10 Greatest WWE Underdogs Of The 21st Century

It might seem strange to list CM Punk as any kind of ‘ultimate underdog’, considering he spent a great deal of his WWE career as a snivelling heel, the leader of a villainous faction, and the client of one Paul Heyman. But regardless of his alignment, he always stood up for a core set of values, and was often defined by one of the key things that epitomizes an underdog: his size.

As a smaller, leaner, but arguably more technically proficient wrestler than a lot of his peers, it was always going to be an uphill battle for Punk to get noticed in an industry of giants. He also didn’t drink or take drugs, and rejected the hard-partying lifestyle lived by so many WWE veterans.

Then there’s the ‘pipebomb promo’, Punk’s infamous worked shoot in which he sounded off about WWE’s supposed workplace bullying, the nepotism perpetuated and encouraged by Stephanie McMahon and Triple H, and the notion that only the John Cenas of the world could get ahead. It might have been cleared by WWE management beforehand, but the pipebomb serves as a prime example of Punk’s never-say-die attitude. For once, we weren’t hearing a wrestler call Vince and company out for generic villainy, but for real issues many fans had started to grow tired of.

Whether we liked them or hated them, CM Punk was always a man of the people.