1. Ring Of Honor's "Summer Of Punk"
As previously mentioned in this article, CM Punk's match with John Cena at the 2011 Money in the Bank pay-per-view saw Punk defeat John Cena for the world title and made him into a superstar. The storyline of that show was that Punk's contract was expiring and Vince McMahon was worried that Punk may win the title and then leave WWE, leaving him with no world champion and a rebel holding the belt. The storyline was amazing and the crowd was molten that night but it actually was a "tribute" to a previous storyline that Punk had ran during his time in Ring of Honor. In June 2005, CM Punk signed his WWE developmental contract but continued to appear for Ring of Honor wrestling. Surprisingly, on June 18, CM Punk defeated Austin Aries for the ROH World Heavyweight title at
Death Before Dishonor III. This immediately turned Punk heel as it was well-known amongst ROH fans that Punk was leaving the company and now he possessed the world title. Ring of Honor began referring to his title reign as the "Summer of Punk" and CM Punk embraced the villainous role, mocking the ROH world title and even signing his WWE contract on top of the belt to really fire up the crowd. Punk threatened to take the title with him to WWE and defend it as a toy, mocking the ROH locker room and stating that no one could stop him from delivering the title to Vince McMahon. WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley even appeared in Ring of Honor to beg Punk to defend the title before he left. Eventually, Punk did defend and lose the ROH title to James Gibson in a Four Corners match then losing a two-out-of-three falls match to his best friend Colt Cabana at an event named
Punk: The Final Chapter. Punk was visibly emotional after the match and made his exit from Ring of Honor (save for one special appearance) with streamers flying into the ring.