CM Punk, Daniel Bryan fought to be the best but their bodies paid the toll

The best way to describe what professional wrestlers go through each night is to imagine the kind of physical pain associated with a car crash and then imagine waking up and going through the exact same thing the next night and the next night after that as well.

CM Punk and Daniel Bryan are arguably two of the most beloved professional wrestlers the business has produced and both had to fight insurmountable odds to make it to the level that they did over the years. They are both paying a staggering price now.

Punk (real named Phil Brooks) was billed at 6-foot-2 and 218 pounds while Bryan (real name Bryan Danielson) was supposedly 5-foot-10 and 210 pounds but neither was as large in stature as the statistics used to promote them. Traditionally, professional wrestling, especially at the level of WWE, has always been a big man's game. The most well known superstars, who became multi-time champions with the most drawing power, were larger than life physical specimens.

From Hulk Hogan to The Rock to John Cena -- the biggest names are almost always the biggest athletes. 

The random few who weren't super-sized became well known for high-flying tactics with maximum damage being done to the body for those extreme impact maneuvers that gained them the most attention.

Punk and Bryan were two that certainly fit in that latter category and now both are paying for it with their bodies backfiring against them while taking away the ability to do what they love the most.

For Punk it means his dream of fighting in the UFC has been delayed for a second time since he started training at the beginning of 2015 after signing with the promotion at the close of 2014. Punk joined the UFC after a nearly nine-year career under WWE contract but that tenure came after several years spent on the independent circuit, where he would routinely put his body through hell night after night to get noticed and eventually called up to the big leagues.

Throughout his pro wrestling career, Punk put on some of the most exciting and well-received matches but it all came at a cost to his body. One particular injury was a serious back problem that fellow WWE Superstar Kevin Nash documented in an interview from 2014.

"Phil's not a small guy but he's not a big guy either. And he's one of the guys, he takes a lot of punishment on a nightly basis," Nash said.

"We were in the trainer's room and we were talking. I just asked him what his condition was. He really hadn't even had an MRI at that point. I think he's gotten an MRI since then and I think he's got some degeneration in his lower back."

Punk revealed Wednesday that he was about to go under the knife for a herniated disc in his back, which was the same injury he suffered during his days in professional wrestling.

Mick Foley, another famous face around the WWE, spoke about the considerable pain and suffering Punk endured during his career with the injuries that continued to mount but never really got dealt with because wrestlers don't really get many nights off to recover. Foley said Punk's dedication to his craft, which usually came at the expense of his body, made him a viable superstar but he also had to pay for that on a daily basis with the kind of damage he was doing to himself.

"I have never been to a WWE event where Punk was not in considerable pain," Foley said. "Ice packs, heating pads, and visits to the trainer were as much a part of his daily routine as eating. sleeping, and wrestling. Performing at that level, in that degree of pain was only possible when accompanied by the passion that turned an unlikely Indy kid into one of the greatest WWE superstars of his generation."

Still through all those injuries and all that pain, Punk made it to the top of the WWE where he earned the moniker 'the best in the world' but he's still paying his dues two years after he stopped wrestling and decided to give MMA a shot instead.

The back surgery Punk was scheduled to have is expected to sideline him for at least four to six weeks, but considering what he's already done to his body there's no telling what the recovery time will actually encompass once he begins rehabilitation.

Meanwhile, Bryan, 34, retired Monday night on WWE Raw after being forced out of action for the better part of the last two years due to a number of injuries. Most notably, Bryan underwent neck surgery back in 2014 that put him out of action after reaching the pinnacle of professional wrestling when he became the WWE champion.

Much like Punk, Bryan came up on the independent wrestling circuit, where as one of the smaller wrestlers competing, he routinely flung his body over the ropes, onto the mat and often times crashing to the floor to get the crowd on its feet. Bryan was regarded as an incredible worker willing to take the risks others wouldn't dare and it earned him a reputation as one of the best wrestlers in the world.

Bryan's work while he was in his 20s eventually earned him a shot in the WWE, but like Punk, his body felt the aftershocks of those many nights spent on the mat and many times on the concrete floors of arenas from all over the world. Added to the physical toll, Bryan also suffered through a slew of head injuries and it was the trauma to his brain that eventually forced him to call it a career and retire from the WWE.

"We've been able to document 10 concussions and as a lot of people who are familiar with concussions know, you can't document all of them," Bryan told ESPN after he retired this week.

Punk and Bryan were applauded for their willingness to sacrifice their bodies for the sake of entertainment, but those cheers could never have prepared them for what they are dealing with today.

Bryan was forced out of professional wrestling after a recent brain scan scared him to the point he knew it was time to hang up his boots and call it a career. Concussions are still a mystery in many ways to the medical community, but brain trauma is certainly no joke and with the threat of any number of diseases or ailments that spring up from those sorts of problems, Bryan knew he couldn't risk it by wrestling again.

At 37, Punk was trying to fight against his body and enter another extremely physically taxing sport like MMA, but he's suffered two setbacks in the past six months alone with a shoulder injury and now back surgery.

Punk promises he's going to return later this year to make his UFC debut, but will his body allow it? Will Punk end up having a similar conversation with his doctors that Bryan had recently before retiring?

No one knows for sure, but there's no denying that Punk and Bryan sacrificed their bodies to make it to the top of the professional wrestling world. Both felt the physical taxes that continued to add up through nearly 30 years combined in the ring, but eventually that bill comes due and the debt must be collected.