Would CM PUNK

[Danielson]

Would CM Punk be doing better in the Daniel Bryan storyline? For example, Punk being screwed over by the higher ups, his mic skills vs The Corporation 2.0, and Orton vs Punk?

I personally am conflicted with this thought. A part of me thinks that Punk would make this storyline extremely entertaining, but I'm such a mark for Bryan that I refuse to believe it.

What do you think?

 

[Grams and Ounces]

It would still bore me either way, Punk might be better on the mic but there would still be all these dumb finishes to the ppv's.

 

[Danielson]

Fair enough

 

[Wacokid27]

I actually don't think it would be better. Part of the reason this storyline has been so entertaining (at least to most of us...hey, I'll be a majority of one if I have to be) is that we look at Daniel Bryan and we see a guy who is "too small" to be WWE Champion. We're looking at the guy who lost the WHC in 18 seconds. We're looking at a guy whose only real strength (as far as he's been marketed) is his intensity.

Were Punk in that position, the promos might be better (and, yes, I do mean might...Daniel Bryan's mic skills are sneakily good), the matches might be better (again, I do mean might...Bryan is an incredible worker), but it wouldn't seem so improbable that he could be WWE Champion. I mean, we're talking now about a guy who had the longest WWE Championship reign in over 25 years, longer than Cena, Rocky, or Austin ever held the title.

The draw of this entire feud (and if you're not entertained by it, you might want to stop watching for a few months because Bryan's actual feud, the one with HHH, is not over) is that a (literally) little guy is going up against the backstage, corporate, authoritative, what-have-you, forces that be. The other thing that works for Bryan is his earnestness. If it were Punk, he'd make a few smartass remarks and walk away with a knowing grin, but that doesn't work for Bryan. It doesn't fit his character. He's just so serious about it that, if he weren't so good, it'd be funny.

So, I think they picked the right guy to get into this feud. I still think Punk will play a role in it, but his role will be to take the belt off of Orton and then lose the belt to Bryan at Mania, which will be awesome.

wk

 

[BrockLesnarFanForLife]

CM Punk had the summer of Punk where he went against HHH and was WWE champion

 

[Leo C]

No, the way this storyline goes it's for Bryan. The fact that it's solidifying a new main eventer makes it better and Punk vs authority over the WWE title we've just seen. This is fresh and has a good dose of reality and also appeals to us.

 

[Danielson]

So, I think they picked the right guy to get into this feud. I still think Punk will play a role in it, but his role will be to take the belt off of Orton and then lose the belt to Bryan at Mania, which will be awesome.

wk

Amazing post, I'm going to focus on this part though because it had me the most excited. Do you think that the chances are pretty good for this at Mania? I want to believe the rumors, but it's hard for me to believe that this will be the main event. It's sort of a "pinch me is this real" sort of thing.

 

[Senhor Perfect]

I don't think punk would be a better fit in this scenario. DB is more of an every man than punk is IMO. He gets sympy heat easier than punk would.

 

[Wacokid27]

Amazing post, I'm going to focus on this part though because it had me the most excited. Do you think that the chances are pretty good for this at Mania? I want to believe the rumors, but it's hard for me to believe that this will be the main event. It's sort of a "pinch me is this real" sort of thing.

I look at it this way:

1) There was no reason for John Cena to compete for (or win) the WHC unless it was to elevate the belt to be considered a "top-tier" title.
2) Punk and Orton haven't worked together in a long time and had a great feud in the past. The Heyman feud ending and Orton finally winning a vacant title (which removes the necessity of a rematch) at the same PPV seems awfully coincidental. It seems a natural set-up for Punk to step up (his anti-hero/anti-authority character seems custom-made to face the "corporate champion") to take on Orton for the Championship.
3) It also seems natural that, with the physical interaction between HHH and Bryan at HIAC, the two would branch off into a feud against each other without the "middle man" of Orton.
4) If Cena's holding the WHC and Punk's the WWE Champion after EC and Bryan wins the Rumble, it seems natural for him to challenge either man, considering the pasts he's had with both of them and the focus he made during his feud with Cena about being a wrestler, not an entertainer and that he and Punk have very similar indy backgrounds (in fact, both of them have been referred to as "King of the Indies").

It seems like they're aligning the stars to set up either a Bryan/Punk match for the WWE Championship or for a Bryan/Punk/Cena Triple Threat to unify the WWET and WHC. Also, given the milestone Mania standard of crowning "fresh" champions coming out of that Mania (I think it was KLockard that brought this up), it seems like the natural to be the "fresh" guy coming out of Mania 30 to be Daniel Bryan.

wk

 

[Jeremy]

I think it would still focus on Big Show vs HHH.

 

[TheArabHammer]

I definitely see a Bryan/Punk match at WM30 along with Cena/Lesnar or Taker. Especially bc they are trying to make the WHC important again and why not have some of the best talent go after it to make it relevant again.

 

[Lockard 23]

They already had a chance to pull off this storyline with Punk back in 2011 with the Summer Of Punk (which revolved around Punk fighting against the WWE corporate machine) and they blew it. They couldn't turn Triple H heel (like many were expecting them to) because they already had long-term plans for HHH/Undertaker at Wrestlemania 28 and then there's the whole Kevin Nash fiasco on top of it that forced them to pull the trigger on Punk/HHH earlier than expected (as opposed to Bryan/HHH getting the slow burn that Punk/HHH needed to have.) On top of that, we got stupid shit like Punk tag teaming and making jokes with the same guy he had just been knocking for the past 2-3 months, Triple H.

IMO, Punk is a better fit for an angle like this because of the personality differences between he and Bryan. CM Punk is like the cool kid in school who disobeyed teachers, defied authority and broke the rules just to be different than the rest of the pack. Daniel Bryan, on the other hand, is just one of the members of that pack. He isn't "cool", he's ordinary, he's nerdy, he's a goatface, etc. I know his Everyman quality is why he's so relateable, but in pro wrestling, if I had to choose between the two, I'd choose the cool guy who had more of an edge, the guy who would smirk in the face of authority and never let their insults get to him over the guy who reminded me more of myself (not that I have much at all in common with Bryan or his character, just saying.) And I find Punk to just be a more serious and "adult" character than Bryan. He doesn't run around chanting Yes like a total nerd, for example. I also find that he's much better at owning people on the mic than Bryan is. Just re-watch his promo against Kevin Nash in 2011 to see what I mean.

So, in short, if The Summer of Punk were done perfectly (i.e. HHH and Steph turning heel, Punk/HHH being given a build over the course of several months, etc.) then it would have easily been better as a whole than this current angle. Although the current one is enjoyable for what it is.

 

[Action Jackson]

This story line is tailor made for Bryan. Punk has had his chance in the limelight and he's well-established as a main event player in the WWE. This story is purely to put Bryan on that level, and they've done it superbly. The villains yanking the title from his grasp constantly makes for compelling television, and easily sells the next month's event. He will have his day in the sun between now and WrestleMania, and it will be glooorious.

 

[Nano]

I feel like Punk would be way better in this storyline and they may be looking for a replacement for Bryan now that he lost to Orton, but I don't give a damn about the Corp anymore

 

[CM Punk]

No. If the storyline were for Punk, you would have to scrap almost everything he's done after the original pipebomb. He's already a solidified superstar, 434 days as WWE Champion. It'd be weird for him to chase something that he's had for so long. Bryan is best suited imo.