"You stupid old man, I'm a snake!"

CM Punk: "Isn't this the prettiest thing you've ever seen in your entire life? It was--it was almost--it was a year ago. It was over a year ago; I held this belt high in the air after I fought for it for the first time in Dayton, Ohio against Samoa Joe and I proclaimed this right here the most important belt in North America. Right now, in my hands, as of this day, 6/18/05, this becomes the most important belt in the WORLD!

This belt in the hands of any other man is just a belt--in my hands it becomes power; just like this microphone in the hands of any of the boys in the back is just a microphone. You put it in the hands of a dangerous man like myself and it becomes a pipe bomb. These words that I speak, spoken by anybody else but me, are simply words strung together in lucid form into sentences. When I say, I mean what I mean I say, and they become ANTHEMS.

You see, if I can be afforded the time to tell all of you here today a little bit of a story. It's a parable of sorts. There was once an old man walking home from work, and he's walking in the snow and he stumbled upon a snake frozen in the ice. He took that snake and he brought it home, and he took care of it. And he thawed it out, and he nursed it back to health. And as soon as that snake was well enough, it BIT that old man. And as that old man laid there dying, he asked the snake, "Why? I took care of you. I loved you. I saved your life." And that snake looked that man right in the eye and said, "You stupid old man. I'm a snake."

The greatest thing the Devil ever did was make you people believe he didn't exist--and you're looking at him right now. I am the devil himself and all of you stupid, mindless people fell for it. You all believed in the same make-believe superhero that the legendary Ricky 'The Dragon' Steamboat saw some year ago today. No, you see, you didn't know anything. You followed me, hook, line and sinker--all of you did and I'm not mad at you. I just feel sorry for you. This belongs to me. Everything you see here belongs to me. And I did what I had to do to get my hands on this and now I am the greatest pro-wrestler walking the earth today.

This is my stage. This is my theater. You are my puppets and I pulled those marionette strings, and I used your emotions and I toyed with them, you see, because honestly, I get off on it. I hate each and every single one of you with a thousand--and I will not stop! I will not stop until I prove once and for all, that I am better than you, that I am better than Low Ki, that I am better than AJ Styles. I'm better than Samoa Joe. Ladies and gentlemen, the champ is here. You don't have to love it, but you better learn to accept it, because I'm taking this with me and there isn't a single person in that locker room that can stop me."