CM Punk: Mic Skills or In-Ring Skills?

[Ruthless-RKO]

I think you will all agree with me when I say this is one tough question!!!

What is CM Punk best at?? his Mic Skills or In-Ring Skills???

I think he is great at both!! But if you had to pick 1!!! What would you say??

I'm gonna go with his in-ring skills. I actually watched his SummerSlam match first, and thought it was amazing, and just now, I just watched the MitB match and that was just epic!! There is no doubt he is arguably the best on the mic today, but I think he got better on the mic when he turned heel. He was been putting on easily 4 to 5* matches in his career.. His feuds recently have just been amazing, vs. Rey Mysterio, Jeff Hardy, Randy Orton and John Cena.. Let's not forget his early days as well in ROH. He can talk on the stick and then back it up in the ring, win or lose, he is 1 of the greatest in-ring performers today..

What would you pick??

 

[Hunted-RKO]

I Agree with you when you say this is a hard one His great at both,and i simply can NOT decide lol.There other guys at the moment who have good mic skills too but His ring skills are on a different level compare to others.Maybe Daniel Bryan,Christian could hang with him but he uses a completly different set of moves to everyone else.At Summerlslam he used a realy unique set of moves which made the match up great,aswell as at Money In The Bank.He is the best on the mic today,everything he says you know has a meaning to it,and can back up what he says.His couple of last promos have been unscipted and he nailed everyone promo.That proves how good he is,Im no doubt a CM Punk Mark!!! Every time his on the stick you want to hear every word he says because his gonna say something which 'Crosses the lines' or is damn good and entertaining.I simply can't decide his great at both!

 

[Mantis]

I like CM Punk's in-ring style and moveset, but he can occasionally be sloppy. He had some botchy moments at MitB, but it was a really long match so I won't be too critical on him.

Since Jericho left, Punk has been head and shoulders above everyone else (including some guy named Dwayne). After he abandoned his bland, happy-go-lucky character in his feud with Jeff Hardy, he has consistently been gold on the mic. His words actually have substance, unlike others, who just try to dazzle the audience with silly catchphrases. Whether its with his classic promos like the 2010 Royal Rumble and the Shoot, or the little things he does like shouting out "I'M FLYING" or wearing a Stone Cold T-shirt for his shoot promo, I think his personality and mic skills are what's best about him.

 

[kapone21]

The thing about Punk, his stick work don't out shine his ring work and that goes both ways.
He is in a spot where you cant say any one thing about Punk made him stand out! Like Y2J.
So to chose one I would say stick skills because if i went blind i could still hear the promos, and if i went def i would have closed caption and lip reading to go with.

 

[The Future Rises]

CM Punk is a great talker and a great in ring talent. He's one of those guys that has the two major factors that you need to have to make it big in this business.

I honestly coiuldn't decide first. But then I remembered all the good promos Punk has done in the past even before his "Voice of the voicless" character and decided to go with mic skills. Punk is just so creative when he has a mic in his hand. He always has something to say that gets the teenage-adult crowd pumped up.

Of course I'm not taking anything away from Punk's in ring skill he's phenomenal in the ring. It's just that his promos are always very entertaining because Punk knows how to combine both his mic skills and all the creative things he comes up with that all makes for a very good promo.

 

[S.J. Maximus]

CM Punk is very talented but there should be no doubt that his true strength is his mic work. I've yet to hear him botch on the mic one time, and he's given more mic time than just about everyone else in the WWE. He was the commentator for months, he was given 10 minutes of mic time during the 2010 Royal Rumble, was given 5 minutes of mic time during Elimination Chamber 2010, and many more unprecedented promos that he hit way out of the park. I think Punk has proven that he is the best on the mic in the industry today and that he one day deserves to be talked about as one of the top guys on the mic ever.

Why did the IWC fall in love with him? How did this "reality era" start? It wasn't a match, it was his promo. He's in a whole other league and has been since his heel turn in 2009. Watch any promo since then and you'll agree too.

 

[Hulkamaniac]

His in-ring work sucks. It's sloppy, unbelievable, and stolen. His finisher only looks good like 1 out of 5 times. His style never strikes me as realistic. He does possess a certain charisma in the ring, though, so it helps cover up some deficiencies.

On the mic, however, he is gold. Very good mic work, very smooth, and his charisma shines through.

 

[This Is My Name Thank You]

CM PUNK, in ring skills are EHHH, he just looks sloppy and his finisher just never looks good as it did one ECW! or even ROH. He should just use the Andaconda Vice again. His move set is weird to me well more different. I love the running knee in the corner, to the bulldog. Jus looks so sic!!!! I can say it seems like his move set is different as of late. Before in his ECW it was just better. Now it seems more tamed and controlled. At least when he is in the ring he does have a good and very high chrisima which keeps me watching him and I'm not much of a fan of him. (though I like him more with the short hair vs long and IDK why either) I will say punk is growing on me in the ring, he seems to be putting more into his matches. Sure he has a few mess up's but everyone does.

His mic skills are amazing, becuase he doesn't repeat his promos every raw(so it seems to me) like jericho does (he got boring and then extremly boring) and how he doesn't have to be scripted is way better for Punk. He is 9/10 on the mic 7/10 in the ring. And it seems like he can an is going to get better and better. Now he's getting his push lets see if he stay's dedicated.

 

[The Future Rises]

His in-ring work sucks. It's sloppy, unbelievable, and stolen. His finisher only looks good like 1 out of 5 times. His style never strikes me as realistic. He does possess a certain charisma in the ring, though, so it helps cover up some deficiencies.

What? Did I read that right? Punk sucks in the ring? Wow and this coming from a guy who's a "Hulkamaniac" and has a Rock avatar.. Punk is GREAT in the ring. His matches with Rey Mysterio and Jeff Hardy were always great. His match with Cena at Money in the Bank was a classic.. And his finisher is all about selling the move. Big guys like Kane always have difficulty selling the GTS good. His style is in my opinion one of the best styles in the business. He's an all around technical grappler and he adds some pretty sick strikes to go with it not to mention his off again-on again Anaconda Vise submission. What's not to like about Punk's in ring work? Damn. No offense but the only people who think that Punk sucks in the ring are probably only you and all the kid fans.

 

[Hulkamaniac]

What? Did I read that right? Punk sucks in the ring? Wow and this coming from a guy who's a "Hulkamaniac" and has a Rock avatar.. Punk is GREAT in the ring. His matches with Rey Mysterio and Jeff Hardy were always great. His match with Cena at Money in the Bank was a classic.. And his finisher is all about selling the move. Big guys like Kane always have difficulty selling the GTS good. His style is in my opinion one of the best styles in the business. He's an all around technical grappler and he adds some pretty sick strikes to go with it not to mention his off again-on again Anaconda Vise submission. What's not to like about Punk's in ring work? Damn. No offense but the only people who think that Punk sucks in the ring are probably only you and all the kid fans.

Total strawman argument. What do Hogan and the Rock have to do with anything? I like the wrestlers I like because I get emotionally invested in what they're doing, not because of workrate. In the ring, Punk is sloppy and doesn't look believable. On the mic he is great.

Seriously, if you don't worship at the altar of an IWC favorite and say he's perfect, you get criticized. Look at my two favorites as you listed, does it look like I put workrate very high on my list of requirements for liking a wrestler? Geez.

 

[The Underking]

I have to agree Punk's in ring work is very sloppy in my opinion. I truly don't see the hype over his in ring skills atleast in the WWE I've not seen anything to the level of a Chris Benoit, Shawn Micheals, or even a John Cena. Punk's In Ring Work isn't bad it's just his in ring presence that sucks to say the least. My eyes aren't glued to the screen in a Punk match like the are for many others.

On the mic he's in a class of great ones I do believe that since his shoot promo his mic skills have gotten to that high level very few ever meet. So for me it's definitely mic skills as I find Punk quite boring in the ring.

 

[Awesome_Miz]

Mic Skills cause he can make anything that he says gold.Yes he is talented but you got to thing what makes matches so much anticipated.Thats Mic Skills cause when your talking you need to make the people interested and Cm Punk is great at that.He is also good in the ring but Mic Skills are more important that is why Cm Punk is in the top right now

 

[The Future Rises]

Total strawman argument. What do Hogan and the Rock have to do with anything? I like the wrestlers I like because I get emotionally invested in what they're doing, not because of workrate. In the ring, Punk is sloppy and doesn't look believable. On the mic he is great.

Seriously, if you don't worship at the altar of an IWC favorite and say he's perfect, you get criticized. Look at my two favorites as you listed, does it look like I put workrate very high on my list of requirements for liking a wrestler? Geez.

I didn't criticize you. I'm just trying to figure out what exactly don't you like about Punk's in ring work. You think he's sloppy? That's weird cause like I said you're probably the only person along with The Underking who's over 13 that actually thinks that. Again no offense bro.. Just saying.

 

[Hulkamaniac]

I didn't criticize you. I'm just trying to figure out what exactly don't you like about Punk's in ring work. You think he's sloppy? That's weird cause like I said you're probably the only person along with The Underking who's over 13 that actually thinks that. Again no offense bro.. Just saying.

Four people in this thread have used that exact word, sloppy. Just because you hold that opinion doesn't make it the right one or the one that everyone over a certain age agrees with. In the ring, he's often very sloppy. It just doesn't look good or believable. On the mic is his real strength, and he's great there. In the ring, he's not.

 

[The Future Rises]

Four people in this thread have used that exact word, sloppy. Just because you hold that opinion doesn't make it the right one or the one that everyone over a certain age agrees with. In the ring, he's often very sloppy. It just doesn't look good or believable. On the mic is his real strength, and he's great there. In the ring, he's not.

Yeah. But the posters who called him sloppy made a reference to his Money in the Bank match with Cena and his GTS finisher being botchy sometimes.

Now his match at Money in the Bank was probably the longest match of his career. If not then it was the longest match he has had in a long time. Of course he got a little tired. He tried some high flying spots and he botched.

But the GTS botching sometimes isn't always Punk's fault. His opponents need to sell it right and make sure they land their heads on Punk's knees. That's something big guys like Kane have difficulty with sometimes because of their size compared to Punk. I mean do you honestly think it's a coincidence that Punk's most perfectly delivered GTS in his WWE career was on Rey Mysterio? No. Rey is a small wrestler that can really sell a move like the GTS. If you ever watched Punk deliver the GTS on guys like Rey Mysterio and Jeff Hardy then you know what I mean. Punk and Cena was a long ass match so you shouldn't be surprised about some botches in it.

I'm not the only one that holds the opinion that Punk is a great in ring wrestler. Let's face it.. The majority of the fans hold that opinion. And it's easy to see why in my opinion. It's just that his size combined with his wrestling style doesn't help him if he wants to put on a good match some of the big guys on the roster.

 

[Ruthless-RKO]

I honestly respect everyones opinions and i'm not backing up Punk, but for those who said he is 'sloppy'? he is arguably by faaar the best in-ring performer in the WWE today! I didn't see any sloppy wrestling in his matches against Cena, well at MitB I saw him just about to hit the moonsault turned crossbody from the top rope, but both Cena and Punk sold it well, if you think he is sloppy, then you're saying the whole locker room is even worse.

I think a lot of people on here don't give their honest opinion, or don't pay attention on what's going on when they watch it on TV, instead people read articles on websites like WrestleZone and other reviews without observing themselves. So the opinion they give is really not even their own and is someone elses e.g. Jim Ross, Mark Madden, Kevin Kelly etc.

Another note: This is not his recent mic or in-ring skills i'm on about, it's overall, I see a lot of people just noting his recent matches with Cena, has he not been wrestling for a decade?

By the way, this post isn't aimed at anyone

 

[GameOver]

he has both in my opinion. thou he's a better talker then his is a performer, that's not to say he is just average in ring because he isn't, just don't see him as the best "wrestler" out there.

/quote Originally Posted by XTheFutureX
What? Did I read that right? Punk sucks in the ring? Wow and this coming from a guy who's a "Hulkamaniac" and has a Rock avatar.. Punk is GREAT in the ring. His matches with Rey Mysterio and Jeff Hardy were always great. His match with Cena at Money in the Bank was a classic.. And his finisher is all about selling the move. Big guys like Kane always have difficulty selling the GTS good. His style is in my opinion one of the best styles in the business. He's an all around technical grappler and he adds some pretty sick strikes to go with it not to mention his off again-on again Anaconda Vise submission. What's not to like about Punk's in ring work? Damn. No offense but the only people who think that Punk sucks in the ring are probably only you and all the kid fans. /quote

as for the Rock/Hogan comment. you do realise Wrestling is first and foremost about entertaining the fans right? There are alot of people out there that are great in ring but they suck as personalities therefore noone gives a shit about them

Hogan and the Rock were consumate ENTERTAINERS..... has nothing to do with Hogan's subpar moveset, he was the biggest draw in history period. and The Rock and Austin were close behind

 

[GameOver]

What? Did I read that right? Punk sucks in the ring? Wow and this coming from a guy who's a "Hulkamaniac" and has a Rock avatar.. .

he has both in my opinion. thou he's a better talker then his is a performer, that's not to say he is just average in ring because he isn't, just don't see him as the best "wrestler" out there.

as for the Rock/Hogan comment. you do realise Wrestling is first and foremost about entertaining the fans right? There are alot of people out there that are great in ring but they suck as personalities therefore noone gives a shit about them

Hogan and the Rock were consumate ENTERTAINERS..... has nothing to do with Hogan's subpar moveset, he was the biggest draw in history period because he was entertaining. and The Rock and Austin were close behind

It's a sad fact that soon as almost everyone that gets to the main event spot in WWE and was the case in WCW too they became 5 move wonders. that has nothing to do with there ability to perform it's about catering to fans that have ADD and trying to minimize the chance of errors and injuries. Well except Cena his moveset hasn't changed since day 1 , just hit attitude. lol

the rest of your comment i more or less agree with, though i don't see him as awesome as you and others make him out to be, but atm he is one of the best the WWE has.

 

[The Future Rises]

he has both in my opinion. thou he's a better talker then his is a performer, that's not to say he is just average in ring because he isn't, just don't see him as the best "wrestler" out there.

as for the Rock/Hogan comment. you do realise Wrestling is first and foremost about entertaining the fans right? There are alot of people out there that are great in ring but they suck as personalities therefore noone gives a shit about them

Hogan and the Rock were consumate ENTERTAINERS..... has nothing to do with Hogan's subpar moveset, he was the biggest draw in history period because he was entertaining. and The Rock and Austin were close behind

It's a sad fact that soon as almost everyone that gets to the main event spot in WWE and was the case in WCW too they became 5 move wonders. that has nothing to do with there ability to perform it's about catering to fans that have ADD and trying to minimize the chance of errors and injuries. Well except Cena his moveset hasn't changed since day 1 , just hit attitude. lol

the rest of your comment i more or less agree with, though i don't see him as awesome as you and others make him out to be, but atm he is one of the best the WWE has.

I do realize entertainment plays a huge part but I was just confused seeing someone with name of a Hogan fan and a Rock avatar say that about Punk's in ring ability. We were discussing Punk's in ring ability and I was just pointing out that Rock and Hogan were definitely no better than Punk in that category.

 

[Headman]

His mic skills are light years ahead of his in-ring ability. The proof is he's talked everyone into thinking he's the best in-ring performer in the world. As others have pointed out, Punk is smart. He knows how to put a match together, but he gets sloppy. I think he's got a brilliant mind for pro-wrestling. His ability to put a match together rivals that of Ricky Steamboat or Macho Man Randy Savage, both masters of planning out matches. But his actual in-ring ability is no where near either of those guys. Punk has a cool moveset, he's very smart, non very fast, strong or smooth, but he makes it work. And his ability to talk and put himself over has people eating out of the palm of his hand.

 

[This Is My Name Thank You]

I honestly respect everyones opinions and i'm not backing up Punk, but for those who said he is 'sloppy'? he is arguably by faaar the best in-ring performer in the WWE today! I didn't see any sloppy wrestling in his matches against Cena, well at MitB I saw him just about to hit the moonsault turned crossbody from the top rope, but both Cena and Punk sold it well, if you think he is sloppy, then you're saying the whole locker room is even worse.

I think a lot of people on here don't give their honest opinion, or don't pay attention on what's going on when they watch it on TV, instead people read articles on websites like WrestleZone and other reviews without observing themselves. So the opinion they give is really not even their own and is someone elses e.g. Jim Ross, Mark Madden, Kevin Kelly etc.



By the way, this post isn't aimed at anyone

Thats not true at all. I give my honest opinion when i type on these formus even if my post count is low or what not. Punk was better in his ECW days when he was more diverise in the ring. He used a few different moves and was just better. He came up with SES and his moveset became smaller and it seemed as he started to get sloppy. It looked like he didn't care, his kick's were slugish looking, his strikes and his face expression just looked like Punk gave up. It wasn't like his ECW days were he used different moves and the Andacando Vise which he should use against bigger guys vs trying to GTS them becuase he dont have the strength.

Now it seems Punk has gotten that drive back and can use more moves again and he has that seriousness back in his eyes. His match with Cena proved he is a good in the ring but still not great. He becoming less sluggish with his kicks and punches and maybe he'll use the Andaconda Vise more often as him and the GTS just don't like right. He has gotten better maybe because he's getting his push he's been dying for.

But all honesty bash me if you want but PUNK is GOOD in the ring NOT GREAT. He is only GREAT with guys his size, height and weight wise. An Cena was great becasue Cena is good at making people look GREAT. He made Darren Young look great. Punk hasn't done that yet for anyone. So he is good an until he can make someone look GREAT he will always be a better talker than wrestler.
ANGLE is GREAT in the ring.

 

[Mantis]

I honestly respect everyones opinions and i'm not backing up Punk, but for those who said he is 'sloppy'? he is arguably by faaar the best in-ring performer in the WWE today! I didn't see any sloppy wrestling in his matches against Cena, well at MitB I saw him just about to hit the moonsault turned crossbody from the top rope, but both Cena and Punk sold it well, if you think he is sloppy, then you're saying the whole locker room is even worse.

I think a lot of people on here don't give their honest opinion, or don't pay attention on what's going on when they watch it on TV, instead people read articles on websites like WrestleZone and other reviews without observing themselves. So the opinion they give is really not even their own and is someone elses e.g. Jim Ross, Mark Madden, Kevin Kelly etc.



By the way, this post isn't aimed at anyone

"Arguably by faaar" doesn't make sense. If he's better than everyone by a large margin, then logically it wouldn't be open for argument. Just sayin.

 

[keehlnate]

It's definitely the mic skills that amazes me on Punk. It really is his PIPE BOMB. No one on the WWE can go toe to toe with him with talking. He can target someone whenever he wanted and can occasionally insert some punchlines while doing so. He is untouchable, even at commentary. I believe he is a level ahead of Cole and Lawler.

As for his ring skills, he is definitely one of the top guys. But sometimes his GTS doesn't connect well like what happened to Cena at summerslam

 

[sunnydays]

Overated wrestler! Is he the best WWE performer at the moment, possibly. However - will he be one of the greatest in ring performers of all time and on the level with the likes of Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels or Kurt Angle?? I personally don't think so. The reason why he is possibly the best wrestler in WWE at the moment is because, HBK and Edge have retired, Angle moved companies, Jericho left, Eddie and Benoit passed away, Triple H and Undertaker work part time and because of all these different variables CM Punk probably is the best wrestler in the WWE at the moment.

 

[XXJJ]

This one is easy its his mic skills. Since Jericho left Punk is now the best on mic. That shoot promo is what elevated his career.

Punk is a different wrestler than he was in ROH. I agree with other posters, Punk can be very sloppy in the ring. Punk did ripoff a lot Kenta's moveset. He has adopted more of a japanese style over the years. Except his execution of the moves can be weak at times.

He understands in ring psychology which half of the current WWE roster doesn't. He is a very good wrestler. But I dont think he is the best in ring.