A Perfect Way For Vince to Exploit CM Punk

[Stein Lager]

Now call me crazy but i had this thought. Who out of all the superstars besides John Cena (Rise Above Hate) carries an overly positive message along with his gimmick? CM Punk. Think about it. Imagine Vince McMahon sitting in his office pondering HOW GOOD the WWE will look with this fan favorite face as their top guy, who COMPLETLY ENDORSES no drinking, no drugs and no smoking.

Whats that you say? WWE has a top fan favorite wrestler who promotes no drinking, no smoking and no drugs?! Maybe we SHOULD start letting lil jimmy watch wrestling!

Now obviously i see the contrast between CM Punk being an internet darling and being majorly over with young adult/adults, but you see all the kids wearing CM Punk t-shirts and cheering him when he comes out.. Kids are starting to eat him up.

This could be a whole different ballgame for the WWE to start exploiting, unfortunately though, at CM Punks expense.


Could you see this happening?
How detrimental would this be to him from an adults perspective?
Do you think more parents would allow their children to watch WWE?

 

[Foshinzo]

I don't know if this is all at Punk's expense, considering that he's the one who initially brings the Straight Edge idea to the table. Hell, Straight Edge is tattooed on his stomach.

I agree that it does kind of water him down and ruin a little bit of the, "edginess," that he has, but anything to help him get over, and I'm for it. It's sort of like when a political candidate runs for presidency: In order to win the support of the masses, you have to appeal to the masses. If the mass of people support his message, then let him spread it. I always thought it was hard to boo Straight Edge, anyway, especially if you're a parent.

It was worse when he did the Straight Edge Society, though, because he did it in a "heelish" way. It was a cult, and that's how it became something identifiably bad. However, you're right in that Mom's would want their kids taking in that message.

The only way I could imagine that whole thing getting over is if Punk spoke to kids and did stuff for like, I don't know, MADD. Especially then, it benefits Punk and WWE both, and I don't get why that would be a bad thing, at all.

I wouldn't expect Vince or the WWE to get Punk on this track, at least not anytime in the near future. I think they've finally understood that Punk's appeal is that he's got attitude, and it's hard to be edgy and preachy at the same time. His character just isn't going that way, at the moment, so I wouldn't worry about it. Finally, I again don't really think it's a terrible thing if he does sort of revert back to his original gimmick. But, at the moment, Punk's greatest appeal is that he's a symbol for antiestablishmentarianism , and I wouldn't expect WWE to ruin that.

 

[klipz.nbd]

I hate wwe now its awful

Thanks for that post. You just made me lose all of the one second it took for me to read that. Post of the year I think.......................................

As for the topic, the only problem I see is he can't really push it without it coming off sounding like he is better than everyone or if you drink/smoke/do drugs your a loser, which in turn will get a heel reaction (like when he had the stable). They would need to somehow get him to put it across in a way that makes people who do drink/smoke etc (which pretty much every single adult/young adult in the arena would do one or the other) not feel like they are being told off.

It is definitely a great thing WWE can promote having the top guy be Drug & Alcohol free, but I fear they cannot do it in a face way.

 

[xoxo French Kiss xoxo]

Push him as the drug free alcohol free sex free....error well the first two are right but why push this as his agenda? Its too vanilla for Punk. Even in the SES he pushed these things but people hated him. He's better as the cocky asshole I can do it all face who doesn't give a fuck who he pisses off

 

[NewEraIB]

Could you see this happening? - I could definitely see this happening, just not at this moment. Speaking as someone who is also straight-edge, this could keep a lot of people from taking in the poison of the streets and wasting their money on something so pointless as well as keeping out of trouble. Punk is currently doing very well with his current personality, which is himself. I don't think Punk is the "holier than thou" sort of straight-edge practitioner he portrayed while with the Straight Edge Society, not in real life. The WWE doesn't need to base his character around it. Just have the announcers mention it every week, say it during his video packages and you're good.

How detrimental would this be to him from an adults perspective? - It's not harmful to him at all. The fans won't think any less of him. He certainly doesn't care what people think of his personal life.

Do you think more parents would allow their children to watch WWE? - More than likely. The only issue is that he has piercings and tattoos. It shouldn't be an issue at all, but if a person who tunes in for the first time sees him, they wouldn't expect him to be drug free. Sure, they hear about this CM Punk guy who doesn't drink or do drugs and want their kids to see him. Then they take a look at the guy and then decide that John Cena is a better fit. Praising the military and having strong moral beliefs works for John. If it wasn't for Punk starting it, the WWE might have slapped straight-edge on Cena for more appeal.

 

[Ellye]

I still have absolutely no idea about how in the hell CM Punk was considered a heel when he was feuding with the likes of Jeff Hardy, regarding his Straight Edge nature and all. Being against substance abuse apparently somehow made him heel, at the time.

And since I'm kinda of a non-proclaimed straight edge (I never considered myself "straight edge", but it just so happens that I don't drink, I don't smoke, etcetera), I always sympathized with CM Punk. I love his reaction when people ask him "is it hard to be straight edge?" - it's just the same reaction I have when people ask me "isn't it hard not to drink?", so I can relate quite a bit.

More on-topic, yes, I think CM Punk could use his Straight Edge "gimmick" as a top face, and he'd be a fantastic positive influence.

 

[hollowpoint]

Could you see this happening?

In the WWE, Anything is possible. I could definitely see them playing up his moniker of no drinking, smoking, or drugs. thsy didn't it to make him a heel and I would see them to make CM Punk an overall good guy.

How detrimental would this be to him from an adults perspective?

See John Cena. I don't think "detrimental" is the right word, but I don't think it would be the best thing for the current character. he's doesn't really say anything about that stuff anymore. He's more all about anti establishment and disrespecting authority.

Do you think more parents would allow their children to watch WWE

I think if parents don't let their children watch WWE now, a simple change won't be recognized by someone who doesn't normally watch. Don't worry though. Kids sneak and watch stuff the parents don't let them. Im sure kids do it now just like in the past.

 

[Azane]

I remember thinking Vince was a genius when they made straight edge heel, it would take very little effort for him to go right back to being a face straight edge.

It's all about perception and setups, if Punk is feuding with heels, he doesn't come off as being better than everybody else, he comes off as having better morals. There's not many people who really feed of drugs/alcohol like they worked his program with Bradshaw, Kevin Nash is about the only person off the top of my head that would fit an initial straight edge face push.

I'm sure he could work a program with R-truth, but everyone will perceive that as being racist (Even without his skin color, he looks like a drug addict). Right now, with the current roster there isn't far to go with this gimmick though.

Punk would have no problem staying relevant to adults, as long as they didn't go full blown "Say your vitamins eat your prayers" on us.

And I agree with the previous posters on if parents would let kids watch TV, parents who helicopter coddle aren't going to change their stance on wrestling at all, remember, this generation is defined by babying children to a ridiculous level.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Eh, WWE already went down this road with Punk in the past.

Punk received a huge push in 2008, when he won the MITB at Wrestlemania 24. He eventually cashed in his briefcase, and he won the World Heavyweight Championship from Edge. And Punk proudly spoke about his straightedge lifestyle during a promo with JBL. JBL tried to challenge Punk to a drinking contest with some alcohol (I think it was Jack Daniels' whiskey), and JBL mocked Punk's clean and sober lifestyle.

So yeah, Punk WAS a face during this time, he was a world champion on WWE's flagship show, and his straightedge lifestyle was mentioned during his feud with JBL. And Punk still received a pretty nice push after he dropped the WHC, because he won the Raw tag titles with Kofi Kingston and the Intercontinental Championship. But this character could not get over. WWE tried everything, but Mr. straightedge didn't click with audiences.

The squeaky clean drug and alcohol free face persona really didn't work out before, and I don't think it would work now. Punk had a good amount of momentum during his heel turn in 2009, when he feuded with Jeff Hardy, and I didn't have a problem with his creepy cult leader heel character, but the Straightedge Society never took off. Punk as the leader of the New Nexus really didn't work out all, and that stable was very disappointing.

Punk as the cocky rebel, who always speaks his mind about anything IS working right now. He usually gets some nice reactions from the live crowds, he is the WWE Champion, and the very early stages of his reign have been enjoyable so far.

Punk's current persona is working, so I don't see a real reason to change anything right now.

 

[AWESOME!]

That's the stupidest thing I ever heard unless you still see him as the rebel face he should be......

He needs to be the face of the company by doing whatever he wants to get to the top like Austin did, thats who he is and thats why people are eating him up, Vince doesn't see it though and I doubt he will be face in any way at all. CENA SUCKS!

 

[Dagger Dias]

They had Punk playing a face Straightedge role model type character at first. That was his character until he cashed his MITB contract in on Jeff Hardy in 2009. He put over the drug-free lifestyle, and I remember how bad of an idea I originally thought it was to turn him heel because that type of role model is what they need in top faces. I'd be alright with them going that route with Punk again now that he is one of the top guys. The only problem is that he plays a character now that is a little different.

Punk is an anti-hero face right now so if they could keep him the way he is, but incorporate the drug-free lifestyle somehow to put that over as well, he'd turn into a good role model for the younger fans. Would it be determinetal to adult fans who like him? Not really if they keep his promo style the way it is. More parents would be comfortable with their children watching WWE if their top guy promotes that type of lifestyle, a legit hero for the kids. It worked for Hogan after all.

 

[HardyHater]

I try .I really do try . I watch Punk and STILL I cannot for the life of me figure out what anybody sees in Punk . Watching his match last night with Del Rio highlighted his obvious shortcomings of ring work. Sloppy would be a compliment. Outside on the MIC ,yes he comes off as the wise-ass ,smart-mouth, Best Buy employee geek.You know if he wasn't a wrestler he would be occupying a tent in a major city somewhere in America. Once he steps inside the ring fagedaboudit. He telegraphs moves so badly he completely destroys his opponents supposed offensive persona . If the WWE is banking on this cubic zirconia that new WWE channel will far outdraw anything new they can produce.

 

[Iversen]

The strange thing is that's exactly what Punk was doing and saying when he was a heel... In fact it's what he's always done as a heel. Yea it was obviously done in a pretty vicious way but I think if you do it face style it just turns Punk into another Cena. That's not to say they can't use it occasionally etc just don't make it his whole character.