10 Unexpected Origins Of Wrestling Characters

4. CM Punk: Backyard Wrestler

Battle lines were drawn in the Elite Vs. CM Punk saga of 2022: an offscreen rivalry so compelling that it threatened to ruin a very good slate of Dynamite shows post-All Out, since even a well-booked all-star tournament with huge stakes wasn't anywhere near as interesting.

CM Punk, in an incredible shock twist, represented the pro wrestling establishment. His name itself had become as much as a paradox as the man himself. He excoriated Hangman Page for his apparent refusal to listen to veteran advice. The old anti-establishment renegade had become such a vanguard of old school values that it would not come as a surprise were he to launch a Twitter account dedicated to slo-mo dissections of AEW botches.

In the opposite corner, the Elite were disrespectful punks who did it their way, and it didn't get them anywhere (despite their changing wrestling in a more direct, transformative and lucrative way than he did in 2011). The Elite - and this is funny, considering the Twitter activity of some of those close to Punk - were whiny and passive aggressive.

All of which makes it shocking that Punk actually started out as a backyard wrestler, working in and booking his own promotion, just like the men - the Young Bucks - who would become his enemies.

Yes, Punk was more receptive to veteran advice - crediting Eddie Guerrero, Tracy Smothers and more with teachings that were vital to his career - but he came up the "wrong" way, just like they did.