A Sane Man's Veiw on CM Punk's Title Win.

[ryan86]

CM Punk falls into the same catagory as Chris Jericho 99-01. He has a very simular "nitch" fan base and while the championship win will be a vast improvment over DelRio, I'm afraid his stock has now peaked.

After the initial post SS Raw, all business indicators will flatline, and people will begin to realize that the idea of Punk being champ is bigger than his ability to carry the championship.

Punk will not fill arenas to capacity, (like a sold out Boston TD Garden or MSG) he wont wont sell out PPV's in 90 minutes, and he wont Sell out a football stadium for WM, The rock did that. Nor will he be the reason for a PPV buy surpassing a million, and last but definatly not least, ratings wont improve. Only one man did all of that mentioned above and it was The Rock.

Punk's fan base is extremely passionate, which is why he desreves the belt, and passionate fans buy things, tune in, and are very vocal at events which makes for exciting matches, but it's all in the confines of a "nitch" fan base NOT A NEW ERA

 

[The Idiot]

Don't you think Steve Austin had that same "niche" at the beginning of his career?

There were the Bret Hart fans, then there were the more hardcore, in your face, "revolt against society" fans that were part of Steve Austin's "niche." Later on it exploded into the Austin 3:16 phenomenon.

Don't write off Punk just yet. Given the right storyline and enough air time he can be that guy. I don't think that will happen until after Wrestlemania....when we finally see a face Punk versus a heel Cena.

 

[UrbanDynasty]

So... You are saying Punk is not this this generations Rock?
No sh*t. No one this day and age can captivate and hold an audience like Rock can.
Does that mean no one else can come close? Not at all, John Cena has filled a void that the Rock left for the most part except that imo the Rock never got stale.
In all honesty, CM Punk is taking SOME of the weight off Cena in terms of "the guy"
Punks fanbase is no doubt hot right now. I would like to see where his fanbase is at about Late may to June of 2012. If it is around the same heat with or without the title, I will be a fulltime believer.
As for the "New Era" We've been slowly intoduced into the pg-13 times imo. Brutality and reality without blood or overly provocative content.
But honestly, its personal opinion and executive decisions within the company.

 

[Charismatic Enigma]

I think there is a bigger issue with Punk's win tonight. Actually two.

1.) Alberto's momentum is now DEAD. He has nowhere to go, the crowd is giving him X-Pac heat, and I worry about his long term future as a potential champion, because he's a phenomenal talent that the crowd just isn't embracing for some reason.

2.) Punk is an amazing in-ring worker, I will never take that away from him. However, his character is starting to feel a little too much like a late '90s early '00s Steve Austin in that he ALWAYS gets the upper hand. Basically what I mean is he's "mister cool", he makes everyone look like an idiot when even they are cutting promos, and while that may be good for his short term character, people quickly lose interest in predictable characters. In the ring he has it down to a science of give and take, but for a worker to be successful on the mic I think there needs to be more of a push and pull, look at his exchanges with Del Rio, with Otunga, with Lauranitis, etc. He pretty much treats them all like they are worthless shit and like they are of no legitimate competition to him, ultimately that is not how you sell tickets.

I think that is the much bigger issue facing Punk's character now. He needs to have challengers that actually seem like they pose a threat to him, not just like they are fodder for his next PPV victory.

 

[Helmut Spargel]

If your main argument against Punk is that he isn't Rock, the same argument holds true against everyone currently signed to WWE. With the exception of Cena, Punk is the biggest thing going right now. Punk also has great growth potential, in the same vein as Austin. There is a corrupt regime in charge yet again and Punk can feud with Johnny Ace, Notunga and all the lackeys the corporate structure can throw at him. While Punk isn't going to be pounding beers anytime soon, he's still in a strong position.

The main problem facing Punk is the lack of a strong heel figure. ADR's time has passed. Rodriguez drew more heat than ADR. I think that Ziggler and Punk could put on some great matches and both work the mic very well. Cena is going to find it difficult to feud with Rock via satellite for 5 months, so he could also serve as the main opponent for Punk, but then we run into the face-face problem that we see with Cena-Rock. The obvious feud is probably Miz and R-Truth. Both guys seem to have strong ties to the man in charge and the Miz holds cache as a former WWE champ.

ADR will get his defense, probably at TLC, but I expect Punk to retain and the ADR feud to be put to rest. An ADR-Cena feud would probably be decent enough to get Cena to Wrestlemania, but it wouldn't offer anything new. I agree with many people that there is no real reason to put the belt back on Cena heading into WM, the Rock matchup is a big enough draw on its own.

I guess my problem with your statement is that outside of Cena, no other wrestler on Raw has a larger fanbase than Punk and his fanbase is quickly expanding. While it is probably impossible for Cena to draw more fans into his camp, Punk is still a bit of an unknown to the casual and/or younger fan. Punk also is in perfect position to struggle against the establishment, a storyline that naturally brings people fans.

 

[King_of_Swing1520]

Why's everyone on this board so pessimistic?

thats what im sayin. before every one loved punk. now that hes in the main event for good and champ hes not as good? hes not as good as the rock or austin? of course not. no one is and its very likely that no one every will be.

 

[TheGreatLegend]

What CM Punk said about Alberto Del Rio on RAW : "You are single dimensional" etc etc He just buried Alberto Del Rio and I completely lost intrest in the WWE Title Match at that moment. It was pretty clear he was gonna win the Title when he said that and it completely buried Alberto Del Rio and his credibility.And yeah CM Punk has never sold out an arena and probably never will.

 

[ryan86]

I Started this thread to combat the knee jerk reactions that were starting to trend heavily among his fan base.

Comments such as; "greatest star ever", "start of a new boom era", "greatest match ever", and my favorite one (scarcasticly speaking) "deserving of the final match over Rock/Cena)"

Alot of objective fans read that obserd crap and want a place to vent. This is the thread to do it.

And dont get me confused, CM Punk is the hottest thing the WWE has going right now but it's one demenional and very limited.

I mean, if this were 99 or 00, Punk would be a jericoh type star.
Definatley not the hottest thing going.

IMO, Cody Rhodes was the biggest winner last night. He was the only one out of the 10 man ss elimination match that got intrest or chants from the crowd. His crowd heat way over shadowed Orton and recieved even lowder "CODY" chants after the match concluded.

Now I'm not comparing Punk to Cody as Punk is a clear cut made made man but, Punk will just fire up the base while Cody expands it.

 

[WcWMondayNitro]

"I do not hate CM Punk! In fact, I like him more than most wrestlers in the WWE. But I hate this idea that he is the best in the world"
I would have preferred Del Rio to hold the title a little longer, say until Wrestlemania. Let Del Rio get clean wins against Punk and Cena. Let his character develop like JBL's did. Make Punk look like the underdog who is facing a conspiracy keeping him off the title. Come Wresltemania time, let Punk get the title from Del Rio. You could also turn Cena heel who has been a part of the conspiracy all along. WWE bookings seem a like a ship that lost her direction. I would not be surprised if Del Rio beat Punk at TLC, and the feud continued all the way until Wrestlemania. WWE wanted the title on Punk for now just to see how ratings would improve. Eventually, as Ryan86 said, the WWE will realize that "the idea of Punk being champ is bigger than his ability to carry the championship".

 

[AmerikanWolves619]

The one thing the we in the IWC need to stop doing is COMPARING wrestlers to those of the past. CM Punk IS CM Punk!!! HE IS NOBODY ELSE!!!!!! That is the reason why he has such a strong, passionate fan base. Ever since he started, he's been loyal to one thing, himself as a wrestler. He has his admirations, respects, and honor to those who have paved the way to him and many others in today's roster/generation; HOWEVER, he and his fans only need to focus on one thing, and that's making this generation of wrestlers the best that they can be here and now. What the Rock, SCSA, HBK, HHH, and many, many other have done before hand can never be duplicated and NEVER SHOULD. His work and the fans that follow his work and the wrestlers/crew how build it should focus on today. His run right now has been the spark that we have been waiting for. All I say is just sit back, quit the bitching, and enjoy the ride!!! I know I have been.

 

[ryan86]

WCWMONDAYNITRO:

"WWE wanted the title on Punk for now just to see how ratings would improve."

Quote straight from WCWMondayNitro above.

That is absolutley 110% true. Couldn't have made a more valid statement. Except I would go further as to say that WWE is also letting the Punk thing run it's course, as they also know it will prove to be short lived. And they want to accomplish it before WM, so they can move on to their long term plans.

And we Attitude Era fans, the true ones, will never stand by a SCSA rip off and let it ride. HE WILL BE called on this sooner rather than later, and while it may be new and refreshing to the PG era fans... its a massive insult and looks sleezy to the rest of us. A swagger jacker is what steve austin is looking at punk as right now.

 

[LegendKiller_RKO]

I agree with both sides of this argument. On one hand I do believe cm punk can make a solid title holder and deserves to hold the title seeing as the WWE has really invested in him. In my opinion at this point, the WWE is, in a sense, pot committed on cm punk. He'll sink or swim and only time will tell. On the other hand I do not see him immediately selling out arenas and improving ratings, but then again no superstar ever has made that impact. It takes time to build up to being the company poster boy.

 

[ahoyhoy]

It is absurd that a guy who is only a couple months into his first main event push is being crapped on like this, "will never sell out arenas". It has been 6 months since Money In The Bank and the guy had more crowd support than Rock or Cena. Better yet, where was Austin 6 months after Austin 3:16? I think he was finally getting over fueds with Savio Vega and Marc Mero to join the mid-card. Let Punk have some time to breathe, to adapt, to show us what he can do.

All of tonight, they didn't point out that when, on that night King supposedly knew Rocky was something special, the MSG crowd were chanting Rocky Sucks. On his first night. But he was given time to adapt and look what he became. Maybe wrestling fans need to step back and remember to breathe.

 

[Jeritron5000]

WCWMONDAYNITRO:

"WWE wanted the title on Punk for now just to see how ratings would improve."

Quote straight from WCWMondayNitro above.

That is absolutley 110% true. Couldn't have made a more valid statement. Except I would go further as to say that WWE is also letting the Punk thing run it's course, as they also know it will prove to be short lived. And they want to accomplish it before WM, so they can move on to their long term plans.

And we Attitude Era fans, the true ones, will never stand by a SCSA rip off and let it ride. HE WILL BE called on this sooner rather than later, and while it may be new and refreshing to the PG era fans... its a massive insult and looks sleezy to the rest of us. A swagger jacker is what steve austin is looking at punk as right now.

Speak for yourself. And what incredibly speculative statements. It almost seems you're shitting on Punk just to piss people off. Yes. I'm sure they're sitting in the back just waiting for, clearly the most popular guy in the company, to die down so they can focus on their long-term plans with superstars who aren't number 1 merchandise sellers. The guys theme music tonight was being drowned out by chants of his name because this is all a short lived little experiment.

I'm also a little confused by this SCSA comparison. How exactly are they alike aside from being characters that rebel against authority? Is it their beer drinking or their style of cutting promos? They literally couldn't be more different.

I'm absolutely a true attitude era fan and I cant for the life of me figure out why you're insulted.

 

[Schizophrenic]

Chicago ? lol its his hometown.

You're still proven wrong. He said he never sold out ANY arena yet he sold out Chicago. And that fact that you said if the belt doesn't change it's not interesting clearly shows you are more of the "I want the flash" type of fan and would jump on any bandwagon that's popular at the time.

I see this title win as a chance for Punk to show what he can do away from Cena and that hype machine. I have to believe that is what the WWe wants to do with this run. See if this momentum is because of someone else or if it's because of Punk. I believe the latter to be true.

 

[TheHitMark-SirJoseOle]

The whole issue I have with CM Punk (who I must stress I still like as a performer but the character I appreciated a lot more in the previous years as opposed to right now) is as follows:

The idea that they want this guy to just become the next Steve Austin, the comparisons are overwhelmingly annoying. Period. Bottom Line (Pardon the pun) that’s how I feel and there is no other way around it.

These are some of the issues I have for instance with this mindset about Punk becoming the next Steve Austin is a ludicrous ambition on the part of us fans as a collective whole.

Here are some of the things about CM Punk’s character direction that I am just not liking:

1) That insider worked shoot he did on RAW a few months back, so uncreative so unimaginative. There was no way you can say that CM Punk's esoteric insider term laden promo (again not all wrestling fans give a shit like we do about insider terms and going on forums and posting about this stuff) had the same energy and raw awesomeness that Steve Austin's disgruntled anti-establishment shtick had in the later parts of 1996 after Austin and Ted DiBiase parted ways (for those that don't remember it was DiBiase's departure from the WWF following a strap match that Austin lost to Savio Vega that led to Austin shedding his Ringmaster name and persona to evolve into the Stone Cold character) and yes while the Attitude Era was going strong during a time where the internet was booming and as a result more people were starting to get into the whole dirt sheet aspect of wrestling you could at least say on the bright side that characters were better defined then. Sometimes I swear I can't tell if I am watching an actual wrestling program or a horrible reality show with how the line between fantasy and reality is so blurred these days.

For a while CM Punk from his WWE debut in 2006 to the time he had the Straight Edge Society and then his mutiny of the Nexus had me genuinely interested. But then in the storylines, he turns around and throws out all this character breaking crap and I found it to be an easy way out. Just not endeared to that style of storytelling in wrestling (where insider terms have to be thrown about) and I never will be.

So yeah, Austin’s King Of The Ring Coronation (aka the Austin 3:16 speech) > CM Punk’s little character breaking Pow-Wow prior to Money In The Bank.

2) It’s a little thing but something I’d bring up just the same, that lame WWE Ice Cream bars reference and how CM Punk was using that in his segments, i.e. the one where he is sitting at a table in the ring with Vince and telling him how one of his requests is that Vince brings back the “WWE Ice Cream Bars” for a character that is supposed to be anti-corporate and anti-conformist like CM Punk what was that all about? To me as trivial as it sounds to bring that up I just couldn’t resist because I don’t think this idea makes CM Punk a character that you want to see rival the likes of Steve Austin. To be honest it’s just a very pathetic attempt at getting cheap pops from fans who still want those Ice Cream bars to be sold. And I don’t necessarily blame WWE for that they have to sell a product after all but just the same Punk using it in a context like this I think undermines the character.

3) Losing to Triple H at Night of Champions, I knew (well had a solid feeling at least) that Triple H was not going to lose to Punk when the stipulation set for the event was that Triple H would lose his COO position if Punk won. Yes there was interference from Kevin Nash and all that stuff to justify a CM Punk loss but basically I think this was a very unnecessary occurrence to have happen. If one is serious about trying to build a character with as much credibility as it seemed they wanted to give Punk back in the summer having him lose matches like he did to Triple H are not the way to do it. At least that’s how I feel.

4) Not building up to a WrestleMania showdown for Punk to finally be champion once again. Yes this is a formula and what not but just the same it’s a damn good one. We all know CM Punk has been a multi time champion, even before he was pursuing the strap in a feud with John Cena, however I still think that since they rushed CM Punk’s pseudo WWE return after Money In The Bank they should have just let Del Rio hold the strap and go into Mania as the Champion. Now with Punk as champion again the title will be hot potatoed I am sure and who knows what will happen at this year’s Mania. But considering how Punk lost the WWE title at SummerSlam to Del Rio and how Del Rio snuck in a pinfall on him at Hell In The Cell you had great seeds planted for a conquest that Punk could embark on to get the title back. There is no better battleground in all of wrestling let alone WWE to realize this conquest than at WrestleMania.


Overall I don’t think Punk is going to ever not be a star in WWE and stay there, I mean he’s done very well for himself prior to this current phase of his career we can’t argue that. He will indeed be one of WWE’s staples along with Cena and Orton for quite sometime. However what I’ve mentioned above will in my opinion prevent him from being in a class of his own like a Steve Austin. It’s unrealistic to make constant comparisons to them because it’s a ridiculous rationale but one could see how and why you’d want to have someone attempt to have a similar role in WWE like Austin had during his apex in the then-WWF.

But in the way the storylines have progressed I just don’t think CM Punk will be that guy that can have the same popularity as a Steve Austin in WWE. Cena is still the guy and that just isn’t gong to change anytime soon. Punk though will still have a job and a solid following I feel but he just won’t have the meteoric rise that Austin had.

So I will conclude my post with the following statement:

Steveweisers > WWE Ice Cream Bars anyday....

 

[Dmbfantomas]

I was there for Punk's promo in Vegas, it had the crowd buzzing harder than anything I have ever seen after we left...and we saw another show right after.

CM Punk is not this generation's Stone Cold Steve Austin. No one will ever be Steve Austin. CM Punk is...well...this generation's CM Punk. He'll be one of the measuring sticks of this era, same with Cena, Orton, and Edge. I guess that is the only real thing he has in common wit Austin (aside from the painfully obvious) that he will be remembered and admired as one of the best of his generation. I really wouldn't be shocked to see him be an announcer for the E when his body craps out on him, either.

 

[Azane]

I like Punk without the title, when he's just fighting for a reason other than the gold. I think the gold is better left to be chased by someone that fits their character better.

Punk can feud with Lauranitis' wet broomstick and make it interesting. Then again, I hate Face title runs, since heels chasing isn't as interesting.

I might be surprised; though, the dark cloud of Cena winning it off him around Rumble or EC makes me worry that this run is going to be a flop.

I guess the OP's main point is that the Rock is good at selling out

Tickets via satellite.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

So, you have extremes here. YOu have the crazies who think (literally) that Punk is the next austin and use Punk "selling out" the stadium in Chicago as an example (real fucking hard that was, it's been what? a few months?).

Then you have the others who think he only has niche appeal.

Now, I used to be in the latter, however, he has shown to me that he can appeal to a broader audience. Personally, Punk is in the middle. He probably won't ever be the top draw for years at a time like Cena, Austin, and Hogan were/are. However, I see his draw ability to be around the same as Ortons' from here out. Pretty steady and every once in a while peaking to being possibly the most over guy on the roster.

 

[Fabricated]

I had to register after reading some of the ridiculous and ill-conceived comments on this thread. All I got from the OP was The Rock is very good at putting butts in chairs.

Ok, first, let me start of with this. CM Punk and Del Rio should've went on last as opposed to Rock/Cena. I was there for CM Punk vs Del Rio, and let me tell you; the crowd was HOT. Everyone was on the edge of their seats. Punk chants reigned through the arena. There were some Del Rio chants, but they quickly got BODIED by CM PUNK chants. It was amazing.

Don't get me wrong, when the Rock came out, it was electric, but I'll tell you this, the end of the match had a lot of people going "that's it?".

The fact is, whether you like it or not, CM Punk is the best thing the wwe has right now. Compare him to Piper, Austin, Jericho, and Jesus Christ if you want to, I do not care. The kid is good, and he'll continue getting better. For people on this forum to come out and say "OH HES TRYING TO BE LIKE AUSTIN!!!111 *foams at the mouth*", when they're two polar opposites is ridiculous. Was Austin trying to be like Piper with some aspects of his game? Come on, get real.

I love it how you guys are already out here trying to take away from this kid and his reign. Hoping he fails.

Regardless of how you guys look at it, he's the it man now. He captivates and connects with the crowd. The crowd can relate to him because he's essentially a self made man. He's not the image of the WWE like Cena is, he's the image of the people, and that will keep him over.

 

[Wald]

The WWE completely blew Punk's momentum after Summerslam, in fact they blew it by turning him face so quickly. He could easily have feuded with Triple H over whilst being a heel as the fans have a respect for HHH that Cena doesn't have for whatever reason.

Plus people forget that he took 4 straight PPV pin falls following the controversial win over Cena at Summerslam, thats more telling than anything he has done since MitB as it tells me that Vince doesn't see major dollars with him

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

The WWE completely blew Punk's momentum after Summerslam, in fact they blew it by turning him face so quickly. He could easily have feuded with Triple H over whilst being a heel as the fans have a respect for HHH that Cena doesn't have for whatever reason.

Plus people forget that he took 4 straight PPV pin falls following the controversial win over Cena at Summerslam, thats more telling than anything he has done since MitB as it tells me that Vince doesn't see major dollars with him

You're wrong. All your ideas are shit.

FACT is CM Punk, BECAUSE OF HOW GOOD HE IS AND THEIR BOOKING, is arguably the most over regular right now. Any argument you have is wrong because what they ACTUALLY DID worked. Anything you think is purely speculation.

Why would you want him to be a heel? To please you? "eh took 4 straight PPV pin falls" what are you a fuckin mark? W/L doesn't matter, it's how interesting you are. A babyface getting screwed over draws him more sympathy than winning all the time, especially a smaller guy like Punk.

No, his W/L isn't more telling than anything. Fact is, he's super over, fact is, he was in the main event at NOC against a hugely over legend, fact is, he's the WWE champ now, fact is, he sells a ton of merch, fact is, he's super over, fact is, commentary puts him over like crazy, fact is, Cena put him over in promos all the time.

In other words, all the stuff that actually happened in the real world has meant that Punk is super over and is the WWE champion. Everything you said is your opinion backed up by....your opinion.

If WWE blew Punk's momentum, then how the FUCK did he outsell Cena in merch and how the FUCK does Punk get such huge pops? If that's "blowing it" then please vince, hire me and blow my opportunities too.


O wait, I forgot, this is the net, so since Punk is a clear babyface, you aren't supposed to like him. If he were an "edgy heel who can get it done in the ring" you'd love him then right? That's pathetic, haven't you heard? The IWC is shifting more towards thinking for yourself and not following the tired trends like sheep.

 

[Captain Morgan Freeman]

Punk is an amazing in-ring worker, I will never take that away from him. However, his character is starting to feel a little too much like a late '90s early '00s Steve Austin in that he ALWAYS gets the upper hand. Basically what I mean is he's "mister cool", he makes everyone look like an idiot when even they are cutting promos, and while that may be good for his short term character, people quickly lose interest in predictable characters. In the ring he has it down to a science of give and take, but for a worker to be successful on the mic I think there needs to be more of a push and pull, look at his exchanges with Del Rio, with Otunga, with Lauranitis, etc. He pretty much treats them all like they are worthless shit and like they are of no legitimate competition to him, ultimately that is not how you sell tickets.

Really? Because i could have sworn that a guy recently helped WWE sell one million PPV buys by doing the exact same thing. Have you ever seen one of the rock's promo's? He constantly treated people like shit by telling them to "know their role and shut their mouth" and telling them "it doesn't matter what their name is".
And you say people lose interest in predictable characters yet the Rock has been spouting the same catchphrases in his promo's for years. His catchphrases are so predictable the fans finish them before he gets a chance to.
Im not bashing the rock here im simply saying that your logic of what doesn't sell tickets is completely wrong.

Now on the topic of CM Punk when i watched survivor series last night every single time they panned across crowd i could see at least 3 CM Punk shirts in the camera shot. The crowd were loudly chanting for Punk as Del Rio was getting into the ring and to the OP there's no way you can justify saying Cody got a bigger pop then Punk. I haven't seen a lot of sanity in your posts, just a Cody Rhodes mark making baseless predictions on what he thinks will happen to Punk.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

ADR has failed, the ratings prove that, and I think the biggest reason is that ultimately he is the one who is one dimensional rather than Punk. Punk has reinvented himself as relevant while Del Rio is stuck in this "rich mans plaything" image of champion. He comes across like the guy on Friends who would not stop till he was champion...only he didn't get beat up all the time... He's got it now and lost it twice... "Rich" guys don't work as champs, DiBiase, good as he was would have bombed with the belt cos it would just be another reminder that the rich guys get it all... In today's harsh economic times, a "rich man" champ isn't gonna engage Joe Public whose job is threatened and has to decide to watch the PPV or go out this month cos some rich guy gets a bonus at the expense of his job.

Comparing Punk to Austin is foolish at best because if anything they are polar opposites. The comparison ends with them being noticed by the masses because of a promo. If he is to be compared to anyone, it's going to be Bret Hart, someone who built himself up from the minors into the face of a company through hard work.

Austin got over because he was an underrated talent and was lightning in a bottle for the time...but by the time he was over his days as a great worker were also over thanks to the tombstone... Punk is more over because people see that he is the best and has been for a while, even going back to ROH, same reason D. Bryan headlining Mania will work... Now had Austin not been dropped on his head by Owen and been the worker he was AND kept the same push, then you could compare them.

As a Punk and Jericho fan I would much rather see them go at it than he and Austin... That would be a far more appropriate measure of where Punk is in this era.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I honestly don't understand why some people are so intent on who is going to be the "next Shawn Michaels" or the "next Rock" or the next "Ric Flair" etc. What exactly is wrong with CM Punk just flat out being CM Punk and, for the most part, going in his own direction?

When people start comparing modern wrestlers to the ones they grew up watching, they're almost always setting themselves up for failure. Why? Because virtually nothing can compete with the overly romanticized feelings of nostalgia people can get from thinking on how memories of watching Ricky Steamboat vs. Ric Flair in a 2 out of 3 falls match for the NWA WHC in 1989 makes them feel all warm & gushy inside.

Before declaring CM Punk isn't going to be a star on the same level as a John Cena, how about actually giving it some time to see whether or not your declaration holds true. Punk started to come on strong during the summer and this reign will be a real opportunity to show what he can do. I know some people feel that Punk has lost momentum for some reason but I don't see how. He seems to be every bit as over now, if not more so, than he has been. It's taken a while for some I think to warm up to the idea of Punk being a main eventer, but I do think much more are on board with the idea. The huge response he always gets and the fact that he now pushes more merchendise than John Cena is a good indicator.