CM Punk is great! however he doesnt draw money!

[Matt7584]

Summer time is usually a low time for the wwe. Kids are away at summer camp and people are on vacation. But a 2.9 Raw rating is pathetic. For all the youtube and wrestlezone hits the infamous promo got, the fan reaction was a 2.9 rating before a ppv. Tell me he is draw?
MITB will not get wrestlemania number nor will it get royal rumble rumble numbers, it will have a better buy rate then Capital punishment, but then again any fresh ppv could do that. Tell me how he is a draw?
The promo was amazing, awesome, and fresh. He is great on the mic but how does that make him the total package (sorry lex), it doesnt. Hes not worth the money but then again besides Cena who is?
When Punk is getting a reaction his response is to yell at the fans instead of embracing his cheers, he ignores it. Why? becuase hes not comfortable being the man. He doesnt appreciate the fans. HBK, Bret, Austin, the Rock, Flair, Hogan, and Cena knew when they needed to accept or decline the fans to further a story. CM punk cant, hes a better Jeff hardy becuase hes sober and a better talker and worker. But Hardy wasnt a draw. Hes a lower Jericho who has never been a draw, amazing worker but his absence hasnt fazed the fans nor did he ever sell out buildings. His books did well but he neverer had the fans around his fingers.
CM punk should take time off but anyone who thinks the WWE is screwed if he isnt signed back doesnt understand the business and if he is signed back then vince forgot the business. The WWE needs stars to sell out merchanside and staduiums but CM punk just aint that guy. Why? becuase CM Punk cant be it and i wish he could.

What do you think?

 

[orton0384]

I did not realize mark madden changed his name to matt. Lol. Anyways its really sounding as though anyone not john cena or smaller than cena you have no faith in or wish to wait for them to find their spot or niche. Steve williams had hogan and flair and others blockading his way. When the stars aligned he became really good. That shit didn't happen overnight. I believe it took more than a decade. Cm punk has the cenation agenda to contend with. Unlike hbk who had political stroke people like punk have to wait it out. If you gave the man time and opportunity it could happen. Please dont tell me he should done it bang on in one month because your roided out buddy cena took a lil time to get to where he is today. Have faith. Or don't i dont give a fuck im gonna wait it out.

 

[kvtiger_8]

You can't really blame a Raw rating on one guy. Punk has been on a roll lately, and I think the PPV buys will show that

As far as "appreciating his fans," he's a heel. He's not really supposed to appreciate the fans as much as the big faces like Cena.

If you're expecting him to outsell Cena in merchandise, that's not going to happen. He is quite a commodity now, though, so who knows, he may sell a lot of merchandise in the future. That is, if he stays with the company.

 

[MMK]

The WWE needs stars to sell out merchanside and staduiums but CM punk just aint that guy. Why? becuase CM Punk cant be it.

I believe those are the exact words one Eric Bischoff told Steve Austin as he fired him over the phone while Austin sat at home nursing an injury. Boy did that come back to bite Bischoff in the ass. I believe his exact quote was "you just can't market a small guy in black trunks". Pretty much what you're suggesting here with Punk.

Punks Money. Bank on it. Its not Punk that cant sell. Its WWE's current product. Punk doesnt need to change anything. It's everyone else that needs to change their way of thinking and catch up to him.

 

[TheTruNoLimit]

Summer time is usually a low time for the wwe. Kids are away at summer camp and people are on vacation. But a 2.9 Raw rating is pathetic. For all the youtube and wrestlezone hits the infamous promo got, the fan reaction was a 2.9 rating before a ppv. Tell me he is draw?
MITB will not get wrestlemania number nor will it get royal rumble rumble numbers, it will have a better buy rate then Capital punishment, but then again any fresh ppv could do that. Tell me how he is a draw?
The promo was amazing, awesome, and fresh. He is great on the mic but how does that make him the total package (sorry lex), it doesnt. Hes not worth the money but then again besides Cena who is?
When Punk is getting a reaction his response is to yell at the fans instead of embracing his cheers, he ignores it. Why? becuase hes not comfortable being the man. He doesnt appreciate the fans. HBK, Bret, Austin, the Rock, Flair, Hogan, and Cena knew when they needed to accept or decline the fans to further a story. CM punk cant, hes a better Jeff hardy becuase hes sober and a better talker and worker. But Hardy wasnt a draw. Hes a lower Jericho who has never been a draw, amazing worker but his absence hasnt fazed the fans nor did he ever sell out buildings. His books did well but he neverer had the fans around his fingers.
CM punk should take time off but anyone who thinks the WWE is screwed if he isnt signed back doesnt understand the business and if he is signed back then vince forgot the business. The WWE needs stars to sell out merchanside and staduiums but CM punk just aint that guy. Why? becuase CM Punk cant be it and i wish he could.

What do you think?

Sure, a 2.9 sucks, but take it in comparison to the 2.4 it drew last week? This week, everyone knew Punk was going to be on Raw, it was announced in advance and it draws a 2.9. The previous week, without Punk draws a 2.4. The week of his epic promo drew a 3.1. If anything, I can argue with you that in 2 out of 3 weeks the ratings were both higher with Punk on the TV than without him.

Now, to argue your other points... sure, Punk isn't going to top Cena in merchandise sales, we all get that and Punk isn't going to sell more tickets than John Cena... we get that as well. BUT, the reactions that Punk has been getting the last couple weeks PROVES that people are interested in CM Punk. It proves that even with a John Cena and Randy Orton out there, Punk has the skills and with the right angle the ability to be a hotter commodity than either one of the WWE's supermen.

Third... of course Punk isn't going to "embrace" fans. Why the heck would he? The fact that he's a heel should be enough to explain this... but the fact that he's a heel who still acknowledges what "wrestling" fans want and is in a way sticking up for them and having everyone eating out of the palm of his hand proves how over he is with the live audience.

CM Punk could be a new generations Stone Cold in the sense that he could become over with the fans and appeal to adults. Guess what that means? If the adult is really into the product, then you get more PPV buys because frankly, "little jimmy" doesn't have to beg mom and dad to order a PPV because John Cena is on it. Maybe mom/dad want to order the PPV themselves because of CM Punk and other wrestlers who are in the same vain as Punk.

Get where I'm going? Losing Punk is just bad for business. Sure, the business will be ok without him and maybe it won't drastically improve if he stays, but you're not taking a chance. It's a low risk/high reward situation. Despite John Cena, Punk is THE guy right now. He has the entire wrestling world spinning. It's about as hot as you can be without being "the man" and the more grown up taste of the last few Raw's has made Raw as good as it's been in a while. They are doing compelling TV without being overly vulgar. It's just straight up passion and in the end, for a ship that is barely afloat without the likes of HHH, Taker, Batista, HBK, Edge, Jericho, etc., WWE needs ALL the starpower it can get... and that's what's good for business.

 

[TM Punk]

Last week was the BIG vince mcmahon/john cena showdown we've all been dying to see. Cm punk was nowhere to be found *cough* 2.4 rating. I know, I know, we the IWC read the spoilers, but (according to eric bischoff) not even a quarter of wrestling fans go on these sights. No CM Punk 2.4 rating. CM Punk rant, 3.1 rating. Or was it the big R Truth vs Cena match that drew in peoples attention? Now this week CM Punk reemerges and its a 2.9 up from a 2.4. Not to mention (I have not looked into this so I'm taking his word for it) my friend whom I work with tried to buy a CM Punk shirt from WWE shop. Sold out. Every one of them. You're right though, he doesn't draw money. My bad.

 

[Da Truth]

Thing about CM Punk is that he doesn't really fit into the this era of pg wrestling. If he was in the attitude era or the short live ruthless agression era he would be the man. He's a great all around entertainer; it's gonna take time to change the audience train of thought of how a wrestling show should be. With time and good writing Punk could probably be a pretty good draw.

 

[bighomie]

In short Raw drew a 2.9 because of the MLB All-Star festivities specifically the Homerun Derby on ESPN. That has nothing to do w/ Punk not being able to draw. Next weeks RAW will draw no lower than a 3.7. And if he stays after MITB and continues to be a focal point those #'s will consistently be in the 3.2-3.7 range.

 

[Barbedwire Ropes]

You want to know what I think? I think this has got to be the absolute worst post I've ever seen on these forums the entire time I've been a member and for so many different reasons...

First off, your grammar is atrocious.

But back to the real point at hand. If you do not think CM Punk is a draw then you are out of your fucking mind dude. He may not be a top merchandise seller but there is more to being a "draw" then just selling toy belts and t-shirts. Now of course, that's a huge part of it but CM Punk sells his fair share of merchandise and has helped to keep Nexus stuff moving at a decent rate. There have also been a few times where Punk stuff has been sold out on WWE.com, so...someone is buying. But more than just that, being a draw means you are able to draw people into the product for the benefit of the company. I'm pretty confident in the fact that Vince McMahon would gladly trade in $50,000 worth of t-shirt sales just to get more exposure and buzz that the CM Punk promo/angle has gotten him. That had EVERYONE talking, inside and outside the wrestling world. No one says a damn thing when Cena wins yet another match because no one cares. You also have to take into account demographics. John Cena is marketed to children and females. But if you ask any male over the age of 18, they are going to pick CM Punk over John Cena 9 times out of 10.

Lets all be honest here, this is the first time in almost a decade where purchasing a third-tier pay-per-view seems like a good idea and it has nothing to do with the PPV's name matches. It has everything to do with CM Punk and the legitimate aspect of endless possibilities with the main event. The reason for this; CM Punk. I know I will be buying this PPV - the first since Wrestlemania - and I know quite a few others personally that will be doing the same. Why? CM Punk. I can sure as hell tell you its not because of Kelly Kelly vs Brie Bella.

Not to mention that trying to pin a bad RAW rating on someone, anyone is one of the most idiotic things I've ever heard and you are basically saying the Raw rating went down because of CM Punk's awesome promo? Are you serious, bro? (cheap Zack Ryder plug.) I mind as well say TNA's ratings are bad because the British Invasion doesn't drink tea mid-match. The logic just isn't there and you are way off base on that assumption.

You are saying that WWE Superstars need to sell out merchandise and arenas. Yet, you want to get rid of one of the very few people in WWE that has the potential to do so? Do you really think Primo, JTG or Vladimir Kozlov can step up and sell out arenas? That was sarcasm by the way, and if you really do think that then I'm sorry for even taking the effort to reply to your post. There are very few people that have the potential to sell out arenas right now and by the way you are talking and the points you are bringing up - you should be begging for CM Punk to stay. Did you HEAR and SEE the live crowd on RAW and their reactions to Punk? John Cena's HOMETOWN crowd?? That, if anything, should be a big enough indication that CM Punk is a draw and has even more crossover appeal than John Cena ever could. His own hometown was booing him, from the get-go.

Also, you want to know why CM Punk avoided the cheering and fan support in the past? Because he is supposed to play the role of the HEEL. He is supposed to be against the fans. It wasn't really until this Monday night on RAW that he finally started to push against the grain and use the support of the live crowd as leverage. But the fact remains the same, heels are meant to go against the crowd. When they do, it means they are doing their job properly.

I could honestly go on for about another half hour and 20 paragraphs about this topic but I think I should stop myself now before I go on to much of a rant.

 

[dman1373]

Summer time is usually a low time for the wwe. Kids are away at summer camp and people are on vacation. But a 2.9 Raw rating is pathetic. For all the youtube and wrestlezone hits the infamous promo got, the fan reaction was a 2.9 rating before a ppv. Tell me he is draw?
MITB will not get wrestlemania number nor will it get royal rumble rumble numbers, it will have a better buy rate then Capital punishment, but then again any fresh ppv could do that. Tell me how he is a draw?
The promo was amazing, awesome, and fresh. He is great on the mic but how does that make him the total package (sorry lex), it doesnt. Hes not worth the money but then again besides Cena who is?
When Punk is getting a reaction his response is to yell at the fans instead of embracing his cheers, he ignores it. Why? becuase hes not comfortable being the man. He doesnt appreciate the fans. HBK, Bret, Austin, the Rock, Flair, Hogan, and Cena knew when they needed to accept or decline the fans to further a story. CM punk cant, hes a better Jeff hardy becuase hes sober and a better talker and worker. But Hardy wasnt a draw. Hes a lower Jericho who has never been a draw, amazing worker but his absence hasnt fazed the fans nor did he ever sell out buildings. His books did well but he neverer had the fans around his fingers.
CM punk should take time off but anyone who thinks the WWE is screwed if he isnt signed back doesnt understand the business and if he is signed back then vince forgot the business. The WWE needs stars to sell out merchanside and staduiums but CM punk just aint that guy. Why? becuase CM Punk cant be it and i wish he could.

What do you think?

I could tell that you are completely ******ed when i heard you say jericho and hardy weren't draws. Especially since jericho was the first undisputed champion and one of the few wrestlers that my sister knows (and thats saying alot). He closed a wm with hogan vs rock and austin vs hall on it.

And Jeff Hardy was at one time the second most popular face. He was a great draw with the hardy boys and a great draw by himself.

And when you talk about ratings with cm punk, you obviously din't know about austins rise. Stone cold was in the midst of a great fued(the fued that made him) with bret hart and had an epic match at wrestlemania with. Raw ratings at that time were crap. It took a while for the ratings to catch up with the product. Actually about a little less than a year. And if your talking about selling out stadiums and stuff, look at this years wrestlemania. It took months and months for those to sell out when years past it only took hours. If that doesn't show how much the wwe needs to be shakin up then i don't know what does.

 

[The Underking]

Punk doesn't draw the 2.4 was cause of the Fourth of July if you forgot. Punk was the storyline on RAW this week and it ended up badly it seems. Punk does great work with the live crowds but it seems that doesn't translate to TV Rating. Now Ratings are everything easy money and Punk isn't. With that said I don't remember many people being drawn in by guys like Ted Dibiase Sr, Earthquake, Jake Roberts. Why they're all heels they are supposed to battle the good guy who will get the rating.

Last night Punk didn't have Cena to play off he had arguably the greatest heel of all time in Vince MacMahon. I'm sure Punk won't be the next Cena if or when he turns face but I could see him atleast at around Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio level.

 

[Karaoke Superstar]

Summer time is usually a low time for the wwe. Kids are away at summer camp and people are on vacation. But a 2.9 Raw rating is pathetic. For all the youtube and wrestlezone hits the infamous promo got, the fan reaction was a 2.9 rating before a ppv. Tell me he is draw?
MITB will not get wrestlemania number nor will it get royal rumble rumble numbers, it will have a better buy rate then Capital punishment, but then again any fresh ppv could do that. Tell me how he is a draw?
The promo was amazing, awesome, and fresh. He is great on the mic but how does that make him the total package (sorry lex), it doesnt. Hes not worth the money but then again besides Cena who is?
When Punk is getting a reaction his response is to yell at the fans instead of embracing his cheers, he ignores it. Why? becuase hes not comfortable being the man. He doesnt appreciate the fans. HBK, Bret, Austin, the Rock, Flair, Hogan, and Cena knew when they needed to accept or decline the fans to further a story. CM punk cant, hes a better Jeff hardy becuase hes sober and a better talker and worker. But Hardy wasnt a draw. Hes a lower Jericho who has never been a draw, amazing worker but his absence hasnt fazed the fans nor did he ever sell out buildings. His books did well but he neverer had the fans around his fingers.
CM punk should take time off but anyone who thinks the WWE is screwed if he isnt signed back doesnt understand the business and if he is signed back then vince forgot the business. The WWE needs stars to sell out merchanside and staduiums but CM punk just aint that guy. Why? becuase CM Punk cant be it and i wish he could.

What do you think?

Honestly, outside of VKM and the shareholders who should give a shit who's a draw? Almost everybody that gets time on TV or a PPV draws money, unless you think people will tune in to see John Cena cut a promo on himself and then wrestle himself. And the logic that anybody who is not a big draw is just hogging up roster space, is just plain silly. WWE has always had 1 or 2, no more than 3, top dogs at a time that they build the company around. You're only gonna see one Hulk Hogan, or John Cena at a time. People that can put on good matches and provide good content are just as important, to keep viewers tuned in and satisfied.

But that is all irrelevant, because Punk is above that. His promo was responsible for a spike in ratings, and I predict he will sell a lot of buys for MITB. He is now starting to breakout to become a top guy, and there are still people who judge him on the rating of one show. But if you're into numbers here's something for you: this week's raw was 2.9 but the Raw before that was 2.4, and Punk wasn't even on the show last week, but Cena was. So what does that say?

 

[TM Punk]

Thing about CM Punk is that he doesn't really fit into the this era of pg wrestling. If he was in the attitude era or the short live ruthless agression era he would be the man. He's a great all around entertainer; it's gonna take time to change the audience train of thought of how a wrestling show should be. With time and good writing Punk could probably be a pretty good draw.

STOP CALLING IT THE PG ERA!!! The WWE was pg looooong before, and will be loooong after the short lived attitude era. They are swearing just as much right now as they did back then. Do you wanna see cm punk do something sex related? Because that's why attitude was tv 14. Read a book. I apologize for that last part. And I checked, all cm punk shirts a normal sized person would wear are sold out on wwe shop. So if the big show wants one, he's about the only person who can buy one.

 

[sand99]

These ratings isn't really due to the fact Punk can't draw (which he can). It was due to the fact Raw was competing with the 4th of July show Punk wasn't on (which was also taped beforehand and people can read spoilers) and the Home Run Derby that happened. I for one didn't really care for fireworks and I for damn sure didn't want to watch guys hitting hundreds of balls to the crowd, but millions of Americans do.

 

[fenfool]

The PPV buys & next week's Raw will be an interesting litmus test. With the internet abuzz on Punk, do the numbers support the buzz, or is Bischoff right about the IWC making up 10% of the wrestling audience, statistically insignificant as far as who to market to? The 2.4 rating during a taped Raw was expected, frankly I expected this week to do better, but the MITB buys (in Punk's hometown, no less) & next week's Raw rating will tell am interesting story.

 

[Slyfox696]

Punks Money. Bank on it. Its not Punk that cant sell. Its WWE's current product. Punk doesnt need to change anything. It's everyone else that needs to change their way of thinking and catch up to him.

The delusional thinking of CM Punk fans. It's not Punk's fault, it's everyone else's fault.

Sure, a 2.9 sucks, but take it in comparison to the 2.4 it drew last week?

You mean on the 4th of July, the American holiday for Independence?

But back to the real point at hand. If you do not think CM Punk is a draw then you are out of your fucking mind dude. He may not be a top merchandise seller but there is more to being a "draw" then just selling toy belts and t-shirts. Now of course, that's a huge part of it but CM Punk sells his fair share of merchandise and has helped to keep Nexus stuff moving at a decent rate. There have also been a few times where Punk stuff has been sold out on WWE.com, so...someone is buying. But more than just that, being a draw means you are able to draw people into the product for the benefit of the company. I'm pretty confident in the fact that Vince McMahon would gladly trade in $50,000 worth of t-shirt sales just to get more exposure and buzz that the CM Punk promo/angle has gotten him. That had EVERYONE talking, inside and outside the wrestling world. No one says a damn thing when Cena wins yet another match because no one cares. You also have to take into account demographics. John Cena is marketed to children and females. But if you ask any male over the age of 18, they are going to pick CM Punk over John Cena 9 times out of 10.

Lets all be honest here, this is the first time in almost a decade where purchasing a third-tier pay-per-view seems like a good idea and it has nothing to do with the PPV's name matches. It has everything to do with CM Punk and the legitimate aspect of endless possibilities with the main event. The reason for this; CM Punk. I know I will be buying this PPV - the first since Wrestlemania - and I know quite a few others personally that will be doing the same. Why? CM Punk. I can sure as hell tell you its not because of Kelly Kelly vs Brie Bella.

Not to mention that trying to pin a bad RAW rating on someone, anyone is one of the most idiotic things I've ever heard and you are basically saying the Raw rating went down because of CM Punk's awesome promo? Are you serious, bro? (cheap Zack Ryder plug.) I mind as well say TNA's ratings are bad because the British Invasion doesn't drink tea mid-match. The logic just isn't there and you are way off base on that assumption.

You are saying that WWE Superstars need to sell out merchandise and arenas. Yet, you want to get rid of one of the very few people in WWE that has the potential to do so? Do you really think Primo, JTG or Vladimir Kozlov can step up and sell out arenas? That was sarcasm by the way, and if you really do think that then I'm sorry for even taking the effort to reply to your post. There are very few people that have the potential to sell out arenas right now and by the way you are talking and the points you are bringing up - you should be begging for CM Punk to stay. Did you HEAR and SEE the live crowd on RAW and their reactions to Punk? John Cena's HOMETOWN crowd?? That, if anything, should be a big enough indication that CM Punk is a draw and has even more crossover appeal than John Cena ever could. His own hometown was booing him, from the get-go.

Also, you want to know why CM Punk avoided the cheering and fan support in the past? Because he is supposed to play the role of the HEEL. He is supposed to be against the fans. It wasn't really until this Monday night on RAW that he finally started to push against the grain and use the support of the live crowd as leverage. But the fact remains the same, heels are meant to go against the crowd. When they do, it means they are doing their job properly.

I could honestly go on for about another half hour and 20 paragraphs about this topic but I think I should stop myself now before I go on to much of a rant.

There is so much wrong with your post, I don't know where to begin. First of all, Punk has yet to prove himself as a draw. Punk was absolutely atrocious as a face, and anyone with any common sense knows faces draw fans, not heels.

Punk has the Internet wrestling fans in a tizzy. But he hasn't proven himself a draw, and to say he has is silly. If he was such a big draw, his contract signing would have boosted ratings much more than a 2.9. I'm not laying all the blame on him, that's unfair, but it was the "main-event" of Raw, and it didn't keep fans watching. Blame it on Home Run Derby if you want (a fair excuse), but Punk still hasn't proven himself a draw.

And by the way, Primo? Kozlov? Who the fuck has ever said they were going to be the big draws? But why are you not talking about Cena or Orton or Riley or Miz or Sin Cara, the guys who look like they're going to be the big players for years to come? There are plenty of guys with the potential to be big draws in the years to come. And you mentioning curtain jerkers doesn't make Punk better by comparison, it just makes you look sad.


I've been entertained by Punk the last couple of weeks (probably the first time I've ever said that), but it's because he's breaking the proverbial fourth wall, because he's breaking kayfabe which causes the "what is he going to do next" shock value. Unfortunately, you can only shock people so much before they tune you out, so unless Punk can continue this run with WWE storyline material, it's unlikely he'll ever be the big draw you're claiming he can be.


CM Punk is like an Owen Hart. Better on the mic, lesser in the ring, but the value to the company is fairly similar. And unless he learns to work better as a face, and work a much more convincing offensive portion of a match, he'll never be a big draw. He's never going to be the guy people are going to lay down money to watch him kick someone's ass. That's what a draw is, and I never see Punk being that guy.

 

[KerryForrest]

I think based on what I've read here and in the media, and watching the reactions on TV Punk is a draw. I can't connect with him, but I'm just one person. Just because one person doesn't care for a guy doesn't mean he's not over with everyone else.

I have to admit I hope this story goes somewhere soon, that is as socking and interesting as can be, to make up for me having to watch Punk so much. But of course the world is screaming for him, so give the world what they want.

I just know next I get to suffer through an ADR Feud in the spotlight. The world is screaming, I don't connect, but its just me. And to the OP, while you believe what you say, and what you so inelegantly stated, you are only one person too.

 

[TheHitMark-SirJoseOle]

You want to know what I think? I think this has got to be the absolute worst post I've ever seen on these forums the entire time I've been a member and for so many different reasons...

First off, your grammar is atrocious.

Yeah, the OP has some rough spots in his grammar, and I am far from being a grammatical god myself. However, I have read your bullshit posts too, and you are from from the judge, jury and executioner over the quality of someone's grammar and syntax.

But back to the real point at hand. If you do not think CM Punk is a draw then you are out of your fucking mind dude. He may not be a top merchandise seller but there is more to being a "draw" then just selling toy belts and t-shirts. Now of course, that's a huge part of it but CM Punk sells his fair share of merchandise and has helped to keep Nexus stuff moving at a decent rate. There have also been a few times where Punk stuff has been sold out on WWE.com, so...someone is buying. But more than just that, being a draw means you are able to draw people into the product for the benefit of the company. I'm pretty confident in the fact that Vince McMahon would gladly trade in $50,000 worth of t-shirt sales just to get more exposure and buzz that the CM Punk promo/angle has gotten him. That had EVERYONE talking, inside and outside the wrestling world. No one says a damn thing when Cena wins yet another match because no one cares. You also have to take into account demographics. John Cena is marketed to children and females. But if you ask any male over the age of 18, they are going to pick CM Punk over John Cena 9 times out of 10.

In all honesty, I am actually in agreement with you about what your'e saying in response to the OP, although I still think you're a douchebag anyway, but that's just my opinion. I will admit CM Punk is a performer I'd prefer to watch over John Cena. However, people over 18 aren't who Vince caters to these days and sadly enough guys like CM Punk I still think draw despite what the OP has said.

Lets all be honest here, this is the first time in almost a decade where purchasing a third-tier pay-per-view seems like a good idea and it has nothing to do with the PPV's name matches. It has everything to do with CM Punk and the legitimate aspect of endless possibilities with the main event. The reason for this; CM Punk. I know I will be buying this PPV - the first since Wrestlemania - and I know quite a few others personally that will be doing the same. Why? CM Punk. I can sure as hell tell you its not because of Kelly Kelly vs Brie Bella.

Actually to be honest, there have been several pay per views over the past decade that are "third tier" that have been just as intriguing as this one. Practically anything that involved guys like Eddie Guerrero and The Undertaker (both their feuds with Batista were carried over to events like No Mercy and Backlash and boy were those matches something else, Eddie's temptation to keep "heeling it up" at No Mercy 2005 and Tista and Taker's stand still draw at Backlash 2007 say it all). Because let's be honest, there's a good possibility that the ending to the Punk and Cena match is going to be sullied by whoever wins the RAW MITB. Last year SmackDown pulled it so WWE is probably going to have the RAW winner jump in on the vulnerable winner of Punk and Cena. Like we've never seen THAT before. Personally, I'm going for Punk but I'm not very optimistic that it will happen and if it does expect to see a Jeff Hardy redux from Extreme Rules 2009 possibly happen.

Not to mention that trying to pin a bad RAW rating on someone, anyone is one of the most idiotic things I've ever heard and you are basically saying the Raw rating went down because of CM Punk's awesome promo? Are you serious, bro? (cheap Zack Ryder plug.) I mind as well say TNA's ratings are bad because the British Invasion doesn't drink tea mid-match. The logic just isn't there and you are way off base on that assumption.

Yeah, I agree on this too, the lower ratings are not something I would blame on Punk or even Cena. I think the guys we have now in there are great talents, it's just that wrestling's been in a valley instead of a peak these past few years. It's just the nature of the beast. But again you're still a fuckball, sorry to break it to ya.

You are saying that WWE Superstars need to sell out merchandise and arenas. Yet, you want to get rid of one of the very few people in WWE that has the potential to do so? Do you really think Primo, JTG or Vladimir Kozlov can step up and sell out arenas? That was sarcasm by the way, and if you really do think that then I'm sorry for even taking the effort to reply to your post. There are very few people that have the potential to sell out arenas right now and by the way you are talking and the points you are bringing up - you should be begging for CM Punk to stay. Did you HEAR and SEE the live crowd on RAW and their reactions to Punk? John Cena's HOMETOWN crowd?? That, if anything, should be a big enough indication that CM Punk is a draw and has even more crossover appeal than John Cena ever could. His own hometown was booing him, from the get-go.

Also, you want to know why CM Punk avoided the cheering and fan support in the past? Because he is supposed to play the role of the HEEL. He is supposed to be against the fans. It wasn't really until this Monday night on RAW that he finally started to push against the grain and use the support of the live crowd as leverage. But the fact remains the same, heels are meant to go against the crowd. When they do, it means they are doing their job properly.

Very valid point about Punk's ability to sell himself as a heel, it was nice to see my home state now give Cena all the love despite him being from Massachusetts. Again, like I said CM Punk is fine by me, I'm sold. I would like to see him stick around in WWE since he is one of the guys that draws me to watch it's just a shame he has an asshole like you for a fan.

I could honestly go on for about another half hour and 20 paragraphs about this topic but I think I should stop myself now before I go on to much of a rant.

But quite honestly no one wants you to, you stupid asshole. You more than made your tired and ridiculous point. Please just fuck off, you'd be doing us all a big favor.

 

[TM Punk]

:lmao

Punk has the Internet wrestling fans in a tizzy. But he hasn't proven himself a draw, and to say he has is silly. If he was such a big draw, his contract signing would have boosted ratings much more than a 2.9. I'm not laying all the blame on him, that's unfair, but it was the "main-event" of Raw, and it didn't keep fans watching. Blame it on Home Run Derby if you want (a fair excuse), but Punk still hasn't proven himself a draw.


I've been entertained by Punk the last couple of weeks (probably the first time I've ever said that), but it's because he's breaking the proverbial fourth wall, because he's breaking kayfabe which causes the "what is he going to do next" shock value. Unfortunately, you can only shock people so much before they tune you out, so unless Punk can continue this run with WWE storyline material, it's unlikely he'll ever be the big draw you're claiming he can be.


CM Punk is like an Owen Hart. Better on the mic, lesser in the ring, but the value to the company is fairly similar. And unless he learns to work better as a face, and work a much more convincing offensive portion of a match, he'll never be a big draw. He's never going to be the guy people are going to lay down money to watch him kick someone's ass. That's what a draw is, and I never see Punk being that guy.

First of all, the home run derby thing is not an excuse. Its a fact that it hurt raws ratings. Wait till you see the ratings for that segment, and the first segment before you say he didn't draw ratings. A 2.9 during a major sporting event is pretty impressive to me. And as I mentioned before all of his normal sized (small - large) men's shirts are sold out on wwe shop. Did you know people pay money for those??? Also I don't know if you knew this, but people other than the iwc accounted for purchasing those shirts.

So is it supposed to anger me that you usually aren't entertained by cm punk? That's your opinion. I for one find articulate, intelligent people who continuously (not just the past three weeks) tell it like it is.

You also said he was awful as a face... I respect your opinion. I like to speak factually. And the fact of the matter is if you watch wrestlemania 23, he had one of the biggest pops of the night. As he did throughout 06 and 07. Did his face run slow down in 08? Yes, it did. But you can only do so much when you aren't allowed mic time. Guarantee you he was on some collectors cups in 07.

Lastly, comparing CM Punk to Owen is stupid. They are nothing alike, not even close. What you meant to say is that CM Punk is like Jake the Snake Roberts. His promos and his use of psycology are right on par with Roberts. Not to mention the fact that he is underutilized, and seeminglly unappreciated for all of his hard work. Name one perrson besides Miz who's worked harder in the past year than CM Punk? As for people not wanting to buy a ppv to see punk beat someones ass, wait till the buys for mitb come out. I guarantee no one is paying to see mark henry vs big show.

 

[whoopin' ass]

it is hard to draw after only a couple weeks. to be fair, punk has never been given an extended main event push. you look at jericho - it is fair to say he was not a huge draw his first run through the wwe. punk is in a similar position - no matter how good he was, there was always someone else wwe was pushing so punk would always be secondary. his straight edge society started out strong but got derailed a lot quicker than it should have - him losing his mask on smackdown was not a good idea. him leading the nexus started out strong but quickly got lost in the wrestlemania shuffle. you can't blame him for wwe not getting behind him - he has always done a good job with what they give him. if he had been given this chance 2 years ago, it would be a totally different story. he has been getting great reactions over the last few weeks (geez, he was the face yesterday on RAW) and that would show his drawing power if it was to go on longer.

 

[jccool420]

Punk is great right now... This whole thing just feels like a big worked shoot to me... There is no way Vince would let someone like CM Punk increase the value of his character like Punk has... Say what you want about TNA or Impact Wrestling... But, there is no way CM Punk would not draw atleast some attention to the company if this was all a shoot...

I mean, Jim Rome and other main stream shows wanted Punk to go on their show and tell his stories... What if his contract expired and he said he was going to Impact Wrestling because the only person he hates more than VKM is Hulk Hogan!

I know it is far fetched, but It's possible and thats why I don't understand why Vince let Punk put himself in this position with no contract... i know he doesn't think TNA is a threat, but that's just teasing them if they really release Punk...

Just my opinion... I think Punk is the hottest he's ever been and he would be dumb not to get the pay off somewhere... TNA would pay him the moon right now for a fraction of the workload that he was doing in WWE...

I think he may take a short break, maybe do a ROH show or two and come back to WWE... Like Bryan Danielson did when he was fired...

I would really love to see him in TNA tho...

 

[venombomb]

Remember when Chris Jericho came back? People were freaking out. Chris Jericho even as a bad guy could never really get over as a bad guy because fans look at what he's done and know that the guy gives his all. He gets pops just not as big as Cena or how the kids like. Kids are a large part of the audience and most flip out for anything.

 

[AngryCenaFan]

Summer time is usually a low time for the wwe. Kids are away at summer camp and people are on vacation. But a 2.9 Raw rating is pathetic. For all the youtube and wrestlezone hits the infamous promo got, the fan reaction was a 2.9 rating before a ppv. Tell me he is draw?
MITB will not get wrestlemania number nor will it get royal rumble rumble numbers, it will have a better buy rate then Capital punishment, but then again any fresh ppv could do that. Tell me how he is a draw?
The promo was amazing, awesome, and fresh. He is great on the mic but how does that make him the total package (sorry lex), it doesnt. Hes not worth the money but then again besides Cena who is?
When Punk is getting a reaction his response is to yell at the fans instead of embracing his cheers, he ignores it. Why? becuase hes not comfortable being the man. He doesnt appreciate the fans. HBK, Bret, Austin, the Rock, Flair, Hogan, and Cena knew when they needed to accept or decline the fans to further a story. CM punk cant, hes a better Jeff hardy becuase hes sober and a better talker and worker. But Hardy wasnt a draw. Hes a lower Jericho who has never been a draw, amazing worker but his absence hasnt fazed the fans nor did he ever sell out buildings. His books did well but he neverer had the fans around his fingers.
CM punk should take time off but anyone who thinks the WWE is screwed if he isnt signed back doesnt understand the business and if he is signed back then vince forgot the business. The WWE needs stars to sell out merchanside and staduiums but CM punk just aint that guy. Why? becuase CM Punk cant be it and i wish he could.

What do you think?

Let's wait and see what the PPV numbers are before making this statement, also the fact that WWE ice cream bars was trending on twitter for a few hours, tells me, he can draw. if they bring them back they'd sell a fortune......i would attribute the rating to being in the middle of summer, and also a lack of solid secondary feuds. let's just reserve judgement til we see the buyrates...

 

[BigSexy The IndyKiller]

The problem with Punk is that while he's generating excitement like never before, he's failing at the one thing he's supposed to be doing. He's a heel. He's not supposed to get the fans behind him. The purpose of a heel is to get the face over, not turn the face into a heel. This is not the Attitude Era. That's not the direction WWE is going right now. And let's face it. If not for the angle of Punk leaving, possibly with the title, would anyone really care half as much about the match this Sunday? I know that's the only reason I'm watching. I want to see just how WWE is going to play this out with hopes that they don't do the predictable swerve/brief case cash in....

 

[shafe_41]

haha CM Punk doesn't draw money? Really? You're kidding right? Oh, you're serious? Wow... well that's unfortunate.

Punk's stock has risen so high in the last 2 weeks, Donald Trump would be the only guy that could throw the money at him that could get him to stay. Of course that's a embellishment, but you catch my drift.

So let's talk about how CM Punk can't draw money. He single handedly said "WWE Ice Cream Bars" and had it trending on twitter and as a top search in yahoo. So if they actually still existed, I'll bet you anything people would have hit their local Wal-Mart after Raw was over just to pick up a box. You can't get a CM Punk t-shirt in the WWE shop right now unless you're about a 4XL. Everything else is sold out. And this main even in the upcoming MITB PPV is probably the most anticipated main event for a Non-Big 4 PPV... well... ever. Yeah you're right... he doesn't draw whatsoever.

All your original post did was solidify the argument Punk has made loud and clear the last 2 weeks. He's never been given the ball to properly run with it. Nobody's ever had complete confidence in the guy. So in the past he hasn't drawn because he's never had that one magical breakout moment. But 2 weeks ago, the WWE, Punk, Vince, etc... caught lightening in a bottle with Punk's promo. This week was no different. The only difference between 3 weeks ago and me typing this right now, is within these last 3 weeks, Punk had his moment. This little story going on is Punk's version of Austin 3:16. There is NOBODY drawing better than CM Punk right now. We will just have to keep watching to see if it continues. Because after Punk's promo 2 weeks ago, I was itching to see Raw this week. You know the last time I was itching to catch the next Raw to see how a storyline progressed? Probably not. Because I don't either. Yeah... it's been that long. Between Punk's promo and this week is the first time in a long time any WWE fan will say "Raw is a must see this week." You haven't been able to say that in years. Punk made that happen again. Punk is now a weekly must-see superstar. CM Punk... is here to save the WWE.