The Wrestling Observer Fires Off Against CM Punk

[Orobin Thor]

By Josh Nason, Wrestling Observer

Over 13 years ago, my dad gave me great advice after I had been passed over for a leadership position while in college. I was frustrated, annoyed, hurt, and mad as I had put three years of work into the organization and felt like I was disrespected by the decision.He told me, “In those situations, you have to take a step back and decide whether or not the organization is worth it anymore. If you take some time and realize it’s not, you move on. If you find that you still have passion for it, you keep going.â€

On Monday, Phil Brooks decided that WWE wasn’t worth it anymore, taking the ball known as CM Punk back to Chicago, perhaps for a very long time.

But I’m not sure any of us should actually care anymore, especially you and WWE.

My opinion comes from the outside the bubble as I’m not a current watcher of WWE like many of you. I have a better than working knowledge from the content on this here site, and still watch certain segments or matches if prompted. But I’m in that 36-54 year old age group that got disillusioned with the product over the past 10 years, a familiar frain when talking to people about wrestling. Even Punk wasn't able to fully pull me back in, but he came close.

Having never been a Punk follower through his indies/Ring of Honor days, the character caught my interest during his WWE runs as both the leader of the Straight Edge Society and the NXT crew. Of course, the game-changer was “the promo†on that fateful night in Las Vegas. It was a nod to the Attitude Era and the embodiment of what many of us on the wrestling periphery would love to say on live TV if we could. It felt new and fresh, yet familiar.

I keep writing the word 'character' here, but at some point, the on-screen and off-screen personas of Brooks and Punk became one. The guy that gave the Vegas promo was malcontent, an outsider, a guy that reveled in being unpopular. What happened next was anything but. He became a Grantland darling, did the Bill Simmons podcast, and even made ESPN.com’s home page. HisTwitter account swelled. The mainstream media loves those who claim they color outside the lines, and Punk was Mr. Crayola -- a modern era James Dean thanks to social media.

You know what happened next. The title win over John Cena. Him “leavingâ€. The way-too-quick return. The WWE title run. Paul Heyman. The Rock twice. Brock Lesnar. Some good matches. A few great matches. Stardom.

But despite being at or near the top of his profession, Brooks didn’t seem to fully embrace what was happening to him. While he grew to over 2 million Twitter followers, his feed was (and is) mainly devoid of any WWE references. He came off as too cool for the normal folk, accepting some of the benefits of famewithout actually acknowledging how he got there. Again, being outside the WWE bubble, I found myself interested but also a little turned off.

But clearly he interests you, dear reader. Thanks to Daniel Bryan’s plight and now Punk’s, our site traffic doubled Monday and tripled Wednesday. I completely understand as it’s one of the most interesting stories of 2014 because of the complete unknown of why he left. But I have to think that even with the business hit WWE may take as a result, they are a bit relieved. Any manager that has had to deal with an employee that can be a bit, well, troublesome knows that dealing with them can be difficult.Wrestling is certainly different than most businesses that you and I work in, but put yourself in WWE management’s shoes: what were they supposed to do then, and what are they supposed to do with him later? You can blame creative, but you and I both know that won't get anyone anywhere. So what was their option? Who else could they have paired him up with to entice him to stay?

There’s also the effect he has on the business as it relates to his co-workers. Depending on what you want to believe (and what draws has been a hot topic ‘round these parts), he matters to WWE business in some aspect. And with no notice given, it’s equal to a successful salesperson up and leaving with no notice as a company's big season is about to begin. Top employees are to be relied upon. Brooks clearly can't be.If there’s one thing to take away, it’s this: don’t feel sorry for Brooks, Punk, or however you want to know him. He’s got money, he’s got friends, he’s got an ego, and he’s got opportunities outside wrestling. By devoting mental time to whether he should come back by staging online boycotts, not watching RAW, or anything else, you’re feeding the notion that WWE needs him more than he needs them.

They don’t, he doesn't, and both the organization and individual will eventually be better off because of it.

The Wrestling Observer

Talk about wow.

 

[Fuji Vice]

For the tl;dr crowd, it says "the show will go on without Punk".

Talk about writing a lot to say so little. :

 

[Lover Boy]

I've personally never really seen the appeal to CM Punk.

He's obviously a fantastic wrestler but I've not been drawn into him as much as I have other wrestlers.