The Next Top Star Of WWE: CM Punk

[ABMorales787]

For a good 2 years now, WWE has pretty not bothered with creating a new big face into the main event. The last one technically being Jeff Hardy. Since then all WWE has managed to establish is Sheamus, who was shotgunned into the main event as a heel, Wade Barrett, who was also shotgunned, The Miz and the abrupt failure that was Jack Swagger. Meanwhile, WWE just doesn't seem to show any sign of interest in making a mew babyface to take some load off John Cena and Randy Orton. Instead we get Edge traded to Smackdown to fill their own gaping hole. It's pretty obvious that WWE seems to be in a bit of a pickle with their babyfaces. But while this is all happening, a man who last year was being burned because he wore jeans to a formal event, has been garnering the delight of the big boss. At least according to reports. The man is CM Punk. Former 3 time World Heavyweight Champion and noted indy star. CM Punk has credentials in his resume that none of the other top stars in WWE today have, but he happens to share with big figures from the past.

He's an established indy star. Competing in ROH, TNA and other promotions, which helped garner his fame. A trait he shares with the likes of Triple H, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Mick Foley, The Undertaker and others.

He's shown to be more than capable with delivering the best promo's of WWE today. He carries emotion as opposed to talking with an imposed monotonic voice like other heels. And as a face, he can do the same. He has shown the ability of driving a story with zero problem.

He's a role model by default due to his Straight Edge lifestyle. Making him a figure that can be accepted with ease by WWE's family oriented audience. If he's a face of course.

His in-ring abilities are top notch as he has shown the ability to deliver great matches in the past.

Basically, CM Punk covers every single field in WWE required to become a big star. But the real question is if WWE sees it the same way? How about you?

 

[TheAbsolute1]

C.M. Punk won the triple crown faster than any oter WWE wrestler. 3 time world champ, ECW champ, IC champ Tag champ. Less than 5 years? Oh he's a star and will always be one but he will get bigger and bigger, CM Punk is that great. He was able to get over with..Festus.... Dude's got mad talent on the mic and in the ring. Only personal problems he's had outside the ring was with the Hardys and they're both gone so nothing but injury can get in the way of his success. When we're old fucks, we'll look back and say that we witnessed the making of the greatest WWE superstar ever.

 

[blackmetalbuick]

I think the WWE sees plenty in him. Unfortunately after Orton punted him out of the title picture (literally), he never even got a revenge storyline, and dropped down the card a little bit to get stuck into a stable, which created zero stars and ended up with Gallows released and Mercury back on the shelf. Then he got drafted to RAW when I can only assume they had decent plans for him, but an injury of his own got in the way.

Thankfully they were smart enough to realize his potential behind the announce table. He was a guest on Divas NXT a while back and offered up the most entertaining commentary I had heard in years. I hoped I wasn't the only one who noticed, and apparently I wasn't. So at least they have a use for him while he recovers.

I know we have a shortage of good, believable faces happening right now, but I really think Punk will only reach the highest of highs as a heel. He's just too good at it. Even as a face, he's still most successful with a cynical type of attitude about him. No, I'm not at all saying I want him being another tweener so Stone Cold comparisons can fly left and right (Orton), but I'm not sure he can ever be a completely good-guy face. He did alright with it for a while I guess, he was a major face during his title runs and feuds with JBL.

He's so good as a heel though. I just got done reading Mick Foley's books, and he talks about how a heel needs to have a reason for his actions, and no matter how wrong he might be about something, he has to be absolutely, utterly convinced that he is right. The straight edge gimmick fits perfectly into this. Sure he could play it straight as a face and act like a role model, but it's even easier to carry it over into "I'll tell you what's good for you" and "I'm better than you" heel territory.

 

[ABMorales787]

I think the WWE sees plenty in him. Unfortunately after Orton punted him out of the title picture (literally), he never even got a revenge storyline, and dropped down the card a little bit to get stuck into a stable, which created zero stars and ended up with Gallows released and Mercury back on the shelf. Then he got drafted to RAW when I can only assume they had decent plans for him, but an injury of his own got in the way.

Thankfully they were smart enough to realize his potential behind the announce table. He was a guest on Divas NXT a while back and offered up the most entertaining commentary I had heard in years. I hoped I wasn't the only one who noticed, and apparently I wasn't. So at least they have a use for him while he recovers.

I know we have a shortage of good, believable faces happening right now, but I really think Punk will only reach the highest of highs as a heel. He's just too good at it. Even as a face, he's still most successful with a cynical type of attitude about him. No, I'm not at all saying I want him being another tweener so Stone Cold comparisons can fly left and right (Orton), but I'm not sure he can ever be a completely good-guy face. He did alright with it for a while I guess, he was a major face during his title runs and feuds with JBL.

He's so good as a heel though. I just got done reading Mick Foley's books, and he talks about how a heel needs to have a reason for his actions, and no matter how wrong he might be about something, he has to be absolutely, utterly convinced that he is right. The straight edge gimmick fits perfectly into this. Sure he could play it straight as a face and act like a role model, but it's even easier to carry it over into "I'll tell you what's good for you" and "I'm better than you" heel territory.

Of course CM Punk can be a good face. And while keeping his cynical and sarcastic demeanor would only make it better. What better way to bring a fresh face to the main event than by having him show up and make a fool out of the heels? As far as I can tell, today's standard for being top heel are being a strong, resourceful coward with a simplistic mind for dominance at all cost. The days of a strategic heel like Triple H are long gone. Just like the unstoppable monster heels like Yokozuna. It's pretty easy to have CM Punk come out and mock Sheamus for his cowardice and and insult Wade's lack of success the same way he would other guys like he's shown in the announce table.

 

[MizterColemine]

I would rather see CM Punk than Edge right now. The returns of Jericho and Punk and save us from the antics being booked between Kane and Edge: worse storyline I've seen in years.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I think that the future could, potentially, be wide open for CM Punk. He's reportedly gotten tons of praise from everyone backstage for his commentating abilities on Raw, everyone knows he's got the goods in the ring and on the mic. I think the fact that the WWE is willing to just keep him on the air and visible while rehabing his injuries, something that he himself wanted, tells me that management likes the guy.

I don't see CM Punk being the next top star for the WWE, however. Given the surprising amount of press coverage that the WWE has gotten since putting the WWE Championship on The Miz, I don't expect Miz to drop the title at least until the Royal Rumble and it won't be to Punk. I'd say that CM Punk's next feud will probably be against Daniel Bryan, at least that was the way the wind was blowing before Punk got sidelined with an injury. Daniel Bryan just seems to be in something of a holding pattern since that happened and a feud with Punk is something that will have the IWC salivating.

I don't believe that we've seen the last of CM Punk as a main eventer but I don't see him making an appearance in the WWE Championship picture anytime in the forseeable future.

 

[Ferbian]

I'm not quite sure what to think of whether CM Punk would ever become the next top star of WWE. When you look back at the biggest names in WWE, you'll be looking at a lot of people that were shot into that position in a matter of a few years. Hulk Hogan got to the WWE championship and Hulkamania in under a year within WWE, Stone Cold got to the massive popularity he had in a matter of 2-3 years time, and John Cena more or less the same as Stone Cold. And they also share another thing - They weren't AS established as CM Punk already is.

CM Punk has a decent handful of championships to show for his career. And he has a lot of storylines behind it as well. He's managed to accomplish things within WWE that could be more than enough to garner him the attention for the future after he retires. However, I think that this is the one thing that hurts the chances of CM Punk becoming the next big star. Think of this, he's already established blah blah blah, but WWE has yet to take the shot at throwing CM Punk into a PROPER main event position, into a position where he can be considered a big main event face, or heel for that sake.

CM Punk is good and all that. He's exciting to watch, he's great on the microphone and the only thing that really throws him down a bit is his size, but that can be worked around to create the "Jericho" like accomplishment of capitalizing where the chance is available.

But it's obvious that WWE doesn't have the same thoughts for CM Punk as we do with the whole "Let's make him the next face of the company". Why do I think this? Because there's absolutely no sign of him becoming the next big name in the company, it's not even imaginable right now. Sure he's injured, and sure he's still given time so WWE obviously values his microphone abilities, but I simply do not see him getting to the point where "Good god, he's the one that will carry us into the next era of wrestling".

I would love to see it happening, but I simply don't think it would.

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

Well I certainly agree with almost everything the OP has said, except on the point he made on Randy Orton. He was turned face this year in order to take some workload of John Cena. Yes it was the crowd that was mostly responsible for the turn but WWE could have nixed it if they wanted to. Instead they allowed Orton to run with the ball and I think that at this point his popularity is comparable to that of Cena.

Coming back to Punk, yes he would make a fantastic face. But I think he should be a funny, arrogant type of a face and he should not make any reference to any straight edge character when he is a face. The reason why this should happen is that his straight edge character garners tons of heat and has now reached a level where any reference to that character of his ellicits boos from the crowd. So he might find it hard to connect with the fans if he repeatedly keeps mentioning that straight edge stuff. Also he did not work as a straight edge face when he debuted as one so why repeat that character? When he turns, he would be best served by NOT making any mention to his straight edge character.

As for being the next superstar in WWE, that is something that is beyond his control. One big feud might make him the next big thing but as we know it takes more than one great superstar to make a mega feud. But he certainly has the talent to become one.

There is also the thing that he is so talented that WWE might decide to make him the next Jericho of the company rather than the next Cena. Also Punk's build goes against him. The smaller superstars like Bret Hart and HBK have not exactly been very successful when they were made the faces of the company. So Vince might be a bit circumspect when it comes to making a smaller superstar the face of the company.

 

[PhD]

I think Ferbian is right about Punk's potential being limited as far as being the "face of the company." But, after all, Jericho was never the face of the company, and he still managed to make himself extremely valuable, both as a face and as a heel.

Punk has actually been getting a really good face reaction from the crowd the past few weeks on RAW, so I think, even though he's playing a heel on commentary, it's very conceivable he could come back as a face.

 

[Chill]

Is CM Punk the next top star of the WWE? No, he's not. I see Punk as a 'Chris Jericho' in that he will make a good go-to guy when Smackdown is in need of a believable champion when the top guy is out for whatever reason. That he wont be the top star of WWE is not a bad thing because he is still an invaluable talent to have around in that he is good on the mic, in the ring and is marketable - those three attributes will guarantee him a spot as an upper mid card/main eventer in WWE for years to come. Unfortunately, I just don't see Punk as the type of person WWE would want to build the company around as they did with Hogan, Austin and now Cena...with that being said, WWE do need to develop a star to be the next top guy but the answer is not CM Punk.

 

[shattered dreams]

Its WWE Killjoy. They don't base pushes on talent. They base it on how well you coddle HHH's balls. CM Punk got the same stalled push that every other person with main event talent got over the past few years. There is usually some veteran heat thrown in but by now it is pretty clear that is just people protecting their spots or relative legacy. At this rate CM Punk is more likely to be MVP or Christian than a main eventer. Sad but probably true.

I think people forget CM Punk started off as a face in the WWE. Heyman was basically trying to book him like WWE uses Daniel Bryan now but it seemed like he had trouble getting the higher ups to go with it. If they had ran with that character then maybe killjoy's idea could have come true. It is possible that Punk is somewhat like Orton in that they would seem to be good choices for faces but are booked as heels for a long time because their natural doucheyness shows through.

 

[CAPT SPAULD1NG8]

cm punk was one of the fastest rising stars i have seen in wwe. i think wwe has been using him great to be honest. when he was face he was great and since turning heel he has been even better. the streight edge society was brilliant. it really helped draw heat to punk and that is exactly what you want. cm punk is probably without a dought one of the top five talents wwe has. and since his injury and starting his commentary career he has been nothing but perfect. he is currently vince's favorite commentator which really helps him in the long run if hes on vinny's good side. being on commentary is keepink punk relavent. for vince to do that he has got to be really high on punk to keep him on television even injured, once he returns to the ring from his injury i see a big push for him. consider it a little present from vince. i can easily see him holding the big belt at least twice in 2011. he alot like jericho he can be a mid carder, a high mid carder, or a main eventer. he is not done as a main eventer. just look at jericho he was weaving in and out of the main event seen. punk is here to stay for a very long time.

 

[Tech N9ne]

He is already a HUGE name. I think WWE keeps CM Punk on the back burner as sort of a "sure thing". When that final push to the stars happens for him, there will be no turning back.

It seems to me, to be the guy's destiny. He will have deserved everything he ever gets, and no one can take that away from him. He has paid his dues in the business and then some. I think he is already respected backstage and that will make it easier for him to succeed with not too many disagreements from the "other guys".

Comparing him to the current WWE champion would surely make Punk a shoe-in. Everything that The Miz can do, Punk is on the same level with him. On the mic they are close, and many people would say Punk is better. The ability to draw heat. Miz always has the crowd in the palm of his hand, and the same could be said about Punk when he feuded with Jeff Hardy and also Rey Mysterio.

I think most people would probably say CM Punk is better in the ring than Miz. The Miz seems to be a favorite of WWE Creative, or Vince. The same could be said about Punk. Right now he is doing the company a favor while he is injured. His commentary on Raw has been awesome and has freshened up the show to a certain degree.

So Punk seems to be respected by just about everyone. I see no reason why he won't become a HUGE star. He is already close. He is really over and even as a Heel is one of the most popular wrestlers in the world.