CM Punk’s Top 10 WWE Matches

9. CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho – Payback 2013

I go back and forth with this match and their battle at Wrestlemania 28 as to which one is better.  Obviously, the Mania one was the bigger stage but for me, this was the better match.  Punk returned for this match after taking two months off after his war with The Undertaker at Wrestlemania 29 and it took place at the Allstate Arena just outside of Chicago, Punk’s home.

These two already had a long history against each other.  After not exactly crossing paths for the first few years of Punk’s WWE career, they ended up embroiled in a very bitter, personal feud for the first quarter of 2012.  This led to their first pay per view match at the aforementioned Wrestlemania 28 and then in a brutal Chicago Street Fight at Extreme Rules in April.  Punk won both and always seemed just a tiny bit ahead of Y2J when they’d square off.

So when Punk made his return against Jericho at Payback the following year, the Chicago crowd was molten hot for him.  The match itself was brilliant.  It was a culmination of all their prior material as the two matched clever counters and innovative reversals to the other’s finishing moves over and over again through their 21-minute tilt.  This was their last televised match and it was a terrific way to end their rivalry.

Next: No. 8