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WK BLOG 6/29: More C.M. Punk Thoughts - Q&A with a reader on potential downside of Punk's "worked-shoot" promo

Jun 29, 2011 - 2:22:07 PM


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A few more thoughts today on the C.M. Punk promo from Monday night...

REACTION TO PUNK PROMO...

I still am amazed a couple days past this how many people think C.M. Punk said anything on Monday night that would necessarily upset Vince McMahon. Sure, McMahon is unpredictable, Punk is unpredictable, and there's obviously a certain amount of leeway you have to expect from Punk with him being a button-pusher. But even if Punk stepped beyond the stated or unstated agreed-upon talking points and parameters, he didn't do so enough to cause Vince McMahon to lose any sleep. My belief is that Punk is smart enough to know where to go and where not to go, and whether it was meticulously scripted point-by-point, he clearly stopped short of actual content that would cause any problems. What was brilliant, as I went over in detail in my VIP Keller Hotline on Monday night, is that Punk went just far enough to convince people he broke from script and crossed taboo lines, but in actuality stopped short of causing any problems such as with sponsors or even egos backstage. Everything he said served a purpose of aiming at selling tickets for Money in the Bank.

QUOTABLE

Former WWE creative team member and ROH producer Dave Lagana on the IWantWrestling podcast this week: "There wasn't one uncalculated word in that promo."

Q&A: READER SUGGESTS PUNK PROMO COUNTERPRODUCTIVE

-PWTorch reader Dan Cartwright sent the following email today:

===
The question is "what's the point"? Styles promo was to start ECW. If Punk is leaving why does it help Vince or WWE to lather up the anti-Cena fans with this stuff? Yeah, you might... might... get a couple extra PPV buys from folks thinking it's some sort of shoot. Most people are just going to be annoyed at an actor stopping in the middle of a show to talk about backstage politics. I get the picture of an actor on 'CSI' stopping mid-show and telling us they'd be in more scenes and get to do more if they were more of a butt kisser. Who cares and it just take away from everything else. However - if you REALLY want to get Punk over as a massive, mega-heel that gets the wrath of everyone... and make the Internet folks crazy like Vince would love to: Have VINCE help Punk beat Cena. Then on Raw you can move Vince into the background while they reveal the RAW GM is... C.M. PUNK... corporate exec and Vince yes man! Bring him out in a suite and tie. Oh that would be just so Awesome (with apology to Miz). Biggest heel ever."
===

Dan, what you've just covered are all of the reasons why almost every "worked-shoot" is pointless and counterproductive. You're right in the sense that there are more negatives than positives to a wrestler breaking character, almost all of the time. This, though, is an exception. It's an exception because this served an actual purpose - promoting Punk vs. Cena on PPV, and he focused on wanting to beat Cena in a worked match and take the WWE Title with him when he leaves.

So while this is being described as a "shoot-style promo," in reality it wasn't that different from any other promo in the sense that Punk was promoting a wrestling match. There have been "worked-shoots" in the past where there wasn't really an end game that would draw money; instead, it was just done for "shock value."

Had Punk said the following, I would have hated the promo no matter how good the rest of it was:

"John Cena, at Money in the Bank, I'm not going to go over spots with you before the match. I'm not going to get together with the producers and go over the finish. I'm not going to follow our normal script. At Money in the Bank, if you even have the guts to show up, I am going to shoot on you because I know I can take you in a real fight. And when I do, I will leave WWE with the belt having proven you're a fake champion and I am a real champion."

Okay, that would get people talking for sure. But it goes into a territory for which there is no return. WWE can't come back from that a week later and begin promoting "fake matches" for Summerslam without every fan thinking, "Now we're back to the fake stuff. This sucks."

An disciplined wrestler and booker can come up with a sloppy shoot promo that goes too far and get a buzz. I wouldn't be surprised if some combination of Vince Russo, Jeff Jarrett, Eric Bischoff, and Hulk Hogan are working on a bad version of what Punk did right now. It's easy to break from script and cut a shoot promo. But it's bad business and wears out its welcome quickly.

What Punk did is merely create a perception that he broke from the parameters of what Vince McMahon usually restricts wrestlers from saying. What Punk did is not different than if, say, Josh Barnett on the last Strikeforce show cut a promo about how he's so glad UFC bought Strikeforce because Strikeforce is a bush-league minor league, and when he wins the Grand Prix tournament in Strikeforce, Dana White will have no choice but to give him a Heavyweight Title shot at UFC Camp Cain Velasquez because if he doesn't, the fans will always question why White was scared of him getting a UFC Title shot. Barrett could have talked about White paying his undercard talent peanuts, being a camera hog, and giving his personal favorite fighters more bonuses and better fights. That would be considered a "shoot" promo in the MMA world. That's all that Punk did.

Punk said he broke the "fourth wall," but he didn't really. He didn't talk about bookers, match finishes, or anything the vast majority of 15-years-olds could gleam from reading the Internet for three hours. He said stuff everyone knows, but usually isn't talked about on WWE TV. He didn't break new ground or reveal any big secrets.

Everything he said promoted a wrestling match. And in the end, there's nothing that he said that made it seem like his fight against Cena at Money in the Bank is any more "real" than Cena vs. R-Truth last month or Cena's Summerslam main event next month. It just so happens that he's a heel who said "wrestler" and made fun of the corporate yes-man John Laurinaitis and mentioned Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar and ROH - none of which says his fight is any more real and less of a work than the last one or the next one.

However, all of that said, there is the issue that is being left out of most of the analysis - which is why is Punk a heel for what he said? For Punk to be considered a heel, you have to be against someone saying the word "wrestler," think it's wrong to call out corporate ass-kissing, think it's awful to acknowledge a wrestling company overseas or a small niche independent feeder promotion that runs iPPVs. There wasn't anything inherently heel about what Punk said.

(RAW SPOILER TERRITORY...)

On Raw next week, Cena positions himself as someone who isn't upset with what Punk said. It's Vince McMahon who is painted as the person who is ravenous over Punk breaking his Corporate Guidelines for what "Superstars" are allowed to say on the air. So Cena ends up coming out looking like he's got a thick skin and doesn't care that much. This angle, in other words, seems to be angled toward making Cena seem like he's less of a corporate yes-man, and they're using Punk as a conduit to try to make that point.

Where this goes from here is tough to tell. The fact that Punk mentioned both The Rock and Cena in his promo makes me think this is a chapter in an ongoing story that ultimately is building up Cena vs. Rock. How McMahon reacts, how Cena reacts to McMahon, what actually happens at MITB, and what happens afterward is all a chapter in the build-up to Cena vs. Rock.

I'm sensing Cena's character has been losing some steam lately (perhaps a product of it being tough to follow the hype of Rock-Cena). If Cena and McMahon feel the same way, they may be enacting the next phase of Cena's character, and using Punk as a transitional tool to get there.

As for Punk being the G.M. that McMahon appointed, if done right, it could turn Punk into a huge huge heel because he'd be the guy who broke protocol to speak directly to the hardcore "Internet" fans, but all along was just jerking their chain. He could cut a promo saying the Internet fans were all thinking he cut a "shoot" when in reality McMahon and Laurinaitis approved every word of it. He could then become a huge heel character by becoming McMahon's henchman while Cena would be positioned as the anti-McMahon, anti-Corporate guy. It's not necessarily my favorite scenario of all directions this could go, and I'm not predicting it's the way it's headed, but it's an option, and a decent one if executed well. That all hinges on Punk having re-signed with WWE. But he could work that into the angle, too, saying he played hardball with Vince got everything he wanted to stay - which included a seat right next to McMahon on the corporate jet and every favorable perk that any top star has ever had. Basically, in other words, he sold out. That would turn the fans against him, and what Cena needs more than anything is the image that he's not the Corporate Kiss-Ass Sellout. I'm not sure fans would buy that Cena isn't the "real life" version of what McMahon has scripted Punk to become, but it might work.

MORE QUESTIONS?

If you have more questions regarding this promo (or any subject in pro wrestling) you would like me to address here in my blog, email me at kellerwade@gmail.com.

And, of course, post in the comment area below if you have thoughts on this blog. (App users, visit www.wadekeller.com for the web version where you can see what readers are saying and add your comments, too.)


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MORE RECENT WK BLOG ARTICLES...
KELLER BLOG: Paul Heyman alliance with C.M. Punk - where does it go from here?
KELLER'S WWE SUMMERSLAM PPV BLOG: Results and analysis throughout the show including Lesnar vs. Triple H, Cena vs. Punk vs. Show
KELLER: C.M. Punk is not best utilized as a tweener, despite a recent reader poll; he should be all out heel

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