CM Punk = Jesus Christ or Charles Manson?

[gd]

After watching Punk's promo on ECW yesterday, it's clear that this is where the WWE is going with this. Punk referred to himself as a "shepard" and said he would "mold the ECW roster in his image." Those are clearly references to Christianity.

Personally, I think that it's a very interesting way to go. He's not coming right out and saying that he's the next Jesus and I'm sure that most fans haven't made the same connection. It also seems more like a cult than an actual religion anyway. Hopefully they can keep this going for awhile though. There are so many ways they can go with it. Maybe Punk eventually does take over the entire roster. Maybe he eventually just snaps and goes on a drinking binge or something.

Whatever they decide to do, I'll be watching with interest.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

I've said this on every forum I've been on, bar this one, but I'm just getting this idea out there, mostly so I can say ''told you so'', but I think....

Spoiler: CM Punk

He's growing the beard and hair just so there's more hair to cut off if that hair vs. mask takes place.

I lie, I won't say ''I told you so'' if that happens, but I will sit smugly at my dining table and give a self-satisfied smile to the cat.

The whole Jesus thing is interesting and sure to annoy some people.

 

[rko102]

I've always loved CM Punk, and the fact that he now uses his Straight Edge gimmick as being what makes him better than other people, I'm totally loving his character. This Straight Edge Society group is a really good idea, and if he starts "saving" someone from the crowd every week, that would really advance his character a lot. The one thing I don't dig is the beard. It's a little too long for my liking. But either way Punk and Batista are the best heels on SmackDown right now....I'd also say Jericho but I pay more attention to him on RAW.

 

[GetsHeat]

I thought of this once the ugly beard and the hair sort of came out and Gallows became more.. well into him.. massaging, hugging, etc..

Very apparent when CM Punk won a match (I forgot which) and gallows immediately came over embracing and massaging Punk on his knees.

 

[KKarvox]

I noticed this too, and i think they are definitly trying to make Punk purposely look like Jesus, and refering to himself as the Savior and saving people too make him seem really crazy, which is interesting, and also also a pretty out there storyline, i'm really interested to see how far they push it. I think it's an excellent idea for Punk, although no one but maybe Gallows will get a real bump from this, if anyone else is added. I' thinking maybe Mike Knox, or Charlie Hass, although I'm not sure either of them would be good bald.

 

[kerplin]

I'm afraid they're going to be like a straight-edge Ministry of Darkness. That's going to be really weird to watch. I suppose the concept of a cult fits into PG though, depending on how you look at it.

I do agree that if they do somehow side this with Christianity that it will turn a lot of viewers away that are hardcore into their faith. But then again since the majority of Americans are Christians, they may not care that much since I'd imagine their biggest source of ratings, and revenue come from the US. Unless of course they're trying to draw in more of a religious crowd? But I doubt touting one of your employees as Christ isn't going to be the way to do it. I guess I'll just wait and see what happens.

On a side note, I've been using the "Savior" gimmick for a year now in the indies...I even grew out a beard for the shows, and my hair...guess I have to switch it up now.

 

[Reddannihilation]

The beard and shaving people bald is sort of cult-like. But outside of that he's really just channelling a lot of media stereotypes on the straight edge culture. A few weeks ago he name dropped a bunch of Straight Edge hardcore punk bands from the 80's in a promo, talking about saving the Youth of Today and that he wasn't a Minor Threat. Really if this faction takes off and Punk gets maybe 3 or 4 guys supporting him he could conduct "sXe bashing" backstage taking out various wrestlers he dislikes. It'd basically be a salute to the late 80's early to mid 90's straight edge crews. So whilst I do see some similarities between Jesus/Christianity and Punk's current attitude/image really to me it comes of more as a more media-style militant interpretation of the straight edge movement adapted for wrestling.

 

[straightedge martyr]

If Punk does indeed recruit more members which is a good possibility. Firstly, who would join? Maybe people like ziggler but not much else. I don't think many current wrestlers would agree to being second to Punk unless they are new to WWE. They would have to have nothing going for them really. And secondly, who would they feud with. There is no other faction of that size to feud with. One would have to be formed to fight them. Kind of like Triple H, Batista and Shane O Mac from early last year. I'm just not sure where they would go.

I'm afraid they'll botch a storyline with great potential.

 

[bvagg619]

I am a big fan of CM Punk and he is probably in my top 3 favorites at the moment I was thinking the exact same thing while watching Smackdown! the beard and the long hair make him look alot like jesus but I would really like to see him make "The Straight Edge Society" into a huge stable on Smackdown! adding maybe another 2 members maybe someone like Evan Bourne who is doing nothing at the moment or a tag team and give him a run with the world title again. CM Punk is a star and if this angle is done right it could be huge for him.

LOOK IT'S BOB
☻/ This is bob, copy paste him on
/▌ every update you see so he can
/ \ take over Wrestlezone. You've been bobbed

 

[TheMainEvent]

I thought the same thing when I saw Punk come out last week with his beard and long hair. The idea of him having a Flock like group and leading them in a cult has alot of really great potential. "Cult Minister" Punk looks to be an interesting angle if done correctly. The Luke and James connection is interesting but hopefully that's not the road they go down.

 

[darqknyt]

It would work.The only problem's that Vince's bound to go over board with the angle, and Punk will be the one who suffers when he's pulled off TV because he's made to do a promo where they diss Catholics or something.Remember the screw up they did with Mohamed Hassan.His whole "Arab-American" heel angle was awesome, for as long as it remained timid.Then Vince goes and puts the guy in a segemnt with f*n jihadists! WTF!!! If they're going to screw up the Straight Edge Ministry like they did Hassan & Divari, then I'd rather they drop it right now.

 

[Schizophrenic]

No question this could go good or bad. But I think I have a good way to keep it going then end it without just dropping it.

Have Punk sav a few more people, maybe three more. Then he saves the best of them all. Bryan. A guy with longer hair and says that he wants to be better than the best. Punk shaves his head and then has a match. After the match (which Punk would lose), Bryan goes after the wrestler and hits a flying knee and locks on the Cattle Mutilation. That's right I want Bryan Danielson in the sXe Society. After a month or two of Danielson and Punk being buddies have Danielson start to see Punk is losing it, because as we all know the guy is gold in the ring and looks decent with a shaved head. Have him refuse to do what Punk wants until Danielson finally snaps and attacks Punk and Gallows ending in them having a match which could be an I Quit Match, proving that Punk is not willing to break himself in a match for this. He could then go on to say that when he heard bones breaking and tendond tearing he realized that what he believes in is good for him, maybe not for the rest of people. He doesn't want to see his followers or his fans be hurt by what they believe.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

Well, there's no way that Punk is taking on a "Jesus-like persona" with him growing his beard and his hair out. Punk is a very noted Atheist, and he used to really annoy people on the Indies with how much of an Atheist he actually is. It's not really surprising, but chances are that he'd reject any type of angle that would require him to have a religious aspect to it.

I'm not really sure what they're building to right now with Punk "saving" people, but I'm very intrigued by it. I think they are building to a cult angle, however, the people that he's saving need to actually stick around for this angle to really start something special. What I like about Punk the most is that he's "right". It is wrong to abuse drugs and alcohol and a lot of us are guilty of it. He comes out and points out everyone's flaws. Whoever comes out and stands up to Punk looks like the real heel for doing so. The only way you're supposed to live is his way.

 

[The Five-Star Frog Splash]

I've been thinking this for a long time, since day 1 of this angle. And I was waiting for someone to tell me Punk was atheist, thanks Brocktoon.

I don't like how he's trying to sound like Jesus, if he acted like Him in real life, then that would be cool, but not this way. I'm very religious and take my Catholic faith seriously. I don't want Punk saying he's the "shepard" or the "savior" because to me that is blasphemy. Punk can pull this angle off and it can be good, but WWE needs to be extremely careful of every word and sentence in Punk's promos, because one wrongly misquoted sentence or any kind of trip up, and the Pope will come on down to SmackDown in the PopeMobile and lay the holy smackdown on Punk's self righteous ass!

Of course the Pope is 80 something years old and wouldn't do such a thing, but still.
Come to think of it, he'd a good host for Raw...and maybe he can punish Vince for thinking of that terrible HBK/God angle.

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

I guess everyone else hasn't quite figured it out yet.

He is playing more of a Charles Manson type cult character more so than he is necessarily playing a Jesus Christ figure. That much should be obvious by the type of beard he has.

(Editing the Thread Title now to evolve the discussion further)

He is basically organizing a cult with him as the Father figure, so to speak, for the followers to do his bidding. Obviously WWE is never going to come out and say this, but just by looking at the type of beard he is growing, it looks nothing like what Americans and Europeans envisioned Christ looking like.

I also am not sure he would necessarily reject an angle just based on religion. He is smart enough to know he is playing a role, nothing more. He is in no position to be rejecting angles.

However, my two cents is that it is Charles Manson more so than Jesus Christ who this character is being based off of.

 

[BladeRunner]

I'd just like to add, that I used to go to a Baptist church with a friend of mine.

And what they would do is the person leading the congregation or whatever would ask if anyone would want to take Jesus into their heart. And if they did, they would walk up to the leader guy, and I guess they would do some kind of prayer or something for em in front of all the people. And then that person was "saved".

And that's pretty much exactly what CM Punk is doing with bringing a person up to the ring, "cleansing him of his sins", and then shaving his head.

Also, the shaving the head part reminds me of Jews and their circumcisions.

 

[GetsHeat]

This latest one was so creepy, reminded me of Cape Fear a lot.. the facial expressions.. some of the touching.. extremely well done by Punk and Gallows.

 

[Freddy4190]

I think this is great. I love it. CM Punk was getting rather boring and un-entertaining. This brings a whole new level of cool to WWE, and it's mildly risque. It's something the WWE hasn't done before. [I think.] I love all the references to the Bible and to it being a Cult. I think it's pretty badass and it reminds of Raven a bit. Keep going on with it.

 

[olympia]

Having been looking on YouTube, it appears as if James is Ted McNaylor from OVW rather than Asher Knight. There's no wrestling, only a few promos. If he has been signed, I'd see him as a Stevie Richards/ sycophant sort of role.

If the whole stable does come to fruition, then I'd hope to see some members become Tag Champs so he can appear across all three brands.

He's an overall good wrestler and can cut an excellent promo when he gets the chance. Ever since he's turned heel and turned on his "brothers", the mobile homers and accepted straight-edge into his life and CM Punk as his saviour. He's probably the biggest heel in OVW now, since 90% of the crowd are alcholic hicks (no pun intended), but that's good for him. I don't see him with WWE or FCW developmental anytime soon, he and Benny The Blessed are bound to win the titles next week... Which is some kid CM Punk saved at a house show. Ted "The Trailer" McNaylor goes by James "Theodore" McNaylor / James the Saved now.

If you want to see him beat up a jobber and cut a promo, go to 42:16 and watch to about 46:00. OVW jobbvers FTW, but at least he's co-main eventing / main eventing now. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xc1duq_ovw-episode-547_sport

That episode is about two weeks old or so. OVW should be uploading the past two weeks tomorrow night (if anybodies intrested), which he basically praises Serena Deeb for joining the society and tells the crowd that she's the greatest OVW women's champion in history.

P.S. Sorry for long post / who was the black guy Punk saved in Wisconisn? Anybody got a clue? I just wanted to give more infro on the 2nd lost soul saved!