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"The View Never Changes." - CM Punk, the day before he walked out of WWE.
CM Punk is a lot of things. Stupid is not one of them.
With tonight's Raw in Punk's hometown of Chicago, IL, Punk finds himself in quite the catbird seat and perhaps, one of the most important days of his career.
It's been weeks of silence since CM Punk walked out on WWE the day after The Royal Rumble. The Voice of the Voiceless has gone to radio silent on Twitter. WWE has quietly removed him from all marketing and publicity materials but with lots of merchandise to sell, has not made one comment on his absence beyond Vince McMahon claiming Punk was on sort of a "sabbatical" during the most recent financial earning conference call.
Was Punk injured? Was he pissed Batista was coming back? Was he pissed he wasn't in the Wrestlemania main event? Was he mentally burnt out? Was he tired of not being the guy? Was he tired of having the responsibility of carrying the workload of a top name but not being THE top name? Was he creatively unfulfilled with his potentially final months with WWE?
No one is going to tell you for sure, but my guess is "all of the above" and as we count down to tonight's Raw, I'd like to remind everyone that we shouldn't be surprised by any of this.
Punk has always been something of an aberration within the WWE world. Technically proficient and a great in-ring worker, he's had to force his way into the main events. In developmental, there was talk of firing him. In ECW, there was talk of how he wasn't as good as he believed he was. He was the Indy King (a nickname said behind his back, as if Punk would take that as an insult) with the bad attitude. He was the guy who won titles because the other, more muscular, more marketable names were failing Wellness Policy tests or being implicated when their names came up during investigations of illegal online pharmacies.
He was the guy that WWE never thought would get over, yet found him with an ever growing fan base that took his work seriously. There are a lot of correlations between Punk's work and the work of Bret Hart in the early 1990s. Both very strong in the ring and workhorses pushed by the company although it would take the same company a long time to truly get behind them, as opposed to seeing them as a temporary placeholder.
That remained the case for Punk for most of his early WWE run, to the point that he became enraged when Vince McMahon decided to "test him" by turning him heel, even though Punk had carried the pedigree of being one of the best talkers and villains on the independent scene for years before WWE decided to sign him. It wasn't until his real life anger and frustrations boiled over into his 2011 Money in the Bank title win (also in Chicago) and the most white-hot period of his career, something that wouldn't have ever happened if Punk hadn't held out all the way to the day of the PPV to sign a new deal.
Sure, WWE will now act like it didn't really happen that way, but we all know that it did. After all, Miz headlined Wrestlemania 27, remember? Miz who gets booked whining about not being booked, as if he's the WWE version of Dennis Stamp.
The 2011 WWE title win allowed for Punk, who's always been a goal-oriented individual, to actually main event PPVs but even then, it wasn't a happy ending for him. An ill-advised creative direction involving HHH and Kevin Nash led to a boggy period that served more to cool off Punk than anything else, leading to a loss to HHH that all but effectively told the audience that Punk wasn't THE guy.
WWE attempted to reverse course by booking Punk as the longest reigning champion of all time, but when you are the longest reigning WWE champion of all time and you are working the middle of Wrestlemania, not anywhere near the main event - the message to the audience is loud and clear....especially when the type of promotional hype that everyone from Ultimate Warrior to John Cena to Randy Savage received during their respective runs was nowhere to be found. CM Punk, WWE champ, was never called upon to promote Wrestlemania on talk shows.
When Punk, who said that he signed a new deal in 2011 to try and effect change within WWE, loses that title, the focus goes on John Cena and The Rock and he's handed The Undertaker at Wrestlemania 29. Sure, it's The Undertaker at Wrestlemania but at the same time, it's something Punk had done before and at the end of the day, it's about someone else, not Punk. Yes, it's a big payday, but it's also going back over the same old traveled road, as opposed to breaking new ground. All the money in the world doesn't make up for anything if you aren't happy.
Injuries lead to rare time off for Punk but when he returns, he's right back in the thick of it, feuding with the Paul Heyman guys. That feud leads to a lot of injuries (it seems like everyone last year was hurt at some point working with Ryback) and some good promos but when it was all said and done, what did it do for Punk? He was the one losing to Brock Lesnar at Summerslam and by the time he wiped out Paul Heyman, the feud had undoubtedly lost some of the steam by going a few weeks' too long. It wasn't putting the spotlight on Punk, who one could argue, more than earned his stripes and position by then.
In the meantime, Daniel Bryan has risen up to become the white-hot property of the moment and John Cena has returned far quicker from injury than originally anticipated. Punk is, at best, the #3 babyface, despite all those years of hard work and dedication to the company. Age and mileage on the body are also creeping in and WWE, while featuring him, isn't looking to place their brightest spotlight on him. That's where the frustration begins to come into play. The window of getting that last goal - Wrestlemania, is getting smaller.
Some will say that Punk is even ridiculous for wanting something more than what he accomplished, feeling he should cash in and take the money. Hell, if it was me, I certainly would say that to him. But, if you are someone like Punk, it's not about the money as much as the achievement and the creative process. Some in the business might say that makes him a mark but Punk's brain works how it works.
To a man, anyone that has ever worked with him will talk about the work ethic involved in his matches - someone out there for just money just doesn't have that work ethic. I've dealt with many an actor like that in the past - where performing on the Broadway stage was far more important than taking a TV role for more money. They were in it for the art of their craft as much as the paycheck. I suspect Punk is quite similar and that's why not getting to that Mania main event level began to wear at him - although his public admission of it being his last goal also probably came back to bite him in the ass. If WWE knows what your ultimate carrot is, are they going to give it to you or tease it, so you keep working hard? If you think the former, you are gravely mistaken.
So, Wrestlemania season 2014 is upon us. The stories begin to build and Punk is paired with HHH. Just like Undertaker a year before, it's a road that has already been traveled and one where at the end of the day, he's not likely to be getting the spotlight - especially since his deal is up in July. Even worse, the focus that could have potentially been his (but most likely would have been Daniel Bryan's) is instead going to the returning Batista. John Cena is going to be paired with Bray Wyatt. There's no Steve Austin dream match. There's no WWE title match. The window of opportunity is closed - he's now just another WWE guy - a top guy, but just another guy.
When the CM Punk "Best in the World" DVD came out, I wrote, "While the documentary paints Punk as a happy locker room leader who has found his place, the reality is that his fight isn’t over and probably never will be. He hasn’t been positioned at the top of Wrestlemania. He holds titles but Cena holds the glory. That battle to force himself to the next level hasn’t ended yet. It may never end, but the fact Punk keeps fighting and performing, is damn inspirational."
With the window closed, what was Punk fighting for? Inspirational or not, as 2014 began, there was no fight left in CM Punk, because there truth is, as much as it sucks for Punk and Punk fans, there was nothing to fight for.
WWE had locked in their plans and he was, at best, in the number three match on what could be his final Wrestlemania. So, Punk did the unthinkable. He walked. WWE could have claimed he breached his deal, but he still walked. WWE could have buried him and cut bait, but he still walked. WWE could have felt he was being a baby, but he walked...and in doing so, he made himself a far more valuable asset to himself and to WWE.
Punk cut off communications with just about everybody when he walked. Oh, I am sure the Colt Cabanas and Cliff Comptons of the world are still talking to him, but anyone else, cut off. Twitter? He stopped using it altogether and potentially blocked WWE from following him. A quick search of his Tweets actually shows that with the exception of the weekend he left, Punk hadn't been directly referencing WWE in months, a sign of his underlying anger towards the company that made him his fortune.
Instead, Punk let the rumor mill and the fans do the talking for him. Those within WWE believed he had a concussion and that's what led to him walking. If so, they'd never be able to confirm it. He wasn't talking. A TMZ report squarely placed the blame for Punk's walk-out on Batista, which truth be told, wasn't fair to Batista. Fair or not, that story was picked up as gospel by the masses and hasn't prevented a sizeable amount of fans from rejecting the man designed to be the number one babyface going into Wrestlemania. Add in the Daniel Bryan fans being pissed he isn't in Batista's spot and well, you have a recipe for disaster and the heel turn that began last week. Punk walking out started that ripple effect, whether he designed it that way or not.
Meanwhile, the fans - some weeks louder than others, have been clamoring and chanting for Punk. Some weeks it's a nuisance to WWE and others it's a huge massive cry that can't be ignored and can only make fans watching at home wonder where CM Punk went. Now, tonight, they march into Chicago - the most boisterous, loud, do or die audience in all of the markets WWE runs...and they aren't going to have the hometown hero? One can imagine those chants ringing loudly and constantly all through the broadcasts on the USA Network and the WWE Network. Chicago may have been that rabid for Punk, but the other markets? Not as likely. By walking, Punk revved up the fans that wanted to support him. He didn't need to plead his case. They did it for him.
So, what happens tonight now that WWE is in Chicago?
I envision one of two things.
1 - We could see the triumphant return of a Second City Saint before his most ardent fans in a sold-out Allstate Arena, having crowbarred his way politically into getting his final goal (once again, just like 2011, forcing WWE's hand) and taking fans back on yet another ride while butting heads with how he's presented, how he's utilized and how he's perceveid.
2 - We could see nothing. No Punk. No return. No incredible visual of his walk towards the ring before an orgasmic reaction in his hometown. No, that visual could instead be replaced by a rowdy Chi-Town audience chanting for Punk, possibly uprooting an entire wrestling broadcast in a way not seen since WCW fired Ric Flair in 1991 creating a situation where Baltimore, Maryland spent most of the 1991 Great American Bash PPV chanting for him. Don't believe me? Go watch it on the WWE Network.
It could be Punk "comes to his senses" and returns, even if only to fulfill his contract. It could be he's legitimately done and content to hang around Chicago and visiting UFC events and actually healing his body for the first time in his adult life. It could be the CM Punk we've followed for years just disappears from the scene and becomes the modern day Randy Savage/Ultimate Warrior where rumors of his exit and disappearance grow more grand by the year.
Time will tell, but what we do know is this: By the time Monday Night Raw goes off the air, Punk's presence or lack thereof on Raw will be one of the top stories of the night - and will have a direct effect on the live crowd in a city where WWE production probably won't be able to mask it.
Hell, there are multiple Twitter accounts calling for fans to hijack the show as it is. Punk's work ethic and goodwill has earned him loyal fans, especially in Chicago. Punk or not, the audience may be a major part of tonight's Raw, whether they are scripted to be or not.
Whether Punk is there or not on Raw tonight, he's attracted a much brighter, bigger spotlight than he would probably have gotten otherwise, Triple H storyline or not, just by sticking around and wrestling.
By walking away, Punk made himself a bigger name and possibly earned himself a bigger paycheck. If not, it provided him the chance to walk out at his whim, his way, without being de-emphasized on the way out.
Either way, that's genius if you ask me. Like I said, Punk is many things, but stupid isn't one of them.
Mike Johnson can be reached at MikeJohnsonPWInsider@gmail.com and can be followed at www.Twitter.com/MikePWInsider.
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