CM Punk Megathread

JP Liz V1

sky88 wrote: »

oddly enough seth could be a perfect match as they way he has gone on recently hes perfect foil for punk as he can be hhh and vinces boy and ultimate company man against the man who they wronged

https://twitter.com/WWERollins/status/1194556790823956481

RobbingBandit

ERG89 wrote: »

He has to beat Kevin Nash first.

Kevin Nash LOL thought he was dead

Had to be done.

PTH2009

JP Liz V1 wrote: »

https://twitter.com/WWERollins/status/1194556790823956481

https://youtu.be/eTsM_3Mwnro

gerrybbadd

Alvarez is reporting that Tony Khan offered Punk a ton of cash to wrestle for AEW but was turned down.

I can't see his motivation for accepting this Fox deal to be a way to finagle his way back into in ring competition in WWE

ERG89

gerrybbadd wrote: »

Alvarez is reporting that Tony Khan offered Punk a ton of cash to wrestle for AEW but was turned down.

I can't see his motivation for accepting this Fox deal to be a way to finagle his way back into in ring competition in WWE

I can think a big reason was seeing the deals guys got in Saudi Arabia for having some absolutely rubbish matches.
Honestly he's not going to get offered a deal that easy anywhere else. I doubt he wants to fight Logan Paul or some other schlub UFC pluck from obscurity either as they aren't easy paydays. Even his return on FOX was so odd, he appears at nearly midnight with nobody really watching & walks up.to the camera where you can't even see him saying his comment.

The Nal

sky88 wrote: »

Whatever happens it just makes stuff a bit more interesting

I wonder when there next in Chicago

Monday week

sky88

Being on a show like backstage also opens the way for more presenting opportunity on fox if he impresses which he prob wants to do

Mr.Nice Guy

Not remotely interested in Punk back in WWE. He went to the MMA world and got exposed as being neither tough nor athletic. Don't want to hear any excuses for that either that it's a different world etc. Rousey, Riddle, Baszler etc., not to mention we've seen Cain Velasquez and Tyson Fury cross over into the WWE world in recent weeks. Vast majority of the audience know exactly what happened to him in UFC and it would be cringe for me to see him try and portray himself as a tough guy after all that. I'd be much more interested in AJ Lee getting into some new feuds with the likes of Becky, Charlotte and Sasha.

Having said all that, I am pleased he hasn't gone to AEW. I find their fanbase and Meltzer obnoxious enough as it is without Punk going there and sending them into another delusional frenzy about how this will totally change the landscape etc. Zzzzz.

Itssoeasy

CM punk can do his thing on fox with WWE but I've no desire to see him back on WWE Weekly TV. I mean let's see how long the fox relationship lasts before the throws a wobbler and takes his ball and goes home. His treatment of Colt Cabanna over the lawsuit showed me what a pain in the arse CM Punk.

I see the resident pain in the hole Seth Rollins has tweeted at punk to wrestle. Instead of the battle of the billionaires at wresltemanias it'd be battle of the pain the asses.

Monokne

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Not remotely interested in Punk back in WWE. He went to the MMA world and got exposed as being neither tough nor athletic. Don't want to hear any excuses for that either that it's a different world etc. Rousey, Riddle, Baszler etc., not to mention we've seen Cain Velasquez and Tyson Fury cross over into the WWE world in recent weeks. Vast majority of the audience know exactly what happened to him in UFC and it would be cringe for me to see him try and portray himself as a tough guy after all that. I'd be much more interested in AJ Lee getting into some new feuds with the likes of Becky, Charlotte and Sasha.

Having said all that, I am pleased he hasn't gone to AEW. I find their fanbase and Meltzer obnoxious enough as it is without Punk going there and sending them into another delusional frenzy about how this will totally change the landscape etc. Zzzzz.

Find stuff like this so baffling. Just put a couple seconds of thought in.

It is two thousand and nineteen. No-one in the world thinks wrestling is a sport. This is like Jonathan Coachman's infamous tweet saying WWE could never touch Ronda because she got so badly beaten in her last 2 UFC fights. Mate I hate to tell you, he's a star and no one gives a f*ck that he couldn't fight. His return is going to be huge.

Re AEW, what!?!? Seriously, WHAT?

It has literally already totally changed the landscape. NXT has gone from being a developmental show that taped 4 hours, one a month, to a nationally televised third brand. Wrestlers have gone from having no leverage and taking what WWE gives them, to having a ton of leverage to where midcarders like Gallows & Anderson are being given 5 year deals worth $3.5 million to stop them moving, and plenty of talent - Banks, Revival, Harper, Sin Cara, Bennett - have no problem publicly and/or privately requesting their release. We now have a scenario where people will be made stars in one promotion and jump to the other, which will keep both fresh, something we haven't had in decades.

Look, if you have a dog in the fight, I get it, but don't bury your head in the sand. This is a great time to be a wrestling fan and the spark that lit the fire was AEW.

Mr.Nice Guy

Monokne wrote: »

Find stuff like this so baffling. Just put a couple seconds of thought in.

It is two thousand and nineteen. No-one in the world thinks wrestling is a sport. This is like Jonathan Coachman's infamous tweet saying WWE could never touch Ronda because she got so badly beaten in her last 2 UFC fights. Mate I hate to tell you, he's a star and no one gives a f*ck that he couldn't fight. His return is going to be huge.

Re AEW, what!?!? Seriously, WHAT?

It has literally already totally changed the landscape. NXT has gone from being a developmental show that taped 4 hours, one a month, to a nationally televised third brand. Wrestlers have gone from having no leverage and taking what WWE gives them, to having a ton of leverage to where midcarders like Gallows & Anderson are being given 5 year deals worth $3.5 million to stop them moving, and plenty of talent - Banks, Revival, Harper, Sin Cara, Bennett - have no problem publicly and/or privately requesting their release. We now have a scenario where people will be made stars in one promotion and jump to the other, which will keep both fresh, something we haven't had in decades.

Look, if you have a dog in the fight, I get it, but don't bury your head in the sand. This is a great time to be a wrestling fan and the spark that lit the fire was AEW.

Wrestling is about presenting conflicts involving personalities that the general public can invest in. CM Punk styled himself as a tough guy in the WWE world with the references to his MMA influence going back to his days in WWECW. All of that was exposed in embarrassing fashion when he got his ass handed to him in UFC by low-tier guys. You might not like to hear that but it's a fact. He is regarded as a joke and a meme in that world and unfortunately for Punk fans that world crosses over into WWE world. He is a star in a very small pond but a joke at a mainstream level.

And the ratings suggest this is not a great time to be a fan since the numbers are way down on historic levels. It's a great time if you are a fan of guys that are able to finagle their way into a company despite a lack of believability, and psychology to their work, which is led by a mark owner with more money than sense. If I wanted that from pro wrestling I'd watch Wrestlicious repeats. One only has to look at the sausagefest that is AEW's audience to see how limited the appeal is. If you're into it good luck to you, but don't expect the majority to drink the kool-aid.

Cherry_Cola

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

And the ratings suggest this is not a great time to be a fan since the numbers are way down on historic levels. It's a great time if you are a fan of guys that are able to finagle their way into a company despite a lack of believability, and psychology to their work, which is led by a mark owner with more money than sense. If I wanted that from pro wrestling I'd watch Wrestlicious repeats. One only has to look at the sausagefest that is AEW's audience to see how limited the appeal is. If you're into it good luck to you, but don't expect the majority to drink the kool-aid.

Ratings in 2019 compared to when? 1998? 2006 even? Big differences in technology and viewing habits have occurred since even 5 years ago so of course the numbers won't ever compare to the golden days. Sausagefest audience? Have you been to a show or do you watch the episodes to check out the crowd? Can I assume Big Japan is some of the best wrestling going based on the fact every show of theirs I went to was full of attractive women?

What a bizarre series of statements

Monokne

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Wrestling is about presenting conflicts involving personalities that the general public can invest in. CM Punk styled himself as a tough guy in the WWE world with the references to his MMA influence going back to his days in WWECW. All of that was exposed in embarrassing fashion when he got his ass handed to him in UFC by low-tier guys. You might not like to hear that but it's a fact. He is regarded as a joke and a meme in that world and unfortunately for Punk fans that world crosses over into WWE world. He is a star in a very small pond but a joke at a mainstream level.

And the ratings suggest this is not a great time to be a fan since the numbers are way down on historic levels. It's a great time if you are a fan of guys that are able to finagle their way into a company despite a lack of believability, and psychology to their work, which is led by a mark owner with more money than sense. If I wanted that from pro wrestling I'd watch Wrestlicious repeats. One only has to look at the sausagefest that is AEW's audience to see how limited the appeal is. If you're into it good luck to you, but don't expect the majority to drink the kool-aid.

You ignored what I actually said because you had no riposte to what were salient points. I'll make them again.

- CM Punk is a star. The response for his return and his first run back will be gigantic. You know that, I know that. Don't pretend you don't know that.

- The ratings don't indicate whether it's a good time to be a fan or not. The four hours of wrestling on both shows on Wednesday nights is of a higher quality than any 4 hours of weekly wrestling television in history. Should I, as a fan, not enjoy that because it's not bringing in new viewers? Or is it ok if I go ahead and have fun watching all the great wrestling? By this logic, when NXT was on the network in front of 25% as many people, I presume that was absolutely not to be enjoyed?

- The Sausagefest that is AEW's viewership is roughly 70% male per the demogaphics, the same as WWE. Is it breaking news to you that more men watch pro wrestling than women?

I wouldn't worry about drinking the kool-aid pal, for now a nice cup of camomile tea and a lie down should probably be your priority ;-)

Mr.Nice Guy

Cherry_Cola wrote: »

Ratings in 2019 compared to when? 1998? 2006 even? Big differences in technology and viewing habits have occurred since even 5 years ago so of course the numbers won't ever compare to the golden days. Sausagefest audience? Have you been to a show or do you watch the episodes to check out the crowd? Can I assume Big Japan is some of the best wrestling going based on the fact every show of theirs I went to was full of attractive women?

What a bizarre series of statements

What's bizarre is this desperate face-saving attempt. Ratings compared to every generation in recent history. You realise the audience is much smaller and more niche than at any time in living memory? Nothing to do with technology. Stop clutching at straws. And yes it is a sausagefest audience. Have you glanced at the make-up of the crowd when the camera pans out? Have you checked the ratings patterns for how much it skews to the male demographic?

Monokne wrote:

You ignored what I actually said because you had no riposte to what were salient points. I'll make them again.
CM Punk is a star. The response for his return and his first run back will be gigantic. You know that, I know that.
The ratings don't indicate whether it's a good time to be a fan or not. The four hours of wrestling on both shows on Wednesday nights is of a higher quality than any 4 hours of weekly wrestling television in history. Should I, as a fan, not enjoy that because it's not bringing in new viewers? Or is it ok if I go ahead and have fun watching all the great wrestling?

On the contrary you ignored what I said. I see no salient points. Punk is a 'star' to an increasingly dwindling niche audience. He is not a star in the traditional sense of someone with a mainstream appeal. You know that, I know that. Why? Because he is seen as a joke beyond pro wrestling for his forays into the mainstream via UFC and shows like this:

https://twitter.com/nWoWolfpacTV/status/906162839127281665

If you are excited by the return of this type of 'athlete' fair enough. I want a bit more credibility from my wrestlers. I don't want to see him presented as credible with the likes of Strowman when he can't beat an Average Joe in a test of strength. That just hurts a guy like Strowman.

And as for your dismissal of the ratings, simple question to ask yourself: if it is such a good time to be a fan, where are said fans? Even leaving aside the plummeting ratings from years gone by, why are both AEW and WWE having to tarp off sections of the crowd?

https://twitter.com/ChairshotGreg/status/1145187947676700672

https://twitter.com/nWoWolfpacTV/status/1093202825943887878

We can enjoy all what we like of course. If this is your cup of tea, fair enough. It ain't mine though.

2pacshakur

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Not remotely interested in Punk back in WWE. He went to the MMA world and got exposed as being neither tough nor athletic. Don't want to hear any excuses for that either that it's a different world etc. Rousey, Riddle, Baszler etc., not to mention we've seen Cain Velasquez and Tyson Fury cross over into the WWE world in recent weeks. Vast majority of the audience know exactly what happened to him in UFC and it would be cringe for me to see him try and portray himself as a tough guy after all that. I'd be much more interested in AJ Lee getting into some new feuds with the likes of Becky, Charlotte and Sasha.

Having said all that, I am pleased he hasn't gone to AEW. I find their fanbase and Meltzer obnoxious enough as it is without Punk going there and sending them into another delusional frenzy about how this will totally change the landscape etc. Zzzzz.

People saying punk looks weak after going into MMA and getting embarrassed and not looking forward to him coming back, really?

MMA is real and wrestling is fake. I say fair play to him for giving it a go and in my eyes makes him tougher than every WWE superstar who are obviously afraid, too soft, or no interest to give it a go. (Bar obviously the ones who have competed in MMA).

His catchphrase is not the "best fighter in the world", its not the " the best at MMA in the world", its the best WRESTLER in the world and always has been. Once he keeps that up then it has nothing to do with MMA or acting tough. To be fair he never really acted like a typical "tough guy", the likes of Ryback, Triple H, The rock, Braun etc, the best in the world was always his gimic.

Punk is one of the greatest talkers in the business and can actually cut a promo, no one else is on his level at the moment in WWE and WWE havn't had a decent promo in six months. All current wrestlers are woeful on the mic.

Long live PUNK and can't wait to see him back! He will make the ratings sky rocket if he comes back.

The White Wolf

I would describe myself as a casual fan at best these days (only full show I'll watch for Powerrr and that's because of how easily accessible it is).

When I saw Punk the other day his tenure in UFC was the furthest thing from my mind. All I remember was the professional wrestler and it got my excited about what might be. This is the world of absolute make believe and there's few better at it that than still go than Punk. I imagine most fans would have the same attitude towards him.

Give me more of this and less of the Velasquez / Fury bollox. To me, having guys like that crossover obviously for the cash and make a show of themselves while they're at it is the thing that embarrasses Pro Wrestling.

RobbingBandit

When I heard he was back all I thought of in wrestling terms was Daniel Bryan Vs Punk Kevin Owens Vs Punk, Heyman sets Brock on Punk, Randy calls Punk out for Wrestlemania. Shane Vs Punk for the best in the world title maybe in an octogon. So yeah lots of matches with very little to almost no UFC.

ThunbergsAreGo

The White Wolf wrote: »

I would describe myself as a casual fan at best these days

I am the same, never got the Punk hype to be honest and he seems like an awful tool

Agent Coulson

His Superstar page is back up om Dot Com.

https://www.wwe.com/superstars/cmpunk

RollieFingers

2pacshakur wrote: »

People saying punk looks weak after going into MMA and getting embarrassed and not looking forward to him coming back, really?

MMA is real and wrestling is fake. I say fair play to him for giving it a go and in my eyes makes him tougher than every WWE superstar who are obviously afraid, too soft, or no interest to give it a go. (Bar obviously the ones who have competed in MMA).

His catchphrase is not the "best fighter in the world", its not the " the best at MMA in the world", its the best WRESTLER in the world and always has been. Once he keeps that up then it has nothing to do with MMA or acting tough. To be fair he never really acted like a typical "tough guy", the likes of Ryback, Triple H, The rock, Braun etc, the best in the world was always his gimic.

Punk is one of the greatest talkers in the business and can actually cut a promo, no one else is on his level at the moment in WWE and WWE havn't had a decent promo in six months. All current wrestlers are woeful on the mic.

Long live PUNK and can't wait to see him back! He will make the ratings sky rocket if he comes back.

Would a Punk in-ring return really make the ratings sky rocket? I'm a fan of his don't get me wrong but I dont think it would. They would go up for sure but I don't really think there's anything that could make WWE ratings sky rocket in 2019. A McGregor appearance maybe.

Necro

RollieFingers wrote: »

Would a Punk in-ring return really make the ratings sky rocket? I'm a fan of his don't get me wrong but I dont think it would. They would go up for sure but I don't really think there's anything that could make WWE ratings sky rocket in 2019. A McGregor appearance maybe.

Wellllllll.... stopping the sh1te booking would probably also help :pac: (Not Punk related, but couldn't resist)

nannerby

Not a big fan he does a good promo and is decent enough in the ring not great but good enough but without a doubt with everything that has gone on the ratings would improve a hell of a lot if only for probably 6mths anyway.

J. Marston

He was never the most athletic and another 5 years have been added to the clock since then. He could look very slow and cumbersome in a WWE ring these days.

I know people will say he's the real winner with getting a **** load of money without having to take any bumps... But what a **** way to return after 5 years! Showing up on a WWE talk show that no one watches.

I just think he looks like an absolute jabroni. For the last 5 years he has said "I don't watch pro wrestling + I've no interest in pro wrestling" but now he's going to be on a show that he has to talk about current WWE storylines! The company that fired him on his wedding day.

I know it's Fox paying him but every interview over the last few years is "I don't watch it". Well now you have to watch it and comment on it.

Never been his biggest fan so sorry for the rant

nannerby

But what a **** way to return after 5 years! Showing up on a WWE talk show that no one watches.




yep

RocketRaccoon

Deleted User wrote: »

I know people will say he's the real winner with getting a **** load of money without having to take any bumps... But what a **** way to return after 5 years! Showing up on a WWE talk show that no one watches.

I just think he looks like an absolute jabroni. For the last 5 years he has said "I don't watch pro wrestling + I've no interest in pro wrestling" but now he's going to be on a show that he has to talk about current WWE storylines! The company that fired him on his wedding day.

I know it's Fox paying him but every interview over the last few years is "I don't watch it". Well now you have to watch it and comment on it.

Never been his biggest fan so sorry for the rant

I can guarantee the ratings will be huge next week for a talk show that nobody watches.

Necro

Deleted User wrote: »

I know people will say he's the real winner with getting a **** load of money without having to take any bumps... But what a **** way to return after 5 years! Showing up on a WWE talk show that no one watches.

I just think he looks like an absolute jabroni. For the last 5 years he has said "I don't watch pro wrestling + I've no interest in pro wrestling" but now he's going to be on a show that he has to talk about current WWE storylines! The company that fired him on his wedding day.

I know it's Fox paying him but every interview over the last few years is "I don't watch it". Well now you have to watch it and comment on it.

Never been his biggest fan so sorry for the rant

It's funny cos I absolutely agree with you re: Punk the person. But let's face it he's an absolute sh1t as a person and that showed in the whole Colt Cabana stuff, he doesn't give two fcuks about anyone but himself. As a person he has completely and utterly sold out and it's actually kinda enjoyable to see it happen cos he comes across as a prick in RL.

But as Punk the performer it was kinda perfect. The late show, the arrogance coming to the ring/stage, the sh1te talk to the camera....

I could give a sh1te about him in RL, I loved him as a performer and I think it'll be interesting to see where this actually goes, if anywhere (don't kill me Monokne, I'm with you in him inevitably being back in the ring)

RocketRaccoon

RocketRaccoon wrote: »

I can guarantee the ratings will be huge next week for a talk show that nobody watches.

Yeah but what a waste. A one week bump for a talk show.

Is it a kayfabe show? I haven't watched it.

Blue_Dabadee

I think people like myself really stopped caring about seeing him return to the ring a long time ago.

I did not even care when there was speculation about him going to AEW from dirtsheets a few months ago.

Lord TSC

Necro wrote: »

I could give a sh1te about him in RL, I loved him as a performer and I think it'll be interesting to see where this actually goes, if anywhere (don't kill me Monokne, I'm with you in him inevitably being back in the ring)

I'm the same with plenty of other actors and so forth.

For instance, I absolutely despise Tom Cruise and the whole Scientology stuff.

But bloody hell, he makes some brilliant action films.

Deleted User wrote: »

Yeah but what a waste. A one week bump for a talk show.

Main issue here is technically, he's a FOX employee, not a WWE employee. So they've put him onto a FOX show as the FOX representitive.

On the other hand, I think the short term is poor but the long term could be interesting. He's going to be interacting week after week with other wrestlers, many of whom will be prodding him in hopes they can generate potential stories with him. There'll be weeks if not months now of wondering when he'll jump back into things, discussing who his feuds will be, etc. And I'd bet he'll add gas to that fire every chance he gets too.

Its unusual for WWE cause they usually hot shot these sorts of returns, and burn them out after a week or two. This one, they are being forced to have a long term build for whatever direction it goes.

The Rumble will be a big issue for them in that way; people will convince themselves he's entering. If he doesn't, will the crowd turn.