Was Punk Right?

[Low_Ki]

Obviously that is open to interpretation but hear me out.

In CM Punk's documentary, he touches on Wrestlemania 27, considered to be one of the worst Wrestlemania's in recent memory. I was there in Atlanta, it wasn't terrible, but lets leave it at that.

Punk mentions that the fact that the Miz was in the main event and he wasn't really upset him as he felt he was the biggest heel in the company.

My question is, was he? Sure he had the New Nexus angle, it was starting to fail at that point though. He was in a good program with Randy Orton, and their match, although a little too slow paced, was well done and I enjoyed it.

Did Punk at that point deserve the main event of Wrestlemania more than The Miz?

Did The Miz deserve to be in that main event? Discuss.

 

[Dagger Dias]

CM Punk did deserve it more than The Miz to be in the main event of Wrestlemania 27. Nearly anyone deserved it more than The Miz. He should never have held onto the belt for as long as he did. The first quarter of 2011 was among the worst television I have ever seen WWE create, and a big part of that was Miz's WWE Championship reign. He's not World Championship material, he never was and never will be. Sure he's good on the mic but he is not believable as a threat to anything beyond the midcard belts. Punk on the other hand would have been believable with or without his underlings. As much as I disliked the New Nexus storyline, that was Wrestlemania worthy while Cena VS Miz was just horrendous.

Miz didn't deserve it at all. It was bad enough that he got the title reign and a RETENTION against JOHN CENA at WRESTLEMANIA at all. It would not have been as bad if he had better opponents along the way. Remember the feud with Lawler? A guy who will never be taken seriously as a main event tier wrestler defending the best belt in the business against a retired announcer? Even the Divas Championship is treated better than that. Punk should have gotten the belt when he formed his version of the Nexus and HE should have faced Cena at Wrestlemania 27. That show is the 3rd worst Wrestlemania ever (losing only to 11 and 9) and the Cena VS Miz main event did nothing to help it. I'd personally rather forget that it ever happened. The show still has a long list of things that needed to be changed, but Punk VS Cena would have made it closer to being tolerable.

 

[Wald]

I actually thought Miz was over enough to warrant being the third wheel in the Cena vs Rock opening shot of their feud. I also think Miz did well with what minutes he got in promos against the Rock and Cena.

I'm not sure Punk realises that he would have just been an afterthought in that match. Everything was centered around kicking off Cena vs Rock and it hurt Miz as a main event level player because of it. If that's what Punk would have wanted for his Wrestlemania spot than fair enough, I wouldn't have wanted to be the Champion that is out of his league in the main event anyway

 

[J3Piecenickas]

I think the Miz had garnered some pretty significant momentum at that point in his career as many people thought he was solid enough in the ring to hold his own with John Cena and good enough on the mic to talk with the Rock. However, when the event occurred and the main event played out it was more about The Rock screwing John Cena than anything the Miz had done in the match. Their match was not anything spectacular.

Punk at that point was starting to fade with the casual audience. It wasn't until his promo that the hardcore fanbase really spoke up about him as a performer on the mic and in the ring. His promo echoed every sentiment that the "intelligent" fan thought to be true about WWE as a business. He had his moments sporadically up to that point but he was not the consistent character he is today. Yes he was talented but at that point he was not the main event player he claimed to be (and this is coming from a huge Punk fan).

 

[S.J. Maximus]

In my opinion (which I know will be very unpopular), CM Punk and his opponent Randy Orton were the most over heel and face respectively in the company at the time. Randy surpassed Cena's pops consistently shortly after WrestleMania of the previous year and CM Punk had virtually no competiton since they completely deflated Wade's push and made him start the horrid core. Cena and Miz, however, were the two guys that WWE respect as poster boys and mainstream attractions, therefore they were given the main event spot on the card for the title. I think Punk and Orton put on the match better match, had the louder reaction, and the better storyline (they went back 3 years with it!) to headline the big show.

But hey, Vince only loves his golden boys

 

[Redemption-2012]

Anyone who makes excuses and tries to say that The Miz was actually main event material are complete sheep. The fact is that The Miz was never and should have never been the title match at 'Mania. I was at WM27 in Atlanta, the overall show was average at best. CM Punk should have been in the main event facing Cena because he was probably the best heel in the WWE at that time. I still don't understand to this day how The Miz got there but I hope it never happens again.

 

[justinept]

Punk at that point was starting to fade with the casual audience. It wasn't until his promo that the hardcore fanbase really spoke up about him as a performer on the mic and in the ring. .

I would have to disagree with this. Keep in mind that Punk was out of action for a few months leading up to his WM program. It was during that time that Punk took to the announce table and - in my opinion - really took off in terms of pandering to the internet wrestling crowd. It was also from the announce position that Punk started to take issue with John Cena and ultimately took over Wade Barrett's spot as the leader of the Nexus. From that spot, Punk began to challenge Cena's character ...

And that's why the WresteMania card was so bizarre. Punk was challenging Cena for 6 weeks leading up to the Royal Rumble, and then he suddenly dropped the challenge and went after Orton. From a creative standpoint, it made no sense. However, there were probably a few factors that played into this, the biggest being VKM's possible hesitation at letting a wrestler with an expiring deal headline WrestleMania.

To answer the actual question, though - I'm sure Punk was pissed about having his program with Cena scrapped last minute. Wrestling is a competitive industry, and if you're not upset about being pushed out of the WrestleMania main event, then you probably don't have enough competitiveness to last in that industry. I will say this, though... It's probably for the best that he stayed away from the main event since it was all about Rock/Cena anyway.

 

[dolphinzigglah]

The Miz is to me isn't all that bad. In the feud he got overshadowed by The Rock and that whole feud with Cena was whack for the reason of Cena vs Rock I at 28.

The same thing would've just happened to Punk. He wasn't to the level he is now to face The Rock without being overshadowed.

 

[akathelaw]

When you consider how the buildup to WrestleMania 29 went down, with Punk dropping the WWE Title to The Rock and capping off a long heel run as champ, that does make me wish Punk had been in that Main Event match. From the looks of it The Miz is an aborted attempt at making a new main eventer. Vince McMahon was invested fully in The Miz as a main event staple for the coming years, or he wouldn't have been put in that position. Everything Miz has done since WrestleMania 27 has lowered his profile. His face turn attempt with the Flair blessing and Figure 4 debut will probably be a forgotten time in WWE history.

Punk was the guy for that feud, and whoever made the call to put Miz in that match was just wrong. We would have never got the pipe bomb promo if that match happened, but I bet we would have gotten a better story in the long run. Picture this:

WrestleMania 27: CM Punk (c) vs. John Cena for the WWE Title with guest referee The Rock

Great back and forth match with The Rock having tension between both superstars in the ring. Both men go outside and brawl, Rock does a slow count so they don't get counted out. Punk tries everything in his arsenal, can't put Cena away. Punk screams at Rock about slow counts, gets in his face. Punk and Cena run the ropes, Cena goes for a shoulder block and Punk baseball slides out the ring, Cena hits the Rock and lays him out. Cena chases Punk to the ramp, and the New Nexus heads down to beat down Cena. The Rock runs to Cena's aid, starts attacking New Nexus. the NN guys retreat to the back, Cena argues with Rock about helping him, Rock is infuriated. Match continues, Cena tries for 5 Knuckle Shuffle on Punk but does the taunt to Rock's face, and BOOM Rock Bottom on Cena. Punk lays his arm across for the 3 count, retains the WWE Title and New Nexus runs to the ring to celebrate. Show ends with WWE Champion Punk on the New Nexus' shoulders, and Rock in the ring glaring at Cena on the ramp, defeated.

From there, Punk could have disbanded the New Nexus by saying that they've "graduated" and started his "Best in the World" HEEL run right there. Cena and Rock would go on to announce their WM28 match just like it had happened. Punk could have held the belt for a while, lost it to Cena much like Miz did. However, for this hypothetical story, let's say Punk held the title ALL THE WAY to Elimination Chamber 2013. That means no face turn for Punk, and a much longer WWE Title run.

Punk vs. Jericho for the WWE Title could've still happened at WM28, but it probably would've been Y2J as the face and Punk as the heel. This would build up Punk, seeing him retain the WWE Title with no help unlike the previous year. Punk would really look like a top guy who could de-throne anyone.

So Elim. Chamber 2013 rolls around and The Rock FINALLY defeats Punk and ends his historic WWE Title run that almost covered 3 WrestleManias in a row. Punk goes on to face 'Taker as the BIGGEST HEEL WWE has seen in decades, and Cena vs. Rock for the WWE Title goes on as planned. Had this story played out, I think Punk's face turn after 'Mania would've been ridiculously huge and he'd be the new top babyface. You could argue he is now, but it's hard not to admit that Punk was mismanaged for the past few years.

What about the Miz? Honestly who cares, he's really not the top level guy Vince thought he was. Miz honestly reminds me of Jeff Jarrett, a guy who is probably your best midcarder but nobody really cares about enough to put him in the main event.

 

[mrfantastic111]

I liked the Miz as US champ. That's how he got pretty popular with the IWC for awhile, he was good on the mic and he pulled off a couple of entertaining promos. I dare say that for awhile I tuned into RAW to see the Miz. His character was given way more flexibility and he was pretty funny in a jock kind of way. Then Miz won the WWE title. I was pretty stoked to see a fresh face win the title for the first time in awhile, and I was expecting Miz to become the man. His first match was the following week on RAW - TLC match with Lawler. I didn't mind this. However, the feud kept going... And going... And going...

This is where the Miz broke down. Firstly, I never minded that he was fighting a semi-retired ring announcer, I just didn't like that Jerry was made to look much tougher than the Miz. I mean seriously, on multiple occasions Jerry was made to look as if he had the Miz beat. Punk also had a feud with Jerry, but at least he was dominant.

Next of all, Miz's mic work was declining. I mean, not so much declining, but it seemed like creative didn't want him to be as funny, and so his promos became more generic. This was just wrong. The Miz became popular by doing funny and cheeky promos, so why give him something bland? Maybe they didn't want Miz to out-do Rock/Cena, but Miz's character decline heavily inside and outside the ring.

What I'm trying to say is that the Miz wasn't necessarily the best heel in the company at the time, but he was definitely one of the top personalities. I think that at the time the Miz was pretty hyped up and was being associated with guys like Cena & Orton, and had just come out of leading team RAW at Bragging Rights. He was on a roll. Punk was also on a roll once he had taken over leadership of the Nexus, but I don't think Vince saw Punk back then the same way as he sees Punk now. I think that Miz probably had a 'cleaner' image and was safer to associate with talents like Rock and Cena. There's also the fact that Punk only had a few months left with the WWE. Let's face it, it's just bad business to give a top stop to a guy that might be leaving within' the following 4 months. Vince has given plenty of guys spots on top and a lot of them have left whilst in the prime, ie; Lesnar, Lashley. Maybe if Punk had resigned earlier than he would of gotten the WM27 main-event spot. Seems plausible considering he was already feuding with Cena on TV, however, would Punk/WWE today be the same weren't it for the infamous pipebomb? Let's face it - probably not. As mentioned earlier, WWE was sucking pretty bad in 2011 right before the pipebomb.

 

[BeastFromTheEast]

I think Miz deserved it. He paid his dues and put up with a lot of flak because of his reality television background. I feel that WWE is in his blood and has been his entire life like most of us true fans. I believe at that time Miz was the top heel in WWE and his title reign was deserved and good to watch. CM Punk at that time was not interesting at all to me so I would have to disagree with his take on things.

 

[MCMG]

You are being harsh on The Miz. I think that, at the time, he deserved to be WWE champion and was successful. Also , Punk wasn't as good as he is now - he has undoubtedly improved.

Quite frankly, it should have been Rock/Cena but I they thought otherwise. Maybe they wanted the entire year to build or time for The Rock to train. I don't think that Punk deserved to be in this main-event ahead of The Miz so he was a good choice.

Anyway, Michael Cole was the best heel and that time.

 

[dtroppe]

Wrestlemania 27 was one of the worst without a doubt. It wouldn't have mattered where Punk fell on the card or who he faced. Punk has never been a top guy (at least not in the overall picture of wrestlng history). Punk v Cena or Miz v Cena did not matter and would not have affected the overall quality or buyrate of WM 27- People paid to see the Rock. Punk may have felt like he was the biggest heel, but who cares how he feels? VKM did not. HHH did not. Cena did not. The fans certainly did not. The card sucked because it only had HHH/Taker and Cena as the draws that actually wrestled. Stone Cold and the Rock were the Bread and Butter.

 

[Da Solo]

In terms of who deserved what, I wouldn't be so quick to disregard the Miz. Watching that "Hate Me Now" video was almost worth putting him in the match. I like Punk a lot more than Miz, but Miz really overcame a shit-ton of backstage harassment and undermining and worked his ass off to be a better wrestler and in-ring personality. So I wouldn't say Miz didn't deserve it.

Now in terms of who should have done it, then yes, in hindsight Punk would have been a better idea. Miz was over as champion at the time, no doubt, but Punk was fresh off injury and leading the New Nexus, which failed because of terrible booking and no proper star at the time other than Punk. Miz played the role of third wheel well, but no doubt Punk on the mic could have established an equal presence with Rock and Cena like he did earlier this year. Either way, it would have been a lot harder to book considering Nexus being involved and getting the title off of Miz quickly in addition to finding something else for Randy and Miz to do. Knowing Creative, they would have bombed that tremendously.

 

[SD619]

The problem with having Punk vs Cena at Wrestlemania 27 is that the match was going to be a backdrop for Cena-Rock, regardless of the opponent. WWE just had to pick a heel and put him in the title picture. It was not the best decision by the WWE to use the main event of a Wrestlemania to promote the next one. But seeing as they had decided to do so, Miz was not a bad choice to play the third wheel.

I'm sure Punk would have been a lot more pissed at playing third wheel to Cena-Rock, than he was at facing one of WWE's most over faces at Wrestlemania.

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

CM Punk did deserve it more than The Miz to be in the main event of Wrestlemania 27. Nearly anyone deserved it more than The Miz. He should never have held onto the belt for as long as he did. The first quarter of 2011 was among the worst television I have ever seen WWE create, and a big part of that was Miz's WWE Championship reign. He's not World Championship material, he never was and never will be. Sure he's good on the mic but he is not believable as a threat to anything beyond the midcard belts. Punk on the other hand would have been believable with or without his underlings. As much as I disliked the New Nexus storyline, that was Wrestlemania worthy while Cena VS Miz was just horrendous.

Miz didn't deserve it at all. It was bad enough that he got the title reign and a RETENTION against JOHN CENA at WRESTLEMANIA at all. It would not have been as bad if he had better opponents along the way. Remember the feud with Lawler? A guy who will never be taken seriously as a main event tier wrestler defending the best belt in the business against a retired announcer? Even the Divas Championship is treated better than that. Punk should have gotten the belt when he formed his version of the Nexus and HE should have faced Cena at Wrestlemania 27. That show is the 3rd worst Wrestlemania ever (losing only to 11 and 9) and the Cena VS Miz main event did nothing to help it. I'd personally rather forget that it ever happened. The show still has a long list of things that needed to be changed, but Punk VS Cena would have made it closer to being tolerable.

Hell, I enjoyed the story of Miz vs. Lawler. Lawler has won titles upon titles but never the big one. It was a good storyline for what it was given what Lawler can do.

Please stop with the Divas belt being treated better than that. You're making yourself look sad.

Miz had a better year than Punk leading up to Wrestlemania. Punk was busy losing to Undertaker, Cena, and Big Show. New Nexus? Puh-leease.

I can't believe I actually defended Miz here. Pigs are flying.

 

[CM-Punkha]

I actually thought Miz was over enough to warrant being the third wheel in the Cena vs Rock opening shot of their feud. I also think Miz did well with what minutes he got in promos against the Rock and Cena.

I'm not sure Punk realises that he would have just been an afterthought in that match. Everything was centered around kicking off Cena vs Rock and it hurt Miz as a main event level player because of it. If that's what Punk would have wanted for his Wrestlemania spot than fair enough, I wouldn't have wanted to be the Champion that is out of his league in the main event anyway

Exactly. I think in the long-run, this benefitted Punk's career and his fans. Had he been in the main event, he would have probably complained about not being the focus and then left in July when his contract expired because by then he would have had his title shot and be out of the title pic. Thus giving him no incentive to stay after MitB.

The main event of WM27 sucked but in all honesty, most wrestlers in the Miz role were going to be negatively impacted and buried. The only star I could see recovering from that is someone like Orton as he is quite established (but then another Cena-Orton feud).

 

[LSN80]

It was fine, because the match truly was never about the Miz. It's why they went with the garbage double countout ending, and Miz retaining due to Rock re-starting the match with No-DQ's, and then giving Cena the Rock Bottom to allow Miz to retain.

If you recall, the build to the match was all about Cena and Rock. Cena and Miz interacted, sure, but it was mostly instigation from Miz. Cena's focus, as evidenced in his promos, was on Rock. And Rock, the Host of Wrestlemania, never mentioned or interacted with Miz until the go home show for Wrestlemania. The majority of the build leading up to, and the match itself, was a perfect example of using one match to build towards another, with a third background player in place. And that background player, perfect for the role, was the Miz.

Simply put, CM Punk wouldn't have fit into the role that Miz did. The fans accepted Miz where he was because they saw him for what he was: A background player that wasn't truly a credible champion. Those are, as time has shown, the antithesis of what CM Punk is. And using him in that background role, based both on his mic work and abiility in the ring, wouldn't have been suitable for this match.

And shortly after, with Rock gone, Cena took the title from Miz, and his first true threat, his big test, came from CM Punk. No Rock, no outside forces in play, simply CM Punk vs. John Cena. Be it at Money In The Bank or any other PPV, it worked then and has again over and over. But with Rock and Cena having issues and Rock being the host of Wrestlemania, Miz was the right choice. He simply wasn't credible enough for people to care enough that he played third banana. CM Punk would never have worked in that role, yet that would have been the role he'ld been thrust into.

Because of what was needed from the heel champion, Miz was absolutely the right choice, not CM Punk.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

I don't know who the biggest or best heel in WWE was during WM27 but the fact that Punk doesn't stand out as definitively the best tells me he didn't necessarily belong in the main event. Plus when does being the best or biggest heel in the company guarantee you a main event spot in the biggest show of the year?

Did Punk deserve the spot? No, because he's a giant bitter cunt who can't keep his mouth shut about things not going his way. Imagine how more bitter he would have acted if he had to play Miz's role in the main event. That match was basically a pre-show for the WM28 main event. If Punk played Miz's role he would be bitching and moaning to no end about it. How is someone who pulls this shit deserving of getting such a high profile spot?

And I enjoy Punk's work. He is an entertaining fella. No need to be so critical of the company paying your bills or The Miz while he is still trying to pay his.

 

[Headman]

As stated before Punk would have been an after thought in the Rock/Cena storyline just like Miz was. The story would have went down the exact same way with Rock and Cena trading barbs with each other while Punk/Miz practically begs them to pay attention to him. If I were Punk I'd be glad Miz got that role. At the time Punk was not a bigger star than the Miz and certainly not a big enough star to steal the spotlight away from the Rock or John Cena. Not being involved in Wrestlemania 27's main event sounds like a good kayfabe gripe for his character but in reality he's lucky he wasn't.

 

[Kodo Sawaki]

As incredible as it sounds from today perspective Miz was more over from Punk at the time. Eversince his split with Morison he garnered heat(still remember that promos when Cena was injured and he came week after week and said John Cena 0- The Miz 7 in victories) and that culminated with few championships as well as with Money in The Bank contract. Punk at that time was still "IWC darling" but nowhere near his overness after pipebomb. Eventhough he was entertaining and pretty over with SES he begin to lost momentum. The thing with Nexus(which after good start was very ruined angle by WWE) was just a thing to try to get the last from that angle and by that time he was not so over.

Besides there was nobody else who would play "scape goat" better then Miz. Whole point of that Mania was to set up Rock/Cena and it had rather shock value that Miz got over Cena at the end and retained championship. Nobody believed it and WWE got that "Wrestlemania moment" they wanted. That was dreadfull Mania overall and there wasnt anyone else who could play that role. If you look at the card you will see that it was perhaps weakest card ever for Mania. It was just fortunate turn of events for Miz that it was like that...

One other thing which people didnt considered is that if there was Punk/Cena there, Punk couldnt have legitimate claim at pipebomb. Whole point of his "bitching" was that he is the best but he is nowhere. Would be hard to claim that if he had mainevented Mania couple of months before that.