5 Wrestlers Who Made The ROH World Title
4. CM Punk
From a man who re-established the title by his dedication to ROH, to one who did it doing the exact opposite.
Before WWE botched the 'Summer Of Punk' in 2011, ROH had a season of their own in 2005. Fans heading to Death Before Dishonour III knew of Punk's impending departure to Vince McMahon's wrestling juggernaut, and so anticipated a thrilling but inevitably fruitless send-off match for Punk against the champion Austin Aries.
Instead, Punk shocked ROH fans by not only winning the title, but proceeded to announce his intention to take it with him to WWE, tarnishing the reputation of this prestigious belt.
What followed was Punk defending the championship against the likes of Jay Lethal, Roderick Strong, and Christopher Daniels whilst teasing the fans and ROH locker room. Rubbing further salt in the wound he mocked it, going so far as to sign his WWE contract on the belt itself. WWE legend Mick Foley even made several ROH appearances to plead with Punk to do the right thing.
After only a couple of months as champion, Punk lost the title to James Gibson in a four-way featuring Daniels and Samoa Joe, but he'd succeeded in making the fans truly care about ROH's grandest prize.