Thanks to Keith Lipinski for passing along the following report.

As C.M. Punk was mid-ring, JBL came down the aisle and said that he was going to win the belt tonight. Color the crowd confused as the post show dark match was scheduled to be John Cena and Shawn Michaels vs. JBL and Chris Jericho.

JBL called Punk a loser "like the Chicago Cubs" and that tonight Punk would be like the Cubs, and he couldn't blame anyone but himself. "Not Steve Bartman (man who in 2003 during a Cubs playoff game went after a foul ball and was blamed for the Cubs losing the National League Title that year), Not a goat (legend says that the owner of the Billy Goat cafe attempted to bring a goat to Wrigley for a game, was denied and put a curse on the Cubs)." Punk, looking crestfallen but loving the Chicago Cubs references, kissed the belt goodbye and the match started.

1. CM Punk defeated John Bradshaw Layfield in six minutes with the Go To Sleep. The match was primarily JBL beating on Punk, who was still groggy from his loss to Jericho a few moments ago. JBL hit a lariat and was clobbering on Punk for five minutes. Punk made a comeback with his kicks, a very nice knee into the corner, the bulldog out of the corner and the Go To Sleep for the pin. The crowd was definitely sent home happy.

A huge CM Punk chant went around the building. Punk looked happier than I have ever seen him, well ever. He went all around the ring, posing on the turnbuckles, playing with the crowd, going to shake hands to the fans on ringside and hugging his sister (who was in the front row with the clowns in makeup) who were removed from hard camera earlier in the evening.

Punk then got on the mic and said the following: "You know (inaudable) bad head. I got some pain from the stitches in my head, but you guys make it all go away. I don't care who knows but two and a half years ago at WrestleMania I was hanging out in the John Cena gangster car and I was on that ramp right there and I stood right there and I watched Triple H stand right here and I watched John Cena stand at the top of the ramp and I said to myself with a phony tommy gun over my shoulder, someday the tommy gun would be the world heavyweight championship and someday I'm going to be standing in that ring.

"And hey, what do you know, two and a half years later, I'm here! Even though a whole bunch of people said I couldn't do it, I'm not going to dwell on the negative. I'm dwelling on the positive in front of you thousands and thousands of people. While I'm sure there is a few of you in here who said I would never do it I'm a bit of an optimist, I try to overcome and follow my heart. I listen to my little sister and, hey, here I am. And it goes to show that anybody out there right now, sitting in your seat, you paid your hard earned money to see one hell of a show, maybe in two and a half years you will be standing here with the world championship! I love Chicago!"

With that Punk was off, but not before laying back in the ring and making a snow angel, looking up to the Allstate Arena ceiling, and taking in his homecoming. It was quite the moment.

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