ROH on Sinclair - Episode 545 - 25th February 2022
Ring Of Honor announced CM Punk as the final inductee into their inaugural Hall Of Fame class. He isn't the longest serving of inductees, nor does he have the body of top tier matches in ROH that some of his contemporaries have - but he is perhaps THE most iconic Ring Of Honor wrestler ever, and arguably the ROH alumni who achieved the greatest crossover, mass market appeal of them all. He is a fitting final entrant, at a time where his work in AEW ensures he remains as cutting edge and as relevant to the pro-wrestling industry as he has ever been.
The opening montage of CM Punk clips is compelling footage. What I find so remarkable is that even back in 2002, Punk was so authentically himself. The way he delivers his promos, the way he moves and carries himself - whilst it may be refined a little twenty years later, he hasn't changed at all. The blueprints for his success and the hallmarks of his style now, or at the heights of his WWE fame, were all present during his Ring Of Honor run.
A TV edit of Austin Aries vs CM Punk for the ROH World Title from Death Before Dishonor 3 is shown.
They show none of the post-match promo or shenanigans, which kicked off the Summer Of Punk. I found that a little surprising given how influential that angle became. From there we see highlights of Punk and Colt Cabana defeating the Briscoes to become ROH Tag Champions (twice) at both Reborn Stage 2 and Round Robin Challenge 3.
A TV edit of CM Punk vs Roderick Strong for the ROH World Title from Escape From New York is shown
Tape Rating - N/A - The match content here was obviously very good; Punk/Aries and Punk/Strong are both outstanding matches. I don't think either are definitive CM Punk in ROH matches though. In fact, I was actually a little disappointed that so little of the real cornerstones of Punk's time in ROH were actually touched upon in this broadcast. The feud with Raven that put him on the map is seen only in the briefest of clips. His rivalry with Samoa Joe isn't mentioned, neither is the feud with Jimmy Rave, and they use only the tiniest excerpt from his famous farewell at Punk The Final Chapter. Even the Summer Of Punk isn't spotlighted to any great degree here (only via the 2005 DVD commentary on the Roddy match). Given that CM Punk's value to Ring Of Honor is SO intrinsically linked to those iconic moments RATHER than specific matches, I think they should have gone in a totally different direction here and delivered a clip show ROH career retrospective (maybe with Ian Riccaboni narrating something) to give newer fans a true sense of just how revolutionary and influential Punk's time in ROH truly was.