Along Came Punk

Aside from in 2003 (when Edge was injured), there has never been a time when I wasn’t completely on top of the WWE, and even then, I wasn’t completely out of the loop. As you may have already gathered or known, I was an Edge mark from day one, and that appreciation carried me through some patches where Raw and/or Smackdown were not of the highest quality. Seriously, go back to summer of 2008, during Edge’s feud with Undertaker, and it can be pretty painful to watch until Edge shows up and single-handedly saves each episode of Smackdown. However, even without his sudden neck injury forcing him to retire, it was becoming clear that WWE without Edge was going to become a reality before too much longer.

In summer of 2009, CM Punk’s heel turn against Jeff Hardy was one of the greatest things I had ever seen in wrestling. Punk clearly had boatloads of talent, but his character was boring and it was difficult to get excited about him. When he was placed against Jeff and blurred the line between heel and face, most of the things he said were true, since Jeff Hardy was the sorriest excuse for a role model anyone had ever seen.

Punk wiped Jeff off the WWE map and his character proceeded to become more and more extreme and I ate it up. Being basically straightedge in college makes you very frustrated with alcohol and drug-use, and Punk’s crusade reflected latent desires of my own. His personality reflected my own more so than just about any other Superstar’s, including Edge. I have a raunchy sense of humor and a dark view of things, but the Rated R Superstar mentality is about as far from my own as you can get. Still, Punk had to play second fiddle, in my mind, to Edge.

And all the while, Punk got jobbed out, only to stay over and come right back. His character was so dastardly that it almost became mandatory for him to lose every really big match. As he predictably got jobbed out to Orton at Wrestlemania 27, Edge was absolutely steamrolling through the Smackdown roster as World Champion. Then he was forced to retire.

It didn’t take long before watching Raw and Smackdown started to become a chore. Edge’s presence had clearly distracted me from just how thin WWE’s product had been for a while. I was watching out of habit and I actually started to ponder life without wrestling.

Then CM Punk cut the promo heard ‘round the world.

If us Internet fans are going to be judgmental of the product when it stinks, then we also have to give credit where credit is due. And let’s face it: this Punk angle has been great. The Money in the Bank pay per view was one of the best I’ve ever seen and Summerslam has a legitimately huge main event. At the same, though, Punk’s recent success should make us all take a look at the state of the WWE.

First, can we stop speculating so hard? Punk mentioned Jericho for a second and Jericho threw a harmless tweet back. Now, some are talking like them fighting at Wrestlemania is a lock. No, it isn’t. I love both competitors, but we’ve seen it plenty of times, and there are much bigger moneymaking matches to be had. Here’s an idea: stop looking so far ahead and just enjoy the fact that you’ve got a good reason to tune in each week. Wrestlemania is a long way away.

Just as Punk may have saved my interest, I can’t help but wonder how many others found themselves in a similar boat. The segments with Punk these past few weeks have been gold, and I admit that Triple H taking over is nice in its own right. But the rest of the product is less than stellar. The episode of Raw with Punk’s return was great throughout. The one before his that featured a tournament, a surefire source of entertainment in the wrestling world, was mediocre at best. And don’t get me started on Smackdown.

There are moments of brilliance on each episode as the few stars get their time to shine. However, there’s a staggering amount of crap between them. The fact that Christian has the title should be great, but it’s SO obvious that they don’t want him to get anything real over Orton that I’ll probably just shake my head when Orton gets his belt back at Summerslam.

More than anything, WWE’s problem is that they have a bunch of born upper mid-carders who are supposed to be the future. There’s a reason that someone like The Miz shoots to the top so fast, and it’s because there are a crop of stars who will clearly never be real main eventers, so once they get to the top of the mid-card, they’re stuck until they retire. Kofi Kingston, Dolph Ziggler, John Morrison, Daniel Bryan, Drew McIntyre, and Ted Dibiase are all decent Intercontinental or United States Champions, but can anyone honestly tell me that, 10 years ago, they would have been World Champions?

This is an era where we feel like everyone who is good should get a run with the title. The problem with that is that your World Champion is supposed to be someone who can draw and make money, and that’s something else entirely. I love Morrison, Bryan, and Ziggler, but all three lack something to be real main eventers (possible exception for Bryan if he can really connect as an underdog). Meanwhile, guys like Orton, Cena, and Mysterio, love them or hate them, got stale long ago and don’t have enough new opponents to keep things interesting.

For how long did R-Truth stay interesting? A few weeks? Sheamus, who didn’t originally deserve his push, but has come into his own in the last year or so, is a bit of a breath of fresh air, and I actually think his match against Henry could be interesting just because it’ll be two big guys beating the hell out of each other. Maybe it could really get Sheamus over as someone who deserves the strap rather than someone to whom they just gave it. Cody Rhodes and Wade Barrett are two who also need to get pushed past their current level sooner rather than later, as neither has progressed in a while and both could be legitimate in the main event.

And for the love of God, get the Intercontinental title off Ezekiel Jackson. That man is a body, and nothing more. I’m glad to see Zach Ryder getting his chance. I don’t get excited about him, but you can’t argue with what the fans want. And the Long Island Iced-Z is what they want.

So where am I going with all this? Well, essentially, while I’m going to enjoy the ride and not look too far ahead, the fact still remains that WWE definitely needs to capitalize on what truly is a gift from Punk and make some stars NOW, because their main eventers aren’t going to be able to keep things fresh and exciting for too much longer. Do I think that Punk’s going to be the Austin of this era? No. Punk’s too big to be denied completely – he’ll stay relevant for as long as he sticks around, but WWE will only let him to continue to outshine Cena for so long. I’d be amazed if Punk walked out of Summerslam as champ. And don’t even kid yourself about him getting in on The Rock and Cena’s bout at Mania.

So how ‘bout we all kick back and enjoy Punk’s reign on top while it lasts, huh?

He’s straightedge, and that means he’s better than you. I couldn’t resist. But I still miss Edge, and that Haven show (on which he guest stars) that comes on right after Smackdown aint cutting it.

Chris "Mr. Enigma" Arney

MisterEnigmaOO@gmail.com

http://www.youtube.com/user/PoopyToilet?feature=mhee


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