This would be a good one! [HASHTAG]#StayDown[/HASHTAG].
It's as much Corey Graves as any number of guys.
Whether it's appreciated or not by a lot of folks around here, Punk was a game-changer in the Indies. And when he came to WWE, he showed a path that a lot of guys could/would follow, including Daniel Bryan, Cesaro, Seth Rollins, Dean Amrose, Sami Zayn, and Corey Graves (just to name a few). But, just like he did, when any of those guys have been given an opportunity to "grab the brass ring", they've done it.
And of course, you can't say that Punk completely blazed the trail either. In and of himself, he was a throwback to guys like Mick Foley, Terry Funk, Steve Austin, and Scott Hall, guys who fought and scrapped their ways through the Indies (as opposed to being a WWE guy or WCW guy from day one). That's the reason Punk was a "Paul Heyman Guy" (and still is, per Heyman), as those are guys who Heyman loved.
So, it's really going to come down to who is willing to take everything and keep going and who's willing to grab on tight and hold on.
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