV as wrestling a hero, and teared up the next night on RAW when they ran a Chris Benoit tribute (before they knew it was a murder-suicice).

Punk started a feud with ECW Champion Johnny Nitro, who now had changed his name to John Morrison. CM Punk failed to capture the ECW Title from John Morrison in their PPV match at Summerslam, but then finally succeeded on September 1st, 2007 on ECW Television.

Punk held on to the title from September 2007 to late January 2008, during which time he defended his title successfully against Elijah Burke, Big Daddy V, The Miz and John Morrison. On January 22nd, 2008 on ECW TV CM Punk finally lost the ECW World Championship to Chavo Guerrero after Edge interfered and speared CM Punk.

And then finally after years of hard work, struggle and dedication, CM Punk went to Wrestlemania 24 on March 30th 2008 and won the Money in the Bank Ladder Match, granting him a title match at any time within the next year for any title he wants. This elevates CM Punk to almost a main event level player, and I imagine that we will soon be seeing the spotlight shining quite a bit brighter on this young star.