10 Ways Wrestlers Proved Their Gimmicks Outside WWE

4. CM Punk Snipes At WWE

Mark Henry
WWE

CM Punk couldn't have predicted that WWE would send out termination papers on his wedding day when he cut that legendary "pipebomb promo" on the 27 June 2011 episode of Raw. Back then, even though he likely had some complaints about the way things were, he was only playing the disgruntled WWE employee.

Years later, he'd become totally p*ssed off for real.

Character gave way to realism here. Punk continued to snipe at his ex-employer whenever the topic of pro wrestling came up in conversation, and he never once veered from his belief that WWE did the dirty on him just because they could. That anti-authority tune became the man's badge of honour in the media for years.

Things haven't really changed either. Punk did appear on WWE Backstage a few years back, but made sure to point out that it was FOX who were picking up his tab. On Twitter, the former World Champ has also taken countless (often light-hearted) potshots at WWE's product.

He's living his old gimmick in a different way.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.