Phil Brooks

Known for ActingBorn 1978-10-26 (age 47)Chicago, Illinois, USA

Phillip Jack Brooks, better known by the ring name CM Punk, is an American professional wrestler, sports commentator, actor, and retired mixed martial artist, currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), best known for his influential WWE career, highlighted by his era-defining rivalry with John Cena. Brooks began his professional wrestling career in 1999 on the independent circuit, most notably with Ring of Honor (ROH), where he won the ROH World Championship once. He signed with WWE in 2005 and went on to become a multi-time world champion, also holding the Intercontinental, ECW World Heavyweight, and World Tag Team Championships, becoming WWE’s 19th Triple Crown Champion and the fastest to achieve the distinction. He was the only back-to-back Money in the Bank winner, headlined multiple WWE pay-per-view events, won Superstar of the Year at the 2011 Slammy Awards, and was named Wrestler of the Year in 2011 and 2012 by readers of Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Disillusioned with WWE, he left the company acrimoniously and retired from professional wrestling in 2014. After leaving WWE, Brooks pursued a career in mixed martial arts and signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Competing as a welterweight, he made his professional debut at UFC 203 in 2016, losing to Mickey Gall via submission, and later fought Mike Jackson at UFC 225 in 2018 in a bout that was later overturned to a no-contest, after which he was released. Following his MMA run, Brooks transitioned into sports commentary and media appearances, including work as an analyst on WWE Backstage from 2019 to 2020. In 2021, Brooks returned to professional wrestling by signing with All Elite Wrestling (AEW), making his highly publicized debut at AEW Rampage: The First Dance. During his run, he won the AEW World Championship twice and served as one of the promotion’s most prominent and polarizing figures before departing the company in 2023. Later that year, he returned to WWE, resuming his in-ring career with the promotion. Throughout his career, Brooks has wrestled exclusively under the CM Punk moniker, portraying an outspoken, confrontational, sharp-tongued, anti-establishment character rooted in his straight-edge lifestyle. His persona has emphasized different aspects of those traits depending on whether he was positioned as a hero or a villain. Outside wrestling, Brooks has acted in film and television, including the horror films Girl on the Third Floor (2019) and Rabid (2019), recurring roles on Mayans M.C. (2019) and the Syfy supernatural series Revival (2024), adapted from a cult comic and built around the dead suddenly returning to life, and voiced zebra ZPD officer Zebro Zebrowski in Disney’s animated feature Zootopia 2 (2025), alongside fellow wrestler Roman Reigns as zebra ZPD officer Zebro Zebraxton.Read more

Movies & web series

John Cena's Greatest Rivalries

ROH: Final Battle 2021

WWE: 30 Years of Survivor Series

CM Punk: Icon

TNA: Best of the Asylum Years, Vol 2

ROH: Year 5

WWE: 150 Best Pay-Per-View Matches, Vol 3

ROH: Year Four

ROH: Creating Excellence

Becoming the Best in the World: Bryan Danielson

ROH: Year Three

AJ Styles: Styles Clash

Alex Shelley: Made in Detroit

Samoa Joe: A Championship Legacy

ROH: Top 100 Matches, Vol 2

ROH: Top 100 Matches, Vol 1

WWE: The Best of Raw & Smackdown 2011

WWE: Best Pay-Per-View Matches 2012

ROH: Ring of Hardcore

ROH: Year Two

CM Punk: The Second City Saint

Samoa Joe: Total Domination

WWE The Great American Bash 2012: Super Smackdown Live!

Interviews with a Hero: The Chris Hero Story

WWE: Satan's Prison - The Anthology of the Elimination Chamber

PWG Sells Out: Volume 2

Bloodstained Honor

PWG Sells Out: Volume 1

Straight Shootin' Series with Samoa Joe & CM Punk

PWG: The Secret of The Ooze

PWG: The Reason For The Season

ROH: The Battle Lines Are Drawn

ROH: Generation Next

AEW Grand Slam

ECW December to Dismember

WWE: Best of WWE at Madison Square Garden

WWE LFG

WWE WrestleMania XL Kickoff

Hot Ones Versus

PWG: An Inch Longer Than Average

Brock Lesnar: Eat, Sleep. Conquer. Repeat

Randy Orton: RKO Outta Nowhere

The History of WWE: 50 Years of Sports Entertainment

Saturday Night's Main Event - John Cena's Final Match

The Firefly Funhouse Match

Daniel Bryan: Journey to WrestleMania 30

AEW Revolution 2022

WWE Night of Champions 2012