Match #1: CM Punk vs. Colt Cabana (Night of the Butcher – 12/7/02)
Cabana catches Punk with an armdrag after a few leapfrogs. Punk responds with a nice armdrag of his own. He monkey flips out of a powerbomb attempt by Cabana and they find themselves at a stalemate. They battle over a knucklelock and Punk snaps Cabana’s arm across the top rope. Punk connects with a missile dropkick to the left arm and takes control. Cabana finds life with an asai moonsault to the floor. In the ring, Cabana lands a frog splash and hits a snap suplex. Punk lands a flying crossbody of his own. He hits a butterfly backbreaker and adds a neckbreaker. Cabana levels him with a lariat. Punk answers with a reverse hurricanrana. Both men are down. Punk blocks another lariat with a dropkick. He escapes the Colt 45 but Cabana is able to hit the maneuver on his second attempt for the win at 12:28. If you told me Punk and Cabana had a match in 2012 and did a reverse hurricanrana spot, I’d call you crazy. That’s not a bad thing. Punk and Cabana have evolved into two of the most polished professional wrestlers around in the past ten years. This was a solid exhibition with some standout action down the stretch. ***
Match #2: CM Punk vs. Colt Cabana (Final Battle 2002 – 12/28/02)
The winner will receive an ROH contract. Punk hits a russian leg sweep and lands a slingshot senton. Cabana crotches him on the top rope and connects with a lariat. He hits a sit-out gourdbuster and takes over. Punk comes back with a dive to the outside. Back in, Cabana hits an inverted DDT from the middle rope. Punk hits a belly to belly suplex off the top rope. Both men are down. Punk hits a finlay roll and lands a split-legged moonsault. Cabana fights off a reverse hurricanrana. Punk connects with a shining wizard for a nearfall. He follows with a facewash kick. Punk adds the Pepsi Plunge for the victory at 9:32. This very much felt like two guys trying to earn a spot in a promotion. There were a lot of unique sequences but nothing holding the action together. However, that’s okay to an extent in the opener. **½
Match #3: CM Punk vs. CW Anderson (One Year Anniversary Show – 2/8/03)
They begin with some chain wrestling and trade control on the mat. Anderson hits a samoan drop followed by a superplex. Punk responds with a springboard blockbuster and both men are down. They trade punches from their knees. Anderson hits an exploder but falls victim to a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Punk connects with a shining wizard for a nearfall. He charges but runs into a superkick. Punk counters a spinebuster into a sunset flip for the win at 9:45. The crowd couldn’t care less until the flash finish. It’s not like the action was bad, but I’m unsure if anyone had a reason to care about the result or how they got to the result. **¼
Match #4: CM Punk vs. Raven (Expect the Unexpected – 3/15/03)
Punk out-wrestles Raven and shows off. Raven snaps off a few armdrags and blasts Punk to the floor with a dropkick. He follows out with a plancha. I’m shocked. Punk takes a moment to regroup. He brings a chair into the ring but Raven dodges it. The action goes to the floor where Punk sneaks in a chair shot. They throw each other into the guardrail. In the ring, Punk irish whips Raven into a propped chair. Raven hits a suplex on the floor but Punk quickly recovers with a powerslam. Punk misses a top-rope leg drop and both men are down. Raven hits a back suplex but Punk traps him in a sleeper hold. Raven is bleeding from the forehead, which makes the sleeper look more effective as well. He counters into a sleeper hold of his own but Punk stunners out of it. Raven connects with a series of clotheslines and hits a bulldog. Raven tries to bring a table into the ring but Punk baseball slides him. Punk throws Trinity into the guardrail, but she catches him with a top-rope moonsault. Punk leg drops Trinity through a table at ringside. In the ring, Punk hits the Raven Effect and applies a new submission. Raven drop toe holds him into a chair but the referee is down. Punk finds time to reapply the submission for the victory at 18:51. Raven put in a tremendous effort here and everything worked towards putting Punk over. They used a few bells and whistles, but there was actually a lot of solid wrestling to be found here. The finish gave them leg room to begin an extensive feud and their dog collar match is included on this compilation, so we’ll see if they were able to improve upon this solid brawl. ***¼
Match #5: CM Punk and Ace Steel vs. Raven and Colt Cabana (Night of the Champions – 3/22/03)
Punk does his best to avoid Raven early on. Raven catches Steel with a trash can lid shot. Cabana connects with double knees on Punk and tags in Raven. Punk runs away. Raven gives chase but Steel catches him with a chair shot and sends him into the guardrail. In the ring, Punk and Steel isolate Raven until he drop toe holds Punk into a chair and makes the tag. Cabana cleans house and hits a sit-out powerbomb on Steel. He follows with the Colt 45 on Punk for a nearfall. Steel hits an implant DDT on Cabana and Punk adds a butterfly suplex. Punk giant swings Cabana into a dropkick from Steel. I thought the Kings of Wrestling invented that. Raven eventually reenters the match with a garbage can. Punk tries a springboard maneuver but gets caught by the garbage can. Raven drop toe holds Steel to the outside onto Punk. Raven follows out with a dive. Cabana adds a moonsault. He immediately clutches his leg after hitting the moonsault and screams in pain. In the ring, Steel connects with a springboard dropkick on Raven. Punk misses a flying elbow drop and crashes through a table. Raven hits the Raven Effect on Steel for the win at 15:34. The inclusion of Steel and Cabana was interesting and this match continued the feud by featuring Punk keeping his distance from Raven. It’s also significant for Cabana turning on Raven after the match. Am I the only one who smiles when thinking about Cabana turning heel on Raven? ***
Match #6: CM Punk vs. BJ Whitmer (Epic Encounter – 4/12/03)
They wrestle to a stalemate. Whitmer lands a dive to the floor but the back of his head splats on the floor. In the ring, they botch a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and Punk just kind of lands on his head. Punk connects with a springboard dropkick and hits a butterfly backbreaker. He takes over until Whitmer blocks a facewash kick with a brutal knee strike. Whitmer hits a northern lights suplex but falls victim to a german suplex. They exchange strikes and Punk connects with a lariat. Whitmer responds with a lariat of his own and hits an exploder. They go back to trading strikes and battle on the apron. Punk hits a german suplex, sending Whitmer through a table at ringside. The referee stops the match at 12:11. After a rough start, they really picked up the action and the match was going along well until the non-finish. I’m not exactly sure why this was included on the compilation except to explain the Raven/Whitmer pairing in the next match. **¼
Match #7: CM Punk and Colt Cabana vs. Raven and BJ Whitmer (Night of the Grudges – 6/14/03)
At this point in the feud, Punk seems more willing to step into the ring with Raven. Raven connects with a superkick on Punk. Whitmer and Cabana trade control on the mat before Whitmer hits a brainbuster. Punk attacks Whitmer with a chair behind his back. Raven hits Cabana with a chair to return the favor. Raven chases Punk to the back. They come back to ringside with Raven hitting Punk with a garbage can, busting him open. They brawl into the crowd, where Raven drop toe holds Cabana into a chair. Whitmer is bleeding pretty badly as well. In the ring, Punk and Cabana work over Whitmer. He takes advantage of some miscommunication and makes the tag. Raven cleans house with a flurry of offense. He finally hits the Raven Effect on Punk but Cabana breaks up the pin attempt. Whitmer hits an exploder on Cabana, sending him from the apron into the ring. Punk connects with a chair-assisted shining wizard on Whitmer. Cabana hits the Colt 45 on Whitmer for the win at 16:44. This was a step above the previous tag team brawl. As I mentioned in the play by play, Punk seems more willing to battle Raven at this point in the feud and the violence is escalating. I can see why people remember this feud so fondly. The matches aren’t out of this world, but the wrestling is solid enough and the feud is making Punk into a star. ***¼
Match #8: Dog Collar Match: CM Punk vs. Raven (Death Before Dishonor – 7/19/03)
Punk tries to retreat to the floor, not realizing that there’s a dog collar around his neck. Raven immediately uses the chain as a weapon and Punk is quickly busted open. They brawl around ringside, where Punk is continuously sent into the barricade. In the ring, Punk finally finds an opening with a low blow. He irish whips Raven through a table in the corner. Punk takes control and punishes Raven throughout the crowd. There’s a sick spot where Raven poses at the top of the bleachers, but Punk makes him come crashing down to the floor by pulling on the chain. In the ring, Raven fights back with a series of punches and a discus clothesline. He drop toe holds Punk into a propped chair but accidentally lays out Paul Turner with a chair shot. Raven hits the Raven Effect on Punk but there’s no referee. Colt Cabana runs into the ring and hits a DDT onto a chair. Danny Doering chases Cabana away. Punk covers Raven for the victory at 18:40. Punk winning was undoubtedly the right call, but he received his comeuppance after the match when Tommy Dreamer appeared. In fact, while they managed to top their encounter at Expect the Unexpected, I think you really have to watch the post-match angle to get the full effect of this match. When isolating the actual dog collar match, it can stand alone as a very good brawl that incorporated many elements of the feud. ***½
Match #9: CM Punk vs. Terry Funk (Glory By Honor 2 – 9/20/03)
Funk shows that he can hang with Punk on the mat to start. They brawl at ringside and Funk connects with a series of punches back in the ring. They hit each other with a chair. They battle over a suplex and Funk suplexes Punk through a table at ringside. Back in, Funk misses a top-rope moonsault. The crowd goes ballistic. Funk’s knee buckles, so Punk immediately goes to work on it. Punk applies a figure four with a big smile on his face. He even uses a chair to tenderize the leg. Punk reapplies the figure four but refuses to release the hold when Funk reaches the ropes. The referee disqualifies Punk at 15:37. While I’ve seen some pretty high star ratings for this contest, I couldn’t help but view this match as a one-off encounter to put Punk over as more of a jerk leading to his blow-off with Raven. There were definitely some novelty moments such as Funk going for a top-rope moonsault and this match more than served its purpose. I’m just failing to see what makes this more than merely a creative way to extend the Punk/Raven feud. **½
Match #10: Steel Cage Match: CM Punk vs. Raven (The Conclusion – 11/28/03)
Punk attacks Raven before he can enter the cage. Inside, Punk drop toe holds Raven into a propped chair. Raven fights back with some chair shots and Punk is busted open after repeated knee strikes. Raven hits a piledriver. Punk boots a chair into his face and takes control with a chair-assisted facewash kick. Raven back suplexes out of a sleeper hold. Both men are down. Punk delivers a low bow but Raven stops him from escaping. Punk misses a leg drop from the top of the cage. Raven connects with a lariat and hits a bulldog. Punk hits the Raven Effect for a nearfall. Raven tries a small package to no avail and runs into a superkick. Punk climbs the cage but gets crotched on the cage door. Punk closes the door on Raven and drops to the floor for the win at 17:03. I thought this was slightly below their dog collar match, mainly because I hate the escape rules in a feud-ending cage match. The escape rules made a bit more sense here given Punk’s character, but there were numerous times where he could’ve escaped through the cage door and didn’t do so. Still, watching this feud for the first time has given me a more positive perspective on Raven and it was vital for Punk’s career. ***¼
Match #11: CM Punk and Colt Cabana vs. Tomoaki Honma and Kazushi Miyamoto (Final Battle 2003 – 12/27/03)
Miyamoto and Cabana wrestle to a stalemate. They exchange chops in the corner and Miyamoto connects with a dropkick. Honma, known as a deathmatch wrestler, grabs a chair after mat wrestling with Punk. Cabana locks in the Billy Goat’s Curse on Miyamoto and Punk adds a chinlock. Honma breaks it up with a nasty dropkick. The Second City Saints isolate Miyamoto until he suplexes Punk and makes the tag. Honma hits a bulldog on Punk and follows with a DDT-flatliner combination. Cabana responds with an air raid crash neckbreaker. Miyamoto lands a swantan onto Cabana for a nearfall. Punk and Honma trade chops. Punk hits a michinoku driver but gets speared by Miyamoto. All four men are down after a series of strikes. Honma hits a blockbuster on Punk for a two count. Honma and Miyamoto follow with a doomsday superplex. Cabana lands an asai moonsault to the floor onto Miyamoto. Punk hits a saito suplex on Honma followed by the Pepsi Twist for a nearfall. Cabana takes care of Miyamoto while Punk hits the Pepsi Plunge on Honma for the victory at 16:35. This match had the kind of controlled chaos that gets lost when tag team bouts turn into spotfests. Honma and Miyamoto brought a lot to the table while Cabana and Punk looked great as a team. Cabana in particular was utilizing some different offense and made this match stand out. Solid effort all around. ***½
Match #12: CM Punk, Ace Steel, and Colt Cabana vs. Christopher Daniels, Dan Maff, and BJ Whitmer (The Battle Lines are Drawn – 1/10/04)
Punk avoids Daniels early on, so he chain wrestles with Steel to start the match. Daniels’ tunnel vision actually pays off, as he gets a shot in on Punk and lands a dive to the floor onto the Second City Saints. Everyone brawls around ringside. Back in, Steel catches Maff with a clothesline and Punk adds a facewash kick. Both teams trade control until the Second City Saints use the guardrail to bust Maff open and isolate him. Maff lays out Punk with a lariat and makes the tag. Daniels hits a neckbreaker on Punk along with a blue thunder bomb. Cabana lands an asai moonsault to the outside onto Whitmer. Maff takes out Cabana with a dive. Steel dives onto Whitmer. It never ends. Punk lands a springboard dive. Daniels lands an arabian press to the floor. The crowd politely applauds. In the ring, Daniels hits an STO on Cabana, who responds with an implant DDT. Whitmer hits a saito suplex on Cabana. Steel hits a tiger driver on Whitmer. Maff lays out Steel with a half nelson suplex. Daniels lands the BME on Punk for a two count. Traci Brooks and Allison Danger start fighting in the ring. Punk boots a chair into Whitmer’s face. Everyone starts brawling into the crowd. Whitmer sneaks behind Brooks and hits an exploder. He connects with a leg lariat on Steel. Lucy makes her return to attack Whitmer. Punk catches Daniels with a shining wizard and Steel hits a backpack chinbreaker. Punk Pepsi Plunges Daniels through a table and the match is ruled a no contest at 28:23. This match felt overly long and the crowd seemed completely disinterested in what was happening. Even Lucy’s return, which was painted like a huge deal, didn’t come off that way. When everyone brawls into the crowd, commentary signs off and the crowd’s lack of enthusiasm becomes even more apparent. This match had its moments but they were too few and far between at twenty-eight minutes. **¾
Match #13: CM Punk vs. AJ Styles (Second Anniversary Show – 2/14/04)
This is the finals of the tournament to crown a Pure Champion. Punk inadvertently uses his first rope break and then makes Styles use his first rope break. Commentary says Punk’s rope break loss was debatable, which doesn’t help put over the new rules. They lock up and fall to the floor, but both realize that there’s now a countout rule. Traci Brooks distracts Styles, allowing Punk to land a plancha to the outside. Styles connects with a dropkick but tweaks his injured leg. Punk takes over, going to work on the bad leg. Styles uses his second rope break during this process. The referee rules Punk used his second rope break when he clearly did not. Jesus. Styles uses his final rope break trying to fight off Punk’s attack to his leg. Styles makes Punk use his last rope break and hits a top-rope gourdbuster. Both men are down. They trade punches and Styles connects with a discus lariat. Punk fights back with a shining wizard and hits a piledriver. Styles has to innovatively escape a leg submission because he no longer can use the ropes. He hits a Styles Clash out of nowhere for a nearfall. Punk spikes him with a DDT. They battle on the top rope and Styles hits the Styles Clash for to become the Pure Champion at 16:36. Punk and Styles tried incredibly hard to showcase the different strategies that may come into play under the new Pure Title rules and they succeeded for the most part. The referee completely dropped the ball in assigning rope breaks, but they were able to make me forget about that down the stretch. ***½
Match #14: ROH Pure Title: AJ Styles © vs. CM Punk (At Our Best – 3/13/04)
Ricky Steamboat is the special guest referee. They tentatively battle on the mat, with both men being much more careful about subconsciously using the ropes. Styles uses the ropes to break a headlock but Punk doesn’t let go of the hold for awhile. Styles eventually unleashes a series of strikes in the corner but Punk catches him with a boot. They stare each other down. They battle over a knucklelock and Styles connects with a dropkick after avoiding a shining wizard. Punk dropkicks him off the apron and hits a neckbreaker in the ropes. Punk takes control but has to use a rope break when Styles shows signs of a comeback. They battle up top and go crashing to the floor. In the ring, Punk hits the Styles Clash and Styles uses his last rope break to stop the pin. Punk goes into ultra-heel mode and tells Steamboat that he’s powerless to do anything now. Punk applies a sleeper hold. Styles’ arm drops three times but he comes to life immediately afterwards. Styles escapes the sleeper hold and connects with a brutal discus lariat to retain his title at 24:09. Styles’ hand dropping three times without the match being stopped doesn’t bother me too much and they were able to improve upon their previous encounter by doing more creative things with the rules. Punk showed here that using rope breaks is not only a way to regain control, but a way to maintain control. I wish Styles would use the discus lariat more often today, as I truly bought it as a finisher here. ***¾
Match #15: ROH Tag Team Titles: Jay and Mark Briscoe © vs. CM Punk and Colt Cabana (ROH Reborn Stage 2 – 4/24/04)
Punk and Mark exchange chops and attempt quick pin attempts to no avail. Cabana trips Jay during a shoulder block battle to the crowd’s amusement. Cabana snaps off a headscissors and gets the better of Jay. The Second City Saints take over with some also double teaming. Mark catches Punk with a springboard dropkick and the Briscoes isolate him. He manages to avoid some offense and make the tag. Cabana lands a springboard moonsault onto the Briscoes. He hits an air raid neckbreaker on Jay but gets caught by a reverse hurricanrana. Punk spikes Mark with a DDT but Jay breaks up the pin with a top-rope leg drop. Jay hits a gourdbuster on Punk followed by a death valley driver. Punk counters the doomsday device by powerslamming Mark in mid-air. Awesome. Mark back drops out of the Pepsi Plunge. Everyone connects with strikes and all four men are down. Mark hits a springboard ace crusher on Punk while Jay hits the Jay Driller on Cabana for a nearfall. Punk comes back with the Pepsi Plunge on Mark and the Second City Saints become the new ROH Tag Team Champions at 19:47. Since this show took place in Chicago, the crowd was absolutely in love with Punk and Cabana. The eventual title win felt that much sweeter as a result. There were some pretty sophisticated sequences down the stretch pulled off without a hitch and they featured some spots I’ve never seen before. This was an excellent tag team match that caught me off-guard. ****
Match #16: CM Punk and Colt Cabana vs. Jay and Mark Briscoe (Round Robin Challenge III – 5/15/04)
Cabana attempts his antics early on but the Briscoes are able to keep him contained. Mark connects with a springboard clothesline on Punk. Both teams trade control until the Second City Saints settle down and isolate Mark. Jay eventually tags into the match with a huge mafia kick on Cabana. He takes out Punk with a dive to the floor. Mark tries a rollup on Cabana, which is how he won a match earlier in the round robin challenge. The Briscoes connect with stereo facewash kicks on Cabana. Punk reenters the ring with a shining wizard on Jay. Mark lands a shooting star press onto Punk. Cabana dropkicks Jay through the ropes. Mark fights off a Pepsi Plunge but Cabana catches him with a frog splash for the win at 19:11. The Second City Saints win the Round Robin Challenge and retain the ROH Tag Team Titles. This didn’t have as much steam as their match at Reborn, but they kept the action coming with a solid flow. Punk and Cabana had great chemistry as a team, which I never really realized before watching this compilation. ***½
Match #17: ROH Tag Team Titles: CM Punk and Colt Cabana © vs. BJ Whitmer and Dan Maff (Generation Next – 5/22/04)
The Second City Saints use various cheating to slow down the Prophecy’s momentum. Maff catches Punk with a senton after Whitmer interferes from the apron. Cabana crotches Maff on the ringpost. Punk hits an exploder on Whitmer and the Second City Saints work him over. He dodges a facewash kick from Punk and makes the tag. Maff overhead suplexes Punk onto Cabana. Cabana elevates Punk into a hurricanrana on Maff. Whitmer german suplexes Punk after a lariat from Maff. The Prophecy land stereo dives to the floor. Maff hits a corner cannonball on Punk into the barricade. They brawl into the crowd. Punk reenters the ring and connects with a shining wizard on Whitmer. Cabana low blows Maff and sneaks in a small package for a nearfall. Whitmer hits a superplex on Cabana. Punk hits a top-rope leg drop on Whitmer while Maff connects with a diving headbutt on Cabana. All four men are down. Maff connects with a lariat on Punk but Cabana sends him to the floor. Maff goes through a table at ringside. Punk hits the Pepsi Plunge on Whitmer to retain the titles at 19:20. The beginning and ending of this match did a great job of highlighting the feud and escalating the violence. The middle portion with the crowd brawling felt unnecessary, as did the table spot at the end, but a majority of this match more than served its purpose. ***¼
Overall: While the match quality isn’t extraordinarily high on this compilation, the set does a pretty good job of bracketing a chunk of CM Punk’s career and including all of the relevant matches. Overall, this was a fun look at Punk’s feud with Raven as well as some of the highlights of his run as a tag team with Colt Cabana. Most of the matches included hover around three stars and for the relatively small time period covered, there wasn’t much excess in the contest selection. I really don’t have anything bad to say about CM Punk: The Second City Saint. Ring of Honor has released “better” compilations in the match quality sense, but this compilation delivers exactly what it promises. Slight recommendation.
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