Phil Brooks, better known by his ring name CM Punk, is an American professional wrestler, actor, comic book writer, and former mixed martial artist. He was born Phillip Jack Brooks in Chicago, Illinois, on October 26, 1978.
As of November 2023, he is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand. Regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he is known for his outspoken and confrontational straight edge persona, which is based on his real-life experiences. His 434-day reign as WWE Champion is the 10th-longest world title reign in the company's history.
Outside of wrestling, Brooks pursued a career in mixed martial arts and joined the welterweight division of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), losing via submission to Mickey Gall in his professional debut at UFC 203 in 2016. He lost his second fight to Mike Jackson via unanimous decision at UFC 225 in 2018, which was later overturned to a no contest; he was released from his contract and retired shortly thereafter. He worked as a pundit on WWE Backstage (2019–2020) and has been a part-time color commentator for Cage Fury Fighting Championships since 2018. He also starred in the horror films Rabid (2019), Girl on the Third Floor (2019), and Jakob's Wife (2021), as well as the wrestling drama series Heels (2021–2023).
Brooks wrote the introduction for the hardcover edition of Marvel Comics' 2012 crossover event Avengers vs. X-Men. In February 2015, Marvel Comics' Thor Annual No. 1, partly written by Brooks, was released. He cowrote "The Most Cursed", which appeared in Vertigo Comics' Strange Sports Stories No. 3 in May 2015. Brooks also cowrote Marvel Comics' Drax ongoing series. He also wrote a one-shot of Marvel's Master of Kung Fu, which was published in November 2017.
