Two of the greatest wrestlers to ever come out of Ring of Honor, CM Punk and Daniel Bryan have taken the WWE by storm since making their separate debuts. Who is best for business though? This is RatedRKO bringing you another installment of the VS. Series featuring CM Punk and Daniel Bryan.
CM Punk: It was no secret that WWE hit a gold mine when CM Punk finally decided to sign a WWE contract in 2005. He would start his way up in ECW and then would gradually make his way to RAW. Watching him in the Indies, he had unlimited wrestling potential and affinity for making convincing promos. Since winning his first world title in 2008, Punk has seen great success in WWE. He is a three time WWE Champion (one reign which lasted 434 days), he has won the World Heavyweight Championship three times, had a reign with the Intercontinental Championship and World Tag Team Championships, he has won the ECW Championship (making him one of three wrestlers to win WWE, ECW, and World Titles–the other two being Kane and Big Show), won MITB at two straight WrestleManias, the only man to win the ladder match twice, and he has already faced the Undertaker at WrestleMania. Punk’s journey to elite status has been interesting. His first WHC reign was a feel good moment, but he clearly wasn’t ready, which was why they had Randy Orton take him out. Then he turned heel after a couple of months and then everything changed. He took out Jeff Hardy and gave himself an edge we had not seen in him before. For most of 2010 through early 2011, he was leading cults and groups known as the Straight Edge Society and the New Nexus. But then, on one Monday Night RAW in 2011, Punk would change the landscape of WWE forever with his famous “pipebomb” where he revealed more truth than anyone has ever done before. This is where he would see WWE Championship gold for the first time and ever since he has been main-event status. Having the prestige of holding the WWE Title for a full calendar year as well as facing the Undertaker are pretty huge honors and they are well-deserved. Punk’s promo ability, his knack for getting the crowd involved, and his elite wrestling pedigree is of great value to any company. Whether he was in ROH, ECW, RAW or even TNA for a brief moment, Punk can be counted on for a main event caliber match any day of the week. Daniel Bryan presents a huge challenge however.
Bryan Danielson: Or better known by his WWE name, Daniel Bryan, he started off much later as he was still in NXT. He was introduced by the Nexus but then made his way to RAW in singles competition. He started off slow, winning singles championships, but his luck changed when he won MITB and cashed in on Big Show. Then, he got his first taste of World TItle Gold. it was not until this past Summerslam however, where he won the WWE Title from Cena, cleanly. Not a lot of people can say that. Bryan has had a hot run in 2013 and he doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. His wrestling matches are consistently the best of any kind and pound for pound, he may very well be more talented than CM Punk. He did make him tap out at Over The Limit last year. Speaking of which, these two has had some incredible wrestling bouts, where their full wrestling aresnal was put into play. Bryan hasn’t had the success Punk has, but that can be fixed in due time. He was won the WHC only once, The WWE Title Twice, the US Title and WWE Tag Team Gold with Kane during his Team Hell No Phase. Daniel Bryan is also arguably the most over with the crowd this year and when he regains main-event status, we may very well see Punk vs Bryan at WrestleMania, and that will be a match we will never forget.
And so, there you have it. CM Punk and Daniel Bryan are sure to be the future of WWE. But if you have the power to sign one of the two, who do you go with? You can’t go wrong with either choice, but you can only have one. Comment below, and why.
