THe Punk Era

CM Punk cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase and pinning Edge to become World Heavyweight Champion could become the catalyst for the next GREAT wrestling era.
The Punk Era.

Not since the Attitude era have fans genuinely been excited as this time. RAW has picked up no end in recent weeks, the Anarchy theme has been working well, the draft brought some real surprises including the shock move of Trips to SD but CM Punk's title reign has to be the biggest move in the last few years by WWE.

For me the reason behind this is simple.
WWE have had a habit of pushing their own. Guys that they made, not WCW, not ECW, but their own.
Wrestlers such as Goldberg, RVD, Booker T and many more got treated roughly while in WWE, never being allowed the same adulation, the same respect, the same pushes that guys like HHH, Taker and such got, because WWE made their careers.
But this all changed when CM Punk lifted that belt aloft.
He was Ring of Honor.
He was adored by the fans there as both a face and a heel, independent fans rave on about his Pepsi Plunge over the GTS.
For me it was a statement.
WWE have shown every single guy in TNA, every guy in ROH, NOAH, CZW that if you're good enough, if you'll put in the effort, that you can make it in the biggest company on the planet.
AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Briscoe Brothers, Jack Evans and many more will be watching WWE now with abated breath to see how CM's reign unfolds, before always thinking that they would never get an opportunity in WWE but now thinking that could be them.
ECW with it's new policy to bring the new guys through has seen the likes of another great indie wrestler Matt Sydal wowing the fans with his high risk, crowd pleasing moves.
Bryan Danielson currently getting big wins in dark matches against guys who are down for pushes.

This is an exciting time in wrestling.
This is the Punk Era.

I cant find any footage of it but there are plenty of articles on CM Punks reign as Ring Of Honour champion, its well known now as 'The Summer of Punk' and like I stated earlier its highly regarded by the IWC as one of the finest periods in wrestling over the last 10 years and when you include WCW and WWF getting ratings of over 8m at times within that period then its easy to see how rated it is!

He is on record as saying he wants to be given the mic and the crowd will run into the buildings, his confidence is good, its not arrogance, he simply believes he could be that great, and why not, let him run with it!

I've not been a huge fan of Punk since he was brought in and its sounds like a jump on the bandwagon to suddenly mention him but it's more about what his title reign could mean for the whole business rather than the individual.
It's telling guys like AJ and Samoa Joe that if they came over they could be up where Punk is now.

I would like to point out though that this title run probably won't be much to write home about in the grander scheme of things but I do believe he will have a few more within the next two years.

Everyone who saw it lusts after his heel run as ROH champ and they promos he cut as that heel champ, many want him as that kind of heel just now but that would be wrong in my opinion, Punk has proven he can make the crowd hate him, he does have the love just now but he can increase it greatly before turning heel and turning heel after a lengthy chase for the strap would be better

im still not convinced by him yet. he seems like a weaker champ than what they made randy orton out to be so far. i hope they do give him the mic, because to be a good champion you gotta walk the walk and talk the talk. so far the "talk the talk" hasnt been very evident and his in ring ability is VERY mediocre and over rated

King Macca wrote:

I've not been a huge fan of Punk since he was brought in and its sounds like a jump on the bandwagon to suddenly mention him but it's more about what his title reign could mean for the whole business rather than the individual.
It's telling guys like AJ and Samoa Joe that if they came over they could be up where Punk is now.

I'm not really a fan of Samoa Joe, he is good in the ring I just don't think he has the natural charisma to make me want to watch him!

I am like you though, I was never the biggest Punk fan and still not to be fair but I like the way they are using him and having someone different in the main event and as the main man is a nice change

Pablo wrote:

im still not convinced by him yet. he seems like a weaker champ than what they made randy orton out to be so far. i hope they do give him the mic, because to be a good champion you gotta walk the walk and talk the talk. so far the "talk the talk" hasnt been very evident and his in ring ability is VERY mediocre and over rated

Don't know about that one Pabz he has had the strap three weeks and he has beaten two former World Champions and Snitskey

I have been disappointed with they way they have handled him on the promos though, I thought with his mic ability he should have been on the commentary team for the fatal four way match although with Kane attacking the announcers its kinda understandable now why he wasn't there

i used to be a fan of joe. but his "im angry at everything" attitude bores me now

randy orton got a WM win over triple h and john cena, the 2 biggest draws in the company, and still looked like a paper champ.

so far, punk seems like he is heading down the same path. i hope it does turn around. because if he is as good as people say he is, then i wud like to actually see this instead of hearing about it. (and i dont mean from his days in ROH, i mean i want to see him apply it in his matches now)

I think with Joe he has that appeal of the common man.
Your average guy sat at home sees this out of shape guy with a chip on his shoulder suddenly perform a high risk manouerve and think wow, this guys like me, i'll cheer him.

I think the thing with Orton was firstly no-one really cares about him so it was hard to gain heat.
Secondly he was a dead man walking for Trips even with the Mania win.
Tonight will be a big point in the push.
A clean win or a hell turn is required.
An assisted win as face again will make him look weak.

Pablo wrote:

randy orton got a WM win over triple h and john cena, the 2 biggest draws in the company, and still looked like a paper champ.

so far, punk seems like he is heading down the same path. i hope it does turn around. because if he is as good as people say he is, then i wud like to actually see this instead of hearing about it. (and i dont mean from his days in ROH, i mean i want to see him apply it in his matches now)

Don't agree, I did however think Orton was just keeping the title warm for Helmsley until Mania, that win got him over as a proper champion, only his indiscipline saw him lose the title so close after Mania, I felt he would hold it until SummerSlam after winning the triple threat match

You have to understand though its probably not up to him what he does in his matches, he will be under instruction what to do and what not to do, his ROH style has for some reason not been allowed to shine in the WWE although that is the style that got him noticed, you cant complain that people talk about that style, its like going on about the attitude era, its a fair comparison, he can do it so people want him to do it, but its obviously not his decision not to do it, he would want to sell himself as the best!

I think WWE have major plans for CM Punk and could very well be holding things back from the audience to keep him fresh for when he is allowed to ingrain newer moves into his game

People wouldn't have blinked an eye at Joe's size 15 years ago but now if you haven't got a herculean physique people really notice.

As for Punk I think it's brilliant Punk's been given this chance. Admittedly he's been put in the underdog role and didn't exactly win it in an epic PPV battle but the fact he holds the belt is more important. Yeah, he probably is just a fill in to move along the bigger picture but there are plenty of others who could have been used. There's plenty of people who are over who could of headlined the bash, especially considering the draft freshened things up but WWE chose Punk. He might not hold it for long but he's there now and he's in the title picture which is huge for him. I definitely think he's on his way to being one of the big cheeses in WWE.

King Macca wrote:

I think the thing with Orton was firstly no-one really cares about him so it was hard to gain heat.
Secondly he was a dead man walking for Trips even with the Mania win.
Tonight will be a big point in the push.
A clean win or a hell turn is required.
An assisted win as face again will make him look weak.

Thats the thing though with Orton, he was made weak simply because he didn't beat Cena

It screwed so much up, Jericho was supposed to be heel and 'save us' from Cena mania, he could have worked well with Orton, but that got messed and they had to work against each other which was pretty boring since Jericho could out tounge Orton in his sleep!

I think if your waiting for a clean win from Punk or a heel turn then you will be disappointed tonight Maccs! (Only my opinion though)

I think they will turn Punk heel but they will build him up to be one of the top faces though so it will be more shocking when he turns on the fans!

Batista seems to be on a roll on RAW just now and one of its biggest stars and I can't see him losing cleanly!

Kane intervention with a chokeslam (and prey for a Tombstone) and Punk to get the pin!

I don't think these kind of wins will make Punk look weak, just lucky!

Someone once said "I'd rather be lucky than good"

(just like to say this is one of those times where I'm real glad to be part of this board when you have 4 really good posters all being able to discuss something, all with different views and all listening to each others comments)

Got to agree with you Maccs, this is whats its all about, sensible posters discussing good points and having various views!

It kinda backs up anyone who likes Punk as champ though, because with so many differing of opinions it means everyone is always thinking "what next!"

it really is good to have a healthy debate. everyone has a different opinion, we all respect it and wer not afraid to disagree.

better than calling each other cunts lol.


i wud like to see punk head down a path wher he looks like a stronger champ than he does at the moment. but so far all i see is a series of kicks. and its been like that since his days as the ecw champ

Yea the kicks, those have dampened my enjoyment of his matches as of late, however only 6 or 7 weeks ago Kane and CM Punk had a match on ECW and it was possibly Kanes best non PPV match in about four years!

With him playing the monster who just wants to destruct now though I can see why they had Punk just using the kicks, he was defending himself and they wanted to portray that with 'dont get to close to him' kicks instead of getting involved in wrestling moves!

yeah. i hope your right about saving the best till later.

maybe we will se a whole new level of punk when his bout with batista comes round at the ppv

Not blowing my own trumpet here either ha, well maybe just a bit, but more than one member has private messaged me to say how lively the wrestling debate page is since Thursday and if you look at the quantity of replies to some of the articles it has been very busy on these boards as of late!

Glad Dicso is a more involved member over here, I would like the German guy from niceboards over here to, he is a good poster!

I actually PM'd Disco this week to come over here a bit more, not dissing the other board but there's room to post on both. Yes I've spoke with Grendel via PM too recently (more due to others thinking he's Rabid) and he seems cool.

Off to watch the Great American Bash, ahhhhhhhhh I love Holiday mondays!

Oh he cant be Rabid, surely!

No, he isn't. A few people thought he was at first but I'm positive he isn't.

Why do people think he could be rabid?

Has he pro-fest his undying love for Benoit's rotting corps, or any other such sickness?




*Never misses a trick to rip that twat"