Whether you’re an mma fan and/or a WWE fan, you know the name CM Punk. Even if you have never seen one of his wrestling matches, you have seen him buddied up with UFC President Dana White front row at UFC events as of late. CM Punk has left the WWE and is rumored to wanting to become an mma fighter and join the UFC.
“He quit [the WWE]? Really? No, he hasn’t said a word to me [about fighting in the UFC]. He hasn’t reached out to me.” Dana White said at the UFC 169 media conference. “I was with him all night in Chicago, he never said a word about it. He just showed up. We talked about a lot of things, fighting was not one of them. “I like him, he’s a great guy. It’s a little late to get into the game, but who knows if he can fight? I don’t know. We’ll see what happens, but I like him a lot. He’s a nice guy.”
CM Punk is known for being an outspoken/proud individual. He stands up for what he believes in and is very passionate about what he does. He has no wife and no kids. Fighting and performing for the fans is everything to him. CM Punk was the WWE’s champion and the face for the company for 434 days.
WrestleMania is the WWE’s Superbowl and Punk has earned the main event spot two years running, and has been denied. First he lost to The Rock last year at the Rumble and was subjected to watch John Cena and The Rock (Dwayne Johnson) headline WrestleMania 29. The match was nothing special. CM Punk and The Undertaker stole the spotlight and put on a great match. That was the match that fans were talking about afterwards.
Punk is a full timer for the WWE and is sick and tired of watching these part-timers steal his and other top full timers jobs. I don’t blame him. The WWE did it again this year. Punk entered the Royal Rumble at the number 1 spot and wrestled for over 45 minutes to be eliminated at the end by Kane in shady form. Punk then again watched as another part-timer named Dave Batista stole his well deserved spot light.
It is well documented that Punk and WWE owner Vince McMahon do not always write on the same page. Creative differences between the two have always been a problem. Punk is creative and Vince is not. Punk has easily defined himself as the face and number 2 guy in the company behind John Cena.
Punk feels that him and fellow superstar Daniel Bryan should be headlining WrestleMania, not Batista. Punk stood up for himself and his fellow hard workers and walked out Monday Night on Raw. He told Vince he was going home and quit the WWE. Punk has been removed from all house shows and up coming PPV’s.
Since this breaking news hit the ground floor, mma sites and wrestling sites have been all over this topic. Punk is so popular that mma fans who have never watched wrestling know who he is. Rumors have surfaced that CM Punk has been linked to wanting to fight for real inside the UFC Octagon.
I do not give this any heat. Punk is one the most real wrestlers there is in the world. Like I said before, he is way more creative than Vince and the WWE as a whole.
This storyline of him “quitting” the WWE is no joke and is legit. This does not mean anything to me. As much as I would like to see Punk in an mma fight, he is too banged up for a real fight. He would sign a deal, then pull out due to injury.
Wrestling injured (which he does all the time) and fighting injured, are two different animals. He knows just as well as we do that he isn’t going to transition to mma this late in his career. He was just sick and tired of all the lack luster writing from the WWE and is writing his own script whether the WWE realizes it or not.
CM Punk was scheduled to face another part timer at WrestleMania in Triple H. No one wants to see this match and Punk knows it. By acting out and standing up for himself, this will more than likely write a new storyline for the self proclaimed “Best In The World.”
The WWE knows they cannot afford to lose Punk. The fans have already revolted. They want to see Punk at Mania, and the WWE would be stupid not to make this happen. This is the WWE’s 30th installment of Mania and they need Punk on that card. By “quitting” he has now completely changed the WWE’s Mania story.
They will work something out and give him a better match in my opinion. I do not see him going into mma since he is worth too much to the WWE and their fans.
On WWE’s NXT taping last night, fans CM Punk signs were being confiscated at the door. The fans were asked before the taping to chant “NXT,” but instead chose to deny the request and chanted “CM Punk.” You can bet the WWE fans aren’t going to stop this.
The big question is, if they haven’t worked something out with Punk by March 3rd, what are they going to do with the wild crowd in Punk’s hometown of Chicago as they will more than likely riot? They have threatened it before, and Chicago fans don’t hold back, especially when it comes to Punk.
With the new launch of their network and being on the Road to Wrestlemaina, they will lose a lot by not having Punk as one of their faces. They are bringing back Hulk Hogan and trying to finally sign Sting. This will help the launch of the WWE network to an extent, but no Punk equals bad ratings.
The fans have said they are done if Punk is done. I don’t really buy this, but Punk needs all the support from all of his loyal fans. He is the best in ring performer they have and is their best microphone speaker. When he talks, the fans listen. That is very dangerous in the world of professional wrestling and the WWE knows it.
Punk has given the WWE everything just to be crapped all over. The WWE always takes full timers jobs with main stay part timers like The Rock. This will never ever change unfortunately. Punk realizes this as well, hence why he stood up for himself. All this controversy will work out in the long run.
Punk will be at WrestleMania 30, not in an mma cage/ring. You can bet on it in my opinion. Fans love reality now a days and it doesn’t get any more real than this. Punk writing his own storyline is pissing off the WWE, and it is working. This is straight up genius and best for business whether the WWE likes it or not. Punk has actually promoted both the WWE and the UFC with all of this.
He is a marketing wizard. The WWE just needs to except that he is their golden boy and without him now a days they really don’t have much left at the table. Dinner (Cena and others) is always good, but when the fans make their happy plates and the WWE has no desert to show for it, what next?
Ben McPhee (@mmawriter1 on Twitter)