Highlights
CM Punk believes Harley Race, Terry Funk, Stone Chilly Steve Austin, Eddie Guerrero, and Roddy Piper are the highest 5 wrestlers of all time.
CM Punk’s homage to wrestlers of the previous exhibits his appreciation for the historical past and traditions {of professional} wrestling.
Huge names resembling The Undertaker, The Rock, Ric Aptitude, and Shawn Michaels all fail to make Punk’s prime 5.
Ever since Survivor Collection in 2023, CM Punk has been on the forefront of the WWE, whatever the damage that has seen him not bodily compete since January’s Royal Rumble.
Now, as he finds himself within the hottest feud of the summer season, Punk will lastly be making his return to singles wrestling, as he faces off in opposition to long-time rival, Drew McIntyre, with Seth Rollins set to be the particular visitor referee. It’s a feud that has solidified many followers’ calcified notion of Punk, and that’s that he is without doubt one of the biggest of his technology. A profession spanning a number of corporations, he has persistently proved why he’s the most effective on the planet. With many followers having Punk of their prime 5, CM Punk himself has come out to disclose who he believes are the highest 5 wrestlers of all time.
CM Punk has all the time paid homage to the wrestlers of yesteryear, making it identified that he loves the historical past that skilled wrestling is steeped in. He’s a wrestler’s wrestler, together with his personal character exhibiting shades of the previous technology’s greatest elements. The tenacity on the microphone, the logical method to wrestling, and the move-set, he’s and all the time will probably be a pupil of the sport, though he’s now seen as a instructor to many.
It’s with that, that his prime 5 might not be a shock to many, with the 5 wrestlers that Punk mentions as being the best of all time, being wrestlers that you’d affiliate with him. In no specific order, CM Punk named Harley Race, Terry Funk, ‘Stone Chilly’ Steve Austin, Eddie Guerrero, and Roddy Piper, as who he believes to be the 5 biggest wrestlers of all time.
Harley Race
Harley Race, the self-proclaimed “Best Wrestler on God’s Inexperienced Earth”, dominated the NWA in the course of the 70s and 80s, in an period that noticed the likes of Ric Aptitude, Dustin Rhodes, and Terry Funk all battling out for the prize of being the heavyweight champion, an accomplishment that Race achieved eight occasions. In 2004, he was inducted into the Corridor of Fame, being seen as somebody who was the right microcosm of the sports-based presentation of wrestling.
Terry Funk
Terry Funk, much like Race, had a stint in NWA the place he grew to become the heavyweight champion, however Funk additionally spearheaded hardcore wrestling, as he took his skills from Japan to the WWE, exhibiting off his longevity in promotions everywhere in the world. His brawling method to wrestling made him liked as a face, but additionally a heel, with many wrestling followers believing he held each attribute within the ring, and out of doors of it, to be thought of as one of many biggest ever.
Stone Chilly Steve Austin
‘Stone Chilly’ Steve Austin is probably the most notorious on Punk’s record, with the Rattlesnake being the face of WWE’s Perspective Period, together with his catchphrases and t-shirts nonetheless getting used to this present day. Having been in a tag group alongside Brian Pillman, not many would have predicted that the younger, blonde-haired, tag group champion would quickly change into the largest Famous person on the planet, seemingly being one of many first folks to actually transcend wrestling.
Eddie Guerrero
The late, nice Eddie Guerrero is undoubtedly seen as one of many biggest wrestlers of all time, purely off of his in-ring potential alone. Actually one of many biggest to ever lace up a pair of trainers, he made it look so easy, and then you definitely think about his potential to make you hate him like he did in his feud in opposition to Rey Mysterio, he additionally made you like him, seen in his WWE Championship win at 2004’s No Approach Out PPV.
Roddy Piper
Lastly, there may be Roddy Piper, somebody who you’ll be able to actually see lots of in CM Punk. ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper, a WWE Corridor of Famer, made his identify for his heated method to interviews, together with his “Piper Pit’s” segments being the right embodiment of what Piper was. In addition to being excellent within the ring, Piper was actually one of many first folks to take a microphone and make it matter like nobody had earlier than.
A prime 5 that nobody can dispute, CM Punk will be seen in lots of the folks he seems as much as, and when it’s all stated and performed, it’s only anticipated that CM Punk will begin to enter the conversations of prime 5 of all time.