10 Wrestlers Who Gambled On A New Character

10. CM Punk: The Old Guy On The Team

CM Punk is the self-professed "f*cking old guy on the team".

He didn't jump. He went away for seven years. To tell the most believable and immersive story, he couldn't walk in as a wrestler in his prime, as if nothing had happened. The character is layered in its brilliance; he earned the respect of the fans all over again by humbly working his way up the ranks, which both fit into AEW's narrative framework and deftly avoided any accusations of hypocrisy. He wasn’t going anywhere, and had to do the same thing everybody else did to get a main event.

At its core, it's a sports-oriented story of an athlete coming to terms with his greying beard and middle-aged body with the advanced in-ring IQ to get wins. The nuance of the technical work, the traps he sets, the tricks he's learned: Punk's new role as the old master is as bold as it is earned.

Even if it isn't deliberate, the rigours of battle are visible all over his body, which only adds credibility to the persona.

The sweat-drenched mess of hair, convulsing stomach, his agonised selling, the throwback body slam offence and Harley Race/Bret Hart tribute spots: Punk is the old reformed good guy on the f*cking team, and he's so good at it that he was almost born to play it and not the firebrand heel he once was.