CM Punk Megathread

JohnMc1

Teamshadowclan wrote: »

Vince? Is that you?

Meanwhile, by some accounts, his HHH match had been scrapped in favour of HHH/Bryan, meaning he was likely going to be opening the show with Kane. That is nowhere near where someone who has worked so hard for WWE and who has managed to be the guy the company rested on time and again deserved.

HHH/Bryan came out because Punk wanted to sulk. The original plan was Punk/HHH and Bryan/Kane. Bryan has more reason to sulk than Punk does.

Professional Griefer

Thought it was meant to be Bryan Sheamus, either way thank **** its not.

thebostoncrab

Punks my guy. I've always supported him and agreed that for a long time the WWE were misusing him.


But if it is indeed true that Punk is walking back in to take the main event spot of 'Mania, then he is the biggest hypocrite going in wrestling today.

He will have politicked his way to the main event of the biggest Wrestlemania to date. He wasn't getting his way, so he went home and would only return if he was handed this chance.

And no, he wasn't been misused. He came out of the longest reign as champion in a long time, was placed in a main feud and was booked strongly and always protected. He cannot be in the title scene every single month, it would become stale. So instead he was being out in a marquee feud with HHH and would face him at 'Mania...nope, he still thinks he isn't being used correctly. At least having him walk out meant Bryan took his place.

takamichinoku

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

As for your 'brand damage' argument, that is again dependent on it being revealed as a work, and it need not be said that it was by any party. Ever. As for the reward, if he returns to an interesting storyline that makes big money then there is the reward.

Let me ask you this: do you think McMahon and Punk have not communicated with one another these last few weeks? I personally find that hard to believe.

Man, gimme this amazing storyline that makes the big money so. I don't see one here at all; one that offsets that big big money they're after pissing away on Batista, offsets all the negatives which go along with staging a walkout and adding him back in afterward.
Seeing as it's safe to say a large portion of the audience aren't even aware of all these shenanigans and the fact that his return seems to be getting a surprisingly frosty reception on places like here, I don't see where this big money is.

Of course they've communicated, regardless of the whole texting buddies thing, AJ's there so there would've undoubtedly been some communication back and forward through her. Trying to resolve a mess of a situation seems heaps more likely than some super carefully orchestrated work at a time when Vince has more than enough on his plate.

DM_7

Was it not the decision to take him out of the triple h match and put Bryan in that made him say enough?

It was going to be Bryan v Sheamus but they realised they had to go with Bryan v Triple H. Punk just having put over Reigns was left with Kane.

Lord TSC

DM-ICE wrote: »

Was it not the decision to take him out of the triple h match and put Bryan in that made him say enough?

It was going to be Bryan v Sheamus but they realised they had to go with Bryan v Triple H. Punk just having put over Reigns was left with Kane.

Was what I remember reading too. That when he realised WWE had no real plans for him and would be putting him way lower down the card, he decided to head home.

jaykhunter

Everything I've read said Punk was scheduled the face Hunter when he left, and Bryan took his place afterwards as the backup. It was quizzical as a match with Hunter will obviously be featured and be high up on the card, but that wasn't good enough.

I'd assume it was a building frustration but part-timer Bootista coming in at the end, got blown up, won the Rumble and got his title shot - whilst Punk worked the guts of an hour and Bryan wasn't in the match was the tipping point. Like the match booking mirrored WWE's standing of them.

DM_7

I am sure i read he was pulled from it and thats why he was pissed.

thebostoncrab

I'm almost 100% that the plan was Punk vs HHH 'cause I remember thinking that Brian vs HHH made more sense unless Brian was in the title match

Lord TSC

Iirc, it was the reaction to Bryan, or a lack of him, at the Rumble that made them realise they needed a bigger match for Bryan. Logically, the best story was Bryan vs HHH, so Pubk lost that match. With everyone else of note booked, he realised he wasn't going to be getting treated like a top guy, expressed his concern to Vince, said he was going him and Vince said, grand, see ya later.

After that, the card was set without him...until WWE realised, presumably, that Orton vs Batista would be a disaster, while also having a story all set up for a guy who is already on a level with Batista and Orton.

DM_7

Went back to first page here and it was speculated rather than specified about the switch in matches so I am probably well off.

gnfnrhead

Bryan was moved into the Kane/Triple H stuff when Punk went home. At the Rumble, Punk was clearly in the middle of it. Bryan was losing to Bray Wyatt. The next night Punk is gone so Bryan jumps into his spot.

takamichinoku wrote: »

Man, gimme this amazing storyline that makes the big money so. I don't see one here at all; one that offsets that big big money they're after pissing away on Batista, offsets all the negatives which go along with staging a walkout and adding him back in afterward.
Seeing as it's safe to say a large portion of the audience aren't even aware of all these shenanigans and the fact that his return seems to be getting a surprisingly frosty reception on places like here, I don't see where this big money is.

Of course they've communicated, regardless of the whole texting buddies thing, AJ's there so there would've undoubtedly been some communication back and forward through her. Trying to resolve a mess of a situation seems heaps more likely than some super carefully orchestrated work at a time when Vince has more than enough on his plate.

Because he did the exact thing he always claimed to hate. He's a hypocrite if he walks back to a title match after effectively going on strike because he wasnt the center piece.

Lord TSC

Whatever way you look at it, it doesn't seem to be hypocracy.

He clearly wanted a top spot. He was offered it. He took it. It's not as if he ever claimed to be "on strike" over something else. He didn't lie about why he went home. The reports were he wanted a better story, he got it.

Personally, if you asked me if he deserved a top, top spot though, I would say easily. Only Cena works harder, he is a genuine modern day star so he should be starring in the modern day show.

takamichinoku

gnfnrhead wrote: »

Because he did the exact thing he always claimed to hate. He's a hypocrite if he walks back to a title match after effectively going on strike because he wasnt the center piece.

Yeah, I dunno, I never drank his Kool Aid that much, the way he always endlessly goes on about how little he cares about stuff is such a blatant front. I really hope the guy proves me wrong, but I see his post-wrestling days as being all kinds of bleak.

I think he done what was right for him and cannot fault that at all, but if it contradicts a lot of things he said before, he totally deserves to be called out on it too.

Bounty Hunter

He may not turn up on Monday still...

Nobody knows for sure except a select few Vince/Punk/HHH for example but here would be my guess at a timeline of events:

Punk is slated to face HHH at Mania and okay with this, hense his feuding with Hunters buddies like the NAO / Kane pre rumble and their interaction at the slammies for example

Batista comes back at the Rumble and gets the mania main event spot as a result of winning it, the NAO also win gold here and D.Bryan isn't entered in the rumble

Punk is informed that after the reaction Bryan got at the rumble the decision has been made to move him into the feud with HHH/The Authorithy instead of Punk and it looks like Punk will be left facing Kane at Mania

Punk goes to Vince and tells him thats Bull, if he wants to change things with Bryan then he should put him in the main event and not push more of HHHs buddies instead and tells him if he is such an after thought he is off and heads home

It's not a work, but Vince doesen't do an Austin and publicly run down (infact they don't acknowledge it at all) Punk for taking his ball and going home, he has a good relationship with Punk and thinks he can fix it.

Eventually seing how they screwed up with the idea of Batista vs Orton, Vince decides to dangle the carrot he knows Punk wants more than any other in front of him to fix the situation, that of main eventing Wrestlemania and says he will insert him in the Orton/Batista feud heading towards mania inc having him return like a hero in Chicago

he returns on Monday and drops another big pipe bomb (pretty easy to do seing as the WWE never even acknowledged him being gone until then) which turns this shoot into a worked situation which rolls Vince/The Authorithy/Hunters buddies (orton/Batista/NAO etc)/ Bryan etc all into one

thebostoncrab

Teamshadowclan wrote: »

Whatever way you look at it, it doesn't seem to be hypocracy.

He clearly wanted a top spot. He was offered it. He took it. It's not as if he ever claimed to be "on strike" over something else. He didn't lie about why he went home. The reports were he wanted a better story, he got it.

Personally, if you asked me if he deserved a top, top spot though, I would say easily. Only Cena works harder, he is a genuine modern day star so he should be starring in the modern day show.

He made a career telling people how he hated people being handed a top spot in the WWE. If he is booked into the main event it's only because he walked away and it took handing him a main event spot to bring him back. That's hypocritical, because he went home and only came back when handed a spot.

Lord TSC

Punk objected to people leaving and coming back, being handed title shots they didn't deserve.

Punk, in the eyes of many, deserved this title shot and the main event spot. He is, again I say, the second hardest working superstar in WWE. We go on all year about guys like Punk getting shafted come Mania season, and now he is getting a spot he has worked towards, people are still giving out.

If he gets the top spot, it's cause Vince and co. booked themselves into a corner and the fans demanded a change to the top match. Punk will be taking advantage of WWE's inability to book a show that doesn't cause the fans to riot.

gnfnrhead

Teamshadowclan wrote: »

Punk objected to people leaving and coming back, being handed title shots they didn't deserve.

Which is exactly what he has done, assuming it happens as expected.

RobbingBandit

gnfnrhead wrote: »

Which is exactly what he has done, assuming it happens as expected.

Hardly the same though is it, he is gone about 6 weeks now, Batista and The Rock were gone for a number of years each.

Lord TSC

Punk didn't leave for greener pastures. He didn't leave to become a movie star or give up on the industry. He took a few weeks off, waited till wWE needed him and looks to have come back.

DM_7

RobbingBandit wrote: »

Hardly the same though is it, he is gone about 6 weeks now, Batista and The Rock were gone for a number of years each.

If he is coming back I imagine it was decided a couoke of weeks agomso was probably awol for ecen less time.


^^yikes

I imagine it was decided a couple of weeks ago and he was probably awol for even less time

Professional Griefer

DM-ICE wrote: »

If he is coming back I imagine it was decided a couoke of weeks agomso was probably awol for ecen less time.

Looks like you had a stroke mid sentence, sorry :P :pac:

thebostoncrab

Teamshadowclan wrote: »

Punk objected to people leaving and coming back, being handed title shots they didn't deserve.

Punk, in the eyes of many, deserved this title shot and the main event spot. He is, again I say, the second hardest working superstar in WWE. We go on all year about guys like Punk getting shafted come Mania season, and now he is getting a spot he has worked towards, people are still giving out.

If he gets the top spot, it's cause Vince and co. booked themselves into a corner and the fans demanded a change to the top match. Punk will be taking advantage of WWE's inability to book a show that doesn't cause the fans to riot.

No one was complaining that Punk got shafted with The Undertaker match last year, or the year before when he went in as champion and left as champion. The only person booked stronger than punk over the past two years is Cena. Yet he still took his ball and went home because he was unhappy, an unwarranted complaint considering everything he got since the pipebomb.

He doesn't deserve to be in the main event spot at 'Mania this year; that honor belongs to Daniel Bryan. He said it himself that the main event of Wrestlemania should be the number one face vs the number one heel, and he was neither come the rumble, and still isn't, so shouldn't be in the match by his own logic.

Again, he left because we has unhappy with his position on the 'Mania card (allegedly) and that match was supposed to be him vs HHH. Instead he said "I don't like that, I'm going home" and (allegedly) is only coming back if he is put in the main event. That is indeed politicking on the same level as the men he calls out for doing the same thing.

Hashtag_HEEL

Punk is a big Breaking bad fan. Can't see him missing out seeing Jesse pinkman on raw :pac:

RobbingBandit

If and when he does leave for good Punk may pop up in a few indy movies, music videos or tv shows, he wont be a movie star by any means.

He did what Austin did here and now, held out for his deserved place on the card. He has earned the right to be amongst the headliners for Wrestlemania XXX.

Lord TSC

If the problem was with his match vs HHH, why did he wait till after the rumble to kick up a fuss? The match had been building for months, the stories and angles were all pointing hat direction. What, was Punk the only one in the world who only found out that was the plan for him at Mania after the Rumble?

Something changed between the Rumble and the Raw the night after. Something that made him feel slighted enough to go home.

And your re right, Byran deserves to be in e top match. IMO, that match should be Bryan vs Punk.

Palo Alto

I think a lot of you are being relatively unfair, I suppose we will never know but one thing that gets glossed over almost completely is a wrestler's mental state. Punk could have been as burned out mentally as he was physically and it could have been fairly essential for his health to take a pause, we all have our breaking points.

Not really related, but I imagine mental illness in wrestling is an absolutely huge thing, especially when it's such a manly industry where talking about your feelings I'm sure is frowned upon.

Apart from an off season, I really think WWE should have Psychiatrists/Counselling on offer if they currently don't, it's certainly something they will have to address down the line.

thebostoncrab

Teamshadowclan wrote: »

If the problem was with his match vs HHH, why did he wait till after the rumble to kick up a fuss? The match had been building for months, the stories and angles were all pointing hat direction. What, was Punk the only one in the world who only found out that was the plan for him at Mania after the Rumble?

Something changed between the Rumble and the Raw the night after. Something that made him feel slighted enough to go home.

And your re right, Byran deserves to be in e top match. IMO, that match should be Bryan vs Punk.

None of us know, and will probably never know the full details of what happened between the Rumble and Raw. But it doesn't change the fact that Punk was unhappy with his 'Mania position, left the company and is apparently coming back now that he is been offered the main event spot. If all this is true then Punk is playing politics plain and simple, something which he has been very vocal about disliking, which makes him a hypocrite.

Plus, what message does this send to other guys in the company? "Hey, unhappy with your position in the company? Then walk out until they give you what they want!"

Jester252

I said it before but I'll say it again. Something was odd about Punks "walk out" to me. The guy is very vocal and has no problem b1tching about the WWE when he works there yet after he left he went quite.
That had alarm bells ringing in my head from the start. Not to mention a couple of other things.

If Punk was pissed at his position in the WWE why did he compete in the Rumble? The winner was 100% known to these guys. Punk knew he won't win.

Regardless of what Smarks think. WWE knew full well that they messed up the rumble. Punk just happen to "leave" the next day burying news on the rumble.

If what was said is true and Punk returns tomorrow night, I just find it odd that Punk and WWE resolved their "issues" just in time for RAW live from Punks home town.

Not to mention WWE had never an issue burying stars after they had issues.

Although if Punk is in XXX main event, him and WWE have more than likely signed a new contract.

Moneymaker

No guarantee he's coming back at all folks.

WWE could well have leaked the rumour on purpose to get people talking and interested in watching tomorrow. And it's worked.

We'll all just have to watch and see. Something is very fishy about the whole thing anyway, Punk has not tweeted or said one word about it at all since leaving.

For a guy so outspoken that seems odd to me.