Phil Brooks

Phil Brooks is better known as CM Punk, and the wrestling half of the career explains the other half. The persona was built on being visibly, aggressively straight edge in an industry that historically was not, and on a confrontational streak that read as authentic largely because it was. His 434-day reign as WWE Champion is the eleventh longest in the company's history. The credits here trace the whole arc: independent-era Ring of Honor shows, the ECW brand in 2006, a run of WrestleMania cards through the early 2010s, an All Elite Wrestling stretch in 2021, and a return to WWE followed by the WrestleMania main cards of 2024 and 2025.

Acting came in through horror, which suits him. He is a physically large man who can hold a camera while doing nothing, and he plays unsettling without effort because he never softens his face. Girl on the Third Floor handed him a genuine lead, a man renovating a house that has opinions about him, and it works precisely because the film needs someone the audience half distrusts from the first shot. Rabid and Jakob's Wife are the horror follow-ups.

The natural crossover is Heels, a drama set in the world of small-town independent wrestling, where he plays Ricky Rabies. A wrestler playing a wrestler on a scripted show is a stranger job than it appears, since the day job already involves performing a character under your own body. He has since done voice work in a major animated sequel, the usual sign that the mainstream has decided somebody is safe.