CM Punk may have single handedly saved wrestling. CM Punk made the interest in it skyrocket. With 7 minutes, he may have taken part in one of the greatest angles of our time. About two hours ago as of this writing, CM Punk sat down criss-crossed at the top of the ramp on WWE Raw. He looked at Cena, who just minutes earlier had been speared through a table by R-Truth, because of Punk’s actions. He looked at Cena as he raised the microphone up to his mouth. From there, for six and a half minutes, CM Punk proceeded to take the whole WWE to task. He started off rather low key. He called John Cena an ass kiss to Vince McMahon, then The Rock, but by his name, Dwayne. From then on, one of the most insane promos of all time happened.
Punk said that he was the best. Ever since he walked through the curtain in his ECW debut against Justin Credible, he was the best. Punk said Paul Heyman saw something in Punk, that no one else seemed to. Yeah, Punk was a Paul Heyman guy. Guess who else, says Punk; Brock Lesnar. Punk says, however, the difference between him and Brock is that CM Punk will leave with the WWE title. He goes off on a tirade about how he was barely promoted. He was never on the cover of a WWE program. He was never on a cup, he’s never been on a crappy USA Network show, and he’s never been on the signature at the beginning of WWE shows. The cheering fans, obviously appreciating this amazing display, aren’t even cut any slack. He berates them because they’re the ones drinking out of the cups, looking at the programs that CM Punk aren’t on. “The fact that Dwayne is main eventing Wrestlemania next year and I’m not makes me sick!” He says he’s going to leave with the WWE Title. Maybe he’ll go to New Japan Pro Wrestling or maybe he’ll go back to Ring of Honor. He then does a shout out to Colt Cabana. He takes it up a few levels, and even goes as far as saying John Laurinaitis (the talent director for WWE) is a kiss ass. Then, he says one of the best things I have ever heard in WWE; “Maybe the company will be better after Vince McMahon is dead, but it’s going to get taken over by his daughter in his doofy son in law.” After this, he goes on to tell a personal story about Vince, but the microphone is cut off. Punk is pissed off, and the show ends with Punk yelling into the camera.
There obviously will be questions. “Was this real?” “Is CM Punk really suspended?” In all honesty, in the wake of the whole promo, I thought this was real. It may make me sound retarded, but in the midst of the whole thing, I was actually thinking Punk would be perpetually fucked after cutting something like that. So those questions? I don’t have an answer. If it was real, everyone must give their hats off to Vince McMahon for letting his ego take a backseat, and giving something WWE fans have been clamoring for.
I’m sure Punk was really feeling a lot of this. Everyone in the Internet Wrestling Community has at least a feeling of relation to what Punk was saying. There aren’t a lot of people looking forward to Triple H and Stephanie taking over the company. People have bitched about Punk not being promoted, being stuck in weak stables, and recycled feuds. He’s never been on the signature of WWE programming, even though the man pretty much has a highlight reel full of things for the signature. And frankly, he’d be the guy I want to main event a Wrestlemania. And the main thing I agree with on Punk here? John Laurinaitis is a kiss ass. He’s also a prick. CM Punk cut the most riveting promo in WWE history, and he was right about all of it. Mick Foley said, in the introduction of his “Cane Dewey” promo on his DVD, that in cutting that promo, he followed Michael Hayes’ cardinal rule of promo cutting: “No matter how wrong he is, the bad guy always has to believe he is right.” I have no doubt in my mind that CM Punk was right. He said some things that everyone else wants to jump on the stage and say. But the difference is, CM Punk had permission to do it.
While in the heat of the moment, I thought it was real, it clearly is not. Think about it. Punk brought up Ring of Honor, NJPW, and said those things about HHH and Stephanie before he was cut off. If this was an actual shoot promo, Punk would have been cut off the second he mentioned a crappy USA Network show. Does this mean I’m taking away from it? Hell no, it doesn’t. The fact that WWE let this go on, much less planned it, is a testament to how much talent is back there, writing. Six months ago, no one would have taken this risk. I’m sure they went into this, telling Punk to go apeshit out there, thinking they had nothing to lose, and everything to gain. I’m sure once CM Punk got back there, everyone looked at him, and the creative team realized they got what they were looking for. They got it in spades. I’m sure, deep inside, every writer back there was made aware of their flaws. And they made up for it with this.
I have followed CM Punk since about 2005, when he was in his last year of Ring of Honor. It all came to a head at Death Before Dishonor III. Punk was to wrestle his “last match” against Austin Aries for the ROH World Title, a title that had been eluding him ever since he started in ROH. This was in front of a New Jersey crowd, that preceeding this, had always hated Punk. CM Punk had been one of the most beloved figures in Ring of Honor elsewhere, but when he stepped inside New Jersey state lines, he was hated. But not tonight. This night, he was covered in streamers, and was bombarded with chants of “Please don’t go” or “Thank you, Punk!” The crowd has on his side, and was absolutely livid about anything and everything Austin Aries did. After his streamer covered introduction, the wheels were in motion. CM Punk and Austin Aries gave us an absolutely beautiful match, with such crowd involvement, that I thought this was ECW from back in the day. The match went on for a riveting 31 minutes, until Punk pinned Austin Aries and became Ring of Honor World Champion for the first time.
Then the Summer of Punk began with one promo. CM Punk, who had just been embraced wildly by these once hateful New Jersey fans, had turned heel on everyone. The crowd stood there for a minute, then started jeering and booing Punk mercifully. Christopher Daniels came out to a big pop, and demanded that Punk give him a shot at the title. “Kiss my ass, Daniels. You can wait 16 months.” With that, it seemed he wouldn’t be back in ROH for almost a year and a half. Obviously, there were other matches, but this was such a captivating moment to be a wrestling fan. The brilliance of the angle made you shake your head, and hate Punk, but it also made you realize that what you are witnessing is absolute genius.
This isn’t the same situation. The casual WWE fanbase hates CM Punk. Though he’s been stuck with a weak, pitiful stable and stuck in an already done feud, they cannot stand him. They can’t stand the way he looks at people when he gives them a smart comment. They cannot stand the way he berates them and thinks he’s better because he’s Straight Edge. Only a true, natural heel would be able to be stuck through meaningless crap and still be hated as much as CM Punk. To us Internet fans, he is our darling. A lot of us have stuck with him since his Ring of Honor days, and watched him grow into a Chris Jericho-like performer. And with this worked shoot, we may see the second Summer of Punk.
Never have I seen so much interest in WWE’s product until June 27th, 2011. I browsed around the Oratory forums, looked at the comments on John C’s website, and looked around in general, and the wrestling world is enamoured with CM Punk right now. How couldn’t they be? This is one of the best promos in wrestling history. With the story that VKM suspended Punk, it’s obvious this program can’t go anywhere but up. And if CM Punk is going out on July 17th, he left us with an amazing memory.
Where will CM Punk go from here? I assume John Cena will call out CM Punk, saying he doesn’t give a damn about the suspension. Punk cost Cena his tables match against R-Truth, and just saw the business he loves be ripped a new asshole verbally. This feud will be red hot. I’m sure Punk will show up on RAW before Money in the Bank, and when he does, the casual crowd will be surprised. They’ll look at him, and after unraveling everything, they’ll fucking hate him. The heat will be molten. Cena will have a good opponent to work with, and a great story to tell. He can cut promos about how he hates what Punk did, and will kick his ass for tearing apart a business he loved so much. This will lead into the PPV match, which more than likely will go on last, and should get 20 minutes. Punk is a wonderful worker, and should carry Cena to a fantastic match. Remember when everyone was clamoring for Orton-Christian IV? Fuck that. No one wants to see that match. After Raw, no one is thinking about that. They’re fixated on the best performer in WWE today. The Summer of Punk, Chapter Two is upon us.
So with that, I’m checking out,
Jake St. Pierre
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