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With C.M. Punk now holding the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, let's look back at the great angle that ROH ran in 2005 when Punk gave his notice that he was leaving to go to WWE. This angle would become known as the Summer of Punk.

After Punk's awesome feud with Samoa Joe in 2004, Mick Foley, an occasional ROH performer at the time, recommended to WWE that they hire both men. (To read my column on the Joe vs. Punk feud, check out this link.) Joe chose TNA over WWE, which allowed him to continue wrestling for ROH until ROH phased out using TNA talent (other than as occasional guest stars) in 2007. Meanwhile, Punk signed a WWE developmental contract in the spring of 2005.

Feud Overview

ROH announced that Punk's last match before joining WWE would be at Death Before Dishonor III in Morristown, New Jersey on June 18, and that he would be challenging Austin Aries for the ROH World Title.

The context of this match is important to understanding the angle. The fact that the show was called Death Before Dishonor III deliberately recalled the first Death Before Dishonor show, two years earlier in Elizabeth, New Jersey. On that show, Paul London wrestled his last ROH match before leaving for WWE, challenging Samoa Joe for the title. The parallel was obvious and important because the first Death Before Dishonor was a monumental show in ROH history. One of the things it is remembered for is London making an emotional farewell speech and kissing the ROH logo in the ring after the match.

(For more on the original Death Before Dishonor, I recommend that Torch VIP readers check out the latest edition of the Radican audio showcase in which Sean Radican and Derek Burgan interview former ROH owner Rob Feinstein about this show.)

The Death Before Dishonor parallel created the expectation that, win or lose, Punk would be making a farewell speech like London's after the match. Cue the big swerve: Punk won the title from Aries in a fantastic match, Aries grudgingly presented him with the title belt and shook his hand, Punk soaked in an enormous babyface reaction from the crowd and then cut a phenomenal heel promo. Anybody who does not think Punk has the mic skills to be a centerpiece heel in WWE needs to watch this promo. Punk's promo turned himself from the biggest babyface in ROH to the biggest heel instantly.

During his heel turn promo, Punk announced that he would take the ROH belt with him to WWE. This brought out Christopher Daniels, who had not been seen in ROH since Punk had kayfabe injured him with a Pepsi Plunge through a table eighteen months earlier. Daniels had been the top heel in ROH for the company's first two years, but confronting Punk in this context turned him babyface. The segment ended with Punk fleeing the building to escape Daniels.

This led to a series of shows over the summer of 2005 built around the whole ROH roster chasing Punk to keep him from leaving the promotion with the title. Punk tried to avoid defending the title, but Mick Foley got involved in the storyline and managed to force Punk to defend the title at each of the next three shows. Punk wrestled and defeated Jay Lethal at Sign of Dishonor in Long Island, Roderick Strong at Escape From New York and James Gibson at Fate of an Angel in Woodbridge, Connecticut.

After Punk defeated Gibson at Fate of an Angel, it looked like Punk was about to take the title with him to WWE until Daniels hit the ring and stole the belt. This drew Punk into wrestling Daniels at the next show, The Homecoming in Philadelphia, to get possession of the belt back. The match went to a sixty-minute draw and the show ended ambiguously as to whether Punk would be back.

The next two shows were a weekend double shot, Friday in Dayton, Ohio, and Saturday in Chicago. ROH announced on its website that this really would be Punk's last weekend with the company. In a last ditch effort to get the belt off Punk, he had to face Samoa Joe, Daniels, and Gibson in a Four Corner Elimination Match at Redemption in Dayton. During the match, Punk hit Gibson with a chair while the referee was distracted, causing Gibson to have to be carried to the back. Later, Joe eliminated Daniels and Punk eliminated Joe with a roll-up after Daniels accidentally kicked Joe in the head while trying to interfere on Joe's behalf. This set up Gibson's heroic return to the ring with bloody bandages on his head to finally defeat Punk. After the match, Punk paid respect to Gibson and shook his hand, earning a "Thank you Punk" chant from the crowd.

Dropping the belt to Gibson in Dayton allowed Punk to say a proper goodbye in his final show, Punk: The Final Chapter, in his home town of Chicago. Punk had always been a babyface in Chicago even when he was a heel in other cities, so wrapping up his heel run the night before was a smart move.

Feud Analysis

This angle drew tremendous interest because the swerve managed to catch people off guard. The fact that insider fans, who make up a bigger proportion of the ROH audience than WWE or TNA, knew Punk was leaving for WWE but did not know when made each of Punk's title defenses very dramatic because people sensed that Punk could lose the title at any time. You can see this in the crowd heat during all of Punk's matches and segments throughout this run of shows.

Punk had enough of a history as a heel in ROH that his heel turn made sense when he explained it, unlike many swerves that seem to be booked for the sake having a swerve (especially in TNA). The heat on Punk from the fans would not have been as great if his heel turn had not rung true.

This is not an angle that a promotion today could easily replicate because it was such a case of the right character in the right situation at the right time. Then-ROH booker Gabe Sapolsky deserves credit for running with this angle when most wrestling bookers would be inclined to bury a wrestler on his way out rather than push him and give the fans such a great ending to an important character's story arc in the promotion.

As far as in-ring work goes, the two can't miss matches of the angle were Punk's title win over Aries at Death Before Dishonor III and his defense against Roderick Strong at Escape From New York. Looking back, this was Roderick Strong's breakout match in ROH. Strong was not seen as a legitimate World Title contender before this match, but the match itself was so good that it elevated him to this level. The Four Corner Elimination Match, the Jay Lethal match and the James Gibson match were all very good matches as well. The most disappointing match of the series was the 60-minute draw between Punk and Daniels, which did not live up to Punk's two 60-minute draws the year before with Samoa Joe. The Punk-Daniels draw was good, but it's a challenge for two wrestlers to keep the fans engaged for sixty minutes and they did not pull it off here, although the finishing sequence was very well done and dramatic.

This feud has great re-watchability because the crowd heat is tremendous and makes it easy to get emotionally invested in the shows years later. The must see shows to relive this feud are Death Before Dishonor III to see Punk capture the belt and turn heel, Sign of Dishonor for Punk's follow-up promo (the excellent title defense against Jay Lethal is a bonus), Escape From New York for the Roderick Strong match and a great Punk-Foley promo, and Redemption for the conclusion.

Must See Shows: Death Before Dishonor III, Sign of Dishonor, Escape From New York, Redemption

Optional Shows: Fate of Angel (the Punk-Gibson match is excellent, and overall this is a great show, but it is skippable from a storyline perspective), The Homecoming (only get this if you are a completist or a huge Christopher Daniels fan), Punk: The Final Chapter (if you love C.M. Punk, get this for his emotional farewell to ROH).

PWTorch VIP members have first-look access to all of Torch ROH specialist Mike DeRosenroll's ROH-related blogs in the VIP Forum. His blogs are posted under the M2_Jay screenname.

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