Why CM Punk Is WWE's Most Underrated Superstar

CM Punk is one of the most celebrated, popular and polarizing stars of his generation.

He has headlined multiple WrestleManias, won championships and competed against many of the industry's top stars. When he eventually retires, he should be a strong candidate for the WWE Hall of Fame.

The Best in the World is also WWE's most underrated Superstar.

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In an age when fans are easily dazzled by the uber-athleticism of a younger generation, Punk manages to get the audience to invest emotionally in his matches through the stories he tells between the ropes.

At age 47, he is delivering some of his finest work in the ring, which can be attributed to his storytelling prowess. He knows what facial expressions to flash and how to use his body to tell a story.

Sure, he still brings the physicality and will take a risk from time to time, but he has mastered the art of selling the moment by using his body, and that has gone a long way toward convincing the audience to invest emotionally in what he is doing.

Look no further than his matches with Drew McIntyre, Seth Rollins, John Cena, Finn Balor, Bron Breakker, Roman Reigns, Sami Zayn, Cody Rhodes and Kevin Owens. Those are a mix of top-tier stars with a variety of styles, and Punk had strong-to-great matches with all of them.

What he has managed to bring to the ring has been nothing short of extraordinary. That he has done it amid concerns that he was becoming injury-prone late in his career is all the more impressive.

There was a point on the road to WrestleMania 42 where the buzz surrounding the event was low, bordering on nonexistent, and there was concern that this year's show would be a bust.

Then, Punk took the microphone, headed into the arena, stood atop the announce table and cut one of his trademark "pipebomb" promos that meshed fiction and reality to produce the most electric segment in months while simultaneously elevating his upcoming main event with Roman Reigns in the process.

It was a must-have moment for the WWE product and a reminder that Punk's promos may be less controversial these days. Still, when the company badly needs a killer verbal performance from one of the best talkers of all time, he can deliver that jolt of energy needed to reinvigorate its shows.

Few did more to elevate Breakker over the last 12 months than Punk.

That may seem like a loaded statement given The Badass' place in The Vision and rivalry with Rollins, but Punk went out of his way to present Breakker as the main event talent he could be.

Then, he gave him one of his best matches to date on the January 5 episode of Raw, putting him over as a force of nature, despite retaining his title.

He recently joined an NXT house show in Petersburg, Virginia, teaming with Tavion Heights and Myles Borne to defeat The Vanity Project in a six-man tag team match, something few in his position and at this point in their career would do.

He has shouted out Trick Williams, Ricky Saints and Carmelo Hayes, and Je'Von Evans named him as one of his backstage mentors during an interview with Denise Salcedo (h/t Fightful).

Punk was once a young star looking for an opportunity in a company dominated by aging veterans.

While some may argue he is now what he once battled, his willingness to share his knowledge and experience so that the next generation can make a seamless transition to the top of the card when his time is up sets him apart from some of his predecessors.

Some may argue that Punk is rated appropriately: He is widely recognized as an all-time great, a main-event star and the reigning undisputed WWE champion. To label him WWE's most underrated star, they might contend, would be insulting to the many outstanding performers still waiting for an opportunity.

However, performers who have been so good for so long can see their excellence taken for granted. Some may allow Punk's demeanor, attitude, past controversies or outspoken philosophies to color their assessment, refusing to acknowledge how great the Chicago-born wrestler is.

He is an all-time performer who transcended the "indie god" label, excelled in an era dominated by larger-than-life stars, continually refined his craft, respected the greats of past eras and is passing his knowledge on to a new generation.

That he has accomplished all of this while continuing to perform at an elite level and produce some of the best work of his career suggests that even his considerable acclaim may not fully reflect his value to WWE.

Punk is the most underrated Superstar in pro wrestling's most prominent promotion.