**Merged** CM Punk Leaving WWE (KEEP ALL DISCUSSION IN HERE!!)

[berlinbrawler]

I hope to God that CM Punk comes over to TNA after his 90 day vacation errr I mean no compete clause expires , he would be SO PERFECT for TNA he exemplifies everything that TNA is about. QUALITY Wrestling. QUALITY wrestlers.

That's like the standard idea for anyone leaving WWE. Go over there and be the next top TNA guy (did they change their name now or just the TV show's name?) for a while. TNA - the place where wrestler's careers go to deflate into meaninglessness. I hope Punk is smarter than that.

And (with a few exceptions) seemingly the only way to be a top TNA guy is to be a former WWE guy. You'd think they would have learned from WCW how good an idea that is.

 

[WWWYKI777]

That's like the standard idea for anyone leaving WWE. Go over there and be the next top TNA guy (did they change their name now or just the TV show's name?) for a while. TNA - the place where wrestler's careers go to deflate into meaninglessness. I hope Punk is smarter than that.

And (with a few exceptions) seemingly the only way to be a top TNA guy is to be a former WWE guy. You'd think they would have learned from WCW how good an idea that is.

No the companies name is still TNA , they just call the Thursday night show Impact Wrestling now but the company is still TNA as seen in PPV titles and the website and merch etc

I don't understand why some people think being a top guy in TNA is a meaningless accomplishment or something like you said... really being in TNA at all is success in a wrestling career. Being on actual TV and making at least 6 figures = Success.

Sure its not the considered the highest success you could ever acheive in the wrestling business but they are certainly succeeding in their career by even being there and certainly more so by being the world champion there

Point is TNA is on TV , sure it gets less viewers but its still over a million viewers every week and you can't dismiss that as worthless

I mean , Sting has never set foot in the apparently oh-so prestigious WWE , is his career meaningless? Is he a nobody? Is he a failure? I think not.

WWE is only superior to TNA in monetary backing & notoriety , the show and the wrestlers certainly are not actually better so yeah

 

[World Class]

I'm afraid Punk getting cashed in by the MITB Winner is the way to go here.

- You can't have Cena win, how boring would that be.

- But then again, you can't just have Punk walk away with the title, what the hell happens then?

Punk wins the title, and then he starts to give a speech to his hometown crowd about how they have always supported him no matter what, and then in MITB winner's music hits. In my opinion, it should be either be Jomo or Dolph Ziggler.

 

[joostschol]

I think he is tricking us,
they changed their name to WWE, inc
so no more World Wrestling Entertainment,
And Punk said my contract with World Wrestling Entertainment is up at July, 17th
And we all know Punk is a smart guy, so maybe he wins and then at the following Raw, he says that his contract with World Wrestling Entertainment, inc is up, and that he resigned with WWE, inc?

 

[pod_daddy]

With the recent re-tweeting Punk has done, I feel more confident in my assertion that he isn't leaving.

We've seen it all before: WWE reaches into the wayback drawer, dusts off an old storyline, follows it up to a specific, climactic point, then diverges, throwing a curveball at all the wrestling Nostradamuses.

I'm not going to waste my time guessing what they're going to do, whether Punk will end up with the title or not, whether he'll win it then lose it to the MitB winner, whatever; it's all pointless. My only prediction is on July 18th, Punk will still be in the WWE.

 

[WolfNyte]

I think he is tricking us,
they changed their name to WWE, inc
so no more World Wrestling Entertainment,
And Punk said my contract with World Wrestling Entertainment is up at July, 17th
And we all know Punk is a smart guy, so maybe he wins and then at the following Raw, he says that his contract with World Wrestling Entertainment, inc is up, and that he resigned with WWE, inc?

I agree totally I said it earlier in the thread Punk and the E are Working everyone. Its my gut feeling and I will bet you that is what is going to happen.

You know how much the Punk Character LOVES to screw with the WWE Universe. Remember the Titantron " You are all a bunch of Idiots....mindless sheep"

For all we TRULY know Punk and WWE could have a contract signed and they are WORKING everyone to make us believe there is none.

 

[xXBigEXx]

Yea and that's my point guys. If his contract expires later or if there's a whole new contract, work the hell out of us. Run the route of him "leaving" with the title. That would be highly entertaining. They could do so much with that and it would certainly be unexpected. Sometimes a work can be that fuckin cool and this would be one of those works.

 

[ULTRASTARZZ]

- If you just CLEANLY defeated Rey Mysterio, feuded with Randy Orton at WrestleMania, and now challenging John Cena for the WWE Championship, how can you not be treated as a top player in the WWE? If I was CM Punk, I would stop thinking about myself. 90% of the roster will cry to even have a chance to have a back-and-forth with Stone Cold Steve Austin ...

- Keep dreaming. You know what the WWE will actually do at MITB. Cena wins. Cleanly. Punk leaves. Then returns as a face sometime sooner than we think ...

 

[The Future Rises]

I don't think the WWE is ever going to be the same without the best heel that they have had in a very long time, and I do think that R-Truth's heel turn was cause they needed another top heel to replace Punk.

Well if Punk doesn't return I think we can all say that he has left a HoF worthy career, being the first straight edge superstar and 3 time world champion, plus a back to back MitB winner, and he is without a doubt one of the greatest heels in WWE history.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

If I was to take an educated guess I would say it could only be 1 of 2 things. He loses and is leaving (and by leaving probably maximum 6 months), or he wins the title and this is all just a storyline they are doing to have him and Cena do a program until he faces Del Rio at Summerslam.

I would like to think Vince realizes Punk is their only TRUE heel (outside of Cole) who is truly over as a heel and gets probably the loudest reaction of the night, even if its all boo's and frankly is their best heel by far. I think Vince knows this and already has Punk locked in. Maybe they didn't have Punk sign officially just to have the storyline more realistic, kind of like when they legitimately fired Daniel Bryan last year only for him to come back to summerslam. WWE has been doing this quite a bit lately, they keep trying to throw people in for a surprise and has figured out a way in the day and age to keep people guessing.

Chances are Punk isn't going anywhere, will win the title for a bit and work with Cena for a while, whats wrong with that?

 

[GrandSword]

The thing about Punk is, he is one of those guys who deos what he wants. He has always been outspoken even when he just arrivedin the company. He has always gotten in trouble for speaking his mind and doing things his way. I think he wants to take a break from the WWE just like Jericho did. And will sign back with the company in a year or two.

Punk has gone on record saying how much he hates TNA and how they treated him and ROH stars years ago, so he probably wont be going there.

My prediction is Punk is just another title win for Cena who is working his way through the RAW roster on his way to Wrestlmenia and the match with the Rock.

It's actually quite predicatable. Punk's little comment is only there so people think he may have the slightest chance of winning at MITB. Which of course he doesn't against Super-Cena

 

[mancpenguin]

Punk's leaving comments at least make the match more intresting. I can't see him winning the title unless the rumours about Cena being injured are true. If Cena is carrying a few injuries then giving Punk a run with the title would make sense.

I hope there will be a great atmosphere during that match - there should be loads of CM Punk chants going on. Sadly - I still think Cena will win.

 

[radec]

creative team is in the wtf to do point. some are even thinking extend his contract with higher pay and give him the championship while the other side of creative team are like make him lose and let him go :l

CM punk is a true talent

 

[Trill Co$by]

I'm sorry to say this but CM Punk SUCKS as a heel. People keep saying he gets the boos... I've NEVER heard an arena truly boo him. I've heard Smackdown with dubbed audio, but never has there been any real boos for him. Punk has been getting cheered more and more as the years went on... how is that a heel?

Anyway, as for what he should do when he leaves... I say have him do to WWE what he did to ROH. Sign a contract for "another promotion" on the WWE championship right before leaving and build NoC up as WWE's own "Punk the Final Chapter". Why? Because it would be a quick and fast way to have Punk go out on a high note to do his little resting before he comes back and works as a face.

Seriously, the entire Straight Edge gimmick has always seemed more face designed than heel designed.

 

[WolfNyte]

Straight Line Stitch....I have to agree with you on one thing Punk does get more cheers than boos that I fully agree with.

However Boos and Cheers have a very slight thing to do with face and heel. Only with the decision to try and change them to switch sides is it relevant.

Faces Play by the rules they may twist them but they dont break them. A face looks for crowd support to help him in winning. He tells the crowd no matter what he loves them even if they boo him he still loves them. He can be comical and joke with the fans like Cena does or try and get them to cheer along like Rock does.

A Heel never plays by the rules he cheats he does bad things he breaks every rule he can get away with. He could care less what the Morons and degenerates in the crowd think. He insults the crowds intellegence even more so those that cheer him. He considers them under him. He will tell them to shut the hell up or jump down out of the ring and argue with someone nose to nose.

Think of Jericho's last run it was perfection and CMP is just as good IMHO.

Another amazing Heel that Lied Cheated and Stole but the Crowd LOVED was EDDIE RIP. However, everyone LOVED Eddie but it did not change the fact that he WAS A HEEL.

I still feel this is the ULTIMATE WORK but the E and CMP

Peace W

 

[Good Golly It's Ollie]

I'm sorry to say this but CM Punk SUCKS as a heel. People keep saying he gets the boos... I've NEVER heard an arena truly boo him. I've heard Smackdown with dubbed audio, but never has there been any real boos for him. Punk has been getting cheered more and more as the years went on... how is that a heel?

Anyway, as for what he should do when he leaves... I say have him do to WWE what he did to ROH. Sign a contract for "another promotion" on the WWE championship right before leaving and build NoC up as WWE's own "Punk the Final Chapter". Why? Because it would be a quick and fast way to have Punk go out on a high note to do his little resting before he comes back and works as a face.

Seriously, the entire Straight Edge gimmick has always seemed more face designed than heel designed.

Sorry Stitch, I can see what you're getting at, but I don't believe that CM sucks as a heel. He's just an extremely popular one, one who is actually able to get people behind him. And that means, sometimes he gets cheered. You hear Cole and Lawler put this over as well (Punk has faith, he's good with words, good at convincing people to believe in him), so WWE acknowledges it as part of Punk's character is that he's a "Villain With Good Publicity". Also bear in mind that Punk is a fucking chessmaster, and not just on screen. He's so lovable because he's so convincing as an absolute dick ... an absolute dick whose every word makes total sense.

Also the gimmick has been proven to work both ways - the face who gets bullied because he has different beliefs and principles - or, the self-righteous jackass who believes he's better. I think real life Punk probably falls somewhere in between the two. Remember that classic JBL promo, where Bradshaw poured out some Jack and just threateningly said, "DRINK." If I'd been a 7 year old like I was when I first started watching, I'd have shit my pants, but Punk showed JBL what's what.

Now I know I'm talking as a huge fan of Punk. When I first encountered him, it was Dolph Ziggler syndrome (hating a guy based on first impressions, then growing into a megafan) for me - I thought "Ugh, this guy's ring name SUCKS MONKEY ASS. Look at this scrawny little dude." But over time, I came to love Punk's unique character and his individualistic approach. I fucking love C. M. Punk. I think he's a magnificent dickwad and I wouldn't trust anything he says during this next month, but I love him.

There's a number of options as to what could happen come July 17th and I don't know which is the truth, but I'm excited to find out. Either way, if Punk leaves I will sorely miss him.

 

[EStreet]

The best part of Punk's Shoot was that it sets him up for future verbal confrontations and potential matches with HHH and "Dwayne". He has challenged Austin already via twitter and now he is going after guys who are actually capable of wrestling (perhaps WWE could wind of how cool the Austin-Punk semi-verbal feud was) and realized it could sell because the guy can absolutely hang with the best promo delivery men of the best era of the business.

Imagine Punk wins title. leaves TV for a little. comes back and we have a Punk vs Rock verbal feud leading into a title victory for Rock which still makes the main even for Mania a title match. And with Cena likely to go over Rock like Rock did Hogan. Cena wins WWE title back and Rock goes to hollywood.

At same time, Punk and HHH feud can lead to a huge wrestlemania match.

So many opportunities. Such a great night for wrestling. Such compelling TV. Its like the 90s all over again!!!

 

[JJ15776]

If I was to take an educated guess I would say it could only be 1 of 2 things. He loses and is leaving (and by leaving probably maximum 6 months), or he wins the title and this is all just a storyline they are doing to have him and Cena do a program until he faces Del Rio at Summerslam.

I would like to think Vince realizes Punk is their only TRUE heel (outside of Cole) who is truly over as a heel and gets probably the loudest reaction of the night, even if its all boo's and frankly is their best heel by far. I think Vince knows this and already has Punk locked in. Maybe they didn't have Punk sign officially just to have the storyline more realistic, kind of like when they legitimately fired Daniel Bryan last year only for him to come back to summerslam. WWE has been doing this quite a bit lately, they keep trying to throw people in for a surprise and has figured out a way in the day and age to keep people guessing.

Chances are Punk isn't going anywhere, will win the title for a bit and work with Cena for a while, whats wrong with that?

Ok, if Punk has agreed to return, there's no way they didn't officially sign him just to make it more realistic. Just like there was no way the Daniel Bryan firing was actually legitimate.

Honestly, I really don't know what's going to happen at MITB. I could see it going either way, and I think either way it goes you have a lot of great storyline potential. Unless, of course, Punk loses and leaves, which would suck.

The best part of Punk's Shoot was that it sets him up for future verbal confrontations and potential matches with HHH and "Dwayne". He has challenged Austin already via twitter and now he is going after guys who are actually capable of wrestling (perhaps WWE could wind of how cool the Austin-Punk semi-verbal feud was) and realized it could sell because the guy can absolutely hang with the best promo delivery men of the best era of the business.

Imagine Punk wins title. leaves TV for a little. comes back and we have a Punk vs Rock verbal feud leading into a title victory for Rock which still makes the main even for Mania a title match. And with Cena likely to go over Rock like Rock did Hogan. Cena wins WWE title back and Rock goes to hollywood.

At same time, Punk and HHH feud can lead to a huge wrestlemania match.

So many opportunities. Such a great night for wrestling. Such compelling TV. Its like the 90s all over again!!!

If Rock was interested in full time wrestling for a few months, that would be an awesome story. Of course, he's not, so it won't happen, but it would be awesome. I think they just might do something with Punk, Cena, and Rock at SummerSlam, though. Have Rock be the special guest referee or something.

 

[arkady]

I've been rewatching the promo, and it does actually have many signs of being worked.

CM Punk's demeanour, the voice and elocution he uses are all those of his heel character, rather than his real life personality.

He rips on his fans: that's not a smart action if you're heading to another promotion - you want to take fans with you! (He would be truly disillusioned with the industry as whole if he meant what he said there).

He talked about taking the WWE title away with him. He knows that - if he's leaving - he's not going to able to do that.

Vince McMahon has been quite happy to let guys hit him with chairs/stunner him/etc... before. Someone accusing him of mismanaging his business is small fry.


Of course - by working that in, CM Punk could have been trying to blur the line between work and shoot - make it too obvious and he gets cut off immediately.

 

[GI Cake]

I've been rewatching the promo, and it does actually have many signs of being worked.

CM Punk's demeanour, the voice and elocution he uses are all those of his heel character, rather than his real life personality.

Were we watching the same shoot? When Punk touched on certain subjects like The Rock he sat up straight, glaring at the camera, face blood red. Now very likely that this is Punk just doing what he does on the mic but for pretty much everything he touched on, came out of the blue.

He rips on his fans: that's not a smart action if you're heading to another promotion - you want to take fans with you! (He would be truly disillusioned with the industry as whole if he meant what he said there).

He is a heel, the fans are suppose to hate him.

He talked about taking the WWE title away with him. He knows that - if he's leaving - he's not going to able to do that.

He is a shit talker, most Heels have been that way. He can say he will reach Mars before his contract expires, doesn't mean it will happen.[/quote]

Vince McMahon has been quite happy to let guys hit him with chairs/stunner him/etc... before. Someone accusing him of mismanaging his business is small fry.

Which is why CM Punk is suspended from T.V and only allowed to perform his house show obligations on his contract.

Of course - by working that in, CM Punk could have been trying to blur the line between work and shoot - make it too obvious and he gets cut off immediately.

Punk wasn't cut off because of what he said earlier, tech cut Punk off before Punk could say anything he could regret. Good move by the tech crew to kill the audio before Punk shared a story about the Chairman of the WWE.

 

[WolfNyte]

I have to say this and I apologize in advance for being long winded here.

Vince and Steph and Ace and alot of others in the lead have been the butt end of jokes and story lines for years.

Remember when Undertaker kidnapped Steph and supposidly mollested her when she was just getting into the biz when she was "innocent" steph?

Remember Jericho calling her a fithly bottom feeding trashbag Ho?

Even Trips calling her Princess Skank

Lets go to Vince.

All the abuse heaped on him by Austin, Rock,Foley the list is too huge togo into.

My favorite being Trips saying vince doesnt have grapefruits but grapenuts.

J Ace has been the butt of jokes as well remember the Dancing fat boy stipper in the thong who was a rib at Laurentes?

How about all the ribs on Trips over the years about the nose and other things.

Someone brought up Joey Styles "shoot" on WWE and the people in charge. The guy as far as I know still runs the Website and does most of their marketing and advertizing. A little known fact is that Joey went to college for advertizing and worked in that capacity before getting his part time job with ECW and Paul Heyman.

Fact is Vince checks EVERYTHING before it airs on TV even in the attitude era Vince had to give the green light to things. SCSA even talked in the past how he and VKM would toss abuse vince ideas around before doing them.

Most everything goes thru vince and is discussed with whomever is going to be on the recieving end of the jokes. Even the Lovley*chokes* Vikki Gurerro has siad all kings fat jokes and insults she ok's prior to airing she is asked is this ok or too over the top.

A guy I used to work with up until he moved last year was the head of Maintance at WWE HQ and he used to tell me stories how the stars and vince and steph , whom he said is a wonderfull woman in person and polar opposite of her character, would be discussing stuff like that walking the halls and in the elevators all the time. Should I pitch this to Vince? Will he Be mad at this? Hey can I call you this?

I am willing to wager that whole "shoot" was practiced and key words chosen for perpare to cut mike and mike cut then how many seconds to blackout. They plan these things to the utmost as my cousins best friend who used to Produce backstage segments back in the late 90's and early 2000's , not sure what he does now for the E, used to say.

Also does no one remember the shoot segments where Stone Cold would rant on about what a Jackass Vince was and " you and your tramp of a daughter and your weasle faced son get your asses down here so I can stamp a mud hole in all yer asses ...come on Vince what ya waiting for...hell bring yer damned wife I will stun her ass too"

Maybe I am going back too far bt even Jessie the Body Ventura used to rag on Vince and family back in the day.

 

[Davi323]

^^^ this.

I have been kind of operating under the assumption that the only way that CM Punk would EVER have been able to get away with that shoot is if he had resigned with the WWE already, and it was just for show. As soon as he started going off script, you still had John Cena in the ring, and a whole host of boys in the back who would have taken care of him after he was "cut off". And, lets look at the "cut off", shall we? It was VERY conveniently timed at about 11:06pm EST. Right when Raw would be going off the air anyway. Are we REALLY supposed to believe that Raw going off the air exactly when it normally goes off the air is somehow suspicious?

C'mon. This is a work, it has to be. It's a brilliantly executed work, but it is a work.

 

[martymcfly]

Of course it's a work. If he said these things without WWE approval, they would not have shown it again on smackdown during the "Raw rebound." Also on commercials on USA, Vince is going to address the situation on Raw tonight, and if this was not a work, the most that would happen is that one of the announcers would mention that Punk was fired, and everything would be swept under the rug. Vince would not be making a "formal statement" to call more attention to it if it was real

 

[Degenerate88]

Now hear me out. The IWC has known for quite some time about Punk not being happy with his current state in the WWE. I'm not gunna lie, last week when Punk dropped his promo, I was with the rest of the fans (whether you are 1 year, 2 year, 5 year, 10 year) that were in shock and awe and jumped out of your seat. We're starting to see all of these headlines about offerings that CM Punk is recieving to persuade him to stick around. CM Punk sees himself as a top draw, and why shouldn't he? I don't disagree with alot of what Punk dropped last week. Why isn't he more of a focus?

Now I started thinking about it, and this could very well be possible. What if this is one great genious storyline to boost Punk to stardom? What if CM Punk is about to get a major rub from McMahon? I can easily see this situation being a Stone Cold vs Rock WM 17 moment where Vince helps Austin take the title. Only this time, CM Punk & McMahon are about to team up and screw Cena. I honestly think that if done right, this could be the launch of the new era of WWE that we have all been craving.

Thoughts?

 

[H33LTurn]

I'm sorry but I still think Punk's departure is legitimate and that he wont be signing back with the company. You're certainly right, he has every right to see himself as a top draw, and the fact that its taken this long for him to even be acknowledged by the WWE as such is appalling. I think its obvious by the offers Punk turned down as well as the rest of the news we're getting about him that hes not going to be resigning but hey you never know.