Ranking CM Punk’s top 5 career opponents

CM Punk’s greatest rivals could be a Hall of Fame induction class in its own right.

Throughout his 20+ year career that has expanded across various promotions and companies, CM Punk has battled against many different opponents; however, a few stand out at the top.

CM Punk has been praised for his storytelling abilities, which his opponents have only heightened. He and his foes are credited with having some of the most iconic and memorable rivalries in wrestling due to their mix of impressive wrestling and storytelling.

Let’s look at CM Punk’s top 5 career opponents:

5. Bryan Danielson

Throughout their careers, Punk and  Bryan Danielson have somewhat mirrored one another. They both wrestled on the independent circuit, most notably in Ring of Honor, before joining WWE, having successful Championship runs, and now in AEW. They have been rivals many times, and on occasion, they have also been tag team partners. The first singles match between the two took place in Ring of Honor at the ROH Reborn: Stage One show in 2004. Also, in 2004, Punk and Danielson would battle in the IWA-Mid South and Full Impact Pro promotions.

With Punk leaving ROH for WWE in 2006, Danielson stayed and continued his independent career before joining WWE for good, after various short stints in the early 2000s, in 2010, where he would compete under the Daniel Bryan name.

Their first WWE singles match, and their first singles meeting since 2005, happened in a Champion vs. Champion match on a January 2012 episode of Monday Night RAW. Their most memorable WWE match came at the 2012 Over The Limit PPV when Punk defended his WWE Championship against Bryan in what would be a technical classic. Due to the confusion of the finish, the pair would meet again at the Money In The Bank PPV, this time in a no-disqualification match, with AJ Lee, Bryan’s storyline ex-girlfriend, the woman at the center of their feud, as the special guest referee. Punk won this match and once again retained his title. Towards the end of Punk’s WWE career in 2013, he and Bryan would team up in feuds against The Shield and The Wyatt Family.

With Punk and Danielson debuting, just months apart for AEW in 2021, they have yet to face off; with Punk’s current status with AEW unknown, it may never happen. However, Punk vs. Danielson is one of the biggest matches AEW can do, and not doing it would be a huge missed opportunity.

4. Raven

CM Punk’s feud with Raven is the first great feud of Punk’s career. When Punk joined Ring of Honor in 2003, he joined as a face but quickly turned heel when he started a feud with Raven. The story of their 2003 feud was Punk’s straight-edge lifestyle versus Raven’s use of drugs and alcohol, and part of it was how Punk viewed Raven as his alcoholic father.

The pair had many bloody and brutal wars. The first occurs at Ring of Honor’s Expect The Unexpected event in March. This match had the Raven’s Rules, which meant no disqualification. Punk won this match by making Raven tap out.

After a no-disqualification tag match which saw the Second City Saints (Punk and Colt Cabana) defeat Raven and Christopher Daniels, in which Punk used a chain to defeat Raven, Punk tried to choke Raven after the match, which prompted Raven to challenge Punk to a dog collar match.

In a July ROH promo, Punk explained how he regretted saving his father’s life when he almost choked on his own vomit. He explained how Raven was like his father and destroys lives, whereas he (Punk) saves lives. The dog collar match occurred in July at ROH’s Death Before Dishonor event. Punk won the match, and with the loss, Raven declared he wanted another match against Punk, this time, a cage match. Punk accepted.

In September came another brutal match, a Clockwork Orange House of Fun match (a cage match with weapons ready to go inside). Raven emerged victorious; however, after the match, he would be strung up on a giant ‘X,’ an X representing Punk’s straight-edge lifestyle. In November, the pair had another cage match, and Punk won by escaping the cage, ending their feud that had taken over MLW and ROH for most of 2003.