The faction with Cm Punk as a cult leader!

[@wweminehead]

I just want people to know, this comment is 24 hours after CM PUNK was released from AEW for his backstage altercation with Jack Perry at AEW ALL IN 2023 at Wembley

[@ricardonb6375]

"REAL GLASS! Go cry me a river!" - Jack Perry, AEW All In 2023

[@coffeetexas]

here after aew buried themselves 😭

[@sideshowspook133]

Literally nobody cares anymore

[@CammyTheSportsEntertainer]

The Straight Edge society felt like a missed opportunity. It had so much potential. I remember enjoying this run though. Great video as always, Hawk.

[@posteveryside-beatsnews]

It was amazing. I don't see how it was a failure

[@cliffordjackson3]

FACTS dude.

[@crafciak31]

It could be better, but it was still nice

[@FloridaGuy53]

Shame that Vince broke them up because of kayfabe.

[@d.52555]

@RedRedKroovy thought I was the only one

[@anonluxor470]

It crazy how many tag team/stables Luke gallows was in in his career

[@FloridaGuy53]

Dude was even Festus. Good thing Vince never found out.

[@toptiertech7291]

@@FloridaGuy53 you mean the same Vince that made him Festus? Then explained away Festus once he was with Punk? I think Vince knew

[@andrebryant5081]

He pretty much white Kofi Kingston has been a tag team/stables guy most of his TV wrestling career.

[@FloridaGuy53]

@@toptiertech7291 He probably forgot. You think he remembers Jesse?

[@kidwaryodproduction]

Soon, He'll be going on and off in WWE more than Jeff Jarrett on and off in TNA 😄

[@DeathSongoftheThreeStorms]

In hindsight, Darren Young staring at Luke Gallows seems like a foreshadowing of the Nexus' debut since their first victims were the SES.

[@kmk900___]

I thought that was gonna be a Darren Young being gay joke.

[@michiel1162]

It was mad how many stars left WWE around 2010: HBK, Edge, Batista, Y2J (short hiatus) and Matt Hardy while Taker and The Game became part timers. They had to bring back Diesel from TNA to have some stars.

[@pleaseshutup7053]

Edge left in 2011 but you are right it was the end of an era

[@reesecat1823]

Jeff hardy also left around this time

[@juicyeboi9006]

Matt Hardy should've got more of a push

[@ChuckGibbs39]

@@juicyeboi9006 Matt Hardy had gotten out of shape by this time and just wasn’t the guy he used to be, do think he should have been pushed in 05 after the Edge feud though

[@juicyeboi9006]

@@ChuckGibbs39 he was in a tough state of mind but as a heel I think being chubby suited him and kinda added to the whole jealousy piece. Made his ice pick finisher ( a guillotine essentially) look brutal af too. But you're 100% right that 2005 was his year, he should have been made as an upper mid carder/occasional main eventer. Convinced WWE torpedoed Matt out of spite, went from the companies biggest babyface in 05 to fighting Simon Dean and feuding with a heel Road Warrior Animal in 06. Even still he remained popular and imo should've won the battle royal to crown the World Heavyweight Championship instead of The Great Khali.

[@PantheonLincoln]

Charles Manson Punk was the best CM Punk. Anyone who thinks he was just about the Pipe Bomb wasn't watching Smackdown in 2009.

[@AlanJ1993]

This is my favorite version of CM Punk, personally i feel like this gimmick had top heel potential.

[@Murderave1k]

I agree but the best version of punk was the rivalry with Jeff hardy everyone hated punk it was so good

[@quentinkaasa47]

Yeah, this was peak Punk. His character work wasn't so good after 2010.

[@theitfactorjameswheezer2852]

@@quentinkaasa47 dumass comment

[@lautheimpaler4686]

@@Murderave1k they're the Same CM Punk

[@veerdash1614]

​@@quentinkaasa47lol

[@MattThunder7759]

The Punk/Mercury relationship is actually sweet. Punk actually bought Mercury's house so it wouldnt be foreclosed. It was during Joey's worst time

[@Hellraiser988]

People say Punk is a terrible human being and toxic but not many wrestler's would do that for another wrestler

[@VLE-Grimace]

@@Hellraiser988 that was before he got the world’s biggest ego and thought he was God’s gift to pro wrestling, yeah that was a noble thing for him to do but it still doesn’t change the fact that he’s a prick

[@TheManInTheLongBlackCoat]

As mentioned on his Best In The World dvd, Punk deliberately did stuff that the office didn’t have a clue about, one of which was renaming Joey Mercury Joseph, and Festus Luke, purely because they were Apostles. ✝️

[@barryallen871]

Um...Joseph wasn't an apostle...he was Jesus's human dad. Do you actually consider yourself a Christian?

[@arostwocents]

​@@barryallen871everyone knows Joseph built the ark dude. He collected two of every person on earth to save them from Godzilla. Do you even consider yourself a Christian?

[@trafalgarlaw3486]

I was waiting for the Big Show match 😂

[@Hellraiser988]

Big Show made nearly everyone job for some reason

[@gerrymcwilliam]

A faction that should have gone so much further.

[@anonluxor470]

I know dude

[@roccojamison89gooker51]

If this faction included Steve Blackman, it would have gone much further and then some. Maybe include Conrad Thompson in the faction.

[@pleaseshutup7053]

@@roccojamison89gooker51 what a random name. But I love it!!!

[@emperortrevornorton3119]

Yes because it is the only time I enjoyed CM Punk in pro wrestling otherwise I felt he was kind of a boring on the mic he was decent enough to get booking for his career in pro wrestling but he exposed the business in a big way when he hopped to MMA glad enough gifted fighters of pro wrestling fixed that problem

[@alexandru5369]

Meh maybe for Punk but it was always a middle card faction. Gallows and Mercury are career mid carders and Deeb is a good hand i.e. not a star

[@justdirt]

It's crazy how Punk was held back for being too good at getting heat. HBK was a born again Christian and wasn't comfortable with Punk acting like a preacher while being booed as a heel. What's crazy is that Seth Rollins has been playing a Cult Leader/Second Coming of Jesus character for like 3 years now and is a top star. Punk is a better promo than Seth so you can imagine how great it would've been if the WWE had let Punk be the top Heel as this character. I remember watching this as a casual fan at like age 12 and hating punk. He was always the most entertaining part of the show. His fued with Rey was pretty much perfect except how it ended, Punk should've gotten his heat back and went onto the main event. Idk why they added Joey Mercury to the group if they were gonna keep punk in the tag team, why not let Gallows and Mercury be a tag team with Punk as the leader.

[@rearviewracing4789]

Speaking of Gallows's appearance, I always found it odd how lanky his legs are, especially the lower half of them. It gave me an impression they were about to shap like twigs any moment in the match

[@liamgillett9068]

Best work of his career for me loved the straight edge society

[@UndergroundSkat2000]

It's a shame Serena Deeb didn't wrestle during this time. She was better than most of the female roster. The WWE were pushing Kelly Kelly and Eve Torres in those days. Nice to see Luke Gallows act normal instead of the ridiculous goofy Festus with Jessie

[@NJ973201]

Also they were pushing LayCool heavy at the time.

[@Markyd123]

@@NJ973201 at least their music banged

[@lautheimpaler4686]

@@NJ973201 McCool was a great wrestler

[@BlameMaxSand]

SES was awesome for the time. I remember going to Raw and the crowd for some reason all had a rumor that Stone Cold would be there. Well, Punk comes out, starts to rant at the crowd and GLASS BREAK, Austin's music hits and the crowd goes mental, including my buddy, people jumping around going wild until they realized, Punk had trolled us all. I sometimes wonder if WWE itself went around outside the show and spread the rumor about Austin to make this work even more. One of the best heel moments i've ever experienced in person. Gallows is a bit dry but as the flunky muscle for Punk's Straight Edge Messiah, he was fine.

[@Jukeboksi]

Oh hell yeah, I remember this and laughing pretty hard about it.

[@Kacpi55]

Always happy to see a new episode, love you man.

[@jamesk5510]

Despite his current situation if anyone can talk about how good Benoit was I see Nothing wrong with still liking punk

[@Hellraiser988]

Exactly

[@bryanhall1548]

Loved the Straight Edge Society, an absolute highlight of CM Punk and Gallows talents being utilized during the first few months. Excellent review, MarkyD123.

[@mesousagaby740]

Didn't help that Serena barely wrestled. She was a ring veteran yet apperantly barely went with the other female wrestlers.

[@pleaseshutup7053]

She wasn’t a veteran at this point she was green and weak

[@grungyperry7530]

You calling Drew McDonald killed me!!

[@kidwaryodproduction]

At first I see as "Michael Mcdonald" OOPS! I listen yacht rock too much 😅

[@bigbossman2162]

Some other choices for ROH hawk could be, Mean street posse Jesse & Festus Allied powers ( luger & bulldog

[@jamesmiller5331]

This is when I started watching wrestling after quitting since 2004 and punk was by far my favorite guy. I was bummed out that he was going to leave because there was nowhere else to go at the time and then he cut the pipe bomb

[@quentinkaasa47]

Lol You weren't a fan of TNA I take it?

[@jamesmiller5331]

@@quentinkaasa47 I think I only vaguely knew what it was and when I heard Jeff Garrett was on top there I had no interest in seeing it lol

[@quentinkaasa47]

@@jamesmiller5331 So you never sampled their product then? Did you know guys like Jeff Hardy, RVD and Kurt Angle were there?

[@jamesmiller5331]

@@quentinkaasa47 I did tune in for that first Monday when they were going head to head with McMahon. That got on my radar and so I wanted to say what might happen but that show really depressed me. I think out of the first four weeks they did that I tuned in for three of the shows and I just wasn't a fan. But in the last 5 years I've listened to more podcasts and shoot interviews than I have watched wrestling and I have found that it was a general consensus that that was a bad time for TNA anyway so probably wasn't the best time for me to tune in. Seems like it would have been better if I would have caught on right around the time Kurt Angle debuted there

[@jimmysdadgoingcrazy]

I like when you talk about 2010s WWE it reminds me of when I was a young hawk

[@SONICBOOMSWACFAN2001]

The Monk Dome Society

[@HWJASURY]

Drew and Dolph be teaming up nearly a decade before becoming a tag team that would win the gold. Interesting to look back on

[@jamieholmes4751]

I loved the Straight Edge Society. Everyone played their role well and it’s a shame how WWE did them dirty in their last few months Imagine if we got CM Punk as World Heavyweight Champion Luke Gallows and Joey Mercury as Tag Team Champions Serena as Divas Champion A great way to give legitimacy to a faction is to have all members hold titles simultaneously 😃😃 Was John Morrison’s injury legit or storyline ? I’m just wondering as I’m sure Morrison had a singles match with R-Truth not long after and that match had to be stopped due to a Morrison injury 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️🤔🤔

[@wadeherrin6346]

Bro you never disappoint 🔥

[@killergrooves2438]

The Straight Edge Society was the best thing on Smackdown at the beginning. I was watching every week at that point and everything else on the show sucked except for Punk. But Vince just squandered the group. It’s the same thing with the New Nexus when Punk was the leader. It started out great, but it was obvious that the company wasn’t behind it so it completely fizzled out. Luckily it led to the pipebomb a month later and Punk becoming WWE Champion. I genuinely wish we could’ve gotten a Punk-led heel stable that a company would actually push and let him do his thing because he makes an awesome faction leader.

[@ray.deathray]

I liked Punk’s Jesus look and the promos from the Straight Edge Society run

[@davyjones2032]

This was the best version of CM Punk imo. One of my top 10 gimmicks ever. Also last time he actually was playing a character as opposed to just the real life often umm grumpy guy he was 2013 and after...

[@nihilisticpuk]

So like Austin and Lesnar

[@nihilisticpuk]

No hes not just grumpy guy. He came to AEW as this old school legend who wants to prove to himself and the fans he still got.

[@LilTreat]

12:45 probably around 2011/12 so not long after this, most of the Attitude Era guys either left or went part time like Taker and Triple H, some upcoming talent like MVP, Morrison and Mr Kennedy all left around this time. Cena and Orton basically carried the main event scene at this time with Punk and Bryan becoming big stars later on. Probably the worst time ever to watch WWE during these years with little star power and PG being pushed hard at the time, pretty much up until 2013/14 when NXT got rebranded. Also had a surprisingly good Mark Henry main event run where he became World Champion, one of the few bright spots of those years.

[@HyperFlame64V1]

You did not imagine things, Hawk. The Playmaker WAS MVP's Finisher, but I think he changed it to the 305 after a Knee Injury. Don't quote me or I'll smack you one some

[@larrytod9790]

Fun fact:Luke gallows was fake kane

[@anonluxor470]

He looked so skinny back than🤣

[@james_the_animator]

I’m going to make a lot of friends with this take. This is CM Punk’s ideal spot on any roster. He was at his best as an upper midcard heel gatekeeper to the main event. Anything beyond that is too much pressure for him. We’ve seen it happen this way twice.

[@andrebryant5081]

Nah he should have gotten a main event run in SES

[@james_the_animator]

@@andrebryant5081 No, I think that would have overexposed the gimmick. Punk was still an exciting wrestler, so my worry would be that he’d start getting better reactions than the main event faces. Sure, nobody else was a much better option at that point, but 2010 was just a crappy year for the company in general.

[@ryankeefe2102]

I think he should be a main event heel problem is I don't think he understands that he can't be champion all the time

[@quentinkaasa47]

Punk's feud with The Undertaker right before this just buried him. Such awful storytelling, it was obvious 'Taker and Vince didn't want to put him over and make him look good. I've never particularly been a fan of the guy, but the SES quickly turned things around for Punk and then they buried him again after all that great work. They continuously misused him until the Summer of Punk stuff, where after a few short weeks they buried him again.

[@james_the_animator]

@@quentinkaasa47 WWE never buried CM Punk. He literally won their Triple Crown faster than anybody else in the history of the company. And then he held the WWE title for over a year when John Cena was still a full-time wrestler. I swear some of Punk’s fans wouldn’t be happy unless he went over everyone else on the damn roster four or five times.

[@SamsarasArt]

The straight edge society was interesting and had an incredible amount of potential but was unfortunately squandered.

[@quentinkaasa47]

It was a one man group though. Like JBL's Cabinet. Without that Punk, the group and the individuals that comprised it were nothing.

[@josefrees]

That moonsault by Rey onto punks shoulders was really cool

[@NoBrianNoGain]

A really fun memorable faction which could've and should've had some more members and titles. MVP is a good contender to do the JOB to the HAWK...

[@carsonmasoncole1840]

When I think of this run I always think of the 2010 royal rumble and that video of punk almost starting a riot at a house show

[@haVocHWC3]

"Gallows is a man who looks fat, muscley and skinny all at the same time." Man. Why did you describe me so perfectly? 2/3 ain't bad :)

[@MitchellBay]

“Just hit him with the chair it’s not worth it he’ll make you do the job” LMAO

[@TrueNomadSkies]

I was really into wrestling when this was going on, and would parody the angle with friends quite a bit. Some of Punk's promos were top shelf for sure, and I'd hoped for a lot more.

[@TheTrippedOne]

I subscribed because I like closing theme and the jokes are pretty funny.

[@gablefanproductions01]

I would say 2011 is the year not when the roster went downhill but when there was a lot of noticeable changes that severely hurted it. -Edge: Retired -HBK: Retired -Triple H: Became a Part Timer -Undertaker: Part Timer -Batista: Left mid 2010 -Chris Jericho: Part Timer (kind of) -MVP: Released -Matt Hardy: Released I'm sure there's more but those are the most notable ones

[@quentinkaasa47]

The roster did go downhill though. Why do you think the 2011 Rumble added 10 more entrants and the match consisted of a bunch of unproven newer talent?

[@gablefanproductions01]

@@quentinkaasa47 I they did that cuz they wanted to have The New Nexus and The Corre be the rumble without taking up 1/3 of the rumble slots but yeah looking back the only real main eventers on RAW were John Cena & CM Punk then Randy Orton on SmackDown. Rey Mysterio & Christian you can make a case for but I feel like there was a severe lack of star power gone compared to the year before

[@Thebossstage1]

Hey remember Gallows "Smackdown beef" theme from this time?

[@jjenk911]

Man, Cryme Tyme. RIP Shad, you absolute legend.

[@pleaseshutup7053]

He died a hero

[@skyblaze2156]

Yo yo yo

[@kevinknott4404]

15:36 i guess he means usually "no one beats kane on ROTH" lmao i love it

[@Brando-Lee3725]

Serena is a GREAT wrestler . Even then she was willing to shave her head for the cause ! Most women would have said HELL NO to that . Respect . Now she is one of the best female grapplers out there !

[@Bananachees532]

As of this video the person with the most Ring of The Hawk wins against competitors is actually Abyss with 29 wins. Kane has 15 wins and Big Show only had 11.

[@BFK4LIFE]

Yo!!! You made an appearance on Promo Joe when he clipped slap nuts in AEW 😆

[@likenem]

I hope we see CM Punk in WWE cutting a promo on AEW

[@lastera8221]

This faction was in full motion when I first started watching wwe glad to see they still don’t hold up 😂

[@richardscott6464]

Hey hawk um I got a question I don’t know if anyone has asked you this but can you do a ring of the hawk on Eugene run

[@Markyd123]

Yea it’s on my list coming soon

[@Theresabeltinmyhand]

Gotta watch this before wwe takes it down.

[@joshuacastillo2296]

Best part of video “it’s the cab driver slam! . The cab driver slam!” Love it Shout out markyd123 Keeps the girls on their knees

[@mider-spanman5577]

I LOL'ed at Drew McDonald! 😆😆😂🤣

[@Leonredfield9]

Can you please do an episode about The Big Show in ECW? I thought that his run was underrated but I would like to hear your opinion about it.

[@joaorodrigues3665]

U should do The New Age Outlaws 2013 run

[@jbs2246]

Reckon we could get a ‘was it any good?’ for cryme tyme? They are fondly remembered but did they do a lot of meaningful work?

[@ChrisDufano]

Did you ever do a video about Snitsky?

[@Kingofb0ngstyle]

For some reason, the jumping complete shot/flatliner, was used for 3 wrestlers. And it made Vince look a little racially biased. Shelton with the Paydirt, then MVP with the Play of the Day, & R Truth with What's Up/Little Jimmy.

[@ChrisTigerHarris]

Was he messing up Drew last name on purpose

[@effarrjay]

Abyss has to be up there among the top run-enders on Ring of the Hawk. So many people vanished after getting booked in a log feud with him.

[@Yetipunk]

love your videos homie...it would be awesome to see one about Lance storms wwe run...lately I've been re watching that's Era and man he's an amazing wrestler but was booked really odd for what he could offer in the ring ...his multi title run in wcw was gold

[@quentinkaasa47]

He had too many Raw/SmackDown matches for Marky's criteria.

[@mattmaverick3602]

The amazing thing is that this isn't the only stable around this time that Punk led that was a disaster. It's like he was destined to destroy factions.

[@iamarabicandiloveamericanp7137]

You mean the new nexus right

[@Almighty_S]

How was he 😂😂

[@mattmaverick3602]

@@iamarabicandiloveamericanp7137 Yes

[@brandonwalker8401]

Chris masters was it any good ?

[@brandonhansen7998]

Now-a-days I wonder what WWE was thinking having Gallows do a weird braindead gimmick where he suddenly erupts into a rage at the sound of the bell ringing

[@Markyd123]

It lasted ages too

[@quentinkaasa47]

It worked. The audience responded appropriately. You may as well be questioning what WWE was thinking with Umaga. It was over with the crowd. Why do you post this like it's some foreign concept that's hard to understand?

[@brandonhansen7998]

@@quentinkaasa47 what are you talking about? Try not to get too heated as the team in question existed what feels like ages ago and is not worth a silly little argument

[@SylentEcho]

22:22 LMAO!

[@Ognyann]

Okay, fuck it, it's been driving me crazy for a while. What's the name of the song in the beginning?

[@Sammy4549]

Can you do a RotH for Ron Reis? He was the Yeti in WCW among other roles. I don't think he had 30 matches overall.

[@erikmochrie1868]

What happened to Serena’s knockers? I was a fan back then. A highlight of their segments

[@nateosborne7361]

This makes me want a video on RTC

[@rosebeast388]

could you do either Duren young and Titus O'Neil or hart dynasty or did both teams have more then 30 matches

[@christopherballero866]

While Punk did a great job but that was a big downgrade going from World champion to the tag-team division. As a faction getting beaten by the Big Show by himself is really bad

[@MrLawyer711]

To me this was the best look CM Punk ever had with the Charles Manson style beard & hair

[@drujornbrink]

Man it's like '05 Mercury in MNM was taller than SES Mercury, the two versions are so different it's like two different people. Once that ladder botch happened, man's whole appearance/representation went downhill.

[@Hayden518]

What about the Jericho appreciation society??

[@garylshawiii483]

I like in his doc talking about some old lady slapping him in the face as hard as she could yelling “HES NOT GOD!

[@phayroent9742]

Luke Gallows looked like one of the Bushwackers back in the SES days.

[@theclarenceexperience1851]

You should do Sable I think I counted 26 matches exactly

[@vanthdreadstar8039]

Did Punk not wrestle any matches on the main show with his mask on? Great times in WWE and Hardy was on fire.

[@Markyd123]

Not as part of a tag team

[@vanthdreadstar8039]

@@Markyd123 Ah right, this was to highlight the cult.

[@timewithoutconsequence]

Even when I know it’s not going to happen. I still hope for a wild slapnuts.

[@timewithoutconsequence]

Ended up having to be satisfied with tag partners that don’t get on.

[@MagicAlfi]

Will we see a review of full gear with ... and that is the important part double J vs Sting in 2022 but unfortunately no cm punk anymore ;)

[@revdude424]

What is the song you are always playing?

[@ColeYote]

You know, it's a shame that they dumped Serena Deeb for something as minor as "not actually being straight edge in public," she's turned out to be pretty good at wrestling. Although on the flip side, she's turned out to be pretty good at wrestling in a way that doesn't generally lend itself to success in WWE. Especially WWE in 2010.

[@andrewdunn5568]

I feel like that was a nice way of saying "she had a drinking problem." I know she had issues around that time. I think she got done for a DUI a year or so after this.

[@fitness65]

There was potential in this faction when it got formed. But once the booking kicked in all that potential got flushed down the drain and down the drain very hard

[@arrownoir]

What’d they do to Festus?

[@jacobvanveldhuizen4365]

why do you grade largely based on wins and losses, in a predetermined sport?

[@mattycakezzz]

2:35 it's called a Falcon Arrow....

[@BrolyLSSJ01]

I am once again asking for a Ring of the Hawk episode on Ezekiel, Elias’ younger brother.

[@APennysworth]

The Straight Edge Society was one of the best stables of this era. It showed how good CM Punk was at leading a stable.

[@QueenNagaJacie]

“The Final Boss, The Big Show” - Markyd123

[@lonwrestling]

19:31 Sorry?! What did u just say ??!!

[@michaelscriver5395]

Let's make the hawk sqauk

[@OneManCast]

Why not make that a video? A video about RotH run enders? Maybe even as a season finale?

[@Mayoisglue]

I hope straight edge society has a reunion

[@BigT_199]

Since you’re doing tag teams, how about the boogie knights from WCW

[@egpmh2891]

Still say Serena Deeb was screw tremediously by WWE, but all good as she had a big career in the indies, NWA, and Japan even got to go to AEW.

[@timewithoutconsequence]

Straight edge, no drugs or alcohol. Tattoos or unnatural enhancements, ok.

[@dwoodstwin]

This is my favorite version of the character.

[@jakepearl968]

This was a great faction..I always drank a beer and smoke a jay cheering the SES on