In an industry where multiple people claim themselves to be the best in the world throughout the years, only those who had the fans' approval managed to make justice to that claim, and only a few wrestlers had the level of fan support compared to that of CM Punk's. Despite him leaving pro-wrestling for over seven years, his fans remained loyal to him and chanted his name out loud at every opportunity they got.

RELATED: 10 Things You Didn't Know About CM Punk's Career Before WWE & AEW

With him back in a pro-wrestling ring with All Elite Wrestling and his efforts to share the spotlight with young and upcoming talent, we can expect CM Punk to have the best run of his career in the coming days. With that said, let's take a look at CM Punk's decorated career through pictures taken over the years.

10 Training & Debut

CM Punk in IWA Mid South

After a brief stint in Lunatic Wrestling Federation, a backyard wrestling promotion, he enrolled in the Steel Dominion wrestling school in Chicago in 1999 and trained under Ace Steel, Danny Dominion, and Kevin Quinn.

He began wrestling in Steel Domain Wrestling in St. Paul, Minnesota, where he befriended wrestlers like Colt Cabana, Adam Pearce, Chucke E. Smooth, and manager Dave Praza with whom he formed a faction named the Gold Bond Mafia.

He also competed in various independent promotions before reaching IWA-Mid South, where he won two Light Heavyweight and five Heavyweight Championships.

9 Ring of Honor & TNA

CM Punk in ROH and TNA

He then signed with Ring of Honor in 2002 and made his debut at the ROH All-Star Extravaganza event in November 2002. Similar to his independent performances, CM Punk continued to work with Colt Cabana in singles competition and also formed the Second City Saints tag team with him and went on to win the ROH Tag Team Championships twice.

Punk turned his sights to the ROH World Championships and had three unsuccessful attempts at dethroning Samoa Joe, including two consecutive matches ending in a 60-minute time-limit draw. He finally captured the title at the ROH Death Before Dishonor event in June 2005 from Austin Aries.

While still competing for ROH, CM Punk also made several appearances for TNA, where he became a member of Raven's alliance The Gathering alongside Julio Dinero.

8 WWE Debut

CM Punk in OVW

CM Punk had already accepted a developmental deal with WWE while he was the ROH World Champion but joined the promotion only by September 2005. He got assigned to Ohio Valley Wrestling, where he won the OVW Television Championship, the Southern Tag Team Championship, and the Heavyweight Championship throughout his stay.

RELATED: CM Punk & AJ Lee's Relationship Told In Photos, Through The Years

CM Punk continued to perform in OVW while also making occasional appearances in several ECW house shows. He also made sporadic appearances for OVW even after his main roster call-up until WWE severed ties with them in 2008.

7 ECW Champion

CM Punk as ECW Champion

CM Punk made his first televised ECW appearance in July 2006 and had his first match in the Hammerstein Ballroom on August 1, defeating Justin Credible in a singles match.

He also went undefeated for a while and feuded against Mike Knox in a triangular romantic storyline. He also made his PPV debut at the 2006 Survivor Series PPV, where he was a part of Team DX against Team Rated-RKO.

After multiple attempts at winning the ECW World Championship, CM Punk finally got his hands on the title in a last chance match against John Morrison on the September 4, 2007, episode of ECW.

6 Consecutive MITB Ladder Match Wins & World Heavyweight Champion

CM Punk Mr. MITB and World Champion

After losing the ECW World Championship to Chavo Guerrero, CM Punk got another chance to shine by winning the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 24.

He got drafted to Raw on the 2008 Draft, and he cashed in the MITB contract on the June 30, 2008, episode of Raw and captured the World Heavyweight Championship from Edge and successfully defended the title against JBL the same night.

He held the title for 69 days until he had to relinquish it after he endured a brutal beatdown at the hands of Randy Orton. However, he got back into the world title picture again by winning the MITB ladder match for the second consecutive year at WrestleMania 25 and cashed it in against Jeff Hardy to win the World Heavyweight Championship at Extreme Rules 2009.

5 Straight Edge Society

CM Punk Straight Edge Society

After dropping the World Heavyweight Championship back to Jeff Hardy and reclaiming it again at SummerSlam 2009, CM Punk's third and final reign with the title ended at the hands of The Undertaker at Hell in a Cell 2009.

Following multiple failed attempts at winning back the title, CM Punk then recruited Luke Gallows and Serena to form the Straight Edge Society. During the time, he started a heated rivalry with Rey Mysterio which resulted in a series of matches culminating with Punk losing to Mysterio in a Hair vs. Straight Edge Society pledge match at Over the Limit 2010.

He then started to wear a black mask to the ring and continued the Straight Edge Society storyline until the group disbanded in late 2010.

4 The New Nexus

CM Punk New Nexus

CM Punk then got drafted to Raw in October 2010, and following a loss as part of Team Raw on the Bragging Rights PPV, Punk took time off from in-ring competition due to a legitimate hip injury and began acting as a commentator.

RELATED: 8 CM Punk Promos Better Than The Pipebomb

He soon returned to in-ring competition after attacking John Cena on Raw and SmackDown, revealing his motives to join and take control of The Nexus. He dethroned Wade Barrett as the group's leader, and following some original members leaving with Barrett to form The Corre on SmackDown, Punk, then started to demand the remaining and new members to undergo certain initiations to earn their place in the group.

3 464 Day WWE Title Reign

CM Punk as WWE Champion

CM Punk's popularity reached its peak around mid-2011 when he became the No.1 contender to John Cena's WWE Championship. Punk revealed that his contract would expire on the day of the 2011 Money in the Bank PPV and vowed that he would leave the company with the WWE Championship.

He lived up to his promise and defeated John Cena at the event to win his first WWE Championship and left WWE as the new champion. After John Cena became the new WWE Champion, CM Punk made his return and claimed to be the real WWE Champion, resulting in a match between the two to determine the undisputed champion at SummerSlam, which Punk won.

However, he lost the title in a few moments to Alberto Del Rio, who cashed in his MITB contract. Punk reclaimed the title from Del Rio at Survivor Series 2011 and went on to hold it for a record 464-days before losing it to The Rock at the 2013 Royal Rumble PPV.

2 Pro-Wrestling Departure

CM Punk Royal Rumble 2014

CM Punk turned his attention to ending The Undertaker's WrestleMania undefeated streak and had a showdown with The Deadman at WrestleMania 29, but ended up becoming The Phenom's 21st victim.

He then started a feud with fellow Paul Heyman Guy Brock Lesnar, which culminated at SummerSlam 2013 with Lesnar defeating Punk in a No-Disqualification match.

After some rivalries against The Wyatt Family, Ryback, The Shield, and The Authority, Punk wrestled his final match for WWE when he entered the 2014 Royal Rumble match as the first entrant. Following the event, Punk walked out of WWE and announced his first retirement.

Punk then made it clear that he had no plans to return to wrestling and claimed that he had lost his passion for the business. He tried his hand at MMA and signed with UFC but ended up losing both of his fights.

1 Return To Pro-Wrestling

CM Punk AEW Debut

After over seven years away from pro-wrestling and with all his fans anticipating his return, CM Punk signed with All Elite Wrestling in 2021 and made his debut at the First Dance special episode of AEW Rampage on August 20, 2021.

Punk made his in-ring return at All Out 2021 by defeating Darby Allin in a one-on-one match. He defeated the members of Team Taz one after the other and was on a winning streak until he had his first loss against MJF on the February 2, 2021, episode of Dynamite.