According to Kevin Nash, CM Punk was "indyriffic." and a "skinny fat line-order chef at the Pikesville Waffle House." That's kind of what made him one of the most legitimate superstars in WWE history. Oh yeah, that and actually delivering on every promise he ever made in every promo he ever cut. CM Punk made us believe in him because he never lied to us (up to and including leaving the WWE). He blurred the lines between work and shoot more than they already were. He successfully treaded in an uncomfortable space where the match was a legitimate-yet-illegitimate worked shoot performance where it wasn't necessarily who won that mattered, but who captivated the crowd best that mattered most. As a precursor to our current "work of a shoot-take on a worked shoot" era, Punk's eight-year WWE run provided some of the most "legitimate" moments of entertainment in recent WWE history.
Besides having been an independent professional wrestling manager for a decade, Marcus Dowling is a Washington, DC-based writer who has contributed to a plethora of online and print magazines and newspapers writing about music and popular culture over the past 15 years.
