WWE's breath of fresh air won't last without guys like CM Punk

For all the talk of how CM Punk's Money In The Bank departure storyline has been a masterful breath of fresh air, don't bet on that fresh feeling lasting for very long after Punk has gone his way.  As Punk mentioned in his recent must-read GQ interview, there isn't much fresh blood at the top of WWE's creative team, which explains why WWE has stuck with a pat hand for so long:

A lot of the people who are in charge-and this isn't a negative thing-are old.  They have a wealth of experience, yes, but there's no youth that's involved in anything.

The people in charge are largely the same people that were in charge almost a decade ago.  People like Vince McMahon, Kevin Dunn, Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, John Laurinaitis, Bryan Gerwirtz and Michael Hayes, all of whose positions are entrenched.  Indeed, WWE recently restructured their creative team in a manner that maintained the long term status quo and made it even more difficult for new voices to be heard, which will mean the latest shake up of WWE creative will make little difference, just like the last one.

As Dave Meltzer reported in his July 18th subscriber only Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Gerwirtz and Hayes have essentially been promoted so they have less writing grunt work to do.  The head writers of Raw and Smackdown are now long standing creative team members David "Ranjin Singh" Kapoor and Ed Koskey, respectively.  They'll both report to the man responsible for the big picture direction, Gerwirtz.  Meanwhile, Hayes has become the head of the road agents producers, meaning that he'll give Gerwirtz ideas, relay the creative team's directions to the producer he decides is responsible for each match and work with Vince and Hunter on PPV finishes.  More bureaucracy, just what the creative team needs!  That seems to be the sentiment inside WWE too, as a source of Meltzer's told him that:

It's just another level of bureaucracy that will make getting a good idea approved even harder within the dysfunctional division.

Moreover, these changes will further erode whatever differentiation there is left between the Raw and Smackdown brands.  

To conclude, this means we need more Chris Jericho's and CM Punk's in the business, guys who aren't afraid to speak their mind if an idea sucks and are willing to put their necks on the line by forcing through their own ideas.  Most of the best storylines of the last few years were ones that the talent were behind or heavily involved with, their input will be increasingly imperative if WWE are ever going to fully escape the creative cruise control that they so often slip into.