The wrestling career of CM Punk might be over, but fans are always holding up hope for one more return. Punk captured the imagination of the audience wanting something different from WWE. Few wrestlers have ever been able to leave the legacy that Punk did getting to the top by doing things his way in the WWE system.

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Many wrestling fans remember Punk’s infamous pipe bomb promo or beating John Cena for the WWE Championship at Money in the Bank 2011. However, plenty of moments were lost throughout the years with not everything holding the same importance. Punk’s forgotten moments deserve another glance down memory lane.

10 Hardcore Holly Ending His Undefeated Streak

Hardcore Holly

The ECW start to CM Punk’s WWE career saw him breaking out on the company’s third brand. Punk went a while without taking any losses since he was protected in the booking as a rising talent to build around.

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That made it even stranger when Punk suffered his first defeat at the hands of Hardcore Holly. A mid-card veteran who was not expected to get pushed beating Punk was how the winning streak of a few months ended with a whimper rather than a bang. Punk defeated Holly in most of their matches, but the former Hardcore Champion got the best of The Straight Edge Superstar in January 2007.

9 Feud With Umaga

Umaga

CM Punk’s second Money in the Bank victory led to him moving to the SmackDown brand. Umaga consistently targeted Punk when he attempted to cash in his MITB briefcase on a weakened champion.

Punk and Umaga had a feud lasting a couple of months in an attempt to keep them both relevant. The wins for Punk did add some positive momentum. Punk defeated Umaga on the same night he cashed in on a weak Jeff Hardy to turn heel.

8 Tagging With Daniel Bryan

CM Punk and Daniel Bryan vs Rowan

Daniel Bryan and CM Punk are each credited for breaking down barriers for the independent wrestling talent to get a chance in WWE. There was a very short-lived run of Bryan and Punk teaming up in late 2013.

WWE needed to find something for two of the most popular stars when trying to keep them out of the title picture. Punk and Bryan teamed up to feud with The Wyatt Family and often had great matches together. Unfortunately, the tag run was just for that program, and they went their separate ways.

7 Tag Title Run With Kofi Kingston

CM Punk and Kofi Kingston

Another forgotten tag team stint for CM Punk featured him teaming with Kofi Kingston. Both talents were two of the most popular rising stars and had a real friendship that built a connection between them.

WWE pushed the duo hard enough to win the World Tag Team Championship from Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase Jr. The reign spotlighted them together, but WWE still viewed them as long-term singles performers. Kofi and Punk dropped the belts to The Miz and John Morrison to end their team.

6 Winning Contenders Match To Face Undertaker At WM

CM Punk at WrestleMania 29

WWE went with the rare storyline of having wrestlers face each other for the right to wrestle The Undertaker at WrestleMania 29. Everyone wanted to end the streak, so WWE booked a match with the top names.

CM Punk defeated Sheamus, Big Show and Randy Orton to earn his chance to end the streak. Undertaker and Punk had a heated program and great match, but the start was odd due to the nature of the contenders’ match.

5 Beating The Shield By Himself

CM Punk and The Shield

The Shield became the hottest act in 2013 after losing their attachment to CM Punk. WWE initially wanted the trio of Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Dean Ambrose to primarily help Punk win his matches as a cheating heel.

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Things progressed for The Shield to become their own act doing things that they felt were right. Punk ended up feuding with them as a face and even scored a victory in a 3 vs 1 handicap match. The finish was strange, and Punk even felt it was a dumb move to have him beat them all by himself.

4 New Nexus Run

CM Punk in Nexus

WWE had something promising when Nexus debuted and delivered a vicious beatdown on everyone at the ringside area. Wade Barrett leading the group featured them getting the better of major names like John Cena, Chris Jericho, and Edge.

Weak booking would ruin the group within a few months to the point of no return. WWE tried one last-ditch effort by having CM Punk replace Barrett and lead The New Nexus. The group didn’t work out and Punk separated himself from them during the Summer of Punk singles push.

3 First World Championship Program With JBL

CM Punk vs. JBL on Raw

CM Punk won his first World Championship in WWE by cashing in Money in the Bank to defeat Edge. WWE didn’t book Punk strong enough to become a credible main eventer during his introduction to the main event scene.

JBL was the first challenger for Punk, but he was already four years removed from his peak run with that character. WWE didn’t do a good enough job elevating Punk as champ and his momentum ended thanks to a forgotten world title program.

2 Leading Heel ECW Group For Two Weeks

The New Breed in ECW

The ECW stint of CM Punk is remembered for his facework since his heel side was all but two weeks of his tenure. Punk’s short heel run came out of the blue during the feud between the ECW Originals and the New Breed.

Both sides wanted Punk to join them, and he shocked everyone when becoming the New Breed leader for a short time. Punk continued acting like a face and betrayed Elijah Burke during a tag match to end the small stint in a heel faction.

1 Match Vs Vince McMahon

CM Punk vs Vince McMahon

CM Punk facing Vince McMahon in 2011 would have been a massive draw during the Summer of Punk. However, it would not come until a year later when Punk turned heel. Vince and Punk faced off during an episode of Raw to improve the ratings.

The older age of Vince didn’t hold him back from getting violent as weapons were used all match. Punk cheated to get an advantage until Ryback made the save. WWE booked the short-term ratings grab to have McMahon play a smaller role in a story between Punk and Ryback.

NEXT: The 10 Best Years Of CM Punk's Career, Ranked