I still don’t get it. I suppose this confirms that WWE is only in this for the ‘moments’ and cheap pops. This guy can’t add anything of substance to the WWE product. He’s a novelty merch-mover and nothing more.
I agree. The only thing I see him adding to their product is a promo on how "shitty AEW is." If he comes in and cuts a promo or two crapping on AEW than WWE/TKO might see value in that.
He's your problem now WWE
Lol he's their problem again! Anything for a quick buck.
Guess we'll see how this goes!
...via social media clips and piracy cause I ain't gonna start watching WWE for Punk lol
Paraphrasing Triple H from the press conference on the return...
"Love him, hate him, people talk about him, if the fans want it, if the Universe is excited to have it, then... Let's go and we'll figure it out from there. This came together super quick, it was speculation, it wasn't happening then all of a sudden it was happening. Excited, if people are the same person they was 10 years ago 10 years later you've messed up, this is a new company, they are all on even starting grown, it'll be exciting, it'll be a thrill ride for the Universe, we're thrilled to have him back home in WWE where he belongs." - Paul "HHH" Levesque.
"Zero push from anybody past WWE. Very few people knew about it, past HHH and Nick Khan. We're doing our thing and what's right for business, thinks top people at TKO were watching and also went Holy Shit like the fans. Lot of energy lot of excitement, HHH is ready, let's do this the biggest way possible and keep building what Vince made into a global juggernaut. We're gonna make it bigger than before." Paul "HHH" Levesque.
Great write-up. Almost word for word what Trips said.
So does he make it a year without starting a fight with someone?
I bet he does. He's probably motivated to stick it to Tony/AEW right now. Whether that's warranted or not.
Well everyone thought he'd be motivated once he got given his own show and we know how that turned out. Only way I see it working is if he's kept apart from the rest of the crew and just comes out for his segments / matches and leaves. Eventually his attitude will rub someone the wrong way & then he'll take great offence at their retort.
He was pretty motivated to stick it to WWE in his AEW run. That didn't stop him there. He is who he is.
WWE is better positioned to keep a lid on him than AEW was, though, so when he does melt down again, he won't cause nearly the level of damage. The machine will just keep chugging along without him.
CM PUNK!
This is Phil Brooks working with Paul Levesque.
Asides from Phil Brooks the person confirmeling he's a complete hypocrite, this is ultimately a good thing for both WWE and AEW.
For WWE, I'm sure they will have a better ability to control his bullshit, and he may even be able to teach a few people a thing or two given the performance centre. Personality problems aside, Punk is a solid worker. It also gives ardent Punk fans something to watch with him on.
For AEW, it should reduce potential future hijacking by grumpy Punk fans, and hopefully stop the rumour mill distracting from the show.
For Punk, well, honestly, I can't see much beyond him getting fed to Roman. And the money, obviously.
I give it a year.
Well. That is it. Nothing tops this in the "never say never in wrestling" scale. I thought we had peaked that in the past with other events but now we have definitely peaked.
Nick Gage could appear on the next Smackdown and set Roman on fire and I would be like, sure, checks out. Ibushi could be surprised added to the main event of WrestleMania with zero context, win the title, and I wouldn't be even phased. Just, why not at this point.
As always, I'm deeply grateful to real life wrestling industry for making my Total Extreme Wrestling saves seem believable in comparison.
Lol ok wow, countdown to the next implosion started, I guess.
This will last until just before the announcement of Punk vs Triple H at Mania... Oh wait that's been done before /s
I have more confidence in Triple H and the E in reining in whatever issue may arise from his return. Looking forward to his feuds, and to him putting people over
I think the same way. TK didn't just put his foot down to stop issues, so they kept building in the background. I mean he tried to give him his own show instead of doing that.
I get the feeling the WWE machine has more experience and will more quickly handle issues so they don't build.
Either way, it's a win for the fans who want to see him.
So... I guess he's not the devil.
That's a relief.
Should we add a "Days Without CM Punk Drama" counter to the sidebar?
Maybe combine it with the Daddy Magic Chill Level?
I would say WWE fans are going to be conflicted. But they are too far down the kool-aid to think.
I'm less interested in what Punk does and more if it pushes anyone to jump ship from WWE. It could always be a work, but it already seems a lot of wrestlers aren't exactly keen and I think there are a few contracts coming up in 2024.
I think its both a work and some of the WWE crew don't like him. The only question is whether he can moderate himself enough to not lose his cool when things don't work out exactly as he has planned; and likely because of what he did in AEW he didn't have much leverage left so won't be coming in with the impression that he's helping to run the show.
But then, if you listen to RVD interviews that didn't stop him back when ECW was a thing and Punk would try to run the locker room etc back then. His problem is that its years later, he's done very little in the business in the interim but might still want to be the guy people turn to for advice etc.
At least the WWE style should suit his current ability better, though he'll be more restrained on the mic than he was in AEW he also won't have to be able to go in the ring as much so maybe he won't injure himself straight away.
Apparently when he came out, Rollins was screaming at him and flipping him the bird. That could be a work, but Rollins did previously call him a cancer on Twitter when Brawl Out happened, so it wouldn't be out of the question for it to be legit.
I see this as a win-win. I get to laugh at CM Punk drama without CM Punk being on any of the shows I watch.
Honestly, though, the fans that want to see him, have somewhere to see him, so good for them.
WWE will do a better job leashing him than AEW ever did (hopefully).
I’m here to see him get fed to Roman Reigns just to fill time until Cody/Roman at WM.
