Late yesterday, WWE.com acknowledged Thursday's angle where CM Punk confronted Triple H at the WWE/Mattel panel at the San Diego Comic-Con. It top story on the site at the moment. In addition to a video shot by the WWE camera crew (which is less complete than the Ringside Collectibles/WrestlingFigs.com version), they also have an article about what happened.
Going by the article, it looks like these are the points that they're trying to get over:
- Punk is referred to as "de facto holder of the WWE Championship and former WWE Superstar CM Punk." If I remember correctly, the last time they called someone "de facto champion" was in WWF Magazine after Dean Douglas was awarded the Intercontinental Championship after Shawn Michaels was beaten up by eleventy marines while he was wasted. Then Razor Ramon immediately beat Douglas to win the title.
- Punk isn't necessarily portrayed as a heel, but Triple H is definitely supposed to be a babyface, as the writer noted that "Triple H tried to maintain his professional decorum."
- To explain the delay in getting coverage up and forward the angle, the article ends with this line: "Late Friday night, WWE.com was granted permission by WWE executives to show footage of Punk's interruption, caught by WWE cameras during the Comic-Con Q & A."
We shall see if this leads to Punk being acknowledged on TV again as part of the "new regime."
Meanwhile, in yesterday's F4WOnline.com daily update, Bryan Alvarez chimed in on the rumors and speculation about Punk appearing for Ring of Honor in some form. He said that "ROH sources across the board insist there have been absolutely no talks between WWE and ROH about shooting any sort of angle involving CM Punk." I suppose that leaves some wiggle room if they're telling the truth, as Punk could theoretically reach out as opposed to the WWE office.
Much of the speculation centers around their first TV tapings as part of Sinclair Broadcast Group are on August 13th in Chicago. As noted by Alvarez, if Punk isn't back on WWE by then, the fans in attendance will be expecting him all night since he had mentioned ROH in his original "breaking the fourth wall" promo on Raw. If no deal has been worked out, then ROH's taping could be ruined by fans who are expecting a Punk appearance that they won't get and decide to loudly chant about it. A lot.