8. Changed The Perception On Talent Coming From Ring Of Honor
CM Punk was a huge star on the indie scene and particularly in Ring of Honor. This didn't go down well within WWE. The big league viewed ROH as reason not to sign a talent rather than a positive. As such CM Punk was sent to WWE developmental after signing, to iron out his ROH grounding and be remoulded in a WWE style. Coming in from Ring Of Honor was like walking into the WWE locker room with a diry smell attached to you, as John Cena mentions on the Best In The World DVD Punk came in as "the king of the indies" and that led to the locker room being underwhelmed by him. However, in 2014, the negative connotations around Ring Of Honor have changed within WWE. We even witnessed WWE.com feature a Ring Of Honor article on their main page recently, ironically after Punk had just departed. The WWE view of ROH has clearly been transformed, they now respect the company, they now value the talent coming from that pool. Who changed all of that? CM Punk of course, the first man from ROH to really show what major impact the so called small league can make. Punk was so impressive in WWE that the company changed their stance on recruiting from Ring Of Honor, no longer viewed as a negative on a wrestler resume, WWE have gone on to pick up Daniel Bryan, Seth Rollins, Antonio Cesaro and others from the Ring Of Honor brand. One of CM Punk's most impactful legacies is that he opened up those doors.