While I haven't watched every single documentary WWE has ever produced, it's fair to say I've watched most of them. And CM Punk: Best In The World is by far the most honest.

 

From the minute CM Punk sits in front of the camera and mocks the typical "begin from where I grew up" style introduction to the way other people describe him as (essentially) a jerk, this is definitely a different DVD.

 

Punk's early years are something of a sad story, giving up on his parents during his teen years and moving in with his best friend (who is also interviewed for the DVD). The 2012 storyline about Punk having an alcoholic father was 100 percent real, he tells us, as is his straight edge lifestyle.

 

And for those who are unfamiliar with the straight edge culture, a full explanation is given. We also get a look at his punk rock and backyard wrestling beginnings.

 

But what really makes this documentary pop, in my opinion, is how Punk recalls his earliest years in the business. Rivalries with the likes of Colt Cabana, Samoa Joe and Chris Hero aren't ignored or glossed over - they're dissected. What's more, actual footage (not WWE-owned footage, mind you, but clips from IWA and Ring of Honor) is shown, which really helps one appreciate the Punk character and his evolution even more.

 

After becoming one of the top names in independent wrestling, Punk was recruited by WWE. But instead of working his way up the roster like many others, Punk was relegated to the developmental league (OVW at the time) where he originally became a Paul Heyman guy, who immediately took to the Straight Edge Superstar.

 

Ironically, his alliance with wrestling's mad scientist -- a man on the outs with the McMahon family at the time -- ended up hurting his chances of being called up the big league, as Michael Hayes himself admits. It was only when Heyman was in charge of the ECW relaunch (official motto: "now let us never speak of it again") that Punk was even given an opportunity to appear on national television.

 

Yet Punk's WWE career was hardly a smooth transition from prospect to champion. He clashed with no less than Vince McMahon over the decision to give Bobby Lashley the ECW title at December to Dismember (which reportedly led to Heyman's departure from the company); fought over the scripting of his promos; complained over aborted/failed pushes and even threatened to quit when the company didn't have a suitable vision for him (Bulldog's Note from 2014 - Um.... yeah....).

 

The latter, of course, led to "the promo" that made Punk the talk of the wrestling industry last year. While it wasn't a complete shoot (the office told him to air his grievances, although everything was ad-libbed and based on his opinion), it was effective in giving Punk a natural rivalry with John Cena and cementing his status as a must-see character.

 

We fall just short of seeing Punk's heel turn earlier this year, but you do see signs it's coming (Punk relishes his time as leader of The Straight Edge Society and even Cabana says in an interview that he makes an excellent heel character).

 

Which brings us the wide variety of talking heads that comment on the evolution of Punk - in addition to he aforementioned Cena, Heyman, Hayes and Cabana, you also have Kofi Kingston, Curt Hawkins, Triple H, Jim Ross, Daniel Bryan, William Regal, musician Lars Frederiksen, former girlfriend Lita, independent wrestler Ace Steel, Chris Hero (formerly Kassius Ono in NXT), Chris Jericho, Zack Ryder and many others.

 

The special features section is also interesting - you learn what 'CM' truly stands for, hear the gruesome details behind a fractured skull injury from his indy days, his brief role as an extra at WrestleMania 22 (ironically as a "gangster" for Cena) and even more venom from Punk towards WWE creative.

 

The only section that is somewhat lacking is the match selection itself. With the section of a classic OVW match with Brent Albright, everything is purely WWE scrubbed and sanctioned. Nothing wrong with his matches against Jericho, Bryan, Regal and Cena, but they all seem too.... recent for a guy who has been wrestling professionally since 1999.

 

WWE already secured the rights to his independent footage (as evidenced throughout the DVD), surely they could have extended that to include the full match, no? Oddly enough, my main criticism with the ROH DVD Summer Of Punk was that it only included Punk's matches. Now if you were able to somehow combine those matches with this DVD? It would be brilliant.

 

Overall, it's hard not to love this DVD collection. It's decidedly different from the usual WWE fare and is a unique take on a very unique wrestler. Absolutely worth your money.