Ranking All 9 Former ROH World Champions Who Came To WWE
1. CM Punk
In the mid-2000s, tt was unprecedented for any notable name to come in to WWE from the wrestling independent scene and be allowed to keep their likeness. With some help from Paul Heyman, CM Punk was able to remain CM Punk once he signed with the company in 2005, but only after having a heck of a career for himself in Ring of Honor.
Long before he left WWE as its champion and was putting title belts in refrigerators, the 'Summer of Punk' originated in ROH in 2005, where Punk threatened to take their top title with him to WWE. It was an intriguing storyline that created a ton of buzz for the straight edge super star.
Although his WWE tenure started out shaky, he quickly rose to prominence by becoming a two-time Money in the Bank winner, a Triple Crown winner, and winning five world championships with one reign lasting a whopping 434 days. He dabbled in the main event scene sparingly from 2008 to 2010, but 2011 was truly the year he solidified his spot atop the card.
An abrupt departure from WWE in January 2014 ended his stint on a sour note, but there is little doubt Punk is among the best wrestlers to have graced the WWE ring in the past decade. Where other ROH originals would be in WWE right now without his influence is perhaps something we'll never know.