Professional wrestler in the context of "CM Punk"

Charles Istaz (August 3, 1924 – July 28, 2007), known by the ring name Karl Gotch (カール・ゴッチ, Kāru Gotchi), was a Belgian amateur wrestler, catch wrestler, professional wrestler, and wrestling coach. Considered one of the most influential wrestlers of his time period, he is best known for training several acclaimed and influential professional wrestlers in Japan, and for becoming a catalyst in the faculty development of Strong style, alongside New Japan Pro-Wrestling founder Antonio Inoki and fellow trainer Billy Robinson.

Gotch represented Belgium at the 1948 Summer Olympics in both freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling. He learned catch-as-catch-can and professional wrestling at the Snake Pit under Billy Riley and Billy Joyce. He was given the ring name "Gotch" by Ohio promoter Al Haft in honor of American wrestler Frank Gotch. In Japan, he became known as a "God of Wrestling" alongside Billy Robinson and Lou Thesz, due to their collective influence on Japanese professional wrestling.

Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name "the Rock", is an American actor and professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on a part-time basis. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Johnson was integral to the development and success of the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) during the Attitude Era. He wrestled for the WWF full-time for eight years before pursuing an acting career. His films have grossed over $11.4 billion worldwide, making him one of the world's highest-grossing actors of all time. He is a co-owner of the United Football League, a member of the board of directors of TKO Group Holdings—the parent company of UFC and WWE—and co-founder of Seven Bucks Productions.

After accepting an athletic scholarship to play football at the University of Miami, Johnson was a member of the 1991 national championship team but was largely a backup player. Despite aspirations to play professional football, he went undrafted in the 1995 NFL draft, and briefly signed with the Calgary Stampeders before being cut in his first season. In 1996, his father assisted in helping him secure a contract with the WWF. Johnson quickly rose to global prominence, aided by a gimmick he employed as a charismatic trash talker. Johnson left the WWE in 2004; he returned in 2011 as a part-time performer until 2013 and made sporadic appearances from thereon until his retirement in 2019; in 2023, he returned once again on a part-time basis. A 10-time world champion—including the promotion's first of African-American descent—he is also a two-time Intercontinental Champion, a five-time Tag Team Champion, the 2000 Royal Rumble winner, and WWE's sixth Triple Crown champion. Johnson headlined multiple pay-per-view events, including WWE's flagship event WrestleMania six times (15, 16, 17, 28, 29, and 40 – Night 1) which includes the most-bought professional wrestling pay-per-view (WrestleMania 28) and main evented the most-watched episodes of WWE's flagship television series (Raw and SmackDown).

The Slammy Awards, also known as the Slammys, is a concept used by WWE, where awards, similar to the Academy and Grammy Awards, are given to professional wrestlers and other individuals within WWE, such as commentators and managers. Introduced in 1986, there have been 13 editions of the concept. The awards are a mixture of "serious" and "tongue-in-cheek". Winners of the award receive a statuette that depicts one wrestler holding another over his head.

The awards were discontinued after 2015. The same year, the NXT brand debuted its own exclusive awards, the NXT Year-End Awards (also rewarding the NXT UK brand in 2019 and 2020), with wrestlers from Raw and SmackDown being instead rewarded by the WWE Year-End Award in 2018 and 2019.

Randal Keith Orton (born April 1, 1980) is an American professional wrestler. Since 2000, he has been signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Orton has the tied-third most world championship reigns in the company's history, and a career spanning over 20 years.

Orton is a third-generation professional wrestler; his grandfather Bob Orton, father Bob Orton Jr., and uncle Barry Orton were all wrestlers. Before being signed by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), he trained in and wrestled for the Mid-Missouri Wrestling Association-Southern Illinois Conference Wrestling (MMWA-SICW). He was then signed by the WWF and was sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), where he held the OVW Hardcore Championship twice.

John Felix Anthony Cena (/ˈsiːnə/ SEE-nə; born April 23, 1977) is an American actor, retired professional wrestler, writer and former rapper. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all-time for WWE, he remains signed with the company as a brand ambassador as of December 2025. He is best known for his in-ring career from 2001 to 2025, where he is recognized by WWE as a record 17-time world champion.

Cena began professional wrestling in 1999 and signed with the World Wrestling Federation in 2001 (renamed WWE in 2002), where he began in its then-developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). After debuting on the main roster on SmackDown! in 2002, he rose to prominence as a brash, heel rapper before becoming the company's franchise player from the mid-2000s to the mid-2010s. He wrestled on a part-time schedule from 2017 until his retirement in 2025. His run as a face from 2003 to 2025 was the longest continuous portrayal of a heroic character in WWE history.

John Charles Layfield (born November 29, 1966), better known by the ring name John "Bradshaw" Layfield, is an American professional wrestling color commentator, retired professional wrestler and former football player. He is signed to WWE, where he is an ambassador and commentator for the company.

Layfield rose to prominence in WWE during its Attitude Era under the ring name Bradshaw, during which time he became a three-time WWF Tag Team Champion with Ron Simmons as part of the Acolytes Protection Agency (APA) or simply the Acolytes, a feared pair of strong and tough mercenaries who, aside from occasionally wrestling and doing "work" for "clients" spent most of their time sitting around in their "office" playing cards, drinking beer, fighting people backstage and then going out to bars and getting into bar fights. In 2004, Simmons retired and the APA separated, and Layfield was rebranded as the heel character JBL— a rough-mannered, brawling, blustering, bad-tempered and bigmouthed Texas elite businessman, driven into the arena by limousine. The gimmick was built off of Layfield's real-life accomplishments as a stock market investor. Later that year, he captured the WWE Championship and held it for 280 days, at the time the longest reign since Diesel’s one year long reign from 1994 to 1995. A month before his in-ring retirement at 2009's WrestleMania 25, he became Intercontinental Champion, which made him the 20th Triple Crown Champion and the 10th Grand Slam Champion in WWE history.

Jeffrey Nero Hardy (born August 31, 1977) is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he is one-half of the TNA World Tag Team Champions in his fourth reign. He also appears on partner promotion WWE on its NXT brand where he is a former one-time NXT Tag Team Champion. He is also known for his tenure in All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Known for his risktaking and high-flying style, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of his generation and of all time.

Together with his brother Matt Hardy, the tag team The Hardy Boyz are widely regarded as one of the major teams that revived tag team wrestling during the Attitude Era and one of the greatest tag teams in professional wrestling history.

Adam Joseph Copeland (born October 30, 1973), better known by the ring name Edge, is a Canadian professional wrestler and actor. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs under his real name. He is best known for his tenures in WWE, where he performed from 1998 to 2011 and again from 2020 to 2023.

Adam made his professional wrestling debut in 1992, wrestling in many independent promotions and competing in singles and tag team competition, the latter with long-time friend Christian Cage. In 1997, he signed a developmental deal with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, renamed WWE in 2002) and made his televised debut in 1998 under the ring name Edge. After winning the Intercontinental Championship in 1999, he formed a tag team with Christian, and the two won the World Tag Team Championship seven times. During this time, they gained notoriety due to their participation in Tables, Ladders, and Chairs matches. They are considered one of the major teams that revived tag team wrestling during the Attitude Era. The team split in 2001 and Edge embarked on a successful solo career. He won a total of 31 championships in WWE, holding the World Heavyweight Championship (2002–2013 version) a record 7 times, the WWE Championship 4 times, the Intercontinental Championship five times, the United States Championship once, the World Tag Team Championship a record 12 times, and the WWE Tag Team Championship twice. He is WWE's 14th Triple Crown Champion and 7th Grand Slam Champion. He won the 2001 King of the Ring tournament, the first Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 21 in 2005, and the 2010 Royal Rumble match, making him the first wrestler to achieve all three.