As an extra in John Cena's Wrestlemania 22 entrance for his main-event match against Triple H, Phil Brooks dressed as one of the Untouchables, carrying a faux Tommy Gun to the ring at Allstate Arena.At the time, Brooks, known in the wrestling world as CM Punk, was in Ohio Valley Wrestling, a developmental territory comparable to baseball's minor leagues. Some OVW wrestlers never make it to World Wrestling Entertainment television.
Punk knew he would. Before returning backstage April 2, 2006, the Lockport native stared at Triple H and thought about how the WWE star would be waiting for him to come down to the ring one day.
Two and half years later, Punk returned to Allstate Arena as the WWE champion.
Wrestling an early passion
Brooks comes from a family with five children. His father was an engineer, his mother a stay-at-home mom.
Brooks sported a blue mohawk and 6-inch spikes at Lockport High School. He got his eyebrow pierced and had an album cover of ska punk band Operation Ivy tattooed on his left calf shortly thereafter.
Although he loved punk rock and skateboarding, his dream was to be a professional wrestler.
"I never wanted to be an astronaut," said Brooks, 30, who will compete in an eight-man ladder match at Wrestlemania 25 Sunday in Houston. "I can't remember ever wanting to be a fireman.
"I always wanted to wrestle."
He began in 1997 at 19 but wouldn't receive formal training until he attended the Steel Domain wrestling school on Irving Park Road in 1999.
"They kept beating me up, expecting me not to come back, but I just kept coming back," Brooks said of the school.
Wrestling meant traveling around the Midwest, taking any booking he could find. He was missing work, friends and birthdays, graduations and weddings.
"It's virtually impossible," Brooks said. "It's a hard lifestyle to explain to somebody who hasn't experienced it."
Wrestling became a full-time job in 2002 with Ring of Honor, an independent wrestling company.
In 2005, Brooks was given a tryout with WWE.
WWE liked what it saw, and Brooks made his television debut in August 2006 against Justin Credible. It was one of the few matches to make him nervous.
Afterward, he held his emotions until he made it past the curtain.
"I'd been wrestling for eight or nine years," Brooks said. "Everybody my entire life said I would never make WWE. It was an emotional moment.
"I cried like a baby."
Seeks to be role model
Brooks says he doesn't drink or take drugs. He has "STRAIGHT EDGE" tattooed on his stomach and has "drug free" on his knuckles.
"I saw a lot of stupid [stuff growing up]," Brooks said. "I never saw the point."
As for pain-killers, he stays away from them.
"If I'm hurt, I'll take a nap," Brooks said. "Or I'll take a weekend off. … Unfortunately, not a lot of guys do it because they're afraid someone will take their spot."
How real were the performances in the critically acclaimed "The Wrestler"?
"I love the movie. I thought it showed a lot of the sacrifice that wrestlers go through to attain a certain level of stardom," Brooks said. "Unfortunately, a couple of guys should have saved their money and shouldn't have done drugs. That's not part of my life, but I live in that world."
Brooks says parents thank him for being a role model.
"In this day and age, [athletes] need to realize little kids watch them," he said.
Life on road
Brooks' straight-edge image and punk-rock style made him popular in WWE immediately. Last June 30, he learned he would be rewarded with the WWE heavyweight championship belt.
"I had my career flash before my eyes," Brooks said. "It made all sacrifice and every single [thing] I missed worth it."
Later that night, he went back to his hotel room with the belt.
"It was kind of a lonely thing," Brooks said. "My night always ends in a hotel room by myself. I turned my phone off, no TV on, and just sat there for a long 15 minutes staring at it."
Brooks, who lives in Wicker Park, said he is home anywhere from eight hours to eight days a month.
He lost the belt last September but remains one of WWE's most popular wrestlers. He hopes to gain the title again to "cement my legacy." To do that, wrestling will remain his priority.
"To be successful in this business, you have to put wrestling first," Brooks said. "I don't know how guys can be married and have kids.
"Right now I'm like a pirate. I'm married to the sea."
Source: ChicagoTribune.com
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