Where does CM Punk rank among all-time greats?

[jacdnwarrior]

Do you even understand what drawing power is? It's not just about getting heat. Staying power makes up for the most of it. Rock didn't have that. When he took the reigns from Austin in 1999/2000 he did not take the industry to new heights. It stagnated. And then following 2001 WWE began losing steam thanks to the ridiculous Ruthless Aggression era.

In 1999 WWE was still a national name just like everyone other promotion. And there were people around who drew better than Rocky. There were people before who drew better than Rocky. They expanded their companies. Drew tens of thousands on a regular basis. And without the help of a billion dollar company backing them.

Drawing power, as I understand it, means that people pay to see that performer. Him being on that event card draws even more people. Rock delivered like very few did. And who are these guys who drew better than Rock in 1999 ? Smackdown was started in 1999 and the XFL was started in 2000, if business was so horrible, would WWE have made those ventures ? The attitude era started about 1997 to 2001. Austin was the champ at 1998 then he feuded with Rock and they stole the show till Rock turned face then we had the emergence of Mick Foley and Triple H. He wasn't the sole person who carried the company but he was a significant part of their success especially financially.

If you can give me numbers saying how much the company made with Rock vs before and or after he left, then I'd have no choice to agree but here's my problem: You spoke about the gate. Only about the gate. The gate is one of many ways the company made money, but in some instances not the most important source of revenue for WWE in the Rock's era and beyond. Most people don't go to the events, but they do watch the show on tv, buy ppvs, buy merchandise which is why tv ratings, ppv buyrates and merchandise rights/sales are so important to telling the complete story of a wrestler's value to a promotion. If he has no staying power, he is so unpopular, how did the ppv events he hosted and headlined perform when he returned ? Did they do better or worse ? How did the tv ratings and buyrates do when he appeared ? The fact is Rock was a huge star, a name more recognizable in and out the business than any other performer you can think of (with Hogan and perhaps Austin being exceptions), who made money then and again with his return. His return which surpassed and dwarfed the current WWE golden boy John Cena. He has enormous staying power. It is unbelievable that you could suggest otherwise.

 

[Mustang Sally]

Obviously, if this were a category in which the fan's opinions could somehow affect a performer's future..... and Phil Brooks actually cared about the results (both rather unlikely events, yes?) he would probably protest the timing of the question.

This is hardly the best juncture to be considering whether his CM Punk creation was one of the best performers of all time..... not a couple of short months after he jumped the company and left his many fans in the lurch. It's hard to make an equitable judgment now. Ask this question a few years down the road (presuming he never comes back).

For myself, a person who was never really that enamored of Punk, I don't think he was on top long enough to merit consideration as an all-time great. He was a good performer, but not nearly as fabulous as the fans who chanted his name made him out to be.

In time, maybe he would have been regarded as great, but he'll have to return to WWE and do a lot of solid work over a long period of time to build himself into a legend.