I'd say he was one-upping Rock (which he did amazingly) in their match to prove that Rock isn't worth dick in that ring.
And I'd also say, Punk has been extremely beat up for over a year, but we can shorten that a bit to when he put on one of the best matches of 2013 against Brock just a month after he and Jericho stole the show, just two months after he had the match of the year vs. Undertaker (fuck what the Slammy's said). Being injured/hurt/burnt out ties in perfectly with the timing of when he started mailing it in against the little guys.
Contracted to get Nash? I'm pretty sure there was this rumor that Punk tongue-in-cheek confirmed he was supposed to get the Ace storyline. He was also SUPPOSED to get Nash, but Hunter being the dick he is made it all about himself and it left Punk to have to wait for his match with Hunter, which didn't happen when, where, or how it should.
Yeah, I'm a Punk fan, and yeah, it's standard for Punk fans to blame Hunter, etc., but the writing is on the wall. Should Punk NOT want things to change? WWE keeps doing the same shit over and over expecting different results and they don't get them at all. It's the same thing every single time.
Ratings? Batista came back and WOMEN tuned in to see Batista. Since his return, his RATINGS have been nothing better than Dolph Ziggler (OMG PUT DOLPH IN THE MAIN EVENT WITH BATISTA AND ORTON AT MANIA BECAUSE HE HAS THE SAME VIEWERSHIP AS BIG DAVE!). And we keep talking about viewership? The only guys getting viewers are Paul Heyman, Brock Lesnar, CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, and John Cena. Other guys who gain have been involved in segments with those guys (tonnes tuned in to see Henry get demolished by Brock, tonnes tuned in to see CM Punk vs. The Shield).
And you keep talking about Punk the anti-machine prick... but taking it from various reports, a lot of people involved with WWE have a lower morale right now with Punk being gone because many genuinely looked at his as a leader, someone who would speak up for them. Is Punk a prick for walking out amid his bosses not being able to tell them whether or not they would be paid the same for PPV's now that they have the Network? I think Punk's smart enough to know more raw dollars come to the company per show, but WWE didn't outline how they will use those dollars. Is Punk a prick for walking out on WWE for constantly ignoring the live fans who react to Daniel Bryan over everyone and boo them for not getting the Mania match they want?
You know, there was a time when WWE/F used Mania's main event to push the guy the crowd was behind. Legitimately. It was the end for feuds... it was where THE GUY went over.
The whole match with H and the result stories are garbage. One report from Meltzer says the match was on and Punk didn't see it as a main match. The next from Meltzer says Punk was supposed to lose and he didn't like that. The next from Meltzer says the match was cancelled and it was given to Daniel Bryan.
Go back to that Punk interview saying guys don't know what they're going to do week-to-week anymore, have no direction. Yeah, during the Attitude Era that was cool... but the AE was also driven on the idea that if you got a reaction, you got more time and likely got pushed. Daniel Bryan is THE MOST OVER GUY on the entire roster with live crowds... when that was Cena in that spot, he was pushed to the moon. Batista? Same. Orton? Same. Brock? Same. Austin? Same. Rock? Same. Edge? Same. Undertaker? Same. The list goes on and on. And Bryan is already more over with most crowds than same of those guys ever were... and you ALL know I'm not exaggerating that.
So if Punk is burnt out, hurt, and unhappy with the way they're doing business (the business that has fans hijacking shows and getting so fed up that they're booing/ignoring EVERYONE but Daniel Bryan and the young guys who deserve it over the part timers and the rehashed to dust stories with Cena/Orton), fuck a contractual "obligation".
Also, the fact that Vince is trying his hardest to retain Punk says an awful lot about how much he really means and perhaps Vince realizes he truly did take Punk for granted (or someone else on his staff did since Vince/Punk have reportedly maintained a healthy business relationship for the past couple years).
Batista earned more stripes on a WWE roster to earn his stay at the top. He started as leviathian, went on to be deacon Batista, then the muscle of evolution, flairs partner, and fan interest and business pushed him to the seat. Cena went with the prototype gimmick in ovw, came up, got himself a shot at rapping from freestyling to Shane on a plane ride, got insanely over, dropped a record that went gold, and then doing business the likes of hulk and Austin do. Orton worked in ovw, nursed an injury he got because of an inherited deficiency, went on to prove himself with probably the best ic run of the millennium, and was given the world title (mostly to erase Brock) and he wouldn't go on to touch the belt afterward for years.
Bryan and Punk, as well as Dos Cara paid dues, sure. They didnt pay WWE dues at all, they got stacked resumes that looked better in their first three years then most guys full careers. They didn't even take a long time to touch world gold, headline brand shows, headline events, and hell Bryan basically got to skip fcw. Punk got protected by Heyman dating back to ovw as they admit his attitude would have got anyone else fired early, same way ADR has been in feuds with all big players his whole stay outside Sin Cara. They got a lot more handed to them early than Cena or Batista who you know actually had to get over and spike ratings and money to get the belt. It wasn't like they were buried as they have hall of fame resumes right now, if they retired tomorrow, they have hall of fame careers that could be held up vs anyone on paper
And yes I agree Bryan put in work. He's professional. He works hard. He never ducks up off screen. He is drug free. He is a good guy and he helped the process with his ring skills which are honestly the best since Benoit. Creative has had a hand in making him though. They've invested hours, angles, moments, and big names to get him to where he is. This isn't a 70/30 with Bryan pulling all the work, its damn close to 50/50 as he delivers always and they in turn put him in spots to deliver with the raw main events, SD main events, clean win over Cena, beating Orton clean, tapping hbk out, knocking hunter out as Trips doesn't let a guy just knock him out twice unless he's special, screen time with Vince and Steph, and a gang of tours and merch. They damn sure haven't put him in place to fail, you want to see them bury someone, look at Miz, Dolph, MVP, or Carlito as they can do it if they feel like it? Being fired for choking someone because you didn't know it was a rule isn't being buried, its just ignorance of the laws and mandates. They basically slapped him on the wrist because they had to and brought him back shortly
And he's supposed to be the top face, he is. There's no one getting more air time, not Cena and not Batista who has had a whole 10mins on raw in 3 weeks, while Bryan gets what a hour or more every week on screen? He's not the champ, but he's pretty much the top face or a damn near 1B in terms of screen time as he was getting more than Punk as well
Bryan and Punk (adr too) were lucky the roster was thin. They were desperate for top guys with Edge and HBK retiring, Mysterio hurt, Jeff leaving, and Taker/Hunter being part timers. They had much more depth and name value to overcome for Cena and Batista coming up on both brands and it wasn't a social media heavy age where they could self promote. They climbed the ranks and earned their stock as much as anyone. Attrition helped the fast tracking process and theres no way around it really, well that and Signature Pharmacy in the case of Punk
I'm just saying I hate it when people act like Punk or Bryan deserve much much better. Why can't booking get credit for allowing the pipebomb, for making Bryan an under dog. Vince had to sign off, Steph had to help construct some of it, and Hunter had to have a hand in it be it physically or behind scenes. I also hate the idea that Cena, Batista, and even Randy didn't earn their spots as they put in years of work in the developmental and on brands to get where they got, and easily in the case of Batista and Cena they spiked the business and were rewarded with one title and drew off their first reign on, as opposed to being an umpteenth time champ who still hasn't gotten it right.
Last thing, but it irks me to hear Triple H always get so much shit, not from you in particular but general. If hhh was a bitch like Punk was he would have walked out. He took oh so much **** to the point he was wrestling in it literally in hog pin matches nightly for the curtain call, as he talked about them making him do that match 9 straight times with live events. He got squashed so hard by warrior. He got squashed on the house show circuit over and over and he took it. He took it and stayed in shape, stayed out there and still tried to perform to his best abilities and not mail it in, and he honored his contract. He didn't walk away because oh I'm not main eventing mania, or oh I want attention and no one is paying it to me, he worked his way back literally. He worked his way to the top long before Steph. And then he drew, he sold, he's the only heel solo act to draw and draw on a scale globally that **** on guys like Bret on their own countries. And when the time came, it was him who went to creative and said we need to make new stars and picked Orton and Batista. It was him who tapped out to Benoit in the center of the ring at msg. Him who lost to Cena. Him who let Batista go over three straight ppvs. He was the guy who Jeff has admitted pushed wwe to trust him with a main event feud. He redesigned nxt, built the performance center, and so on. Has marrying Stephanie helped? Sure, but its already been said that many told him don't go that route, and he got his spot at the top before they ever hooked up
