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Now that RAW superstar CM Punk is a bona fide World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) triple crown winner (WWE Championship, Intercontinental Championship and World Tag Team Championship), he's probably not that upset about losing the Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) heavyweight title on this date in OVW history.
Especially considering that he needed to lose in order to win.
The prize was an eventual run in the WWE, one that not only culminated in a current feud with John Cena, widely recognized as the hottest program in recent memory, but one that also brought him consecutive "Money in the Bank Ladder Match" wins in 2008 and 2009.
Money in the bank, indeed.
If we're to believe what current nemesis Kevin Nash said about needing 10 years as a professional wrestler to become a true financial draw, then I for one am excited to see what the next five years will bring for Punk, who left OVW back on August 30, 2006, after getting pinned by Chet "The Jet" Jablonski.
Punk was originally booked to defend the OVW strap against Seth Skyfire; however, the master of the "Cloverleaf" was jumped by Charles "The Hammer" Evans prior to the match, setting up Jablonski's last-minute substitution.
Following the loss, Punk boarded the "get the hell out of Dodge" airline, with his flight scheduled to land in Stamford, Connecticut, after a brief layover in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW).
His ECW run included feuds with Mike Knox, "Hardcore" Holly, Matt Striker, Elijah Burke and Johnny Nitro (now John Morrison), who he eventually defeated to claim the promotion's heavyweight belt.
More importantly, it established him as a proven star, who earned the right to be "pushed" in his eventual transition to the WWE in the 2008 RAW draft.
True, they almost blew it with the way they handled his rise to power, but all that was soon forgotten thanks to a fantastic angle that includes John Cena, Triple H and Kevin Nash.
Any Cagesiders think this is the best CM Punk we've ever seen? Or does his program with Samoa Joe back in Ring of Honor (ROH) still reign supreme?
Thoughts?