CM Punk may not return until SummerSlam

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Part of the reason why Brock Lesnar has returned and The Undertaker is working next week is because CM Punk won't be returning anytime soon and WWE needs star power on TV.

Before this past Monday, the plan was for CM Punk to come out on RAW and whine about losing at WrestleMania 29, then walk out of the company in the storylines. This was held off from the post-WrestleMania RAW because officials felt that Punk would get a big reaction from the post-WrestleMania RAW crowd. Another reason it was held off is because Punk wasn't happy with the verbiage they wanted him to use and didn't want to come off as a whiner.

A few weeks back, Punk had a big blow up with WWE creative and wanted to give his notice to quit the company. He went and worked it out with top WWE officials. At that time, it was decided that Punk wouldn't be working live events anymore, just TV and WrestleMania 29.

Between the backstage problems and severely tearing knee ligaments at WrestleMania, Punk was written off TV this past Monday at RAW. Punk will be fine once he rests up and lets his knees heal. Right now there is no set plan for Punk to return but word is that he won't be back until SummerSlam time.

Source: PWInsider

Punk mentions that Vince said Punk is more difficult to deal with than Shawn Michaels on drugs :P at the 7 minute mark:

krudler

Summerslam? thats a long ass time for a top star to be gone in a time when they're running out of top stars. Punk does seem like he's difficult but in a good way, not going along with crappy storylines, wish more did tbh it might give creative the kick in the ass they need instead of everyone going along with whatever awful comedy they're saddled with.

savemejebus

it was decided that Punk wouldn't be working live events anymore

Was this pre-mania live shows or a move going forward? can't imagine him as a part-timer

chopperbyrne

Pre-Mania. Didn't want to risk him being injured and ruining one of the biggest Mania feuds.

krudler

chopperbyrne wrote: »

Pre-Mania. Didn't want to risk him being injured and ruining one of the biggest Mania feuds.

That's understandable tbf, especially if he was in need of a break anyway

Lord TSC

I love Punk, so if time off is what he needs to recouperate, I'm all for it. And imagine the pop there'll be when he returns!

DM_7

This is good. If its accurate.

When he comes back he could realistically feud with anyone, even Cena again and it would be welcomed.

its good that he positioned himself so well that he can ask for that long off.

they will have to give someone else a boost while he is gone.

they need to give more people time off here and there too keep things fresh. Familiarity breeds contempt and all that'.

takamichinoku

I'd be happy to see him take that much of a break, he has been a pretty effective band-aid solution to the three hour raw content problem so leaving them in the lurch for a bit may help them cop on with their general booking. He'll also feel really fresh when he returns whereas now he's probably verging on overexposure.

Also, he has been looking like he needs a break for at least a year now.

Lord TSC

Honestly though, it's a major blow for the show in my eyes. Punk was one of the only things I still watched for.

glenjamin

It's going to be a long 3/4 months without him. He's the best part of every Raw and every PPV. Less Punk means more Cena and the likes

JP Liz V1

Teamshadowclan wrote: »

Honestly though, it's a major blow for the show in my eyes. Punk was one of the only things I still watched for.

Could explain Ryback's heel turn but I dont think he will be as big a heel star as Punk

Either way Punk being out is a loss

A Primal Nut

There is Payback PPV in Chicago in June and then Punk's PPV MITB in July. Punk coming home always as a special feel to it. That said as a heel, he can do without the ovations so I guess its not a big deal for him to be missing.

I think with Lesnar, HHH and Undertaker all hanging around, and a big Ryback-Cena feud, they can survive without Punk at least in terms of PPV buyrates. He'll be a big loss from house shows though.

Every superstar should go away for a few months every now and again. It helps them stay fresh and their return always gets people excited to watch again.

krudler

A Primal Nut wrote: »

There is Payback PPV in Chicago in June and then Punk's PPV MITB in July. Punk coming home always as a special feel to it. That said as a heel, he can do without the ovations so I guess its not a big deal for him to be missing.

I think with Lesnar, HHH and Undertaker all hanging around, and a big Ryback-Cena feud, they can survive without Punk at least in terms of PPV buyrates. He'll be a big loss from house shows though.

Every superstar should go away for a few months every now and again. It helps them stay fresh and their return always gets people excited to watch again.

WWE as a whole should have an off season imo, 3-4 week break after Mania to restart for the year, rest up, get healthy etc.

jaykhunter

krudler wrote: »

WWE as a whole should have an off season imo, 3-4 week break after Mania to restart for the year, rest up, get healthy etc.

I would really love this but I don't think we'll ever see it as Vince makes more money by whipping his independent contractors week-in, week-out. May would be a great month, straight after Extreme Rules (I think ER has become an excellent show over the last 2 years at least and gives whoever got shafted at WM to have proper PPV time). Start back in late May/early June to build to KOTR.

The other break time would be either September or December, especially with Christmas. They could do TLC in early Dec and take the rest of Dec off, start fresh in Jan with build to the rumble.

krudler

jaykhunter wrote: »

I would really love this but I don't think we'll ever see it as Vince makes more money by whipping his independent contractors week-in, week-out. May would be a great month, straight after Extreme Rules (I think ER has become an excellent show over the last 2 years at least and gives whoever got shafted at WM to have proper PPV time). Start back in late May/early June to build to KOTR.

The other break time would be either September or December, especially with Christmas. They could do TLC in early Dec and take the rest of Dec off, start fresh in Jan with build to the rumble.

That too, their schedule is gruelling and it's no wonder so many of them work injured for fear of losing their spot, I know it's the nature of the business, if you're out injured someone has to replace you, happened with HBK, Austin etc etc. And it can be hard to get that momentum back, others seem to have no issue with it but they're usually top stars anyway.

The contractor thing has always baffled me, was it Jesse Ventura who had called for a wrestling union way back in the day? it's hard to disagree with it considering the guy putting up the ring probably has more job safety and benefits than the wrestlers themselves.

bradlente

krudler wrote: »

WWE as a whole should have an off season imo, 3-4 week break after Mania to restart for the year, rest up, get healthy etc.

They could even start the new "season" with a PPV instead of Raw as most fan's look forward to the first show after Mania,I imagine it would get decent buy's regardless of what card was promoted,With new feud's beginning etc.Give it a good gimmick match for no.1 contender or maybe even make it king of the ring to kick off the new year.

Yousef

I really think WWE could improve with an "off-season" of sorts. People have been saying this for a while now. If it was split into series, then it would take a lot of pressure off Creative. As far as I know Vince meets up with the team to brainstorm ideas on a Saturday....(that's just 2 days before Raw) And even at that, I've read that there is a lot of re-writing just minutes before they go live and even during the event at times. That's simply ludicrous. There would be clear and concise plans for each series describing who was to be pushed etc and of course, instead of it all coming to a head at WM like it did traditionally...they could use the series setup to elevate other PPV's.

For example, the season could end on the night of Wrestlemania. Start up again in June and run until SS in August. Then again in November - WM. Or it could be September to April with the entire summer off. Either way it gives the guys a couple of months to rest and prepare.

I also think moving to only 4/5 PPV's a year would be a good idea. Bischoff moved WCW to 12 PPV's annually back in the 90's and Vince then followed suit....but I think it's a dead concept now given that the buy-rates are down and the fact that a lot of the older fans have moved over to UFC. I think with this setup, filler would be kept to an absolute minimum and the RR, SS, SurvivorSeries would be elevated to WM status.

I feel with the lack of talent, both creative and wrestling wise, WWE have resorted to this kind of "yeah, thats a good idea....lets just hold off until WM". They've been doing this for a few years now and I think it's damaging the product. You never got this kind of mentality back in the late 90's/early 00's. It wasn't unusual to see Steve Austin Vs HHH Vs. The Rock at a crappy throw-away PPV in the middle of summer or October. Today, a match like this would be held off for 11 months or, if you've to believe the early WM30 card, 15 months. That's ridiculous. If the WWE doesn't think their B PPV's are worth it, then why should we?!

These main events we're going to be seeing now until SummerSlam or even Royal Rumble in January should be taking place on Raw to help bolster the weekly ratings. Ryback Vs. Cena could be promoted for a Raw in a couple of weeks. All it does by having these matches on PPV is that a) it lowers the ratings of your weekly product and b) it lowers the prestige of your monthly PPV's.

krudler

^ Agree with all that, this "making it up as we go" thing is getting crazy, rewrites in the days before Mania etc. now that's mostly down to Vince changing his mind and the like but if they had an idea of how to build up to climax each feud way in advance, injuries nonwithstanding they'd be far better off. I actually liked the 6 week gap between ppv's until Mania, you didnt feel like it was one throwaway ppv into another.

bradlente

Summerslam,SS,KOTR,RR and Mania as big 5 PPV's,Then throw gimmick matches in and around them for interest like they used to.They're so much better when you can't see them coming.The whole stipulated match as a PPV promotional tool is fairly boring imo.Give them back to the big show's to make them big again.

Anyway's back to the subject.Without Punk the show will be a better segment less every week.Hopefully he'll still be pottering around in the back throwing out the odd idea for other's or himself for a build up to his comeback.

Rock Lesnar

A summer of Ceeeeeeeena ahead :eek:.

jaykhunter

Rock Lesnar wrote: »

A summer of Ceeeeeeeena ahead :eek:.

Every Summer is the Summer of Cena!

Rock Lesnar

jaykhunter wrote: »

Every Summer is the Summer of Cena!

True but at least Punk was there to counter act the boredom, if he's out til SS, well there will be no stopping the Cenation :eek:

bradlente

The Cenation of Domination:(

Rock Lesnar

bradlente wrote: »

The Cenation of Domination:(

''We're the cenation and we're live and in colour, yellow, green, or purple, we'll sell them for your dollar''........I'll get me coat

krudler

jaykhunter wrote: »

Every Summer is the Summer of Cena!

No no he's totally the underdog, his time is now, blah dee blah..

The gimmick ppv has run its course I think, no MITB matches because it has its own ppv, even though it was one of the highlights of Mania for years.

KuriousOranj

Moans about not being treated like Cena,starts being treated like Cena over the past 9-12 months and now he needs time off.Another reason why Cena's on top now,and why he has been for the last 10 years I suppose

Hope Punk doesn't return as a face at SS anyway.

JP Liz V1

krudler wrote: »

No no he's totally the underdog, his time is now, blah dee blah..

The gimmick ppv has run its course I think, no MITB matches because it has its own ppv, even though it was one of the highlights of Mania for years.

Yes I prefer MITB being at WM and that the winner can cash in for either world title

jaykhunter

It's worth mentioning that Punk bumps like a boss, as opposed to Cena, who generally dishes out the punishment & doesn't perform any career-shortening moves. Combine that with a high workrate means Punk's body gets battered a lot quicker. He's been gutting it out for a while to do Mania. That said, Cena's a machine, I don't know how he's able to talk very little time off. That is until one day he physically needs to stop immediately (like Edge).

krudler

jaykhunter wrote: »

It's worth mentioning that Punk bumps like a boss, as opposed to Cena, who generally dishes out the punishment & doesn't perform any career-shortening moves. Combine that with a high workrate means Punk's body gets battered a lot quicker. He's been gutting it out for a while to do Mania. That said, Cena's a machine, I don't know how he's able to talk very little time off. That is until one day he physically needs to stop immediately (like Edge).

Sure didn't he did multiple press appearances and chat shows the morning after Mania? then wrestled on Raw later that night. Nobody could fault Cena's work ethic, the guy does a lot for the company.

takamichinoku

An off-season wouldn't work because such a large number of viewers watch out of habit more than anything else. Quite like a soap, once you're away from it for a bit, there's a reluctance to return because it can just seem like a waste of time.

Ando's Saggy Bottom

Would be great if they made him a full time commentator for the few months he can't work. I can see why theyd want to keep him off TV completely but the man has always been gold in the commentary booth.

krudler

takamichinoku wrote: »

An off-season wouldn't work because such a large number of viewers watch out of habit more than anything else. Quite like a soap, once you're away from it for a bit, there's a reluctance to return because it can just seem like a waste of time.

Yeah but look at how many people watch big tv shows who can't wait for their fave shows to return, Walking Dead, Game Of Thrones, Breaking bad etc etc, season premieres are huge events for those.

takamichinoku

Hell of a lot easier to compare Raw to a soap than it is to a 13 episode season hour long drama. You're hardly proposing a 13 episode season, like? Main reason it has to be so gosh darn long is the audience it draws in isn't worth a crap to advertisers so it needs to seriously boost the network's overall stats.

Of course, this is all ignoring the issues behind sacrificing three months worth of house show revenue and all that that brings with it, decreased merchandise sales made all the worse by the time that would be most likely pushed for the break to occur being while Monday Night Football being on (ie. the buildup to Christmas, so no videogame or wwe shop promotion).

Giving individual guys breaks for a few months a year, or at least a guaranteed period of only working television with major bonuses for doing anything else during their break, is definitely a good idea, but the system has to be constant to maximise profitability.

jaykhunter

takamichinoku wrote: »

An off-season wouldn't work because such a large number of viewers watch out of habit more than anything else. Quite like a soap, once you're away from it for a bit, there's a reluctance to return because it can just seem like a waste of time.

I think this is exactly Vince's mentality. He's TERRIFIED wrestling fans would realise not watching wrestling every week is grand. He thinks that little of his product. And now that we're in post-Mania, he's not wrong...

Personally I think a break would be beneficial for both WWE and it's fans as it gives a more definitive start/end and 2 more special 'start/end of season' episodes. Plus it'd give it a more legitimate feel, that their wrestlers get hurt, and it's time to take a break. Every other sport in the world does. You're a sport, right?

krudler

jaykhunter wrote: »

I think this is exactly Vince's mentality. He's TERRIFIED wrestling fans would realise not watching wrestling every week is grand. He thinks that little of his product. And now that we're in post-Mania, he's not wrong...

Personally I think a break would be beneficial for both WWE and it's fans as it gives a more definitive start/end and 2 more special 'start/end of season' episodes. Plus it'd give it a more legitimate feel, that their wrestlers get hurt, and it's time to take a break. Every other sport in the world does. You're a sport, right?

Exactly, everything builds to Mania, ok there's the post Mania Raw but thats an anomaly, its attended by people from all over the world still high on their big weekend, I know I was :pac: but as you saw this week, back to the usual kids and families not giving a crap about anyone who the WWE doesnt tell them to cheer for thing.

I'd look forward to a return from a few weeks break, WWE is in complete oversaturation mode right now.

takamichinoku

I'd say his basis behind it is a lot more down to it being how networks view the product as a reliable consistent rating all year round.

Mind you, I'd say he's right to think that little of his product. It's absolutely habitual viewing for most.

DM_7

Saying organise more breaks for indiviual wrestlers or find a way to increase the time off around Christmas all make sense.

saying they should make bigger cuts to the weekly tv show where they should be off air makes less sense. WWE get paid to put on a weekly show, that how they make money from tv. They won't get more money for bumping up ratings here and there on a cable network, so whats the point, going form 50 shows to 30/35 won't make the numbers rise dramatically. As Taka says RAW is watched as a habit as much as anything. That won't really change by reducing the no of shows so where is the viewing spike going to come from?

Suggesting they gut the number of PPVs makes no sense either. If you do that you end up having to do what you normally do on PPV on RAW. The next step then is people realise, actually why pay for the 4/5 PPVs when nearly all the good stuff happens on RAW anyway. TNA says hello.

Cutting PPVs and TV events also cuts the money they make from actually holding the shows, tickets, merchandise etc.

Realistically I think they should go back to two hour RAWs in December time, record a couple of extra shows and take an extra couple of weeks off.

nasty_crash

In my own opinion it shouldn't have a summer break or an end of season break - as some of the lads said its a force of habit to watch now - if you take that away its hard to get back in - while some1 said that game of thrones and waking dead only do 13 episodes and get great viewings - but that's cos people know that there gonna see something new and surprising on the show - as a regular watcher of raw and smackdown you could miss a month and easily understand what's going on - rarely raw has a week of shockers like the night after mania - I.e. this week was very poor imo!

If they gave different wrestlers different times off durin the year it would keep them fresh - look at Jericho - I know that its a lil frustrating at times cos he is gone soo much but the pop he got back in sept - Oct and then again at the rumble does stand to show if your gone for a while you will get a good return - also it would give more opportunities to the midcarders and lower card wrestlers to better themselves cos they will have more on screen time