10 Most Rebellious Anti-Heroes In WWE History

Few singular moments have ever impacted professional wrestling like CM Punk’s infamous “pipe bomb”. While his skill and charisma had already made him a popular figure in WWE, that promo and the ensuing “Summer of Punk” made Punk a modern day folk hero and turned the entire wrestling world on its head.

Sat cross-legged on the Raw stage, Punk’s polemic blurred the lines between fantasy and reality. Drawing on a multitude of real-life concerns and frustrations, Punk pulled down the curtain, exposed WWE’s shortcomings, and spoke for wrestling fans across the globe. He became the “Voice of the Voiceless”, and in echoing the fans’ complaints towards WWE’s stale product, Punk became the most popular man in the company.

Though he openly attacked the fans in his initial promo, their critiques were being delivered through his mouth, and he became their avatar. Deeply fed-up with WWE’s increasingly sanitised landscape, Punk’s reinvention saw him take aim at the powers that be and blow them away with both barrels.

Saw what you will about how he handled his WWE exit, but he channeled the same abrasiveness that makes him such a divisive post-WWE personality throughout his revelatory final run. Nobody has ever provided a greater reflection of the crowds’ dissatisfaction than CM Punk, who didn’t just defy convention, but shatter it into a thousand pieces.