**MERGED** CM Punk heel turn? (Keep it in here!!!!)

[RattleRockerJet97]

Punk just feels more like a heel than a face. Punk from last year did shoots on people. But ones that were inside the company lines. He had "ammunition" to fire and used it to his advantage to get over. But this new "tweener" Punk isnt using sarcastic quips or shooting on people, his comebacks arent very sharp, at least not as sharp as last year.

The worst part is that Punk doesnt want to compete in difficult matches? Punk preched about loving "high pressure situations" and that he was "The Best in the World". But now all of a sudden, he doesnt want to compete in a big time triple threat?

Punk didnt complain about AJ being ref. Punk didnt complain about facing Kane and Bryan. Sure he takes it with a grain of salt because he's the champ and wants to make sure he is at the end of the day. But the ending to RAW just seemed like a cowardly whine and that "its not fair", typical heel garbage.

If hes a Tweener, embrace the challenge. Smile at the fact that you get another "High pressure situation". This is what Punk loves, supposedly. I guess we have to wait longer to really know the whole situation. Damn im impatient.

This is just my 2 cents....

 

[stevieg786]

I like Punk, but..

''Dwayne''
''Part timer''
''Movie star''

Seriously?! It was pathetic when Cena did it, it's even worse with Punk. I hope he doesn't go down this route in his feud with The Great One.

 

[Mustang Sally]

The worst part is that Punk doesnt want to compete in difficult matches? Punk preched about loving "high pressure situations" and that he was "The Best in the World". But now all of a sudden, he doesnt want to compete in a big time triple threat?

Last week, Punk's actions screamed full heel turn but his deeds since make us think 'tweener. If so, this could be a direction someone like him could really run with.

Punk sitting on the announcer's table and confronting Jerry Lawler was similar to what we enjoyed from him last Summer. As much as we appreciated his "candor" last year, Punk's entire routine wasn't as heroic as some fans made it out to be: those cross-legged speeches were more like lectures to those he felt he had to use simple language to reach..... as if the "voiceless" people he was trying to represent were too stupid to understand him if he spoke the words like Damien Sandow.

He was doing the same routine with Lawler last night, and I wished Jerry could have been allowed to answer him, explaining that his unfavorable review of Punk's actions concerned more than just what he did to the Rock..... it was more Punk's dishonorable tactics with John Cena. In Punk's backstage conversation with Cena (which, again, was more like a lecture because he walked off after speaking, not giving Cena a chance to respond or demonstrating interest in what Cena might say), Punk was pointing out that he's sure Cena would have done the same things he did......yet the big difference was that Cena could have cashed in the briefcase the week before, when Punk was sitting beaten in the corner after his match.....but Cena didn't, instead choosing to give Punk a week to recover and giving fair warning of his cashing in. Punk didn't return the honorable actions; instead, he chose to pin Cena after John received the beating from Big Show.

My point is that we're not going to know what to expect from Punk in the coming months......'tweeners always keep us guessing, right? Punk can be a face most of the time, yet turn heel in time to square off against the Rock, because there's no way people are cheering Punk in that match, especially after his deeds at Raw 1000.

Let Punk play 'tweener, he's got the talent to bring it off.....and I've never fully bought the notion of him being a face, anyway. To me, no one who continually tells us he's the best in the world is ever going to come off as a total good guy.

 

[rge2010]

I said last week this wasn't a heel turn and people were naive for thinking it. Punk is almost certainly not a heel. It was hard to disagree with what he said to Lawler. He spoke the truth....he also clobbered Big Show after the bell. Why didnt he attack Cena who was motionless?

I dont like the term 'Tweener' but thats what he is. His character has had a tweak which will make him more interesting and allow him more freedom to fight with The Rock. WWE will likely give Punk everything he needs for this fued like they did Cena. The only problem was the people didnt warm to Cena, I think they will be 50/50 this time.

 

[The_Main_Event]

I said last week this wasn't a heel turn and people were naive for thinking it. Punk is almost certainly not a heel. It was hard to disagree with what he said to Lawler. He spoke the truth....he also clobbered Big Show after the bell. Why didnt he attack Cena who was motionless?

I dont like the term 'Tweener' but thats what he is. His character has had a tweak which will make him more interesting and allow him more freedom to fight with The Rock. WWE will likely give Punk everything he needs for this fued like they did Cena. The only problem was the people didnt warm to Cena, I think they will be 50/50 this time.

Well he cost him the match, and in the opening segment Punk gave Cena a steely glare when John Boy came out steaming mad.

I think right now he is Tweener but as time goes on he's going to end up full heel. Big Show is only in this match to protect Cena from boos while in the meantime Punk can play the Tweener (whilst Big Show is involved) But develop his heel persona towards Cena.

 

[XXJJ]

Punk's new heel character reminds me of Batista. I was waiting for Punk to ask for a spotlight.

Punk is going to drop the title to Rock. Cena will win the Rumble, face Rock at WM in a rematch for the WWE title. IMO that looks like where this is going..

 

[Elmarcoz]

I must admit, I prefer Punk as a heel. Anti-hero was pretty damn cool too, what with the pipe-bombs last year, but Face punk.... nah.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

In regards to Punk's promo last night, I came across some comments Jim Ross wrote in his latest blog just a few minutes ago:

"Some fans demanding @CMPunk to have another pipebomb promo will likely get one down the road but Cincy wasn't the time nor the place. I thought Punk had a great night on air and his verbal jousting with @Jerry Lawler entertained me."

"Regarding the WWE Title, Punk told many truths which might not sit well with some. I am an old school believer that nothing in WWE is more important than the WWE Title. Some personal issues are on the same level often times but nothing should be MORE important than the WWE's premier championship. That's my two cents on that matter."

"I do think that the potential to build a major issue between @CMPunk and @TheRock is obvious plus a match between the two would be interesting to say the least for many, many reasons."

Punk's first promo in what looks to be a slow heel turn may not have given us the OMG moment a lot of us are looking for and wanting, but that doesn't mean that it's not coming. It might be a while in coming, but I do believe it will come and will generate as much buzz as his first pipe bomb "shoot" promo a little over a year ago.

 

[TheReckoning]

For me, I don't see this as a heel turn so much as it is a way to make punk the ultimate go-between. They are trying to build him like they built HBK (a face that could turn heel at the drop of a hat). He has a backstory as to why he leveled The Rock (the whole wrestlemania main event thing), so I wouldn't consider this creative turning him heel. And, I for one loved his promo to open raw last night. He was spot on. And he's right, the WWE champion should be the focal point of the show, otherwise what's the point of having a WWE title? Cena has main evented almost every PPV for several months despite not having the championship! Thats absolutely nuts! My favorite part was when Punk called Lawler on him "turning his back" on the WWE universe. Lawler made it seem as if punk spit on each crowd member individually. No, Punk simply knocked out a guy who has wrestled twice in 8 years, comes back(for one night) and is handed a title shot at a big PPV without earning it.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

It won't happen right away, but Punk is heading in the direction of a full-blown heel turn, there's no doubt about it. His attack on The Rock screamed heel turn. And let's not forget the whole dilemma of trying to steal the victory over Cena after Show's knockout punch, and Punk turning his back on Cena, while Show beat the piss out of him. Punk continued to display more heelish behavior on Raw this past Monday. He felt the need to bully Jerry Lawler at the start of the show, and during commentary for the main event. Also, Punk taunted Cena about his loss to Rock at Wrestlemania, and let's not forget the shouting at AJ, as Raw went off the air.

Punk will continue to whine about being the center of attention, as WWE Champion. And Punk is more than capable of turning the fans against him. Before his match with Big Show at Night Of Champions 2010, Punk cut a heel promo IN CHICAGO, and the fans almost booed him out of the building. Punk definitely has the mic skills, and he will pull a negative reaction out of the live crowds.

Punk has beaten everyone he can beat as a face champion. There's nothing left to accomplish, but a heel turn could take his reign in a whole new direction. Of course, it will be a slow, steady build before Punk turns 100% heel, and I don't expect Punk to lose the title anytime soon. He should surpass the one year mark, and Punk could still be the champion, when the Rumble rolls around. Punk trashed Rock this past Monday, Rock will want payback for the attack, and Rock's guaranteed WWE Championship opportunity at the Rumble could set the stage for a match.

 

[sanefan_har]

CM Punk's whining at the end of Raw 1001 was just disastrous. I mean they should've removed that and had him knockout both men with the title belt or something. And then give another promo the next week about how his title defence matches after wrestlemania were way better than the john cena main events. He could mention how he was continuously against john laurinitis and how john cena lost to him. In short belittle cena every way possible. I had always hoped he would end up being the kind of heel that speaks the truth that nobody can deny. But after that whining , HELL NO!!

 

[MaverickAZ]

so after last night's RAW, it looks more and more like CM Punk will be going full heel rather than the tweener role. He played it up at the top of the show with AJ, asking her to cancel the triple threat match

felt more could have been done with Cena hinting at Punk's attitude change, but then Big Show's music hit and that killed the segment

Then at the end of the show, Punk goes off at the announce table with more whiney heel comments and how hes gonna do things for himself going forward, and hes done "playing nice and kissing babies"

the boos are getting louder and louder each time he mentions hes the champ, so i guess its working. But, i dunno, IMO they really screwed the pooch when they forced Johnny Ace/Punk angle instead of it being Vince/Punk, cuz i guess they were too worried it would been just like Vince/Austin

then they quickly threw Punk in with Jericho, and Johnny Ace with Cena, and it went downhill from there

We already had this version of heel Punk at the tail end of Nexus angle. IMO, im not sure how its gonna work with him "telling it like it is" but then playing up the coward role as well

 

[rge2010]

Anyone notice Punks entrance in the Big Show match? He did his signature entrance for the first time in 3 weeks. Then got on the turn buckle, acknowledged the crowd and even pumped them up. He played 'Mr Goodguy'.

Just to muddy the waters so more eh!!! I havent seen the rest yet. Im in the UK watching now.

 

[thatotherguy]

Yeah this week was a little more muddled for Punk. I think the writers (or someone in WWE) realized that their direction with Punk was a little bland so this week they put him in more of a tweener role. If you think about it, he was still a bit of a jerk to Cena during their match, but at the end of the match he saved Cena and offered to shake Cena's hand, which Cena turned down. I like that a little better. Putting him in a tweener role makes him a far more interesting character. I also noticed he stopped whining about the triple threat.

 

[dudekindjack]

i think the reason that punk was pretty much booked as heel tonight was the reaction last night at summerslam. it sounded to me that cena was heavily booed, and punk was heavivly cheered. the wwe doesnt want their golden boy cena to be boo'ed, even tho they been letting the crowd boo and cheer mixed. they want cena to be top babyface, and punk the heel. have no idea why they just wont turn cena heel unless its due to how many kids love him, and linda's senate thing.

punk, heel or face, can make the best out of which role they want him to play.

i know this seems like a bash cena comment. to be honest, i dont like cena. not cause its the cool thing on the internet to hate him, just dont like the character. didnt like him on smackdown back when he was doing the rapping gimmick. only time i found him half intertaining was a backstage skit cena and b2 had with the guerrero's (Eddie and Chavo). cena was saying something about biggie or something, and chavo was saying something like word to your mother or something like that. not liking his character is the same way my younger brother hates kurt angle to this day. he never liked angle's character when he was new to the wwf, and still wouldnt give 5 bucks to go watch a show that had angle on the card, if he was the only major star on the card. it could be a local show and have angle as the main event going against that companys top star, he wouldnt go watch it. i feel the same way about cena. dont like him, even tho i have went to a few house shows he was on, he wasnt the reason i went. i went to go see hbk and hhh last show i went to, first show was to go see rvd.

when they put cena on raw, it seemed as tho no one could beat him. jericho, angle, and it seemed someone else fueded with him, no one could beat cena. i just got tired of watching super cena never getting beat, not liking his gimmick anyway, and stopped watching all together until couple months ago.

just letting how i feel about punks heel turn. i still say its only cause wwe will not turn cena for some reason or another. they cant have someone else be a bigger star then cena. thats not in their plans.

 

[steven87gill]

i think the reason that punk was pretty much booked as heel tonight was the reaction last night at summerslam. it sounded to me that cena was heavily booed, and punk was heavivly cheered. the wwe doesnt want their golden boy cena to be boo'ed, even tho they been letting the crowd boo and cheer mixed. they want cena to be top babyface, and punk the heel. have no idea why they just wont turn cena heel unless its due to how many kids love him, and linda's senate thing.

punk, heel or face, can make the best out of which role they want him to play.

i know this seems like a bash cena comment. to be honest, i dont like cena. not cause its the cool thing on the internet to hate him, just dont like the character. didnt like him on smackdown back when he was doing the rapping gimmick. only time i found him half intertaining was a backstage skit cena and b2 had with the guerrero's (Eddie and Chavo). cena was saying something about biggie or something, and chavo was saying something like word to your mother or something like that. not liking his character is the same way my younger brother hates kurt angle to this day. he never liked angle's character when he was new to the wwf, and still wouldnt give 5 bucks to go watch a show that had angle on the card, if he was the only major star on the card. it could be a local show and have angle as the main event going against that companys top star, he wouldnt go watch it. i feel the same way about cena. dont like him, even tho i have went to a few house shows he was on, he wasnt the reason i went. i went to go see hbk and hhh last show i went to, first show was to go see rvd.

when they put cena on raw, it seemed as tho no one could beat him. jericho, angle, and it seemed someone else fueded with him, no one could beat cena. i just got tired of watching super cena never getting beat, not liking his gimmick anyway, and stopped watching all together until couple months ago.

just letting how i feel about punks heel turn. i still say its only cause wwe will not turn cena for some reason or another. they cant have someone else be a bigger star then cena. thats not in their plans.

It was definately a heel turn, right? I mean we said it when he blindsided Rock, then Cena, (twice) then Jerry. Until you realize that on each occasion, WWE has cleverly given Punk just cause. Think about last night, Lawler bumped Punk first. Go watch the segment, Lawler forces his way past Punk and Punk reacted with the kick. This is the opening for people to make up their own minds about whether they want to get behind Punk or not.

 

[DetectiveZelix]

This is what makes CM Punks character so interesting. As the above poster mentioned Punk seems to always be justified in his actions. Im not a huge Punk mark but I love his characters consistency. He's never been friends with Cena, heel or face. I love last nights segment because Punk was saying what alot of us are thinking and Cena was dead wrong in everything he said I mean of course he didnt run out and beg for respect from the WWE 'Universe' but WWE did shove him down our throats over the years and made him invincible. Its not we had a choice but to watch him as he was usually in the start and finish of the show and guys like me were watching to see who would finally beat him which constantly failed. Now Punk hasnt really been shoved down our throats like Cena so thats where Cenas argument failed. Punk has beaten Cena many times and is the Champion and should be considered the best but alas theyre making Punk the Jericho type heel where he demands others to admit his greatness which stupid because hes always been the type to proudly declare his skills and lifestyle and never needed any confirmation. But then I guess since Cena is above the championship it doesnt matter what Punk does until he beats Cena cleanly though I think beating the Rock would prove more leverage as something Cena could not do. It amazes me how people still consider Cena the best. I guess thats what happens when the WWE only pushes one guy for 7 years. Geez and Cenas supposed to be some sort of general trying to tell punk whats important and whatnot then walking out of the ring. I hope Rock comes back and owns Cena and put those annoying kiddy Cena fans from last nights Raw to sleep. I think Punk really has a chance to be the next 'The Guy' but the WWE is making him a Bitch to Cena. They should make him a warrior not giving a fuck about Cena and moving on. But because Cena is the measuring stick in the 'E' then theres no chance of anyone looking strong in a fued with him and winning in the end.

 

[ellax]

I'm quite surprise so many people loves Punk's heel turn..

Doesn't anyone realize that WWE just reverted Punk to those typical heel who go for cheap win..? Look at how Punk won during summerslam.. it's too cheap..

And seriously.. they are also making Punk look like a whinny little bitch.. asking Cena and Lawler to tell him he's the "best in the world".. he wants to get his respect etc..

Where's the cocky.. confident CM Punk that we know and love..? He looks like a sensitive whinny little bitch to me..

WWE ruined CM Punk in favor of a stupid crappy John Cena.. what a joke..

 

[jeff_hardy_heel_is_awesom]

Seeing CM punk as a heel is interesting, i love how hes gone from a really good face, and now all he is is a coward, who only cares about himself. I love heels who are like this, i dont like the heels who come out continuously attack faces. With that being said, i hope WWE can pull this character off, because we know CM punk can play any kind of character with 110% belief. I do hope they keep the title on him for a bit longer, he looks good with the title, and personally i dont want another john cena reign.

 

[Brothervis]

I thought according to the hate on part timers that Punk turned face when he attacked the Rock. I never understood the hate from Punk or Cena (whining like a heel) about part timers taking a spot at wrestlemania. Didin't hear complaints from them about Hart taking a spot or Cole vs lawler. Why for someone who has done everything you can do and comes back to put Cena and Punk over. For the people who say Rock beat Cena of course he did so Cena will beat him the next time they face(WM)

 

[The Architect of Anarchy]

At least, this shows how flexible Punk can be in terms of character and development. Last night proved that Punk is indeed a solid and written in stone heel!

His vicious attack on Lawler only added fuel to the fire for his match against Cena at Night of Champions. He could have stayed in the ring to show him dominance but the damage was done anyways.

Punk's made an awful Raw yesterday look good.

 

[DJS92491]

CM Punk carried on a wrestling tradition last Raw.

In wrestling, there will always be the good guy vs. the bad guy.
The face vs. the heel.

In a match that could have been made in shades of grey, CM Punk allowed WWE to keep things comfortable at black and white.

A modern day Rock vs. Austin popularity contest was vetoed. Although, their rivalry is closer to being Hogan vs. Piper. We don't know the exact reason why CM Punk's successful run as a tweener or a face (whatever side of the coin you saw it as) came to an end, but I believe it was simply because of the fact that in the end there has to be a good guy and a bad guy.

There was no way that John Cena was going to be the latter.

What I'm not so sure about is whether or not CM Punk was made the heel for all of the simple and traditional reasons. The simple and traditional reasons being that John Cena is above and beyond the top face in WWE. Going into Cena's hometown* at Night of Champions, WWE wants Boston to be on Cena's side like Chicago was on Punk's. A yin to the yang of their MITB encounter.

The only way you can do it? Make CM Punk the bad guy. It's a very forced role reversal due to the majority of WWE fans not buying into the fact that they're just supposed to hate CM Punk now, but a role reversal nevertheless.

This doesn't necessarily mean than CM Punk will lose the title in Boston, since as noted before on this forum it would not make sense for business due to his DVD release and being on the cover of WWE '13, but it's very possible if a worst case scenario for CM Punk fans occurs.

If CM Punk retains at Night of Champions, then his heel turn was merely a sacrifice to give Cena the hometown advantage.

The worst case scenario? CM Punk has went on record of saying that if he told his fans how soon it was that he was going to retire, then they would be deeply disappointed. As for Cena? He seems to be giving an impression that he'd be willing to go until he cannot go anymore in a WWE ring.

This may very well mean that if Cena wins the title at Night of Champions, then it could be the beginning of CM Punk finally getting the break that he wanted to get last Summer.

Think about it: You could say that Punk losing his title would be bad for business, but it could be taken into account that his DVD and video game cover are all just apart of his WWE bucket list. It is bad for CM Punk as a brand, but I don't think he's the type of guy who would seem to mind.

Would this mean that Punk would be away from WWE forever? Probably not. I still believe that Punk does just want to sit on his couch for a while, but when he originally announced that he was leaving, it was when he was at the hottest he has ever been. His heel turn is a way for him to make it easier to leave. He loses the title, and Cena gets the rematch with The Rock that he wants.

I feel as if CM Punk would really like to have faced The Rock, but I think that he'd rather win a Royal Rumble instead. Especially since he's made it clear that if he were to face any Legend, then it would only be Stone Cold.

I wouldn't expect Punk to take his break until after Wrestlemania. Perhaps, as the major angle of the Wrestlemania aftermath Raw. This means that Punk would probably get numerous rematches against Cena and lose out in the end. CM Punk respects Cena enough to give him his win back. Punk may have had wanted to be "the guy" before, but he's had one of the longest WWE title runs in WWE history. He's a realist enough to know that Cena will always be the top guy, as the fans have decided to be so a long time ago, and I think he's fine with that.

I could see CM Punk having a Chris Jericho like schedule when he came back, but definitely with a much longer stay. CM Punk has also went on record of saying that he still wants to make a few guys before he hangs up his boots, and that's basically what Jericho has done in each of his returns.

I guess Punk truly is a Jericho wannabe. I'm only kidding, and I expect that Punk's return won't be nearly as dramatic.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

I definitely may be over-analyzing this match, but it's definitely a possibility. CM Punk has accomplished almost all of his goals with WWE and he could definitely use a break before completing his list. All in all, this could only be a sacrifice for Cena to get his hometown advantage, but I'm always looking to see if there's a bigger picture.

What do you think, WrestleZone? Was CM Punk's heel turn a sacrifice, a chance to take his leave, or something completely different?

 

[sanefan_har]

I still have trouble accepting Punk as a heel. The whole Lawler thing was unnecessary in the first place. He wouldn't have been scripted to say that if it were Cena who attacked the Rock. Punk keeps speaking the truth. What kind of heat is he supposed to get for that?

I personally think the heel turn was a waste of time. They could've built up Barrett vs Punk and Orton vs Sheamus. Instead the Spanish armada (Juan Cena and Del Taco) get the spotlight, again, for no reason. I agree that Vince is hellbent on ensuring Cena's status as a face, but then if they still keep punk in the semi main event, he can feud with someone else no one cares about. Like hornswoggle or a broomstick, hell a mixed match against AJ. Casual fans will still go nuts, so Vince McMahon doesn't lose out(or so he thinks). Punk's heel turn was unnecessary, and should've been built up as an Anti-Rock persona (instead of complaining about the lack of respect).

 

[Ethelion]

Was CM Punk's heel turn a sacrifice, a chance to take his leave, or something completely different?

Why would CM Punk want to leave (aside from taking a backseat to Cena, Rock, Hunter)? He's still a main event player, isn't he? He's had 10 consecutive PPV wins since becoming a Two-Time WWE Champion at Survivor Series 2011, right? Sure, he's not on the last match of every PPV since Royal Rumble 2012, but he's still one of WWE's hot commodities.

I still have trouble accepting Punk as a heel. The whole Lawler Thing was unnecessary in the first place. He wouldn't have been scripted to say that if it were Cena who attacked the Rock. Punk keeps speaking the truth. What kind of heat is he supposed to get for that?

I personally think the heel turn was a waste of time. They could've built up Barrett vs Punk and Orton vs Sheamus. Instead the Spanish armada (Juan Cena and Del Taco) get the spotlight, again, for no reason. I agree that Vince is hell-bent on ensuring Cena's status as a face, but then if they still keep Punk in the semi main event, he can feud with someone else no one cares about. Like Hornswoggle or a broomstick, hell, a mixed match against AJ. Casual fans will still go nuts, so Vince McMahon doesn't lose out (or so he thinks). Punk's heel turn was unnecessary, and should've been built up as an Anti-Rock Persona (instead of complaining about the lack of respect).

While I agree with you that Punk didn't need to go heel and just be Anti-Rock, him beating Jerry senseless was actually necessary for the WWE to get the fans to boo him. Being cheered as a WWE Hall-of-Famer and all, Jerry was the perfect guy, aside from Rock, to put over Punk as a heel. Still, the smart fans still keep on cheering Punk, which isn't gonna sit well with Vince. So much for the big "Summer Angle".

 

[Brothervis]

First he's still a face. Have to ask why Punk might quit before he gets hurt which everyone thinks is okay but the Rock quits and IWC cried about it.He won't quit out of LF he will reduce over the years and become a part timer like the rock