Wouldn't It Have Been Better If CM Punk Hadn't Come Back Right Away?

[keehlnate]

Wouldn't it be better if CM Punk doesn't come back right after he won the title at Money in the Bank? I believe his character after his feud with Triple H cooled down a bit, and it seems like he turns out to be a babyface. And now, he teams up with Triple H to take on awesome truth. It seems like he is going downhill again.

What if he returned at a later time, probably during this mess with the conspiracy and become a 'savior'? Or what if he returned at a later time just before wrestlemania and feud with the current champion to unify the belts?

Your thoughts?

 

[ameer no.1 cena fan]

it would up to an epic moment as week after week fans demand for Punk's return as well as the Internet and Social Network would explode with buzz about Punk that his return would be epic. Merch sales would be triple of what it is as well as ratings will fly high to a level it has never gone before.

 

[hasbeenkid]

Clearly it is proven after every storyline that the IWC complains or wants a specific storyline to go their way and if it does or if it doesnt they always complain listen this past summer was the summer of punk and if they kept him off of television after a certain amount of time than the storyline would of been "stale" but since they brought him back a week after the PPV then it was too soon listen Punk would not be at where he is now if they kept him off of television because the WWE would of continued on without Punk the WWE needs to keep its superstars relevant and when they become paranoid they rush the comebacks because its whats good for business if Punk would of been kept off of television how could he have been dropping pipe bombs and showing he is the best in the world no t shirts or merchandise would of sold if Punk wouldnt of been getting over and thus Punk would be just another victim of stupid videos and promos no real interaction.

 

[mdj2010]

Yes, of course it would have been better. The same way it would be better to see feuds build over the space of a year, finally culminating in a match at a big PPV. The same way it would be great to see wrestlers rise up slowly through the ranks, taking years of developing their skills through the tag team division, middle card singles and finally making it all the way to being world champion. Sadly, this is not the world we live in and we cannot expect these kind of drawn out and prolongued storylines from the WWE.
The world isn't the same as it was when we were kids... strike that, when I was a kid.... it used to be that you had a feqw channels, some crappy games machine that barely ever worked and a football. Today we have the internet, a million and one TV channels and as many ways to entertain yourself as you choose. For that reason the storylines have to be quick, and have to have a near immediate pay-off.
The return of CM Punk would have been spectacular and offered a great shock for the fans who are going to tune in every week regardless, had it come months and months after he left with the belt. But for the average channel hopping viewer, the interest would have been long gone.

 

[xoxo French Kiss xoxo]

Punk won at MITB, he should have taken the WWE Title and stayed stayed away until AFTER Summer Slam. Having Punk gone for a month would have given other stars some room to shine, Punk a break from the road, kept Cena away from the title for a month, and allowed for others to be built up into main event storylines.

Miz vs Rey for the WWE title could have happened the Raw before Summer Slam, Rey could have won the title to become the "New" WWE Champion, and Cena could have been rewarded his rematch for the WWE Title at Summer Slam vs Rey Mystero.

Cena would have come out on Raw the next night touting his usual "The Champ is Here" business and Punk could have come out with the title stating that he was the real WWE Champion.

Punk and Cena could have squared off at Night of Champions to determine the Real WWE Champion. Imagine the REAL WWE Champion(Punk) vs the Intern WWE Champion(Cena) at a PPV called Night of Champions.

Cena could have wen't over Punk, only to drop it back to Punk the following month at Hell in a Cell then Del Rio could have cashed in his MITB after a brutal battle in the Cell between Punk and Cena to become WWE Champion.

With this situation we wouldn't have had to be subjected to the whole Triple H COO storyline, the Lawsuit, the 8-10-12 man tag matches, that 41 man over the top battle royal , Miz and Truth being "fired", Kevin Nash (uuuuuuuggggghhhhh) or John Laurinaitis taking a lead role until right around now. (Well we could have done completely without Nash)

 

[biziorek]

CM Punk turned boring when he decided to resign and start this whole stupid storyline so these stupid people think hes doing something crazy when really its just pg writers doing it! Who cares! CM Punk would have made a much bigger impact to join the list of big names who have left the PG company leaving them with no star power! But he chose to stick with the muppets and sesame street show featuring John Cena!

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

No, it wouldn't have been. WWE had to strike while the iron was hot. Summerslam was huge. Punk was pretty over after MITB, but it started to die down a little. He had matches against the Miz I believe where he wasn't very over as a face. This evolution though the whole conspiracy angle with HHH has really solidified him though.

Had they let him sit out, it would have been back to "Punk's only over with the nerds" again. When you're a running back and you have an opening, you take it, you pound the ball in there, and you run your ass off until you score. You don't run out of bounds just because you're in good field position and then formulate a new plan. That's what they did with Punk.

What most of you are missing is, from a purely, PURELY storytelling perspective. Maybe. Maybe it's better. However, from a business standpoint, from a character evolution standpoint, from a "what's best for CM Punk" standpoint, he NEEDED to be on every show so that people could see he was a big damn deal and they needed to keep showing him as such every week and it caught on.

I guarantee you that if Punk had stayed away, he wouldn't have outsold Cena in merch. The rest of the world doesn't think like the IWC.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

Punk won at MITB, he should have taken the WWE Title and stayed stayed away until AFTER Summer Slam. Having Punk gone for a month would have given other stars some room to shine, Punk a break from the road, kept Cena away from the title for a month, and allowed for others to be built up into main event storylines.

Miz vs Rey for the WWE title could have happened the Raw before Summer Slam, Rey could have won the title to become the "New" WWE Champion, and Cena could have been rewarded his rematch for the WWE Title at Summer Slam vs Rey Mystero.

Cena would have come out on Raw the next night touting his usual "The Champ is Here" business and Punk could have come out with the title stating that he was the real WWE Champion.

Punk and Cena could have squared off at Night of Champions to determine the Real WWE Champion. Imagine the REAL WWE Champion(Punk) vs the Intern WWE Champion(Cena) at a PPV called Night of Champions.

Cena could have wen't over Punk, only to drop it back to Punk the following month at Hell in a Cell then Del Rio could have cashed in his MITB after a brutal battle in the Cell between Punk and Cena to become WWE Champion.

With this situation we wouldn't have had to be subjected to the whole Triple H COO storyline, the Lawsuit, the 8-10-12 man tag matches, that 41 man over the top battle royal , Miz and Truth being "fired", Kevin Nash (uuuuuuuggggghhhhh) or John Laurinaitis taking a lead role until right around now. (Well we could have done completely without Nash)

That sounds incredibly predictable, boring, average, "paint by the numbers" and just about every other synonym for generic you can think of.

You have your HOTTEST commodity off your biggest show of the season. Instead a main event between 2 guys loved by normal people, booed by the IWC. Then you have Punk come back and lose at NOC (so he makes this grand come back and LOSES, so he loses after he's been off TV for a month? fuckin great idea, why not just have him job to Vickie). Then he wins it back at Hell in a Cell (because a guy who's fighting the system really fuckin works when he has the title). O but then ADR wins it. So you have a guy people don't really care about anymore (because he was off TV for a long time, then jobbed, then won, then lost) against a guy you are trying to build in ADR.

See, instead the WWE promoted Punk as a big deal. Cena promoted Punk as a big deal. HHH promoted Punk as a big deal. Punk main evented MITB vs the top star, SS vs the top star, NOC against a legend and the 2nd most over face (arguably, some nights it's HHH #1 for sure), AND HIAC. What they did got Punk WAAAAAY more over than taking him off tv would have. Summerslam is a more visible show than any other show except Mania. If Punk is off that show, because everyone knows it's "fake" and that his contract was never likely in jeopardy through the whole story, it shows people he's not that important. However, he IS that important and so the WWE put him on the big show and made him seem like a big deal.

Then we wouldn't have this continuing "whodunnit", and that's the "good" thing?

Here are the facts. Punk is really fuckin over. HHH is really fuckin over. Laurinitis is a new face (as a TV personality) and is really over. Miz and Truth are both really over.

Your idea really gets no one over and just gives Punk another generic normal title reign.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Punk's popularity was peaking around this time, so why would you want to put him on ice? Punk was starting to gain some major momentum, and he was right in the middle of a tremendous push, so I don't think an extended resting period would've helped him.

Besides, I'm sure people would've found another way to bitch and moan, if he did sit out longer. A good amount people thought the "I am leaving with the WWE Championship" storyline was ruined, because Punk came back too soon. WWE can try to please some of the internet fans, but it won't happen.

 

[Mustang Sally]

Merch sales would be triple of what it is as well as ratings will fly high to a level it has never gone before.

It's debatable that ratings and t-shirt sales would soar because of a guy who's no longer there......at least for long. Remember, if they continued the storyline as it was set up, Punk would no longer be working for WWE. It's easy to say now that we knew all along he was coming back......but what made the program so compelling is that we didn't truly know. The public has a notoriously short memory and it's doubtful the fans would be clamoring for him for very long once he left.

I'll admit the company could have kept him out a little longer and it was surprising to see him back after missing just one episode of Raw. In fact, one of the things he was complaining about was that he needed a vacation, so we figured WWE would incorporate Punk's time off into the program.

But this is business......and the notion of keeping the second most popular performer out of the public's sight is an unwise business decision.

 

[lavitz66]

oddly enough, Hogan said it best in an interview... back 15 years ago or so, the punk angle probably could've gone on for 6 months and still been relevant.. but now days with the amount of pay-per-views and the overwhelming amount of story line changes, you can't have a guy drop out for that long and still keep things going. The big stars have to be seen as often as possible this day in age... back in the day, you'd see the biggest and best wrestle every now and then, and at the few pay per views they had... now that there's 13 or 14 a year, storylines start and and then hit payoff within a couple of weeks. so while as a wrestling fan for a long time, i miss the days when something like that might've gone a bit longer and had some more thought put to it, it just can't happen today.
look at jeff hardy.. when he left the first time from wwe he was hugely popular, lets say a 9 out of 10... he came back and was still popular, but maybe a 7.. the second return he was just another name in wwe that drew a decent reaction... you can't be out for that long and expect to stay as big any more.. it just doesn't work.

 

[Larry]

I think it would have been a good idea to keep Punk gone for a little longer, and I don't think if you did it right, that it would have hurt him or anyone else at all. There is a way to go about doing anything the right way. The WWE did what they thought WAS the right way, but I think that there might have been another way.

What I think they should have done or at least could have done to no detriment, was to keep him away from the WWE physically, but to track of him outside of the WWE. They could have shown him week in and week out, out in the world, carrying around the WWE title as he was "No longer with the company" but still holding their title hostage.

It was reported that he went to a Cubs game during his very brief hiatus, so have Punk sending in videos of himself at the game with the title, still taunting the WWE, still demanding what he wants while the WWE goes without a title, trying to get it back. He could send in a video every week he was gone of him doing random funny things or something, and just working the WWE over to get his way. They could air those videos on Raw, essentially keeping him on the show, without him actually having to be there.

Going that route, they could have had him off of TV technically for a month or more and lost no heat at all, and if fact maybe made the story hotter as people tuned in to see his next video, and see what he would be doing next.

That's my idea, that's what I would have done. What do you think?

 

[Ferbian]

Not necessarily. You'd have to think of the fact that keeping CM Punk gone for a while, and letting the WWE championship carry on by having John Cena / Alberto Del Rio as the champion, would've slowly caused CM Punk's rebellious act to be of the past and be forgotten, meaning he would be losing steam and relevance, especially for when he was to eventually return.

Also CM Punk returning so quickly made for a good program between him and John Cena further into Summerslam, and for him to then go on and feud with Triple H, which all gave him more time to get insanely over as the.. well tweener he is. Again a thing that would've lost relevance and might actually have damaged the overall storyline of WWE, which have been pretty good with the conspiracy / Triple H & CM Punk storyline that has been going down.

But obviously there's no denying that it would've created a bit of tension, if CM Punk had been gone until, say Summerslam, just that one months time on top of it all would've created a bit more, if he was regularly mentioned on WWE shows for the sake of hyping him despite his absence.

So overall I think it was a pretty decent thing for WWE to allow him to come back so soon.

 

[cm ben]

Oh, I think it definitely would have been better to keep him away longer. Remember when Daniel Bryan, another "internet sweetheart," got fired or suspended or whatever? People had no clue if he was ever coming back, but (or therefore?) they were chanting his name at random intervals throughout WWE events. That was awesome, and I can't help but think that the same thing would have happened with CM Punk.

In my stupid brain, I think Punk should have stayed out an "uncomfortable" amount of time, so that fans start to wonder whether he was really fired or not. But realistically, I don't think there's any reason he shouldn't have been absent for at least one PPV after MITB. That they rushed the whole Mysterio winning the title/Cena returning and taking it back story so quickly doesn't even make sense. Wasn't it heel-like for Cena to beat Mysterio after he had already won the title the same night? Was that the point? It just didn't click with me, and seemed very obviously rushed. Let Mysterio hold the title for three weeks, put that awesome match he had with Cena on Summerslam, and let Punk return after that.

 

[Krossbreed]

i think punk returned exactly when he shouldve....waiting longer wouldn't have been financially beneficial for merchandise or ppv buy rates.

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

I think most fans, especially internet fans, wanted to see Punk show up in different independent wrestling promotions, like he had promised to do, once he won the belt and try to make a mockery of the WWE title. All that would also have had to be televised on WWE television by some of Vince's spies. Now, to be honest, I do not think that that would have been a bad idea but it was obviously not what the WWE had planned. Of course, it is pretty obvious that he could not have gone invisible after the huge title victory. If that is what you are implying then, I'm sorry, it's not just a good idea because that would have resulted in Punk losing his heat and the response for him would not have been so hot had he shown up a month or two after he left. So, if I have to choose between Punk remaining invisible for two months and what WWE did, I'd choose what WWE did. It was a smart move and allowed the WWE to book an epic SummerSlam main event.

Also I feel that most of us were expecting something different from the storyline. As it turns out Punk walking out with the belt was only done to put HHH in the hot seat and from there on the story was to focus on the troubles HHH would be facing as COO of the company. Most IWC members wanted to see some story with Punk holding the WWE hostage and somehow revolutionizing the WWE from there onwards. That is why a lot of fans believe Punk should have not come back right away. I, for one, would also have liked to see that storyline but I'm also fine with the direction the story has taken.

 

[xoxo French Kiss xoxo]

That sounds incredibly predictable, boring, average, "paint by the numbers" and just about every other synonym for generic you can think of.

You have your HOTTEST commodity off your biggest show of the season. Instead a main event between 2 guys loved by normal people, booed by the IWC. Then you have Punk come back and lose at NOC (so he makes this grand come back and LOSES, so he loses after he's been off TV for a month? fuckin great idea, why not just have him job to Vickie). Then he wins it back at Hell in a Cell (because a guy who's fighting the system really fuckin works when he has the title). O but then ADR wins it. So you have a guy people don't really care about anymore (because he was off TV for a long time, then jobbed, then won, then lost) against a guy you are trying to build in ADR.

See, instead the WWE promoted Punk as a big deal. Cena promoted Punk as a big deal. HHH promoted Punk as a big deal. Punk main evented MITB vs the top star, SS vs the top star, NOC against a legend and the 2nd most over face (arguably, some nights it's HHH #1 for sure), AND HIAC. What they did got Punk WAAAAAY more over than taking him off tv would have. Summerslam is a more visible show than any other show except Mania. If Punk is off that show, because everyone knows it's "fake" and that his contract was never likely in jeopardy through the whole story, it shows people he's not that important. However, he IS that important and so the WWE put him on the big show and made him seem like a big deal.

Then we wouldn't have this continuing "whodunnit", and that's the "good" thing?

Here are the facts. Punk is really fuckin over. HHH is really fuckin over. Laurinitis is a new face (as a TV personality) and is really over. Miz and Truth are both really over.

Your idea really gets no one over and just gives Punk another generic normal title reign.

They could have taken Punk off of TV for a month, and continued his antics via twitter and youtube with him showing up at Comic Cons, different WWE live events, he could have been booked for different TV Talk Shows, since this is the Reality Era they could have pushed Punk into the focus of other national media and sports outlets to continue the store.

Punks "fighting of the system" would have brought him back AFTER Cena won the title again. They could have had him lose at NOC due to outside interference from those forces that do not want Punk as champion. The Rematch between Punk and Cena for the Title could have happened at HIAC, so no one else could get involved in the match only to have Punk come out the winner, and Del Rio cash in his MITB.

You would be in a similar situation where Punk still isn't WWE Champion, Del Rio is still Champ, Cena isn't Champ, this whole battle for power could still be happening, and the past few Raws may not have been so terrible.

 

[TheEraOfAwesomeIsHere126]

I think it would of been good for cm punk for at least a couple of months to have been gone. i think they should of had him appear on as many late night talk shows as possible in that time with the belt and maybe during raw ad breaks have like an advert for cm punk like 'this message is paid for by CM Punk'. if they wanted to do it properly i would of had him appear maybe just be in the crowd but appear on a ROH show with the title if some deal could be arranged. just to add to the realism of he actually might be gone.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Not really. The WWE was in the midst of the summer doldrums during this time and, as we've all come to see, it's taken Punk a little while to really get over with the majority of the WWE audience as one of THE guys. Punk has always been a guy that's delivered on the mic and inside the ring, but he was never someone that most fans took seriously as a long term main event player. If WWE had kept Punk on ice and only brought him back, say, within the last month or 2, he probably wouldn't have gotten the sort of monster reaction one might think. However, since he's been featured consistently on WWE television, fans have grown to think of Punk as a main event guy. Punk is someone that's been white hot and WWE needed all the big stars it could really get when MNF started up again.

As for Punk going downhill, what do you base that on exactly? He's featured in a prominent role in a big, ongoing storyline. He's shown Vince McMahon that he can make serious money for the company, he had a great match against The Miz this past Monday, he's scheduled to have a feud with Alberto Del Rio and is penned to really be in the throws of a mega push in 2012. So no, I don't quite see how he's going downhill when it seems to be leading to him ultimately becoming a bigger star than he's ever been. It might not be happening fast enough for some members of the IWC but, then again, it wouldn't be the IWC without something to complain about.

 

[XXJJ]

Yes, it was a mistake bringing him back so quickly. They could of did more stuff like they did at Comic Con. They even had some fans believing that this wasn't a work. . Punk could of randomly started showing up to WWE events.

What made the Punk angle great was the shock value and unpredictability of the angle. That was killed when Triple H announced he resigned Punk. That killed some of Punk's momentum. His crowd reaction and media coverage hasn't been the same since. He is still a top superstar. But it could of been something really special. Now it seems like he trying too hard to regain some of that buzz, and at times hes become way too bitchy and annoying (like pretending to vomit).

What made it worse, they rushed him back for SummerSlam, but the SS buyrates dropped from last year LOL. The Raw ratings went down. The only thing they accomplished was that they were able to sell some new Punk shirts.

Not to metion...the stupid game of hot potato they have been playing with the WWE Title since MITB.

 

[kokoBawesome]

I really hate the way that the WWE has been rushing through storylines lately, but the truth is without C.M. Punk around Raw wouldn't be much fun. The WWE had Rey going on the shelf and the Big Show going out, they didn't have much choice. They're already bringing on Smackdown guys to fill main event time on Raw, without Punk around the list of main eventers on Raw this summer would be Del Rio, Cena and.... The Miz? Cena vs the same two guys hes been against since April. Atleast punk brings another main event match to the table when he's around.

(looking back I could have mentioned R Truth, and I think the Big Show is technically on Smackdown? Who even knows anymore? It's still one face vs the same three heels)

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

They could have taken Punk off of TV for a month, and continued his antics via twitter and youtube with him showing up at Comic Cons, different WWE live events, he could have been booked for different TV Talk Shows, since this is the Reality Era they could have pushed Punk into the focus of other national media and sports outlets to continue the store.

Punks "fighting of the system" would have brought him back AFTER Cena won the title again. They could have had him lose at NOC due to outside interference from those forces that do not want Punk as champion. The Rematch between Punk and Cena for the Title could have happened at HIAC, so no one else could get involved in the match only to have Punk come out the winner, and Del Rio cash in his MITB.

You would be in a similar situation where Punk still isn't WWE Champion, Del Rio is still Champ, Cena isn't Champ, this whole battle for power could still be happening, and the past few Raws may not have been so terrible.

Who follows Punk's twitter? Punk fans. So that's irrelevant, no new interest there. Instead you're going to take a chance and have him on talk shows, which believe it or not, not everyone watches, keep him off the biggest show of the summer.

Here's what I think happened. I think they were willing to give Punk a chance, he took his chance, and got so goddamn big that they couldn't help BUT put him on summerslam. If he wasn't as over, sure, keep him off, no big loss. But when you're as hot as Punk was, it's bad to be off TV. You have to stay relevant. You can't do that through twitter (which only people who are already fans read), you can't do that through TV shows (which not everyone in your target audience watches). WWE is families now. So like 30-50% kids. You think kids watch Jimmy Fallon or sports center? Punks problem was never about not being able to get over with adult males (who watch talk shows and ESPN) or with net-users (IWC), it was he wasn't that over with kids. Unless you're going to book Punk on the Disney channel, he's not getting exposure with the segment he needs the most visibility with.

You can't book from a selfish perspective. You have to look at a guy and think "who is he not over with" and then make him over with that segment. Personally, if I were booking for my own selfish enjoyment, I would have had him go back to ROH, sign an ROH contract on the WWE title. Title vs Title in ROH in Chicago and once he wins, ADR cashes in, in Chicago, and wins back the WWE title. Now, that's a ******ed idea from a business perspective, but I personally would have loved the shit out of it.

 

[YuungStunna]

i dont think just keep CM Punk off tv would have solved everything. Does everyone forget that fact that he was supposed to "leave" with the wwe title? I think what would have helped out would have been the fact that they completely ignored the fact that CM walked out with the WWE title and had a tournament to crown the new champion the very next night on raw. IMO the tournament should have been held off on until atleast the next PPV, which from there CM Punk could have come back in the finals and made his "grand entrance" that everyone wanted so much. So in summory, no i dont think just keep CM Punk off tv would have solved everything, it was the entire storyline as a whole was rushed

 

[Dagger Dias]

I think that they rushed Punk's return. It would have felt like a bigger deal if they had waited long enough for the interim champion to get at least one angle in. Cena could have faced Del Rio at Summerslam and retained only for Punk to return THERE for a shocking ending. They were unifying the original WWE Championship with the Interim WWE Championship. They did this a month too early because it had Night of Champions title feud written all over it. They should have waited a bit longer to bring Punk back but at the same time waiting too long could have ruined it. One month could have sufficed in my opinion. Unify the titles at Night of Champions while Punk comes back as a savior during the conspiracy. It would have worked great.

 

[EastCoastFan]

I was surprised when Punk left with the title - then they had Punk at the Cubs game with the belt and interrupting HHH at the convention. I thought we were going to be in for weeks of "CM Punk - Outlaw Champion" with him making all kinds of appearances with the WWE title belt, proclaiming he was the REAL champ. Then he came back to Raw the following week.