How Different Was WWE When CM Punk Won His Last Singles Match?

Punk's last victory came in January 2014.

By Liam Crowley

CM Punk has defeated Drew McIntyre. The Second City Saint defeated the Scottish Warrior at WWE Bash in Berlin in a brutal strap match, touching all four corners and regaining his family bracelet in the process. Punk's victory was far from given, as the former WWE Champion bled throughout the contest, leaving a noticeably stained beige on his typically white wrist tape. Punk and McIntyre are now one apiece, as McIntyre won the first battle at WWE SummerSlam earlier this month. The two men are expected to culminate their trilogy at WWE Bad Blood next month, in what many expect to under a Hell in a Cell stipulation.

How Different Was WWE When CM Punk Last Won a Match?

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(Photo: WWE, AEW)

CM Punk's WWE Bash in Berlin victory represents his first WWE win in over ten and a half years. In January 2014, Punk defeated Billy Gunn on the go-home episode of WWE Monday Night Raw before that year's WWE Royal Rumble.

The WWE landscape during that time was significantly different than it is today. For starters, Punk's last singles victim, Billy Gunn, was experiencing a career renaissance alongside longtime tag partner "Road Dogg" Jesse James. Punk and Gunn's WWE Monday Night Raw match would not be their last time crossing paths, as the two shared an AEW locker room together from August 2021 until August 2023.

WWE only had one world championship at the time. Randy Orton reigned as WWE World Heavyweight Champion, having unified the WWE Title and the World Heavyweight Title the previous month by defeating John Cena. Today, WWE's top prizes are the WWE Championship and WWE World Heavyweight Championship, which are held by Cody Rhodes and Gunther, respectively. Rhodes was competing in the tag division with his brother, Goldust, in 2014 and Gunther was still wrestling on the independent circuit.

The women's division only had one prize as well, the infamous WWE Divas Championship, which was held by Punk's future wife AJ Lee at the time. Today, WWE has a WWE Women's Title and a WWE Women's World Championship, which are held by Nia Jax and Liv Morgan. Neither woman had been signed to WWE back then.

The entire company was also still under Vince McMahon's control. McMahon had ambitions to run three big matches at WWE WrestleMania 30 that year: Randy Orton vs. Batista, CM Punk vs. Triple H, and The Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar. Only Taker vs. Lesnar went forward.

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The foundational members of The Bloodline were all under contract but on very different spots on the card. Roman Reigns was still in The Shield but was beginning to show early signs of his singles ability, as he was that year's Royal Rumble Match runner up. The Usos were still rocking colorful facepaint and were pursuing the WWE Tag Team Championships.

WWE was also still exclusively on pay-per-view. The WWE Network was still one month away from launching, meaning all of WWE's monthly specials cost roughly $49.99 to watch. NXT was also one month away from becoming a weekly television show.

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