Quote:
Originally Posted by Gertner
CM Punk can't carry the company because he has no crossover appeal.
|
You're kind of right in saying that now, since Punk doesn't hold the women and then kids; but Punk did cause a bigger stir than just about everybody last year. If he can get in touch with that CM Punk, he can still make big splashes.
I think the idea of turning Punk heel isn't as ridiculous as it would be turn, say, Sheamus, however. Punk actually boomed interest (temporarily) as a heel. He won the WWE Title as a heel. He was antagonising the entire WWE. That's what Punk is -- an antagonist. That's why I'm enjoying the current direction of his feud with Daniel Bryan, with Punk seemingly biting back against Bryan.
Jericho and Punk's feud earlier this year was pretty awesome, don't get me wrong, but it made Punk so sympathetic. It did justifiably add to his claims of being "The Best in the World," but they're trying so hard to position the fans on the side of a guy who really shouldn't give a fuck.
In the WWE, we've seen CM Punk borrow from his ROH persona and storylines a couple of times. When he turned heel on Jeff Hardy, it was the first real throwback to ROH CM Punk we ever had. As a heel, his work was amazing on SmackDown!, and we got our first taste of "Drug free; alcohol free; better than you" Punk. Then we got him claiming that he would take the WWE Championship away from the company; just like he did with the ROH World Championship when he first signed with the WWE. Now we've seen him and Chris Jericho dip into Punk's ROH feud with Raven.
One thing that Punk has not borrowed from ROH, though, is his "snake story." The one that led to the original "Summer of Punk" in ROH, where he bit the hand of the fans who cheered him as he finally rose to the top in ROH, and claimed that they were fucking dummies for believing in him -- after all, he's always been a bad guy. Punk reminding us that he's the kind of guy who sadistically sang "Happy Birthday" to Rey Mysterio's daughter just after he punked out daddy in front of his family and the world is how I envision him eventually turning heel in the WWE.
Why turn Punk heel? Because his face persona isn't a draw; his heel persona was. Tomorrow isn't the right time, but after his feud with Bryan is complete, later this year, I'd love to see it. Especially since that if they do Austin vs. Punk at WrestleMania, I think Punk essentially
has to be a heel to make the dynamic interesting.