WWE Bash in Berlin didn’t disappoint, with plenty of exciting matches and memorable moments.
Still, nothing felt as good as watching CM Punk get the victory over Drew McIntyre in one of the best Strap Matches in professional wrestling history.
Unlike a standard wrestling match, a Strap Match has both wrestlers are attached at the wrist with a 13-foot leather strap. Victory is decided when a wrestler touches all four turnbuckles in a row, uninterrupted.
The finish saw Punk punctuating each touch of the turnbuckle with a GTS to Scottish Warrior and reclaiming the friendship bracelet that McIntyre stole so long ago.
While this signified an emotional moment in the story between CM Punk and McIntyre, it also represented something bigger: Punk’s first televised WWE win since he walked out on the company over a decade ago.
CM Punk first came to WWE in 2005 with Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) and made his television debut on the WWE version of ECW in 2006.
Since then, he became one of the most popular superstars in company history, winning the WWE Championship twice, the World Heavyweight Championship three times, the ECW Championship once, the WWE Intercontinental Championship once, and the World Tag Team Championship once with Kofi Kingston.
He also won the Money in the Bank match twice in 2008 and 2009. He is the only person who won the match multiple times.
Punk’s last WWE victory came in January of 2014 when he defeated Billy Gunn in an episode of Raw. Soon afterward, he left due to issues with management.
Seven years later, Punk came out of retirement to wrestle for All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Despite holding the AEW World Championship twice, he would depart the company after less than two years due to an altercation with Jack Perry.
Punk returned to WWE at Survivor Series: WarGames in 2023. He’d make his WWE in-ring return in the Royal Rumble, finishing second behind current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes.
After being injured by McIntyre during the Rumble, Punk continued to lash out against the Scottish Psychopath, costing him the WWE World Heavyweight Championship on multiple occasions.
This sparked an intense rivalry between the two and one of the best stories in professional wrestling today.
This feud would eventually culminate in a match at Clash at the Castle 2024 where special guest referee Seth “Freaking” Rollins unintentionally cost the Second City Saint the match.
Now, over ten years after he walked out on WWE, CM Punk has finally gotten a win. And given the 45-year-old’s popularity, this won’t be the last one by a long shot.
More WWE: Former WWE Champion Comments on In-Ring Return
The post CM Punk Wins First WWE Match in Over a Decade appeared first on Newsweek.
