I don't know how much I buy the ratings argument.
Wrestling, like so much in life, is cyclical. Sometimes, fans watch; other times, fans don't. The "watch every week, in and out" crowd (i.e. us) are a rarity. Punk became champion at a funny time, when the ratings were dropping, and then they screwed up his storyline with HHH (huge mistakes by Creative). The real story is that Creative has put together some decent shows recently and there have been a number of positive storylines since January, which means that, right now, Punk is Champ and ratings are decent (although probably down since Mania, as they usually are; I don't really keep track, because ratings aren't important to my enjoyment of the show like they used to be).
All of this means a few things: 1) you can't blame one guy for ratings, buys, etc.; 2) Punk is hugely over with the live crowds, which makes it look like he is over to casual fans watching the show, which means the casuals will buy into (in fact, they are already buying into) the CM Punk character; 3) Punk has been involved in one of three storylines (along with Cena-Rock-Brock and Daniel Bryan saying "YES!" a lot) that have been part of the draw of the show over the last few weeks.
You guys might not feel like Punk's a draw. I'm pretty sure WWE doesn't agree with you. And Punk-Bryan will be a hell of a match, but it will probably go on next-to-last-ish, rather than being the main event, which will be (sadly) the in-ring return of Johnny Ace (I just hope he brings his skateboard).
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