In case you missed it Monday night, CM Punk is back! Punk has officially “re-signed” with the WWE and will make his WWE championship debut at SummerSlam 2011. CM Punk vs. John Cena will headline the event in a battle of “champions.”
Well that didn’t take long did it? CM Punk took a grand total of one week off from RAW to sell this angle, which looks like it is coming to an end in two weeks. As fun as the last four weeks are concerned, the main storyline here is over, CM Punk is back, and John Cena has a championship. It’s almost like none of the last four weeks even happened.
[adinserter block=”2″]Punk and Cena will headline SummerSlam in a farce unification WWE championship match. I hate to ruin the fun here but the WWE really screwed this one up in my opinion. This one had potential and was the course I expected the WWE to take when the angle started. However, in my prediction I expected this to take place a few months later, allowing Cena to establish himself as the new champion. This just seems ridiculous.
That said, the WWE could abandon Cena’s WWE championship next week on RAW. Unless Cena is preparing for a heel turn, he is likely going to relinquish his version of the WWE title next week on RAW. Otherwise he would look like more like a heel, walking around with a cheap belt and calling himself champion, in the face of the man who just beat him a few weeks ago.
Cena and Punk had arguably the WWE Match of the Year thus far in Chicago. Dave Meltzer gave the match five stars. I disagree, but everyone is entitled to their opinions. I would be shocked to see a match anywhere near their Money in the Bank bout at SummerSlam. It will be good, but I would absolutely be stunned if anyone gives this match five stars given the drastic changes in dynamics.
In my opinion, the atmosphere made their Money in the Bank 2011 match, not the guys. Wrestling in Chicago with the threat of Punk leaving with the WWE championship created one of the greatest crowd moments in pro wrestling history. The angle is over and the guys will be wrestling in Los Angeles, a much different crowd. I expect a hot crowd, but it won’t be nearly the same without the threat of Punk leaving with the belt nor it being Punk’s hometown audience.
Let’s face it. CM Punk got that match and angle over with his “shoot” promo on RAW Roulette. Yet I don’t think they can go down that road again. It makes Punk look like a hypocrite if he continues to shoot on the WWE after re-signing with the company. Additionally, he looks like a bit of a liar after showing up only two weeks after he threatened to take the title everywhere but the WWE.
The shame of all of this is that the WWE had a very exciting angle that they ruin once again due to their impatience. At some point they are going to try and recreate it and it won’t be nearly as powerful as this one. Their continued lack of follow-through with big time match stipulations is a killer. Considering that two weeks after threatening to fire John Cena and lose their champion that both are back as if nothing ever happened, I can’t imagine anyone buying their next big stipulation match.
[adinserter block=”1″]So there you have it WWE fans, your SummerSlam main-event. The guys will have a really big task ahead of themselves, trying to top their Money in the Bank classic. Regardless of the change in circumstances, it should still be a fun one to watch.
Nothing else has been confirmed yet for SummerSlam but I could offer up a few guesses. I think Randy Orton vs. Christian in a No DQ match is a given (although adding Edge as a special guest referee is an option). I know these guys have been matched up to death but I love this feud. I have no problem seeing another match and it should be a great one, theoretically being their final match of the series. Rey Mysterio vs. The Miz and John Morrison vs. R-Truth will probably be added from the RAW side. Other than that, I’d say the rest is all up in the air.
Not that it matters because at the end of the day this one is more about Cena vs. Punk 2, than anything else.
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I was hoping that well, yeah Punk would be out hitting all the TV shows pumping the WWE and wrestling for at least a month, but as always the WWE has little ability to flesh out a storyline and give its stars some credit in their abilities… no-one better for real than CM Punk… truly the very best in the world. Having said that his re-emergence with new song and belt and garbed in white was an amazing moment… and Im hoping WWE is beginning to understand as I said two years ago that the ratings would slide if they did not change policy of always being top-heavy with hyped names over pure talent… this CM Punk moment proved that change is a good thing and that if WWE wants to remain relevant in light of Impact and UFC and Strikeforce etc etc, they need to realise that we are no longer in the eighties and that their ONLY now-moment wrestler is CM PUNK… and that does not even cover the man's talent which is unsurpassed in entertainment wrestling today… Im hoping that Cena and WWE will make the sacrifice for the betterment of the sport and champion CM Punk for at least the near future… let him run wild and free and it'll only strengthen WWE's flagging popularity…
I think youre jumping the gun on this a little too quick Eric. Punk is MOLTEN hot right now. SummerSlam is their number 2 PPV of the year, and yes they probably brought him back early, but if he was kept out too long they would have lost momentum with him and the entire angle. Without him on TV right now, the WWE really isn't that interesting. I wish they could have played it out longer with Punk invading shows or outside appearances, but I mean look at the roster, what else interesting do they have?
I honestly think this angle has put Punk right at the top with Cena and Orton. If the feud goes well I think you might even be able to push Punk ahead of Orton as the number 2 or maybe even 1a guy. I think Punk has proved himself as top of the card in performance, and i think it will translate in box office. I havent seen this kind of buzz in wrestling in a LONG time. Nexus was different, it was all new guys, but Punk is established and really has the crowd support.
Basically, I want to see what Punk has to say on Raw this coming week. I'm sure we will have a great explanation by Punk and all will be well. I think sometimes people jump the gun on this stuff. let it play out, atleast in this angle
i disagree cm punk has huge support and will continue to ahve huge support. he's true fan favorite and i dont mean i am 10 and have no clue what like so ill like john cena casue thats what i told to do fans. the punk angle was great but the wwe does this shit all teh time you just have to roll with it. finally cult of personality is a great song and fits cm punk perfect Panther Joe u obiviously have no taste in music. go listen to more john cena rap or something
VKM and the creatives have the patience to wait a year for Dwayne to show up for the main event at WM but couldn't keep this going for more than a week
More short sighted than Mr Magoo
I disagree with your analysis of this angle. I think we should let it play out before we judge it. Remember the Chrisitan v Ortron beginning? I think there ar many directions this could go and before we jump to conclusions lets wait and see. The last few months I have seen a turning point in the booking..Christian, R truth, Daniel Bryan and even the Cena Rock Angle have been done well………
Yeah, but now it's difficult to take Punk seriously as the sympathetic figure. This spastic booking just crashed and burned for me. If Punk was coming back, why have the tournament? Why not have the tourney at SummerSlam? And why kill all the guys just to have Cena come back and of course beat a guy half his size? The angle was tailor built to have him gone for an extended period of time and promote…and now Eric said it best: it's like the past few weeks didn't matter at all.
CM Punk is instantly a shell of his former, cool self, replete with nonsensical character development and potentially the worst music you could ever come out to. Hate to say it but now I hope Cena squashes him.
Thanks everyone!
Great blog. I agree. I would think Orton vs Christian NO DQ would be the SSlam match.
I agree with most of this post – I was really surprised that they didn't let this angle go longer, I dunno like at least thru the summer! After all the hype and buzz to just have Punk come back after a short vaca was kinda stupid. But LOVED the intro – "Cult of Personality" indeed!