CM Punk‘s Ring of Honor rivalries with Samoa Joe and Raven have been well documented, as has the infamous Summer of Punk in which he threatened to take his ROH World Championship with him upon his departure for WWE. With such impactful feuds during his ROH tenure, followed by the success he’s had in recent years in WWE, it might be easy to forget the bitter exchanges Punk had with Jimmy Rave leading into the Summer of Punk. These matches are the centerpiece of CM Punk: Icon, the latest Punk DVD compilation from ROH.
Picking up where CM Punk: The Second City Saint left off, Icon begins with Punk’s match against Ricky Steamboat, a turning point in Punk’s career as his demeanor during the match changes drastically after he is humbled by Steamboat’s still-impressive abilities, as well as his post-match words for Punk. With the fans solidly behind him, Punk and his longtime friends Colt Cabana and Ace Steel go on to battle the likes of the Briscoe Brothers, Austin Aries, Alex Shelley, BJ Whitmer and Jimmy Jacobs. All great matches, mind you. But it’s not until Punk’s clash with Rave on the third night of ROH’s Third Anniversary Celebration that Icon really starts to gel as a cohesive collection of matches.
After defeating Punk (with a good deal of help from the Embassy, a boot lace and a can of air freshener) in front of his hometown Chicago crowd, Rave definitely stokes the ire of Punk for several months. Stooping to numerous personal lows (including attacking Punk’s then-girlfriend Traci Brooks, which is alluded to in commentary), Rave and the Embassy continuously antagonize Punk, only to scurry away or attack from behind when faced with his fury head on. With Bobby “The Brain” Hennan in his corner to help neutralize the antics of Prince Nana, Punk comes out on top against Embassy member Mike Kruel at Stalemate in April of 2005, only to be attacked from behind by Rave and the rest of the Embassy after the match while Heenan is showing respect for Punk.
When Punk finally gets Rave in a position in which Rave seemingly has nowhere to run (a dog collar match at Manhattan Mayhem in May of 2005), Rave again uses Kruel as a distraction to attack the already-collared Punk from behind before the match is officially underway. What follows is 15 of the most intense minutes in ROH history as Punk and Rave battle inside and outside the ring while chained together, followed by a passionate backstage promo from a bloodied Punk that makes his malicious intentions for Rave all too clear. But it obviously doesn’t resolve anything as the two face off again only a week later at Nowhere to Run, this time inside a steel cage.
With the Embassy kept at least somewhat at bay thanks to the cage, Punk and Rave go back and forth in a bloody battle to conclude this long-standing feud. But in a match where anything goes, Rave is allowed to resort to his previous tactics without having to hide them from the referee. With his hometown fans behind him once again, Punk finds a way to fight back from every obstacle Rave and the Embassy put in front of him, eventually turning some of them around on Rave. With a huge suplex off the top of the cage, Punk finally gives Rave his comeuppance before setting his sights on attaining the ROH World Championship.
In one of his final matches before the Summer of Punk gets underway, Punk takes on Roderick Strong in a respectful exchange that leaves both competitors looking like heroes. And after a surprising turn of events, Unscripted II lives up to its name as Punk makes a one-time return to ROH (while already under contract to WWE), teaming with Bryan Danielson to take on Rave and Adam Pearce in February of 2006. Having built a career on, among other things, unexpected actions and surprising promos, this seemingly impossible return/send-off somehow seems like the perfect end cap for Punk’s ROH career. And considering his contributions to ROH during his time there, Icon is certainly an appropriate title for this latest collection of his classic matches.