CM Punk: His 8 Greatest WrestleMania Moments

6. Climbing The Ladder - WrestleMania 23

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x33imd_wm23-money-in-the-bank-ladder-match_news No one forgets their first and for CM Punk, his first WrestleMania match came in front of 80,103 fans at Detroit's Ford Field for 2007's WrestleMania 23. A member of the night's Money in the Bank match, there was a great deal of pressure on his shoulders to help deliver a wild, chaotic and quality bout to kick off the evening's event. He, along with the likes of the Hardy Boyz, Edge, Randy Orton, Finlay, Mr. Kennedy and Booker T, did just that. The crowd in Detroit was hot for Punk, who had become one of the most popular performers in WWE despite what many felt had been less-than stellar booking of the talented ECW star. He took a major RKO from Randy Orton off of a ladder and was involved in the finish of the bout, which saw him knocked off the top of a ladder by eventual winner Kennedy. While he did not retrieve the coveted briefcase and earn a shot at one of the company's most prestigious championships, the fact that he was such an integral part of the finish indicated that management at least recognized that he had a connection with the audience and could be valuable to them. By the time September of that year rolled around, he would be rewarded for his hard work with an ECW title reign. Still, it felt like Punk was capable of much bigger and better things than he was being put into position to achieve.