5 Things you forgot about CM Punk's wrestling career - Still holds a WWE record, Forgotten first WWE match

CM Punk is back, signing with AEW last month and debuting live in his hometown of Chicago on AEW Rampage, to one of the biggest pops in recent memory. Punk wrestled his first match in AEW at All Out, defeating Darby Allin in a closely contested match-up. Punk has since remained undefeated in AEW and is set to face Bobby Fish next.

With CM Punk now back in the ring, we decided to go back and take a look at his career and look at a few things some fans may have forgotten including CM Punk's run in TNA Wrestling, his first WWE tryout match against a staple of the Attitude era and his role as an extra at WrestleMania 22 while he was still in OVW.

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#5 Fastest WWE triple crown winner

CM Punk as WWE World Heavyweight Champion

CM Punk won the World Heavyweight Championship for the first time when he cashed in Money in the Bank and pinned Edge in June 2008.

Punk then won the Tag-Team Championships alongside Kofi Kingston in October of the same year with the duo beating Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase Jr to win gold.

Punk went on to beat William Regal on the January 19th, 2009 episode of WWE RAW to win his first Intercontinental Championship and sealed his Triple Crown in 203 days, the fastest to date.

The second fastest Triple Crown winner is WWE Hall of Famer Kevin Nash, fka Diesel, who did it in 227 days.

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#4 CM Punk's forgotten WWE tryout match

CM Punk had his first WWE tryout match in May 2005 against former Intercontinental Champion Val Venis. The match lasted about 7 minutes with Punk getting a chance to show off what he was capable of. Venis ended up winning the match after hitting the Money Shot from the top turnbuckle.

Punk's tryout match ended up being a success and he was soon signed by WWE and sent to their developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling, in September 2005.

#3 Winner of the only ever Gulf of Mexico match

CM Punk is the winner of the only Gulf of Mexico in WWE history. Don't remember the match? Then you must not have been watching WWE's version of ECW during its doomed resurrection.

The first and only Gulf of Mexico match took place in February 2008 in Corpus Christi, Texas with the winner having to throw his opponent into the Gulf of Mexico outside the arena. The match started in the ring and ended with CM Punk hitting Chavo Guerrero with a GTS into the Gulf of Mexico.

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#2 CM Punk's role at WrestleMania 22

WrestleMania 22 saw John Cena face Triple H for the WWE Championship. One memorable moment from this match was Cena's mafia-themed entrance. Some fans may have missed it, but future World Champion CM Punk was an extra for Cena's entrance.

Cena later revealed that he had no part in choosing Punk to be a part of his entrance and the decision was made by higher-ups who decided to bring in people from OVW as extras for the entrance.

#1 CM Punk's TNA run

We finish off with a look at CM Punk's brief run in TNA Wrestling. This was early on in Punk's career and many young fans may be totally unaware that Punk was ever in the promotion now known as IMPACT Wrestling.

CM Punk only appeared in TNA Wrestling between 2003 and 2004. Making his TNA debut on July 2003,Punk initially tried to align himself with Raven, eventually teaming with Julio Dinero and joining Raven's faction, 'The Gathering'.

Punk and Dinero ended up turning on Raven, reportedly because management felt that the duo were not clicking as heels, taking out Raven and aligning themselves with James Mitchell.

Punk spoke about his time in Raven's faction ending during an interview with Chicago Wrestling:

I walked in that building and I knew the program was over. They weren't happy. They said me and Julio didn't go over as heels, and they put us on ice for a little bit.

CM Punk ended up leaving TNA in 2004 after the promotion stopped allowing it's contracted stars from wrestling in ROH.