The CM Punk Edition

That's right. I am back! After a long hiatus, I decided to once again revive my blogs. Once again I want to give a shout out to my business partners at Club Kayfabe Podcast

A lot has happened in the world of professional wrestling. We have seen the Wyatt Family raise up very quickly. We have seen both the longest reigning Diva's Champion and United States Champion. We have seen the founding of the Authority and crowned a unified champion for the first time since 2001. We have seen the rise of the Yes Movement. We saw the return of the Animal, Batista. Oh. Yeah, there is the little thing of the debut of WWE Network as well. But that's a topic for another day. On the other side (TNA) we have seen a new investor and the dismantling of Aces and 8's. But there is only one thing that could bring me back to the world of blogging. You know what it is. I will give you a hint. It's Blogging Time!

The day after the Royal Rumble this year, CM Punk "took his ball and went home". He showed up at Raw like he was supposed to, but then decided that he had enough. He told Vince McMahon that he was going home. We haven't seen him since. It took a week, but they removed him from the "Then, Now, Forever" intro video and from the Raw and Smackdown opening videos as well. He has been removed from any scheduled appearances for house shows or TV tapings as well. But as of right now, he is still listed under the superstars section of the app and also the website. His merch is still at regular price on the website as well. In fact, his name is the second name on the list. I take that as his is the second most popular superstar behind some guy named John Cena

So what are my thoughts on this? People that know me as a wrestling fan know I am a big CM Punk fan. Even when he was a heel, I cheered for him. But I think that what he has done is wrong. I can understand his frustration. Rumor (and of course, that is all it is since he has been silent on Twitter since then) is that he is not happy with his place in the WrestleMania card. Understandable, I guess. Everyone wants the top spot. If you don't want to headline WrestleMania XXX, you are probably in the wrong business. Hell, I want to main event 'Mania and I am not even in the business. His contract is up in June which is why they are holding the 2nd annual Pay Per View Payback in his hometown. He was rumored to be facing Triple H at WrestleMania. Is that a bad match to have? I don't think so. But again, this is coming from a fan's perspective and not that of a performer.

I also heard one of his biggest issues was the fact that Batista won the Royal Rumble and will go on to Main Event WrestleMania this year. And with that, I agree with Punk. This will be the 3rd year in a row a part timer will be in the main event, the last two being the Rock. From his POV, I completely agree with it. WrestleMania is the biggest event of the year. This time the spotlight has been given to a man that has been away from the business for years now. A man that had bashed the business decision to go to a PG rating. Yet, given a huge payday he is okay with it now? Batista just is the wrong choice to have won the Royal Rumble from the fans views. I am not going to say who should be in. That is a matter of everyone's opinion. But I think most people will agree that it should be a full timer. Someone that has busted their butts over the last 365 days to put on the best show that they can for roughly 280-320 days out of the year. I have met Batista. Let's just say I lost a lot of respect for him when I met him days before his WrestleMania XXIV match versus Umaga. Many would say he doesn't respect the business that made him famous. Would he be in movies with Russell Crowe or the new Marvel Guardians Of The Galaxy movie if it wasn't for his time in the WWE? I think it's safe to say that he would not be. The night he won the Royal Rumble, how did he celebrate? By mocking fans and flipping them off. Considering he is supposed to be a face, that doesn't exactly sound like someone I want to give a major push to.

So while I can understand why he did it, I still don't think it was a wise decision. Is this the first time a superstar "took his ball and went home"? No. Just ask Stone Cold Steve Austin. But it still doesn't make it right. He turned his back on his fans. Fans that chant for him on a nightly basis when he is not there. Fans that show up in arenas wearing their CM Punk shirts or holding a CM Punk sign (Or a Phil Brooks sign either). I hope that we see Punk one day and he explains why. His fans at least deserve that.

WWE finally capitalized on the moment. Unfortunately it didn't air on TV, but it did on the APP. In the middle of the Dean Ambrose Versus Mark Henry match, the fans chanted for Punk. Seth Rollins grabbed the microphone and said "CM who? That's Dean Ambrose right there, that's the United States champion! That's the man you all wish you could be, and that's the man all your ladies want to be with tonight!" At one point this video was available on the WWE website, but when I went to post a link to it now it says I don't have access to the video. Take that however way you would like to.

I guess time will tell if this was all staged. I hope that it was, but I have a feeling that this was the actions of a man fed up with the business

Special thanks as always to my wonderful amazing fiancée/Editor for all her work on my blogs

#26

Fixing Raw and Smackdown

If you watched Raw or Smackdown in the past few weeks, you've seen a few good matches. You also saw things that really didn't need to happen on a wrestling program. By that I mean shilling pizza, two dance contests, a truck pull, a tug of war between the World's Strongest Man and Tons of Funk and another one with Sheamus. And just because there wasn't enough randomness they threw in an arm wrestling contest too. First let us not forget we watch wrestling for the wrestling matches first and foremost. But lately the WWE seems to be dropping the ball on that. I think if I see one more Team Hell No vs Prime Time Players match I am going to be very angry! And you wouldn't like me angry. So I have a few ideas that might help the WWE (cause you know, they read this, right?) get back on track.

First, get rid of the jobbers and actually let everyone earn a spot on the roster. I am not saying get rid of them and fire them, but give everyone mini pushes. Let them earn it. I can think of a few guys that at one point had solid spots on the roster that are now just used to fed people that are being pushed down our throats. Guys like Ted Diabiase (I know he is healthy again, he has been on house shows recently), Yoshi Tatsu, Curt Hawkins, Alex Riley and JTG for example. I'm not saying Yoshi needs to win his matches but allow him to try to be entertaining and see if the fans take to him again.

Sit the people that need to be sat down. I don't care if John Cena is the WWE Champion. Everyone deserves a few weeks off to rest, especially if he is injured. If he were to get hurt even further, what good does it do the company then? CM Punk has it right. He is injured. He needs some time off to rest both his body and his mind. And he is taking it. Even when Cena was going through a nasty divorce he didn't take time off. I have never wrestled a day in my life, but I would imagine it would be way too easy to burn out considering what they put their bodies through. At least they are doing the right thing when it comes to Dolph Ziggler and his concussion. There is no reason why a man and a concussion should be competing in a ladder match.

I read something recently that said the Brand Extension was officially going away. I say put it back full force. That way more people earn their spots and we don't see the same match on Raw that we saw on Smackdown. Use shows like Main Event and Saturday Morning Slam as Super Shows. Let Raw and Smackdown focus on the putting on the best shows with the talent that is "signed" to that roster.

The last thing they can do to help is just go back to two hours. With all the injuries they have had recently, part of it has to do with being over worked. The wrestlers are clearly over worked with on average six and a half hours of wrestling every week, they are bound to be putting more stress on their bodies. Plus clearly the writers are reaching for things at this point. So if they pushed Raw back to two hours, I think it will help the overall product