Is CM Punk helping or hurting pro wrestling? WWE 'Reality Era' not all it's cracked up to be
by Geno Mrosko on Nov 10, 2011 8:38 PM EST
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If you've watched WWE Raw Supershow at any time over the past four months then you've likely heard CM Punk say that all he wants is to "make pro wrestling fun again." He's made it his mission to single-handedly make WWE an interesting place, the way its been during its various glory years in the 80s and 90s.
His chosen method of getting there, however, has been somewhat baffling.
Punk is clearly an intelligent man. Not necessarily in the sense that he's well read but rather he's clearly as savvy as it gets in his chosen craft. That's why I find it odd that he's continuing to navigate his promos in the manner he is.
Take for example the promo he cut on Alberto Del Rio this past Monday night (Nov. 7) on Raw. Here's an excerpt:
"You're absolutely right. You're the WWE champion, you're one tough hombre, you're a hell of a competitor but guess what? You're also a lot of other things. Like when you open your mouth, when you grab that microphone, you happen to be one dimensional. 'It's my destiny!' It was your destiny to come to the WWE and become the next big thing. It was your destiny to be the WWE champion. But for all of your destiny speeches, you don't really have anything interesting to say, do you? I mean, all the people watching at home on DVR see you with a microphone in hand and they fast forward. And when they fast forward, they don't miss a damn thing, do they?"
This is consistent with the shoot style promos Punk has been utilizing since his infamous segment back on the June 27 episode of Raw earlier this year. His words have been analyzed and dissected six ways from Sunday but I want to beat this dead horse just a bit more because it didn't quite occur to me why the "Reality Era" has become a problem until listening to Punk shred Del Rio.
Finding the right way to skillfully navigate a promo is an art that far too few pro wrestlers ever truly master, if such a thing is possible. The business model is built on free television as a way to sell fans on spending money on payoff matches at pay-per-views each month. In this instance, Punk has to find a way to make us hate Del Rio but only in the sense that we want to see him lose. That's the difficult part. If Punk pushes too hard and goes too far, he'll risk losing the audience because he'll kill the incentive to watch Del Rio do anything. In essence, he has to talk him down while talking him up.
That's why I'm baffled he chose to utterly and completely take Del Rio to task for being "boring." Of all the insults Punk could possibly levy at "ADR," calling him boring is absolutely the worst. Alluding to the fact that Del Rio has no charisma and is a one-trick pony with the same talking point does nothing to make a fan want to pay to watch him wrestle. In fact, it has the opposite effect.
It was okay when Punk was doing this with Kevin Nash because there weren't many folks that were all too keen on spending any money on a potential match between the two. But Del Rio is the WWE champion. He's the guy Punk will theoretically defeat to win the title. Taking it as far as we can go, does that not diminish Punk's theoretical championship victory before it even happens?
I'm sure there are plenty of fans who will tell me I'm taking this too far or "thinking about it too hard." But to make a storyline work, the integrity of the story must be upheld at all times. This is why shoot style promos only work in small doses. The reality is that Del Rio does, indeed, have his shortcomings. But so does Punk and I'd rather they not be laid out to bare.
Look no further than Smackdown to see how simple storylines with compelling characters are far and away more effective.
If CM Punk really wants to make WWE so interesting again, maybe he should start by avoiding making whoever it is he's working with look so laughably incompetent. It's not good for business.
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Great article with solid points. I don’t really see how he can keep this going when he becomes champ again either. It’s kind of like he’s painted himself in to a corner and will be cutting these style promos and either using it as reason to not defend the title or defending the title but making it look like a meaningless match because he’s built the challenger up to be a nobody.
by mariobatalivsmarkhenry on Nov 10, 2011 8:54 PM EST reply actions
I dont think it will hurt this particular match
everyone is still going to tune in to see punk win. However if he were already the champ and doing this to challengers, I would then have to agree.
wasn't this basically Jericho's attack on Orton when Y2J returned?
and they fumbled the follow though in that case too. Difference is I still wanted to see the matches but the WWE has to strike while the iron is hot. Give anybody the title, just not Cena.
I've not watched since Punk came back to 'Cult of Personality'
So I don’t know who’s heel and who’s face.
If Del Rio is the heel, this is awful. You build up the bad guy so the pay off is the good guy beating him at a point where the audience disdain for the bad guy is at fever pitch. You don’t have the Face in the ring with the Heel to rip him to shreds, because then you’re making the pay off on free TV with the Face being verbally victorious over the Heel. It’s stupid. Even in the scripted, pre-determined world of Pro Wrasslin’, conflict is settled with a match, not a debate.
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I haven't been all that impressed with Punk
Since the original “shoot.” The angle lost all it’s juice once WWE brought him back a week after he “walked out with the belt.”
Writer (and a handsome one at that),
And the Valley Shook
by Billy Gomila on Nov 10, 2011 11:59 PM EST up reply actions
Yeah...no
I see your point here, but disagree for several reasons.
Shoot promos are not new, and pro wrestling has navigated these waters before to varying success in the past – so it’s not as if having them be a part of Punk’s character is “hurting”. I’d rather he call a few guys out for being bland on the mic than bury the whole roster a la HHH’s “broomstick” comment from a few weeks back. Speaking of the COO, his character has gone in and out of “reality” for most of his career. The current feud with Nash being just the latest example, and from the Kliq through Evolution and a couple of iterations of DX, he’s often used real world stuff to trash opponents.
Punk hasn’t used this “tactic” with everybody. He dogged Nash for being rusty on the mic, and now called ADR out, but he didn’t accuse Cena or HHH of lacking charisma. I’m a Punk mark, so I acknowledge being biased, but I dig the use of microphone psychology as part of his character. Sometimes it’s going to be calling a guy dull, sometimes it’ll be more like when he called Cena the Yankees. But part of being the Best in the World is the ability to not only out-talk somebody, but to use talk in a way that could give you an advantage.
And, this is subjective, too, but this feud with Punk is the most entertaining that Del Rio has been since his debut. Having the “real” insults integrated into character and story – like pointing out that Del Rio is all about his destiny (which allows him to counter that his superiority means he doesn’t have to worry about serving the fans), or calling Nash old (providing the impetus for his current feud to prove that he still deserves main event status) – makes them just another tool used to tell the story. In a WWE Universe dominated by superhero ‘face main eventers, I’m all for Punk’s Machiavellian anti-hero.
by s1rude on Nov 10, 2011 9:52 PM EST reply actions 3 recs
i like both guys and i definitely have no problems with shoot promos
specially if they come from punk, like you say, his psychological shoots are really something else, but i dont see it as a fair thing when hes shooting at del rio, i mean, everybody knows del rio’s promos are as scripted as they can be, and even if del rio had the freedom to shoot, i dont think he can even do something in punks level because well, his main lenguage isnt english after all..
i dont think it is such a good idea to have punk shooting and kinda burying del rio when he cant really fight back like lets say cena can
When you want people to buy a PPV featuring you beating up that spade
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by KJ Gould on Nov 11, 2011 7:43 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs
That's not where I thought you were going to go at all
First, let me say, I think Nash/Punk is actually a draw — mostly because Nash is a big name, and people want to see what he’ll do, and they built a lot of mystery around his return/storyline. So saying it’s okay to bury Nash because the match-up wasn’t garnering any interest is pretty subjective.
Secondly, if you noticed, CM Punk talked up Del Rio’s in-ring prowess. He called him a hell of a competitor, but as a personality, he’s one dimensional. Which is fair. He’s a fun character to watch, but only because he hearkens back to an earlier time of easy, hammed up characters, which is rarer nowadays. But it is one track and doesn’t jibe with the mic styles of Punk or even Cena.
The issue with “shoot style” promos is the choice of whether or not you should point out very real weaknesses other wrestlers have, which will hurt their character overall, not necessarily the match up. Like, Lance Storm could be seen as “boring” to the tastes of the mass audience, and once that was vocalized and supported, it became a cancer on the character. That’s the danger of shooting on very real weaknesses.
You know how in Divas matches, especially during their NXT season, the announcers would just shit all over the divas matches and botches? It’s like that. It’s real, and it’s truthful, but it really hurts the people they’re trying to get over. Meanwhile, Sin Cara Negro wildly misses a dropkick on Sin Cara Azul and the same announcers will try and pass it off as: “I think he nicked him in the back, just enough! It did the job!” That’s because you have a choice. You either admit to reality that this match/person isn’t very good at wrestling (in which case why is it even on air) or you try and build a blindside for those weaknesses and think of other things to focus on.
Nash is a big name?
wasn’t he the worst drawing WWE champion in history?
by Kyle Rancourt on Nov 11, 2011 3:17 AM EST up reply actions
Nash was a draw for a few months during the nWo angle, in tag matches.
And really, anybody else could’ve filled the role he had back then. Every other period where Nash was on top he either had other draws cover for him (Goldberg, Hogan), or he didn’t draw jack (his main event runs in ‘94, ’95, ’99, ’00, ’03, and his entire TNA run). Nash is completely unmotivated in the ring when he’s not facing a Kliq member, passed his prime over a decade ago, and wasn’t that good on his best day.
Even then, if Nash is putting himself in danger of a heart attack, it wouldn’t matter if he could still go or was still relevant, he needs to retire, and stop prancing around the ring like it’s still ’98.
I got to admit
punk shoot to del rio is bad for bussiness, but what cena said bout del rio rented all that cars is much more worse. i guess punk just folowing cena lame style now..
You’re thinking too hard. He’s only saying he’s boring with a mic in hand. He built him up saying he’s a tough opponent.. In fact, people may want Punk to whip him in the ring so Del Rio doesn’t have the mic in his hand, as the champion tends to have more segments.
You want to see someone systematically do what you’re describing, trade Punks name for Cena & then Trade Del Rio, well you don’t have to.. but anyone that Cena has faced on the mid card trying to come up has been Charlie Brown’d by Cena. The only one who’s battleship he didn’t sink was Sheamus… then again, he’s on SD now.. so maybe he did.
by Rawuncutnxrated on Nov 11, 2011 5:32 AM EST reply actions
Del Rio's been so badly damaged by WWE the match can't draw no matter what they do.
Del Rio already lost clean at Wrestlemania, moved nowhere with his character for the next five months, won the title via an MiTB cash in, and lost clean to Cena via the STF. There’s nothing they can do to take away any more of his heat.
That said, at least he’ll be jobbing as champion to Punk on a show people are actually watching instead of the guy who jobs to Cena on yet another B-Show.
negativity..a bit too much of it?
Im quite new to this site, and love the way things are presented and that to so regularly. But sometimes it feels as though it is impossible to satisfy someone as a pro wrestling fan. Punk is the same guy who in a few months back delivered the best wrestling promo in God knows how long. Is it so wrong for him to say that Del Rio bores people. The way i see it, if Del Rio comes back next week and does something super heelish, like attacking Punk from behind, or something along the same lines, wouldn’t it give a whole new dimension to their match. As it has been pointed out Punk gave due credit to Del Rio’s in ring prowess. Also, remember Hell in the Cell and how Del Rio did that locking John Cena out scene. I mean, the guy is charismatic, not on the mic, but he is a pretty good wrestler. For me Punk saying something like that seems natural for a guy who has a gray shade to his character. And it’s much better than Cena saying that Alberto rents car for his entrances.
CM Punk is full of hot air
I must first mention I am not a CM Punk fan at all. I enjoy rooting against him in a fun way, not a get this guy off TV way. So, in that respect, he is doing his job because he makes me care.
Ever since he came back after his ‘hiatus’, he has been so overrated on the mic. He talks about Del Rio being a one-trick-pony, well what about Punk? His feud with Triple H basically consisted of him constantly insulting his wife. They were all the same jokes week after week. He always makes the same skateboard jokes about John Laurinaitis. And he even re-used material about people changing the channel when Nash is on TV. Not to mention Punk doesn’t fully listen to what others are saying. Sometimes his responses will seem a little awkward like he had a preplanned response in his head but the other guy deviated from the ‘script’ a bit. I’m not sure who would get the rightful blame in that situation.
More to the topic of the article, I don’t like reality insults when it is calling the character fake. For example, I know Del Rio is not a millionaire in real life. I don’t like how Cena says he rents cars. That implies Del Rio is not rich enough to buy all these cars. That breaks the character. He should have just stuck with Del Rio not knowing the names. Del Rio is so rich he doesn’t appreciate his cars. That is something that can make people hate Del Rio.
Also, calling someone boring is like the worst insult in wrestling. That person is basically saying you don’t deserve to be employed. There are creative ways to imply a person is boring without flat out saying it.
Lastly, I find Alberto Del Rio to be quite delightful on the mic.
by Manolo Has Pizzazz on Nov 11, 2011 3:54 PM EST reply actions
Exactly
Stupid shoot by cena or punk is bad for wrestling busines.
by Lucdulatif on Nov 12, 2011 1:11 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
I fear for the future of pro wrestling
Thanks for the guys with material freedom such as punk n cena.
by Lucdulatif on Nov 12, 2011 1:20 AM EST via mobile reply actions
You make excellent points here Gene
Punk’s character has lost his way since his feud with John Cena. Instead of focusing on winning matches and earning a title opportunity, like he was prior to the promo and the face turn, he has turned into a mini-shoot machine. Every promo of his has this shoot element that makes me as a viewer cringe because it has nothing to do with wrestling as a competition and everything to do with him running down his opponents for ridiculous things.
The promo on Del Rio was the icing on the cake. The truth is that he needs to return to what he was originally doing before the shoot promo, which was promoting the fact that wins matter and that he earned WWE Title opportunities. The angles with Nash and Triple H were designed to be “insider” heavy, which is why he could get away with that promo style (though it still wasn’t selling me anything). But in returning to the “WWE Universe” and its world of competing for titles, Punk needs to return to a promo style that emphasizes this. Sure, he can occasionally still throw in a “pipe bomb” promo here and there, but it needs to be done in moderation.
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