CM Punk: Former World Heavyweight Champion of World Wrestling Entertainment. One year ago that seemed impossible to fathom, but after a run as the ECW champion and a victory in the annual Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania XXIV in March, Punk was paid the ultimate compliment by Vince McMahon and the powers that be – he was drafted to RAW. The sole live WWE show is the flagship, and Vince only puts guys there who he is ready to believe in. Upon his debut on Monday nights, Punk wasted little time cashing in that MITB title shot and took the big gold belt from Edge. Since then, his title reign has been the source of much discussion among those of us who care to discuss that sort of thing, but there’s one thing nobody can deny; CM Punk has made a name for himself in Vince McMahon’s land of the giants.
TODAY’S ISSUE: There’s something about Punk.
In a highly subjective realm such as art (including entertainment), trying to quantify the “it factor” can be difficult. Some think the Godfather series was one of the best trilogies ever crafted, while others watch Porky’s Revenge at least once a year and consider it among the greatest movies of all time. As much as fellow fans and critics would like to tell people why their opinions are wrong or what criteria they should use to evaluate art, it’s impossible to direct somebody to your own conclusions. Consumers like what they like, even if they can’t explain why they like it. And pro wrestling fans, an eclectic group of people to say the least, are highly unlikely to ever agree on anything.
That makes sense. Wrestling fanatics come from all walks of life – lawyers, teachers, students, doctors, soldiers, housewives, and everything in between. There are athletically gifted, attractive, successful people who love wrestling, and certainly there must be a few who fit the description all those heels like to bash during promos who “live in their parents’ basement and haven’t kissed a girl before.” I have had personal correspondence with fans less than 21 years of age and others over 50, and found neither age group more passionate about this great hobby of ours than the other. With ranges like these, you can see why opinions vary so dramatically.
But I have recently observed an interesting truth about wrestling fans. Indy maniacs who travel to unheralded shows with 100-person crowds and spend their hard earned dough on stacks of DVDs to keep up with their favorite promotion, and WWE fans who sit back and watch the McMahon circus on television week after week, paying $40 a month for pay-per-views and often sporting the latest John Cena apparel, seem to have one thing in common: Most of us really like CM Punk.
Phil “CM Punk” Brooks has had an incredible career thus far, climbing out of the tiny mid-west indies to become an icon in Ring of Honor, one of the most beloved wrestling promotions in existence today, and their sister promotion Full Impact Pro. He saw a year-plus stint in TNA, the only US major league company besides the McMonopoly. He endured almost a year in WWE’s “developmental program”, before finally debuting on ECW television on the Fourth of July, and Punk was recently the World Heavyweight Champion on the longest-running wrestling program in history, all before reaching his tenth year of active completion as a professional wrestler. Not bad.
But here’s the oddity. The things that made Punk a legend in the indies aren’t the reasons for his WWE success. I’d say that while Punk has skills in every area of the business, there were three keys to his prosperity in the independent ranks. First and foremost, many indy fans place a lot of emphasis on a performer’s wrestling ability, unique moveset, speed, agility, and ring generalship, which of course CM Punk displayed in spades. His combination of strikes, grapples, and high-impact maneuvers made him exciting to watch between the ropes and he clearly understands how to tell a story in the ring.
The second of three main strengths Punk exploited in the indies was his gimmick. Not for one minute over the top, unbelievable, or goofy, Punk’s straightedge/drug free lifestyle choice is the epitome of a solid character for the modern era. We are way past the moonlighting age in which many wrestlers had second jobs that played a part in the ring, and there’s no place today for all the hackneyed stereotypes, shallow shortcuts, or the simply hideous nonsense from yesteryear like El Gigante and Mantaur.
With a heavy influence by the mixed martial arts world on pro wrestling today and a lean toward realism, character development like Punk’s is preferable to some of those ridiculous old gimmicks. The character is tenable, logical, and realistic, and Punk works it quite well. It makes sense that a person would actually be this way, as opposed to, say an undead zombie who for some reason wants a wrestling title, a voodoo priest who causes wrestlers to vomit, or a lumberjack escorted to the ring by dancing bears.
Punk’s substance-free lifestyle directly resulted in one of the most heralded feuds of Ring of Honor’s early years. The questionable habits of ring veteran Raven turned Punk’s stomach, and Punk felt he was better than Raven because he was clean and sober, so the two went to war. This was a watershed feud for ROH, and it couldn’t have been based on anything more clear-cut and straightforward; these two men came from different worlds, they had different beliefs and values. And they hated each other for it. That’s what well-developed characters are capable of, sound storytelling without forcing the viewer to stop suspending his disbelief.
Finally and perhaps most integral to his success in the indies was Punk’s unmatched ability to take the crowd on an emotional ride and have them in the palm of his hand, as either a heel or face. More than just ring psychology and good promos, Brooks could make fans love or hate CM Punk, respect or despise him, feel sorry for him or want to see his blood flow. It was all in the way his personality worked into the fabric of what he was doing. Punk knew what faces to make in the ring, what words to choose on the stick, what moves to do when, and most importantly, why. Check out the main event of ROH’s Death Before Dishonor III for a perfect example of how Punk could manipulate an audience, toy with their emotions, and elicit whatever response he wanted from them.
With all these tools (and more) at his disposal, it’s no surprise Punk was such a huge hit in the independent wrestling scene. When he made it to what some might call the big time, his career continued to flourish but it wasn’t the strengths listed above that took him to the promised land in WWE. At least not in the same way.
Punk’s in-ring style, while still exciting by WWE standards, has certainly been toned down, slowed, and reduced so the muscle-heads and fat giants can keep up with him. He stopped using the Anaconda Vise early in his ECW run, and had to abandon the Pepsi Plunge due to it’s resemblance to the finishing move utilized by the boss’ very own son-in-law. I also haven’t seen him execute the Pepsi Twist much, but as you may recall I don’t watch a lot of WWE programming. I wanted see how Punk fared in the final championship scramble at Unforgiven but since he was kicked in the head by Randy Orton backstage before the match and replaced by Chris Jericho, I lost out on that opportunity.
Regarding his character or gimmick, I remember him cutting a promo or two early in his ECW stint explaining that his only addiction is competition and that he leads a straightedge lifestyle. Other than that, I honestly can’t recall much emphasis on this part of his character whatsoever. I would imagine the average WWE fan sees him as a relatively smaller guy with a lot of tattoos.
As I indicated earlier, Punk’s most notable and valuable asset lies in the psychology of what he does and how he does it. Whether it’s crafting a match, cutting a promo, or interacting with the crowd, Phil Brooks is certainly adept at manipulating the crowd’s emotions. This is a very special quality in any entertainer, and it’s one many good pro wrestlers lack, thus preventing them from becoming great pro wrestlers. But I haven’t seen much evidence of this during his WWE run either.
What I have yet to figure out is how this watered down version of Punk, who is so much smaller than his typical opponent in WWE, has achieved as much as he has in McMahonland. He isn’t given 20 minutes a night in the ring to take the crowd for a ride, he doesn’t use most of his more famous, impressive, and devastating moves, and he hasn’t had the opportunity yet to truly showcase his psychological wizardry over the fans. So what is it?
Could it be that true talent really rises to the top, no matter what the obstacles? Could it be that WWE fans, Vince McMahon, and the creative department (not known for helping an “outsider” ascend to the top) all see the truckloads of talent Phil Brooks carries around from venue to venue? Is it really possible that even while limited to 75% of his established repertoire, CM Punk is head and shoulders above the average pro wrestler?
To the first two questions I have no answer except that while I find it hard to believe a guy of Punk’s size who wasn’t home grown by WWE could find that much respect and success in WWE, I really want to believe it’s true. So far he’s been allowed to do far more than many ROH fans thought he would. In fact, there was a time when Punk wore a trench coat and fedora as a member of John Cena’s ring entrance “gang” at WrestleMania 22, and that could have been the height of his WWE run. So all his success beyond that night has been gravy. To the final question I posed about Punk being simply better than most, the answer is a resounding yes.
There are plenty of good wrestlers in McMahon’s locker rooms and even a few legitimately great ones. But by and large, while the average WWE wrestler earns a B- for his efforts night after night, Punk earns an A. The man can do it all and the fact that he isn’t doing it all in Vince’s company, yet he’s still having great success, is all the proof one needs to see Punk’s superior pedigree (pun intended).
Punk’s immediate future may be a bit in question. While he did lose the world title through nefarious means (it’s difficult to lose the belt through legitimate means when you’re not in the title match) which does seem to guarantee him a fresh program for the gold down the road, I don’t know if he’ll continue chasing Jericho after that cage match last week or get moved into another program lower on the card until his next opportunity to strike presents itself.
Either way, I love knowing that a hard-working, talented, athletic student of the game and obvious non-steroid juicer has blazed his own path in the business and is reaping the fruits of his labor in front of a very large, worldwide audience of professional wrestling fans. Good for you, Mr. Brooks.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled reality.
p.s. – “Begin to free yourself at once by doing all that is possible with the means you have, and as you proceed in this spirit the way will open for you to do more.” – Robert Collier
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