CM Punk Has Got To Go

[Paralyzer Z]

I see some people saying how great cm punk is in the ring. What is so great? All i see is punk get beat up most of the match then does a running high knee, bulldog. Maybe an elbow drop from top rope and then GTS.. What's so great?

Does it really matter what or how many moves Punk uses in his matches? No it has never for Cena and it is no different for CM Punk. What he does have is the intangibles of wrestling. He tells stories with his selling, playing to the crowd, and finishing sequences. As much as I love it when a wrestler has a unique and wide array of moves in his move set, that is not what get them over, nor sells the product. It's not about the moves themselves or their level of complexity. What matter is how you build up to them in a match and use it to continue the flow of they story building to a climax. It is what Punk does, as well as Cena. That is why they are the top faces of the company.

 

[ScottishWrestlingFan]

The reason i made a point of telling you i am not bashing Cena also is because i am not. i did not mention him once until you said his name, and i am only mentioning him to say i am not discussing him as it has nothing to do with my point.

My point is like everyone elses point, he is not stale, for me he DOES have a good set of moves and as a complete package for me he tells a story in the ring Very well.

not in comparison to anyone else, i am not trying to draw comparisons, i am simply saying, though he may not be "the best in the world" like he says(opinions vary) he is still bloody good at what he does and deserves credit for it, not to be bashed.

and back on topic of the Original Post this is exactly why he is going nowhere

Finding your opinion on this thread compeltely laughable is an OPINION based on FACT but not completely independant of my arrogance that i am right



(for those wondering what we are discussing, upon being asked what moves he had i posted a rather large list) both posts where rightfully removed/merged as they where spam on there own by forum rules, sorry WZF

 

[Nate DaMac]

I don't see him doing most of that. Strikes shouldn't be counted as "wrestling moves". I could say Mistico has a million moves in his move list too, but what he does in the ring is what matters. I'm also pretty sure cena has more moves in his "movelist"

By your list, then Kofi Kingston is one of the best in the ring then?

How sad. How hilariously sad. I guess it's time for the moves marks to come out of the woodwork, eh? Ya know, the ones who think that the best wrestlers are the ones who can do a bunch of cool flippies and know several variations of suplexs and submission holds? I honestly can't believe one would have to defend CM Punk in this category since he so clearly has a vast move set, but there's so much more to being a good wrestler. Without going deep into the book of Sly on this one, let's just leave it at this; Learning how to perform wrestling moves is incredibly easy. Learning how to properly take and sell these moves are a lot harder.

But even disregarding the stupid move set argument, wrestling isn't about "who doe the kewlezt moves!!" It's about psychology and storytelling. Punk may be the second best guy in the business today when it comes to these(behind Cena, of course.) Which is evident by those 2 having what is by a massive margin the match of 2011. The only people who even really come close to these 2 are Orton and Christian and even Orton just recently started mastering the storytelling this year.

In closing, you're stupid.

Now onto the actual topic here, I'm with Sam for the most part. I like to talk about ratings, I like playing with ideas, but I don't actually want to see someone I enjoy taken off of TV because he's not drawing as much money as the biggest star in the industry. Besides, it's not like he's not drawing a dime. He's bringing a good chunk of change from merchandise and he's one of like, maybe 6 faces in the company who are consistently over in every arena they go to.

He's a top face, he's an excellent professional wrestler, and he's the best part of the show every week.

 

[The 1-2-3 Killam]

Could you direct me to some video of his solid moveset? I'm just asking cuz pple give stick to cena for the 5 moves of doom

HERE is a match that in my opinion, is Punk's best of his early years in the WWE. It's also interesting to note, and I didn't realize it until I re-watched it moments ago, that the live crowd is incredibly behind Punk as a face. Turns out it's not just recently that he knew how to draw a reaction from the crowd...

His match against Hardy for the World title at SummerSlam is also one worth checking out, but I couldn't find a good link that wasn't over-dubbed with obnoxious music. I'm sure there is one floating around YouTube however. His heel matches are arguably a better showcase of his in-ring ability, purely because of the way modern WWE ring psychology works. The face takes the brunt of the damage to build up heat on the heel, and anticipation rises for the face's big comeback at the end. So obviously his work as a heel is going to better show off what he can do in the ring, unless you're really into seeing how he works the match from a story perspective.

Honestly, last week's match with Dolph ZIgger is as good a proof as any!

 

[ae_wrestler123]

I see there is no sense arguing with sheep. I'm just wanted to know what's so "great" bout cm punk. I read some pple saying he is the best in the ring. And i'm not saying cool moves makes you the best, but to me personally i don't see what he does that is different from some other wrestlers. I would say Dolph or Randy is the best right now. I agree cm punk should be given a chance to prove himself, but i just think he is highly overrated. And i agree with the OP within a couple of months the sheep will wake up and realize it was just an iwc fad. But i'm not taking anything away from punk's ability because at the end of the day he got Vince's attention to get that push.

 

[Out(ast]

I really dont think you can call CM Punk an IWC fad. I mean he has been over since he first came into the WWE, at an ECW show in the Hammerstine Ball room, an origonal ECW arina and a typically New York renigade croud who chanted and popped for Punk that entire match, and those chants and pops (or boos) havent really gone away in his entire tenure with the WWE.

I would also like you to explain how I am a sheep for simply enjoying Punks matches?

 

[The 1-2-3 Killam]

I see there is no sense arguing with sheep. I'm just wanted to know what's so "great" bout cm punk. I read some pple saying he is the best in the ring. And i'm not saying cool moves makes you the best, but to me personally i don't see what he does that is different from some other wrestlers. I would say Dolph or Randy is the best right now. I agree cm punk should be given a chance to prove himself, but i just think he is highly overrated. And i agree with the OP within a couple of months the sheep will wake up and realize it was just an iwc fad. But i'm not taking anything away from punk's ability because at the end of the day he got Vince's attention to get that push.

Sheep? Did you watch any of the videos I provided for you? You asked somebody to point out some proof that Punk has a decent moveset and can put on good matches. I provided examples that I thought were good ones... I'm sorry if they didn't meet your expectations, but there is much proof out there there he is not just a "fad". Watch the one of his early days, and hear how much the crowd was for him against JoMo. His popularity has grown at a slow but steady rate, as both a face and a heel. There is a reason that once he cut the famous "shoot" promo, people exploded. Many were just waiting for him to take a step into a great direction, and that was it. Its not as if nobody cared...he did one thing...and suddenly everyone is all over him! That would indeed be an instance of a fad. This is not the case.

 

[Jeritron5000]

This thread is ridiculous. How bout maybe the ratings went down after the Cena segment because there was literally NOTHING good about Raw in between the first and last segment? Maybe Punk vs Del freakin Rio isn't exactly the most exciting payoff for 2 hours of the same old boring crap. Sorry you don't like the guy, but your arguments are thin at best. I would re-iterate but it's like talking to a wall. A wall that pretends like it knows what it's talking about and doesn't listen to a thing you say. We all look forward to the weekly CM Punk rants you told us to expect...but until his immense popularity, even in the face of absolutely shit booking, dies down, the idea that he "has to go" shouldn't be met with any sort of seriousness.

 

[ryan86]

Now the adult has to once again come in and clean up the mess...

When I stated that Punk "had to go", you people took it on as a life of it's own, thinking I meant he had to leave the WWE. NO! I meant as the person charged with "carrying" the Raw brand. Now most (not all) who are claiming him to be so great, were not watching 12-15 years ago. If you were, you could put this into prespective on the fact that we have seen this countless times since the fall of the NWO/attitude era. Punk is nothing more than an IWC fad and anyone with historical prespective could see this.

Punk is not that great of a wrestler, any objective person can see he is some what "sloppy" in the ring, and without history as your giude, you have no objective prespective. HBK/Bret Hart/HHH/Angle are examaples that put Punk's in-ring ability into historical prespective. And Randy Orton/Dolph Ziggler/Rhodes are current examples that trump Punk's in-ring ability. He needs to get his body right, Teeth Fixed, tats redone, and take a bath

 

[The Champ]

Now the adult has to once again come in and clean up the mess...

When I stated that Punk "had to go", you people took it on as a life of it's own, thinking I meant he had to leave the WWE. NO! I meant as the person charged with "carrying" the Raw brand.

That's like when Rock said he was never leaving again and then he was like "Oops lol das not wut I ment." You knew exactly what you were saying with that title, so it's silly to call other people "kids" for taking your words at face value.

Now most (not all) who are claiming him to be so great, were not watching 12-15 years ago. If you were, you could put this into prespective on the fact that we have seen this countless times since the fall of the NWO/attitude era. Punk is nothing more than an IWC fad and anyone with historical prespective could see this.

Yawn. Everyone ten-fifteen years ago was better, blabbety blabbety blah. What have we seen countless times since the nWo? A top face getting pushed? A "rebel" character? Yes, there have been plenty. Doesn't mean Punk isn't a good one.

As far as being an IWC fad goes, I think his pops and t-shirt sales say differently.

Punk is not that great of a wrestler, any objective person can see he is some what "sloppy" in the ring, and without history as your giude, you have no objective prespective. HBK/Bret Hart/HHH/Angle are examaples that put Punk's in-ring ability into historical prespective. And Randy Orton/Dolph Ziggler/Rhodes are current examples that trump Punk's in-ring ability. He needs to get his body right, Teeth Fixed, tats redone, and take a bath

Giving a vague criticism of Punk's work and then naming a bunch of people that you think are better isn't enough to convince anyone that you're right. Be a little more specific here.

The guy is excellent at pretty much everything you need to be a good wrestler, and he's had some of the best matches of the year. The Punk/Orton series, Punk/Mysterio and both Punk/Cenas are great examples. He knows psychology and storytelling and he obviously has more charisma than most of the roster.

That last sentence is just ridiculous, and deserves no response other than that.

 

[ryan86]

The Champ:

Can you read between the lines or not? You are a true Punk Mark! I gave the title appropriate to my post. Nowhere in it does it EVER say he needed to leave the WWE. What it did state was why I thought him as champ, needed to be phased out; Hence, he needed to leave the "dress up" immage of "carrying" the WWE. My further post stated he needed to be sent to SD as a world title contender or be delegated to the upper-mid-card. Did you not take any comp. & rhet. classes at college? Or did you ever go? Or are you even old enough. You are taught to read the true meaning into writings and not take everything literally? It was a symbolic satement regarding my thesis.

And yes, the past names of HBK/Bret Hart/HHH/Angle, were leaps and bounds ahead of Punk in every in-ring catagory; Story telling, Phsycology, Working the crowd, move sets, and classic matches. It's true. If you want to trivialize it, fine. But you sir, have NO historical reference to even be making such claims on how goiod Punk is.

 

[The Champ]

The Champ:

Can you read between the lines or not?

I knew you didn't mean Punk getting released. My point was that you shouldn't be criticizing others for thinking you did when that was, in fact, what the title of this thread said. Learn to read, and learn to make your points clearer.

You are a true Punk Mark!

I appreciate the compliment.

What it did state was why I thought him as champ, needed to be phased out; Hence, he needed to leave the "dress up" image of "carrying" the WWE.

You do realize that Cena is still the face of the WWE, right?

You're giving too much credit to the championship here. Not to say the championship doesn't mean anything, but its primary purpose is to be involved in booking and storylines. There have been one man "carrying" (and I hate that term) the company for the last six plus years.

Did you not take any comp. & rhet. classes at college? Or did you ever go? Or are you even old enough. You are taught to read the true meaning into writings and not take everything literally? It was a symbolic satement regarding my thesis.

I've been taking advanced English courses for my entire life, so good job making assumptions. Not that it matters, because I know how to read and that's all I really need here to say that your entire argument is bogus.

And yes, the past names of HBK/Bret Hart/HHH/Angle, were leaps and bounds ahead of Punk in every in-ring catagory; Story telling, Phsycology, Working the crowd, move sets, and classic matches. It's true. If you want to trivialize it, fine. But you sir, have NO historical reference to even be making such claims on how goiod Punk is.

Ha. I've been watching wrestling for over ten years and I've watched plenty of Michaels and Bret stuff from the past. Again, you're making an ass out of yourself by assuming things about someone you don't know. I hope you don't do this every time you meet someone.

Furthermore, I'm not getting into an argument about who's better, because guess what? Those guys aren't around anymore, so it doesn't matter anyway. There doesn't need to be any "historical context" here. What we need to know is that Punk is one of the best all around talents on the roster, and on that basis he deserves to be pushed as a top star.

 

[D-Man]

I'm keeping this simple because there is way too much overanalysis garbage throughout the thread and the answer can easily be summed up (like Sam has done multiple times in the thread).

Should CM Punk be removed from the world title picture? No. And here is why...

First of all, like many have said, a few television segments do not determine who carries the proverbial "ball" in the WWE. It has to do with many factors such as appeal and merchandise sales. Well, his merchandise is through the roof, crowds pay money to see him during live shows, and he's currently one of the most over babyfaces on the roster. Knowing this, and if you've read many online reports, not even the WWE brass can understand the appeal of CM Punk. This alone is the answer to all of your questions.

Sorry but despite those numbers that you came up with, nothing can deny the fact that CM Punk is more than deserving of his current spot on the roster.

 

[ryan86]

Do you realize how small of a percentage merch. sells account for the WWE's Bottum line?

Do you know what acouncts for the plourality of it? ADVERTIZING REVENUE!

If a Wrestler has hight merch. sells, but does not expand or keep viewers, do you understand what hat means? Or if he is a net negative 31,000 buys for PPV's that he headlines? That accounts for the other largest chunk of revenue. And the 3rd biggest money maker, ticket sells: boy those half full arenas sure prove how he is bringing in new fans.

High merch. sells
Not a ratings draw
Not a net positive in PPV buys
No evidence of new net ticket sells

Add that all togather and it means you have a very strong "nich" base with very weak "coat tails" (does not translate into the other most important revenue indicators)

When a wrestler achives all 4 catagories, you can start calling him one of the best. Untill then, He is an IWC FAD!!!!!!!

 

[The Champ]

What pay-per-view are you talking about? SummerSlam? Did you forget that, outside of the main event, it was the worst built SummerSlam in years? How about the fact that there were only FOUR MATCHES announced up until the weekend of the show? How about big stars like Rey Mysterio and Miz being added on at the last second?

They had Cena vs. Punk as the main event. Then they had Christian vs. Orton AGAIN, Sheamus vs. Mark Henry rolleyes, and a divas title match. Eventually, they added some other match that was insignificant enough that I don't remember what it was. And then there was the unannounced six man tag.

Money in the Bank increased and Night of Champions was pretty much the same, so that's not significant information to determine that Punk can't sell PPVs. Furthermore, PPVs aren't even a good way of determining someone's success anymore anyway, because of factors like the economy and the fact that there are just too many PPVs for people to buy them all. Again, maybe that doesn't apply to a Big Four in SummerSlam, but the buildup SUCKED and that needs to be taken into consideration.

What ratings examples are you citing? Can you be more specific with that? It's become a trend that the show drops in hour two, whether the show is headlined by Punk or not. Cena was the last segment two weeks ago (Punk was the opening segment) and the show still declined in the second hour.

His shirt is the highest seller among men on WWE Shop, that speaks for itself.

Can you be more specific with whatever facts you're trying to cite here? Because it seems like you're manipulating a few to your advantage.

 

[ryan86]

First of all, you dont care to read the facts as that is not what you are interested in. What you are interested in is your entertainment. That ok. I'm glad 98% of fans only care about their own entertainment. It is what makes wrestling, and fads... work. It creates a false preception though, but as long as ignorance is bliss; why would any relative data matter to you? Sometimes the preception matches the facts, and sometimes they dont. But if you are not interested in the financial side, You cant be blamed for not knowing the difference. Since preception is reality to that 98%, it's hard to reach you and tell you; "HEY, SLOW DOWN! watch the numbers, and if they match the preception, you probably have a rising phenomenon."

Look at the last quarterly report detailing Jul. - sep.
This supposed rising superstar has not shown up in the data; anywhere.
Next look at the months of Oct and Nov, still flatlined.
When the next eranings report come out, The Rock will be the only bright spot.

Preception vs Reality!

 

[Out(ast]

i just dont under stand how you can say he is an IWC fad? fads fade, no sooner has one become popular, the next one is brewing. an argument could be said of punk being a fad when he came in, but the simple fact of the mater is, he is over! his pop's, the merch sails hell even his twitter popularity tells us that. a fad? no. an IWC Darling? perhaps

 

[The Champ]

First of all, you dont care to read the facts as that is not what you are interested in. What you are interested in is your entertainment. That ok. I'm glad 98% of fans only care about their own entertainment. It is what makes wrestling, and fads... work. It creates a false preception though, but as long as ignorance is bliss; why would any relative data matter to you? Sometimes the preception matches the facts, and sometimes they dont. But if you are not interested in the financial side, You cant be blamed for not knowing the difference. Since preception is reality to that 98%, it's hard to reach you and tell you; "HEY, SLOW DOWN! watch the numbers, and if they match the preception, you probably have a rising phenomenon."

What the hell are you talking about?

I gave facts in that post about how only one of the three PPVs dipped significantly, and alternative reasons why that might be the case other than Punk. I went on to detail how the second hour dropping also happened when Cena headlined the show. How is that ignoring facts?

You're just talking to hear yourself talk now. Shut up.

Look at the last quarterly report detailing Jul. - sep.
This supposed rising superstar has not shown up in the data; anywhere.
Next look at the months of Oct and Nov, still flatlined.
When the next eranings report come out, The Rock will be the only bright spot.

Preception vs Reality!

Can you give a link to the quarterly report, so that I can actually see what you're arguing instead of having to look for it myself?

Evidence is on the burden of the plaintiff, son.

Oh, and normally I find it douchey when people make smart ass comments about spelling, but in this case it's necessary. Learn how to spell "perception" before you go on bullshit tangents accusing everyone of not knowing what it means.

 

[crswcw]

I do not understand his appeal I watch his ring of honor matches and even then he was okay at the most his mic skills are just average and before he "ran out of the wwe the belt" he has the ovation of a tyler recks sorry wwe you can not program me not to like him and I will be in Miami at wm not giving you no reaction at all

 

[ryan86]

And you see, the sad thing is, He is a great IWC fad and now he will be pushed like he is causing a huge new influx of fans to come in. He will never live up to the "greatest in the world", he will never turn these "Nitro" 3.0's, into respectable 4.0's. And when it proves out to be just the IWC behind him, and no growing audience, it will just run it's 4 month course and the WWE will be once again re-searching for the next person to expand the business. No-one currently can, and I dont know when that person ever will come. I just continue to look at the data and hope to see some trending increaces.

Cena did it in 05, which continued to grow the WWE through 09. But 2010 and 2011 have just trended downwards into a depression.

None of that is Punk's fault, it's the creative teams', the ventures into unsucessfull avenues, IE; WWE Studios, Handcuffing their own ability to deliver an edgey product due to U.S. Senate campaign launching by Linda.

Punk is just not the man that will grow this business.

 

[The 1-2-3 Killam]

I really think people should stop arguing with him at this point. No matter what you say, there is no single argument that can get past the iron defense of "you people just don't want to look at my facts, or see things from my MUCH broader perspective." He is completely set in his own opinion, and no matter how many times he thinks it's not his opinion, and that he's merely interpreting empirical data, it's just not true.

Sam and I have both showed him how his data, while the numbers are there, is just full of holes. Fifth time saying this now, but correlation does not prove causation. You can make the argument sure, but there is still no way to prove that CM Punk is causing a drop in ratings. And there is still no way to prove that Punk will continue to drop the ratings as he holds the WWE title into the future.

In fact, dozens of well thought counterpoints have been given, using examples like "it took Austin two years after making it big to start producing viable ratings", and "why don't you simple wait another year and collect more data that could actually be used in or against your case". His cocktail of arrogance and impatience is reigning supreme here, and I don't think a single person could get through to him at this point. I'm going to try to say it one more time, just in case...

Putting aside that the value of the product is much more important than the temporary ratings it draws... putting aside that as a consumer you still do not have the capability to attack or analyze the company's financial well-being... Putting aside all biases towards Punk, the current product, or products in the past... Putting everything aside and just focusing on the empirical data in front of us that you are so very wrapped up in: there isn't nearly enough conclusive evidence to make your case. Every piece of data you have to prove why Punk at the top causes a drop in ratings is subject to other members of the card as well, that are in the same or higher position within the company. THe ONE episode of Raw last week that shows a drop-off in ratings for Punk's match could be used as viable proof, but ONE episode does not a case make.

I respect your thoughts, but you are jumping the gun, and refuse to wait it out to make your claim. And saying we're all going to get ours when you're right in four months, is incredibly immature. I would love to have this conversation again in a year, if there is a significant time period where CM Punk is on top without the Rock and/or John Cena in the main spotlight, AND some time afterwards for a retrospective analysis. You need to give the whole thing time to breath.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

While I disagree with Ryan, the other posts on here are stupid. Downright, stupid responses.

He basically says "objectively it seems like Punk can't carry a feud unless he's with a big star" which actually has some merit. To which you guys say "subjectively, I think he is a 5/5 on the mic and a 4.5/5 in the ring".

Here's what I think. I DON'T think Punk is as big of a star as the marks on here think. However, I don't think he's as bad as Ryan thinks. The Del Rio feud was over. People just weren't interested. Now, if you move Punk on to something else against someone else who also isn't a star, then you know that Punk just isn't that much of a draw.

 

[RicoLen]

And you see, the sad thing is, He is a great IWC fad and now he will be pushed like he is causing a huge new influx of fans to come in. He will never live up to the "greatest in the world", he will never turn these "Nitro" 3.0's, into respectable 4.0's. And when it proves out to be just the IWC behind him, and no growing audience, it will just run it's 4 month course and the WWE will be once again re-searching for the next person to expand the business. No-one currently can, and I dont know when that person ever will come. I just continue to look at the data and hope to see some trending increaces.

Cena did it in 05, which continued to grow the WWE through 09. But 2010 and 2011 have just trended downwards into a depression.

None of that is Punk's fault, it's the creative teams', the ventures into unsucessfull avenues, IE; WWE Studios, Handcuffing their own ability to deliver an edgey product due to U.S. Senate campaign launching by Linda.

Punk is just not the man that will grow this business.

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. I admit, I skimming a lot of these 18 pages, but it appears as if you're changing your argument. First it was essentially that he was not the top guy in the WWE and needs to be off TV, and now it's he's not Steve Austin.

What IS exactly your stance. Because hey, I'll be the first to admit he's not going to expand viewership beyond the borders of your typical wrestling fan. However a lot of "typical" wrestling fans are returning because of CM Punk. He's actually very much like Ric Flair in that aspect. No one, and I mean no one knows who Ric Flair is outside of the pro-wrestling fanbase. However Ric Flair was a very strong draw for wrestling fans. Hulk Hogan, The Rock, and John Cena are very strong draws of non-wrestling fans, who know who he is and like him and are deciding to start watching pro-wrestling as a result of their celebrity.

This thread has gotten ridiculously out of hand with flaming/name-calling, however there is at the core of this a good discussion that should be protected and cultivated. You have a good argument here, one I initially strongly disagree with, but now it appears you've changed your stance, so now I'm confused. Sifting through the crap in this thread is just stupid.

Your last statement was: "Punk is just not the man that will grow this business."

I agree with that, 100%. John Cena was that guy, and I think The Miz will be that guy too. CM Punk is the Steve Austin/Ric Flair guy that is the face of the company that keeps wrestling fans happy and keeps the IWC/wrestling life-long fans coming back week in, week out.

Flair and Austin, and yes CM Punk too, are guys I've never really 'liked' in terms of marking out and telling my friends all about them and blah blah blah. But I've always respected them and what they've done for the industry. They all fill that same niche, they keep the hardcore fans happy, meanwhile you've got your Rocks, Hogans, and Cenas around to draw in the casual viewers and bring in new viewership. Both are absolutely and vitally essential and they both need to take turns on top to keep viewership up.

Despite what the hardcore fans like to say about Cena, he's been doing an amazing job at bringing in new viewership (afterall who is his dedicated demographic supposed to be? The next generation of viewers of course, aka kids), it's just the lifers that have been leaving. Enter CM Punk and those guys that have been leaving are coming back in droves. Now you wanna talk about the loss of viewership? I'd blame ADR, not Punk, afterall during that timeframe you've given it's ADR that's been champion longest, and that comes on the heels of Punk getting 'screwed' out of the title.

So I don't know where you're pulling your numbers from, but can you tell which demographic is sinking and which is growing? Because I promise you the 18-35 year old male crowd is growing, and it's other demographics that are shrinking.

 

[ryan86]

This was my initial argument, it just got wayyyyyyy taken out of context with hyperbaly(sp?) and i can only post so much in one post. It might take me 3 post to fully explain my reasoning, but in a nut shell, the one you just read is how iv'e felt 100%. Never changed. But you have the marks and flame throwers who take everything on a life of it's own. So when your left defending against 150 different people, all taking your thinking into their own small context and bastardizing the original intent, it's hard to change the preception and set the record straight.

 

[Peoples_Champ]

^ Hyperbole. You're welcome. And btw, I don't think it was hyperbole that took your arguments out of context, it was reasoned logic.

I agree that Punk is a bit overrated, but he is the most entertaining man on the mic right now and he's one of the best wrestlers in the company. I would argue Dolph and Cody are better wrestlers, but in my opinion, the last wrestler to have the mic & wrestling package together on a level similar to Punk would be Shawn Michaels. Shawn was no Steve Austin, but he was a Superstar by any definition. CM Punk needs a couple more 5-star matches to be on Shawn's level, but he's on his way there.

Also, don't forget, Punk is 33 and probably has 3-5 more years left as an everyday wrestler. He still has some time to create a legacy for himself - which, lets be honest, nobody can deny that he definitely will do (barring injury).