5 CM Punk matches outside WWE you might not have seen

#4 CM Punk vs Austin Aries - ROH

Punk vs Aries kicked off a great angle in ROH

By April 2005, CM Punk had had multiple tryout matches with the WWE. Matches broadcast on Sunday Night Heat would include a tag team loss against the team of Maven and Simon Dean as well as a singles loss at the hands of Val Venis.

ROH fans knew that it would only be a matter of time before Punk was on his way out of their promotion. When a title match was set up between the ROH Champion Austin Aries and Punk, the fans obviously expected that it would be Punk's farewell from the company.

How wrong they were!

Punk would beat Aries to win the ROH title for the first time, following which he grabbed the microphone to address the crowd. In a completely unexpected twist, the face Punk turned heel and berated the ROH crowd, ushering in the original 'Summer of Punk'.

Punk continued to antagonize the fans, even signing his WWE deal on the ROH belt. Punk would eventually lose the title to James Gibson in a four-way match. His final match in the company would be against longtime friend Colt Cabana - following which the crowd and Punk would thank each other for the memories.