Did CM Punk win the World title too early in 2008?

Ruthless-RKO

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Punks WWE title victory in MITB 2011 will always be his defining moment and it overshadowed everything he did before that, and that is when I first took him seriously as a Main Eventer. Do you guys think it was too early for him to win in 2008? Because from 2008- till the pipe-bomb promo he just felt like an upper midcarder.

Your Thoughts?


Note to mods, if this belongs in the Old-School section, then please move it. :)
 
No
it wasn't too early.
CM Punk had the potential to be a great main eventer since he first joined the WWE in 2006 but he was very underrated.

Even after he won his World championships back in 2008 & 2009, he wasn't booked the right way, and you can just look at his feud with the undertaker and you will know what I'm talking about.

CM Punk was ready to be a main eventer champion from the beginning , but it wasn't until 2011 that he was given the chance to shine which he took pretty well.
 
Yes. And know he has nothing going for him. I know they are using it as a storyline. But how fast did we not care he didnt drink and ect. It was only relevant when JERICHO made it relevant again. The straight edge came off as a lame cult. I know you can wrestle and can talk on the mic but are you remember able. The only thing I remember is something ice cream bars and something "pipe bomb".
 
Do you guys think it was too early for him to win in 2008?
Yes. He was far from ready back then. As a mather of fact almost everybody who won "Money in the Bank" in recent years(Punk, Swagger, Del Rio, Miz, Bryan) were far from ready for that. They(WWE) rarely build them in proper way, but rather just give them the title and see what would become of them. Punk then was far from ready. He was good but his build back in the day was rather weak. Thats why even you believe that he was upper midcard at best and thats why it took him couple of years to be where he is now. :)
 
Have u people all forgot the feud he had with Jeff hardy???? He was booked to become the most hated heel in Smackdown and he did make the whole straightedge thing relevant with his feud with Hardy.....some people have short memories
 
I like CM Punk, but I don't think it was his time in 2008. Let me share this: In August of that year,(WHC) CM Punk wrestled JBL in a cage match in MSG at a house show. The match before that was Kane and Jericho vs. Cena and Batista. After that tag match, people started filing out. The two guys who sat on my right, got up and left. I thought they went for refreshments or something but, they never came back. I started to watch people leaving during the match as well and even after Punk won his World title match, everyone else just got up and left. I'm not saying Punk didn't get a good pop, but it was obvious who everyone came to see.

I think they should have spent more time building up Punk on Raw instead of him being an ECW guy who won MITB and cashed in on a solidified star.

The hardcore heads knew who Punk was already, but fans who just watch RAW didn't know too much about him to get behind him. Plus, back then, he had little to no mic time. He was an afterthought during his first run. His second run, which also saw Punk turn heel AS a champion was a lot better. He got to show his capabilities a lot more against Jeff Hardy and Undertaker.

Side note: SEC was an awsome angle!
 
Have u people all forgot the feud he had with Jeff hardy???? He was booked to become the most hated heel in Smackdown and he did make the whole straightedge thing relevant with his feud with Hardy.....some people have short memories

What you mentioned happened duruing his second world title run. His first run ended when he had to relinquish the title due to a backstage ambush and head punt by Randy Orton.
 
I think it was the perfect way for him to become a main eventer. I like the whole build-up and sub-storyline. Several superstars believed CM Punk's win was a fluke and he didn't actually have what it takes to be a credible champion. He proved them all wrong. Plus, it also gave him an even bigger push because he never lost his first world title to anyone. He was ambushed by Orton, Rhodes, and the Samoan from behind. Then he was stripped of his Championship because the powers backstage said he wasn't able to compete, even though, he actually was, which furthered his July 2011 conspiracy storyline.
 
Have u people all forgot the feud he had with Jeff hardy???? He was booked to become the most hated heel in Smackdown and he did make the whole straightedge thing relevant with his feud with Hardy.....some people have short memories

I saw this quote and it sums up EVERYTHING about Pro wrestling even though they are on the wrong side at least they finished with the most correct statement. I made it bold so you didn't miss it.

some people have short memories

This is the only reason WWE and wrestling in general maintain it's draw, having a short memory. CM punk has been face and heel prior to his last stint where he tried to play heel but the fans go wind of a sort of stone cold and they jumped on the wagon. Now he just another struggling wrestler trying to make the turn to heel and it stinks. Going after Rey's daughter was a huge heel push...bring it back if you need him heel. Jerry Lawler is too easy and everyone uses it..swagger,miz, Cole....the list goes on. Go back to the Rey well.

CM Punk was chanted more often prior to his title run, now it is only chanted because of Cena. CM punk needs a BIG name for him to draw well. You can say everything you want and I will listen but the fact is no one cares that Punk isn't the Main Event, except Punk. Punk finally gets to be in the main event thanks to Cena or the Rock. Cm Punk has yet to have a world title match against anyone....Except D. Bryan that should have been a main event. Which leads me to believe D. Bryan is closer to Main event Status than punk.

So the answer is Yes, he was pushed to soon.
 
I don't think CM Punk has improved that much since 2008. He was pretty good back then and he is pretty good now. Maybe he was underrated then but again then he is overrated today.

I didn't see him as a main eventer in 08 but when he became the leader of Nexus late 09/2010 I felt like he was a main eventer for real.
 
Well TECHNICALLY, yes.

Jeff Hardy failed his wellness test & lost his IC title & spot in the MitB match at Mania 24. I have heard more than one reliable source (inside & outside of the company) admit Jeff Hardy was supposed to win the MitB briefcase that year, with the help of his brother Matt (who made a run-in to just attack MVP instead) & cash it in for his first world title.

So realistically WWE probably never planned on giving Punk the title & everything being so rushed made them drop the ball.

But IMO it wasn't too early. Veterans like Taker & HHH were winding down as world champions. Hardy was suspended. There wasn't much on that top tier.

Also I think Cena being injured just prior made WWE realize how much they were relying on stars of the past to fill the void.

I think it was a perfect time for a guy like Punk to step up & get a chance.

The Problem was his booking....
-He won the title kinda cheaply, when he was supposed to still be a face.
-He had no strong feuds or programs.
-His only title defenses on PPV were against Batista & JBL barely escaping with the title.
-Then WWE just had Orton punt him in the skull & relinquish the title

If they actually believed in him back then, I think he could have been a very good, younger, champion.

I think it was just such a fluke/mistake in 2008 that they gave him a real half-assed chance & made him look really weak, before pulling the plug.
 
Clearly his 2008 run was a big fail. He was fed to Batista immediately after winning the title, and was made to look incredibly weak. The matches themselves were terrible. He was given a mediocre feud with JBL for SummerSlam which drew no heat, and finally they gave up on the experiment at Unforgiven where they unceremoniously took the title off of him and held it up for grabs. He immediately dropped back to mid-card status.
 
Nope, not too early at all. CM Punk was always destined to be a main event star in a short amount of time due to how good he was at Ring Of Honor. I wouldn't say his 2008 run was a fail but it was a shame that it ended by having him surrender the belt at Unforgiven in 2008. It was also a shame he was over-shadowed just like his current run. During Punk's title run, there were matches like Cena vs JBL in a Parking Lot Brawl, Edge vs Taker in a Hell In A Cell and Batista vs Cena for the first time ever and was considered a dream match at the time. There is no question his title runs in 2009 were a lot better when he turned heel but in reply to this thread, it wasn't too early for CM Punk to be a World Champion.
 
Punk was really gaining momentum before wrestlemania 27. I think they made him look like a mega bitch in the WM 27 match vs Randy Orton where Orton went in with a leg injury and was basically hopping around on one leg the entire match and still beat CM Punk. Thats when I really understood Punk would never be taken seriously as the top guy in the company or even the second guy. Although his title reign is the 9th longest in history it just doesnt matter, he hasnt even main evented a ppv during the entire title reign and will never be able to carry the company the way Cena does or the way Austin or Hogan did. In my eyes he's the equivalent of Mankind, he's there to fill in second tier matches...
 
I don't think it was too early. They needed new stars at that time, and with Hardy being suspended for the wellness violation, Punk kind of filled his spot. He wasn't booked too great and had to relinquish the title in a strange way, but I think he proved that he had potential to be in that spot. It showed to in his second run with the title as I loved his feud with Jeff hardy. He was a really good heel IMO at that time. So no I don't think it was to early.
 
Saying that Punk won the World Title too early seems to suggest that it adversely affected him in the future, which doesn't seem to be the case at all as he's the clear #2 guy in the company. I'm not saying it was a good reign or anything, it was largely forgettable and ended pretty lame, but I don't think he would be as good as he is today without it.

Punk's resentment toward the WWE for the way they had handled his career up to the point of the "Pimebomb" promo was largely responsible for the content of said promo, wasn't it? That promo was the catalyst for his great rise in popularity. If he didn't have to endure any adversity, those words wouldn't have meant what they did.

So unless you're somehow trying to say that Punk winning the World Title that one time prevented him from becoming a bigger star than Cena, I really don't see how it was a mistake. Not a lot of people get to be where he is right now.
 
CM Punk did not win the World Championship too early in 2008. WWE made the best decision that they could, given the situation. Punk got that push by defeating Shelton Benjamin, Chris Jericho, Carlito, MVP, Kennedy, Morrison, and Matt Hardy. The winner was SUPPOSED to be Jeff Hardy at the time, I recall hearing. That obviously could not have happened, so CM Punk was the best alternative out of who was left at the time so they put Matt Hardy in the match in his brother Jeff's place and made the decision to have Punk win it.

Who else in the match could have won and made it as a main eventer who actually needed it? Shelton Benjamin was never going to be main event material. Chris Jericho sure didn't need a Money In the Bank push and his heel turn that took place around the same time as Punk's cash-in breathed life back into his character in a way few saw coming. Carlito I won't even get started on. He shouldn't even have been IN the match. MVP perhaps but neither he nor Morrison were ready to main event. Matt Hardy was never going to get anywhere beyond a midcard title, and no the ECW Championship does not count as a world title. Kennedy blew it the previous year and never earned WWE's trust back, so not him. Who does that leave? CM Punk.

CM Punk was the only option left. He had the potential, and WWE had to put the title on someone at some point. Jeff could not win it like he supposedly was meant to and there had to be a MITB winner that year. This push helped Punk reach the potential he had always had. His cash-in was one of the most memorable Raw moments of all time, in particular I loved seeing Edge get a taste of his own medicine. His title reign wasn't bad either being put over by guys like Batista or JBL before losing it in a controversial way to Chris Jericho. Had Punk not done so well with this push then I doubt they would have given him a second MITB push the following year, which means no Straightedge Society push either. By that time he was ready to main event for real, even before the Pipe Bomb. Punk's 2008 World Championship reign was good for both him and the federation because they did the best that they could with what choices they had and pushed somebody new in the process.
 
MVP perhaps but neither he nor Morrison were ready to main event. Matt Hardy was never going to get anywhere beyond a midcard title, and no the ECW Championship does not count as a world title.

MVP was one of the hottest heels in 2007 and 2008. I also find it real interesting that you said Morrison wasn't ready to main event and that the ECW Championship doesn't count as a world title. My explanation is shortly coming.


Who does that leave? CM Punk.

And here it is. The only title CM Punk won was the ECW Championship. At least Morrison had won numerous tag team and Intercontinental championships. I see no reason why Morrison wasn't as deserving to win as CM Punk was considering how they had him lose to almost everybody leading up to the cash-in.

This push helped Punk reach the potential he had always had.

Or they figured to get the strap off of him as soon as possible as they realized he wasn't moving the meter.

His cash-in was one of the most memorable Raw moments of all time, in particular I loved seeing Edge get a taste of his own medicine.

One of the most memorable Raw moments of all time? Whatever floats your boat.

His title reign wasn't bad either being put over by guys like Batista or JBL before losing it in a controversial way to Chris Jericho.

Being put over by guys like Batista? You mean their Bash match in which Kane interfered and Dave gave Punk that Batista Bomb?

By that time he was ready to main event for real, even before the Pipe Bomb. Punk's 2008 World Championship reign was good for both him and the federation because they did the best that they could with what choices they had and pushed somebody new in the process.

They didn't do the best they could or else Batista would have been champion.
 

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