The feud arose as a result of CM Punk's comparison of Raven to his father, a violent drunk. The rivalry lasted a long time, and after its final bout, named "The Conclusion," in which Punk won, it was regarded as one of the greatest Ring of Honor feuds of the year. Before joining ROH, Punk had already fought Raven in both WWE and ECW.
They first met on May 23, 2002 at an ECW television taping in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Punk was wrestling under his real name, Chris Jericho, while Raven made his debut under the ring name Raven. The match saw Jericho defeat Raven with his trademark maneuver, the Codebreaker.
Two months later at the next ECW television taping, this time in New York City, New York, Raven again faced Jericho. This time, however, Jericho was not alone; he brought along his storyline brother, Vito DeNucci, who acted as his manager for the match. During the match, DeNucci tried to get into the ring but was stopped by Raven. Eventually, Jericho managed to win by pinning Raven after a Codebreaker.
After these two successful matches, Raven started receiving pushups from fans in the audience. He used it against Jericho at the next ECW television taping, where it was again defeated by the Codebreaker.
The feud earned CM Punk some well-deserved attention, and he began to rise through the ranks of the Ring of Honor. He made it to the Second Anniversary Show and finished second in the tournament against A.J. Styles, just missing out on becoming the first Ring of Honor Pure Champion. From there on out, he started to gain more and more fans, especially after he left ROH to go work for WWE.
Punk's departure from ROH caused a huge rift between him and Jim Cornette. The two had been close friends since they worked together in TNA, but now that they were rivals on opposite sides of the ring, things only got worse. At Slammiversary XV, they faced off in a match that ended in a no-contest after both men went over the top rope and hit each other with baseballs taped to their bodies. This led to them starting a battle royal at Death Before Dishonor where either man could win the fight and save themselves. During the match, Punk managed to score a victory when A&;E. Love came out to help him defeat Cornette. After the match, Punk attacked Cornette with the Straight Enders, which turned him into a face again.
Since then, they have kept up with each other's careers by giving each other respectful nods during ROH events or even having one member of the other team come out to attack the winner of the match.
The brawl is said to have started at a ROH performance when Hart did three unexpected spots, putting numerous other wrestlers in danger of harm. Punk and Dinero ceased appearing on TNA programs around the time of the brawl, prompting to suspicion that he was fired as a result of the incident.
In the Steel Domain, he met Scott Colton, who went by the stage name Colt Cabana. Punk and Cabana became great friends and spent the most of their early careers as opponents or allies in the same independent circuit promotions.
Punk and Hero had a 55-minute TLC bout, a 93-minute two-out-of-three falls match, and many 60-minute time limit draws throughout their feud. Punk's battles with Cabana landed him a job with the Ring of Honor company.
Punk is a seven-time world champion in professional wrestling, having won the ROH World Championship and the ECW Championship once each, the WWE World Heavyweight Championship three times, and the WWE Championship twice.
The Hitman and CM Punk may not have come from the same era of professional wrestling, but it didn't stop them from getting along and forming a bond anytime Bret Hart was present backstage. The two would often play pranks on each other during these times, including once when Punk hid under a black sheet while Hart had his shoes shined.
Punk would later reveal that he wasn't the one who hired the Hitman to kill Hart at Survivor Series 1997, but instead it was Kurt Angle. He said he gave Hart permission to do so because he felt like it was what Hart would have wanted.
Angle went on to say that Hart never did forgive him for this incident, which is why Punk's appearance at the Survivor Series ceremony where Hart was being honored was such a shock to him.
Punk has also gone on record as saying that he thinks Shawn Michaels killing Bart Houston in 1995 was a terrible idea and that he wishes he would have been given a chance to fight Houston instead.
In 2014, after Hart died, Punk was asked if he still held any ill will toward Angle for hiring the Hitman to kill him, and if they could ever work together again. He replied by saying that they are friends now and that he hopes one day he can work with him again.
When WWE exploited Punk's expiring contract as a significant aspect of a plot, reality and kayfabe merged. When he gave a scathing, now-famous work-shoot promo on Raw, he became everyone's favorite anti-hero. Onscreen, he vowed to quit the organization if he didn't get the WWE championship. Backstage, he made the decision to resign.
CM Punk's career in the squared circle has resulted in a plethora of friends, many of whom are superstars, in both his wrestling and post-wrestling lives. Not just renowned wrestlers, but really mainstream figures.
Onscreen, the best of buddies turn out to be the worst of adversaries. While Dana White was thrilled to hire CM Punk as a fighter for the UFC immediately after his WWE leave, he was so disgusted by how horrible his final bout was that he declared that both Punk and his opponent, Mike Johnson, would never compete for the UFC again.
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