#LAWTAKE - CM PUNK IS BACK AND THE SHOW GOES ON
It’s been less than four days since CM Punk has shattered records with his Cult of Personality (pun-intended) leading a bold yet confident treck from behind the Gorilla position. It’s really happening. No more rumors, speculations, dirt sheets, secrecies, nothing! CM Punk is back in the WWE.. for good? He’s “home”, right?
I will try not to bandwagon what the rest of my peers have spoken on in regards to Punk’s initial Survivor Series 2023 redebut. I simply wanted to write this article from a diehard CM Punk that watched routinely through 2002 ROH/NWA-TNA days, through Summer Of Punk in 2005, to the ECW/World Heavyweight Title runs, the 400+ day WWE Title run, the ‘retirement’, The Last Dance/First Dance, whatever dance AEW dubbed it in 2021, the Second Coming in June 2023, and all the way to a return to WWE Raw since probably the last Raw before the January 2014 Royal Rumble.
This think-piece stems from me rewatching a cumulative of less than 10 minutes of CM Punk being back under a WWE banner, a Paul Levesque creative-led regime, and a WWE universe that is farrrrrr different than where he last left it. Think about these stats I’ve pulled (off the top of the dome I might add)..
Since CM Punk left the WWE in 2014…
Daniel Bryan/Bryan Danielson retired and came back, having extensive reigns during each period with and without a World Title reign.
KofiMania!
Brock Lesnar further cemented his legacy with numerous victories and accolades since their first and last encounter.
Cody Rhodes was a dork when Punk was still there, he left, went on a TEARRRRRR, came back, and is over as ever.
Jinder Mahal won the WWE Title!
LA Knight & Scorpio Sky were extras in his 2011 segments and now LA Knight is a prime main stay in WWE upper midcard and Scorpio Sky is a just another inactive Black wrestler for AEW!
Vince McMahon is nowhere in sight with creative or on-screen decisions.
Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns have went to the moon and beyond, with Punk only facing either man once, beating Rollins and losing to Roman.
The Usos had face paint and Samoan tribe dances the last time Punk was there now look at where both are at on the roster!
John Cena was still a mainstay in WWE programming, essentially overshadowing whatever Punk was attempting to achieve on a main-event level. With Cena out to Hollywood for most of the year, now is the time for more Punk spotlight.
10 things off the top of my head that have drastically changed since the last time CM Punk wore his patented color scheme trunks and logo down a WWE entrance ramp.
While that Punk promo came across so EXCELLENTLY delivered, authentic really; signs of ingeniousness came across on the screen while also feeling like there was no substance here. The more I realized this watching the promo, and the more Cherry Runtz I enjoyed at the same time, Punk is back to just be another cog in the WWE machine. Now perhaps, that’s not even a bad thing.
Looking at that meh-ish episode of Raw last night, it felt like the age old adage of THE SHOW MUST GO ON, Last nights episode of WWE Raw played out exactly how it would have went if Punk never came back, instead going with a returning Randy Orton to send the fans home happy with an RKO to Dom Mysterio in the main event. Maybe that all-night cloud of “what will he say” and then a five minute promo from Punk wouldn’t have even made a difference. But to me, it was telling.
WWE ignored his AEW run and rightfully so no potshots were taken publically, instead choosing say Punk has left the WWE universe for ten years and we’re stuck pondering “who is CM Punk?” This had flashes of 2011/2012 CM Punk, to me one of the best runs he’s been on.
CM Punk is a walking hyprocite, he doesn’t stow away from it. The words he spoke last night, I felt he hated them on a truly meta-textual level. CM Punk made a killing being an anti-hero, from the Pipebomb to “Cult of Personality” being his signature theme song deriving from a rockband that themselves made a difference standing out, to showing up in AEW trying to be an anti-hero and quickly realizing “oh shit, I wasn’t meant to be here.” He went from being CM Punk, larger than life against a group of independent wrestling darlings and select wrestling legends, to realizing he is meant to be just another spoke on the wheel of WWE.
Hyped over as the most watched return and “controversial” and “unpredictable”, for him to come back and basically say “I’m home” is the most humbling form of CM Punk I’ve ever seen. Damnit, I’m intrigued. WWE, they don’t need CM Punk. It’s highly apparent. But now that you have CM Punk, I truly hope they utilize him in 2024.