Should CM Punk and Chris Jericho overrun?

[#SAWFT]

Before you read this thread, read the latest 'Cashbox'. Found here:

John Cena's vow to be WWE Champion heading into WrestleMania should have come true. At least then, the Punk/Jericho program would be living up to expectations by now. They wouldn't have been set so high in the first place.

I don't fault CM Punk or Chris Jericho. They're playing the cards they've been dealt. They are even playing them well. It just happens to be on table 141, in the back of the room, with little-to-no camera coverage, while Phil Ivey*vs Chris Ferguson racks up all the attention at the main table.

Oh, and don't forget the huge showdown between Doyle Brunson and Mike "The Mouth" Matusow going on at table 2, that just so happens to have Negreanu as the "Special Guest Dealer".

Excuse the cheesy poker analogies, but it's the unfortunate truth when it comes to Punk and Jericho's feud thus far.

CM Punk's light was shining brighter than any other six months ago. If it still is, it's being covered by the hand of Vince McMahon right now*and he won't be moving that hand until after April 1st. And Chris Jericho, in my opinion, has now had two WWE returns that didn't deserve near the hype and build they received leading into them.

Monday night, on Raw, Jericho took a neccessary step in order to kickstart his feud with Punk before Miami gets here. He got personal. He took a move out of Punk's playbook and delivered his own "worked shoot" to the current WWE Champion.

On the surface, I like the program taking this direction. But it comes with a small price.

There's no denying that Punk and Jericho needed "something" added to their program. It hasn't been bad, but it's certainly not been enough to take any attention away from the number one and number two reasons people are attending or ordering this pay per view.

The part I'm not sure about is, surprisingly, Punk's upcoming response to Jericho. While Jericho gained much-needed heat by saying what he did, I don't know how I'll feel if Punk is forced to show a vulnerable side as a result of it.

I don't want to feel sorry for CM Punk.

The reigning champion is a trendsetter. He's cool. His overnight success (from superstar to mainstream, must-see attraction) was due, in part, to HIS ability to get personal, about OTHERS,*during promos. And McMahon giving him the freedom to do so.

Now,*Punk is*on the other side of that coin. And he must react in defense. I'm not sure that's the kind of emotion I want attached to my cool, trendsetting champion.

Yet, I'm still excited for the next two weeks. Chris Jericho started something Monday that demands attention going forward. Even better, it requires CM Punk to react...VERBALLY. And we'll listen intently, as we always do.

The sad, sympathetic pipe bomb might not explode quite like we're used to, but it's still a pipe bomb. It still explodes.

And, in parting, I give you this idea, Vince:

Maybe, during one of these last two editions of Raw, the end of the show (hell, maybe even the overrun!) could be given to your current WWE Champion and his opponent for WrestleMania. I have faith that they would deliver.

And no worries, you'll still be able to find 45 minutes somewhere else for Rock and Cena.

Maybe you need to re-read the bit in bold. I missed it first time.

Should CM Punk and Chris Jericho overrun? Would it make the feud seem stronger?

I think maybe it could work, if they drew the personal level 'too far?' Maybe have them both take shots about their past, and about things left secret. It could also work because overrunning would make what they say so important? What do you think? What could they say/or do?

 

[GI Cake]

As much as I am a fan of Chris Jericho and CM Punk (And trust me, I'm a huge fucking mark for both of them) but the main-event is going to go to John Cena and The Rock. Punk/Jericho have nowhere near the star power that Rock/Cena have. Naturally you're going to want the bigger stars as the main-event. It keeps people watching, and having the World title take a backseat to this feud only makes sense considering Rock/Cena are going to have the biggest match of recent history. The WWE title doesn't need to be anywhere near the main-event right now. Rock/Cena are building this match-up perfectly by making it all personal.

 

[OneTooManyPunts]

Should they get an overrun? Absolutely! Will they get one, absolutely not! The CM Punk/Jericho feud is picking up some steam, but it still feels like it is far from being a real priority in terms of hard selling for the PPV. The overruns will be dedicated to Rock and Cena every week until WM, and probably for the Raw following the PPV.

WWE doesn't belive in the law of diminishing returns when it comes to Rock or Cena, and it would seem they believe that the rest of the card can be under promoted, and that one match will really sell the PPV.

At the same time though, I think it is actually working out well for Jericho and Punk. While they haven't had a ton of focus on them week in and week out, the lack of build may inadvertently make their math at WM the sleeper match of the night. It is obvious that both will work their backsides off to have a great match, and I have no doubt it will be a classic. Not having the insane pressure on their shoulders that Rock and Cena have to deliver may allow their match to really come together all the better.

If I were a betting man, I'd bet that Jericho and Punk will be the bridge angles between the first and second hours of Raw for up until WM. That is fine with me, that way if they do something memorable with the feud storyline wise, it gives them a whole hour left in the broadcast to re-iterate and push it.

 

[IHW]

They Should!!!!

Face it, the match itself will be better then Rock vs. Cena!
Hell, even the build can be better then this middle school feud we are getting from Rock and Cena. But the Punk and Jericho are not getting enough spotlight!

I read on WZ that the Punk/Jericho match may open the show for god sakes!

Yeah, Rock and Cena will be nice, but its Wrestlemania, i want to see the main event be a classic WRESTLING MATCH! WWE might as well change the name of Wrestlemania to Entertainamania.

 

[ultraviolence]

Ok first of all, Punk and Jericho are not going to open the show, that is just fucking stupid! I'm not even going to comment on that anymore.

Punk and Jericho TORE IT UP this last week, Jericho's promo was so good! This feud is going to steal the show, count on it. I haven't seen this weeks smack down yet, but I heard Jericho tore it up again, looking forward to that.

As far as them getting the overrun, yea that would probably be best. I mean honestly, do Rock and Cena really need to "sell" their match anymore, outside of someone slapping someone else, I'm about done watching these two guys anyway. Give Punk and Jericho the runover!!!!

 

[dtroppe]

No they should not. They are not the main event period. The biggest draw in their match is the WWE title. At one time Jericho was a decent draw but that was many many years ago and pre his D-list celebrity career. Jericho has recently lost on all his reality shows, why would anyone thats not a mark think of him as a winner? Punk is sells merchandise but not ratings. He doesnt have it- despite what many people on here think- he just doesnt have it- otherwise he would be MAIN EVENTING Wrestlemania.

Rock= Hollywood star
Jericho= Dancing with stars

Cena= huge draw for WWE and legitamate top guy for years
Punk= one big promo and couldnt get over

Lets be honest Rock v Cena is the draw of the PPV- the rest of it might as well be a Bragging Rights PPV.

 

[TheHeartbreakPunk]

I think that the next raw, punk and jericho should get the overun, but the week before wrestlemania, rock and cena will get the overun no doubt about it. How many weeks are left, 3?
So that leaves long and laurinitis for the next week, punk and jericho for the next, and rock/cena for the week before. I think it would be cool to see a brawl at the end where punk comes out and simply says, "now it's personal", and starts beating the shit out of him

 

[jack attack]

I've read these boards for a long time now, but this is the first time I've bothered to post. Ironically enough, I'm only posting because I don't have a super-strong opinion on this one.

CM Punk/Jericho has the title, while Rock/Cena has the overrun. I can see why people are upset about it, but when I thought about it, I immediately thought of when during the ECW days, there were plenty of shows where the title wasn't the main event. A lot of indie shows do the same thing. The thinking behind this has always been, now people know they'll have a title match (which one would have to assume would be a good match), a tag title match, and your main event featuring your top attraction. Now you have at least three matches that should hold your attention. With this years Wrestlemania, I could even see the title match before Undertaker/HHH. Match quality, I'd have to assume Punk/Jericho would be the best match, and of course it has the title, but the other two matches have the special attraction factor. In the end, I'd probably have my Raws laid out the same way I'd have my ppvs.

 

[XXJJ]

Rock/Cena and HIAC are just bigger matches than Punk vs Jericho. Its just that simple.
Punk vs Jericho is the IWC most anticipated Wrestlemania match, people will bitch when the entire show is not centered around them.

 

[AwesomeRko]

I think this is a good idea, I'm a massive Rock fan and by far the match I'm most stoked about is Rock/Cena, yet having said that I don't think it has to close every Raw. The anticipation for it is on fever pitch anyways and I don't think it would do the match any harm at all to have Rock/Cena on earlier for one week. It would be worth the boost it would give Punk/Y2J in my opinion as like someone said they could be given the opportunity to overrun, express themselves fully and have that one real breakout segment that in my opinion they haven't really had yet.

 

[Krossbreed]

i would like to see punk sell the broken down vibe he is giving of next week...then rips into jericho and do a new shoot promo and try to find dirt on jericho...he should walk out during a jericho match sit on the announce table and just go off. But i actually look fwd to this match the most because ther goanna go out there and give it 100% and blow the roof off the place.

 

[GrandSword]

1. Maybe Vince has learnt after Rock/Hogan that the names should main event, not the title...

2. The super-hype the IWC is putting on the Jericho and Punk match I think is going to be a big dissapointment for many people. But then again, everyone says that Michaels/Angle was amazing, when in fact it was pretty damn average. I think Punk's in ring skills are highly overrated by many people and Jericho may have some ring rust... I really don't think it is going to be the showstealer everyone thinks it will be. I'll be happy to eat my words if I'm wrong of course.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

In an ideal world, Punk & Jericho would close out the show of Raw and be the designated "true main event" of WrestleMania XXVIII. The problem, however, is that this isn't an ideal world.

Jericho & Punk are fantastic professional wrestlers, arguably the two best overall in the world right now, but they're not mega stars on quite the same level as John Cena and The Rock. I think that CM Punk has the potential to rise to a John Cena level, but that's going to take time. Punk has had a great run as WWE Champion and has shown all the doubters that he's a main event level star. However, being WWE Champion and elevated to the main event status doesn't mean that a wrestler is going to immediately surpass the reigning "face" of the company overnight. When Randy Savage won the WWF Championship at WM IV, his popularity rose to an all time high. However, Hulk Hogan was still billed, pushed and thought of as the top star in the company. Savage had a great run as champ, but he ultimately lost to Hogan and since he wasn't really consistently booked in the title picture for a long time afterward, Savage is still scene as being on a level below Hogan. If WWE keeps CM Punk in the main event scene, a consistent feature, a constant presence in the title scene and gives him meaningful runs with the title, then I think he could take his spot as an equal to John Cena in terms of star power. This past Monday on Raw, the Punk vs. Miz match lost nearly 900,000 viewers. Why? If I had to guess, some people just weren't all that interested in watching Miz get beaten again. Common sense told anyone that Punk was going to win and Miz's stock is pretty low right now as he's been jobbed out to other wrestlers that have big WM matches already for weeks now. That doesn't mean that Punk doesn't draw well but, as I said, Miz's stock just isn't high with fans. They know that he's not really an issue at this point in time, so the enthusiasm for seeing Punk face him just wasn't there for some.

Right now, however, Cena & The Rock are both big draws. The Rock isn't drawing in mega numbers like some might expect, but his segments do draw consistently and shows that interest in this story is still very much there. At the end of the day, it's all about the money and Vince is counting on Cena vs. Rock to help WM score it's second consecutive 1 million+ ppv buys.

 

[BigRedMachine88]

I think a good way to get punk/jericho more exposure is to have them interrupt rock/cena. Maybe have cena do his promo, and then when you expect rock to come out, jericho's music hits. He could run his mouth about how he's more important than cena vs the rock and demands he has the ring to deal with punk, and they go back and forth on the mic. Then laurinitis could set up cena vs jericho as the main event. Have punk on commentary for the match. He could get involved with jericho and have the match go to DQ. Then rock's music hit's and he and cena have a staredown to end the show.

Of course none of this will happen, but i thought it would be a good way to give punk/jericho more spotlight.

 

[PlayTheGame]

I don't know why certain people, such as the writer of the "Cashbox" with all those rad poker references that everyone understands, even make this an issue. So what if CM Punk/Jericho aren't the focal point of Wrestlemania and aren't getting overrun time? They're having a respectable feud for the WWE Championship. They're doing everything just fine. The WWE and its fans should feel lucky to have 2 matches this year that are actually bigger than the WWE Championship match. That sets up Wrestlemania to be very, very strong. Instead of people complaining about it, they should be happy that besides a strong WWE Championship match with a strong buildup, its third behind Rock/Cena and HHH/Undertaker. To complain that Jericho/Punk aren't getting enough time or aren't in the spotlight enough or are getting held back by Vince are just being ridiculous and are complaining over nothing. Like children getting fed too much candy. I guess some people aren't happy unless they bitch about something. That, or they're just such huge Punk marks and don't realize it, and that clouds their judgment on how the Wrestlemania buildup should be handled. Because, you know, they've personally booked Wrestlemania buildups in the past, they know what they're doing.

Jericho/Punk are doing great. They're behind two other great feuds, and rightfully so. Not a jab at them, just a testament to how strong the card is this year, something fans don't get every year. There are no valid complaints about the Jericho/Punk build, it's perfectly fine and in the right place.

 

[Workrate]

Yes, they should.

I don't really understand why we need 5-6 weeks of the show ending with either The Rock or Cena. The first week after Elimination Chamber and last week before WrestleMania? Absolutely. But the shows in between are free game. They've been promoting the match for a year, if you think ending the show on a different note one week is going to be a detriment, you're insane.

Part of the reason WWE lacks star power today is because of letting the same guys start and end their programs every week. As far as I'm concerned, they should have weeks where the show ends with something revolving around the Intercontinental or US titles (not pre-WM, obviously). This is how you keep things from getting stale and build the undercard.

 

[Workrate]

I think a good way to get punk/jericho more exposure is to have them interrupt rock/cena. Maybe have cena do his promo, and then when you expect rock to come out, jericho's music hits. He could run his mouth about how he's more important than cena vs the rock and demands he has the ring to deal with punk, and they go back and forth on the mic. Then laurinitis could set up cena vs jericho as the main event. Have punk on commentary for the match. He could get involved with jericho and have the match go to DQ. Then rock's music hit's and he and cena have a staredown to end the show.

Of course none of this will happen, but i thought it would be a good way to give punk/jericho more spotlight.

This is a good idea, but WWE is too rigid with their angles. They still maintain a lot of the old school mentalities where "this guy is feuding with this guy over here, that guy is feuding with that guy over there."

 

[mlp420]

No. Rock-Cena and Taker/HHH are the main events of Wrestlemania, so they deserve the most attention. Punk/Jericho is in that second tier of matches with Bryan/Sheamus and the Team Long/Team Lauranitis match. In other words it's a midcard match. And should be treated accordingly. But for Wrestlemania that's okay.

 

[kingofkings01013]

I feel like on Raw this feud is getting ignored /lost in the shuffle. Event the stupid GM's are getting more attention.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

No. Nothing on the show is as big, or as much of a draw as Rock vs Cena. Don't think about it like a fan, think about it like a businessman. Your fandom has a bias. Personally, I've followed Punk since BEFORE his ROH days. I have probably more attachment to him than anyone else except maybe Daniel Bryan. However, it's stupid to not have your biggest draw on the overrun.

Raw has a pretty obvious formula that fits a TV model. Show starts out with a marquee feud. Then from about 8:50-9:10 (in the midwest, central time, so around the 1 hour mark), there is another marquee feud and a recap soon after, then at the end of the show there is another. There is also something fairly big going on at every 30 minute mark.

This isn't by chance, it's because every 30 minutes, and every hour especially, other shows are over and people are flipping the channel. What will get more people to stay? CM Punk who is known mostly by wrestling fans, or guys like Cena and Rock who are both known by virtually everyone and in a feud that more people know (or has heard) about.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

This is a good idea, but WWE is too rigid with their angles. They still maintain a lot of the old school mentalities where "this guy is feuding with this guy over here, that guy is feuding with that guy over there."

Or maybe because it doesn't make any sense? Why would Punk get involved? Why would Jericho? Jericho and Punk are feuding over who is the best in the world and who is WWE champion, rock and cena are doing a generational thing.

There is really no reason to blend the two. I would love to see Punk/Cena vs Rock/Jericho though. I think that'd be an awesome go home main event.

Most of you clearly don't understand how TV, business, or storytelling works. this is coming from a guy with maybe a "TV 101" level of knowledge based off my business background.

 

[BigRedMachine88]

Or maybe because it doesn't make any sense? Why would Punk get involved? Why would Jericho? Jericho and Punk are feuding over who is the best in the world and who is WWE champion, rock and cena are doing a generational thing.

There is really no reason to blend the two. I would love to see Punk/Cena vs Rock/Jericho though. I think that'd be an awesome go home main event.

Most of you clearly don't understand how TV, business, or storytelling works. this is coming from a guy with maybe a "TV 101" level of knowledge based off my business background.

It's through doing things straight and by the book that makes WWE TV boring. Letting feuds cross over each other keeps things interesting, and lets both feuds play out at the same time, freeing up airtime for other things. You want to talk about TV and business, surely the first rule of good TV is to keep people interested in the show. Changing things up now and then can't hurt that.