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AFTERNOON THOUGHTS: CM PUNKED BY CREATIVE, TWO ROH DVDS YOU SHOULD GO OUT OF YOUR WAY TO WATCH

Watching last night's Raw (which was for the most part, a decent outing), I couldn't help but feel like we were being beaten over the head with the idea that the CM Punk push is, for the most part, over.  Despite picking up a groundswell of support and having some good matches during his title reign, after being screwed out of his World championship, Punk's big comeback was to lose a fluke match to the new champion, slap Randy Orton twice, be told he can no longer be allowed to do that and then have to fight to win a match against Cody Rhodes. 

Watching the last several weeks, there was no sense of the storyline being that Punk wants his title back or even that it was going to be his mission to get revenge on those who caused him to lose it. In fact, Punk's character since dropping the belt has been booked so weakly, you almost think you are watching TNA, where characters get pushed, then float aimlessly until they get pushed again. 

Punk has proven himself as someone the fans want to get behind.  Is he a monster babyface at the level of Batista or John Cena? No, but by continuing to treat him in the manner that he's currently being used, WWE creative is doing nothing but reinforcing the idea to fans that they shouldn't bother emotionally investing in the guy.  Then, when he gets pushed and the crowd doesn't immediately explode for the idea, it's become a self-fulfilling prophecy, similar to Rob Van Dam's run.  By the time WWE finally gave RVD the ball, the audience had already been taught he didn't mean as much as they wanted to believe he did, and Van Dam never had the same momentum he came into WWE with in 2001.

Looking back at last night's Raw, would it have hurt the main event to have Michaels and Batista call on Punk to even the odds?  Even if he wasn't scripted to be a major part of the match, by having two of the company's top heroes asking him for help gives him the rub that they believe he's in the upper echelon. 

Instead, WWE has everyone but Punk gunning for title shots and Punk's big comeback from being wronged was a pair of slaps that mean nothing. 

Since WWE loves to compare themselves to mainstream entertainment, I'll do the same.  On Sunday's episode of Entourage, super-agent Ari Gold's back and forth feud with rival Davies took a personal turn when Davies unveiled old nude photos of Ari's wife.  Gold marched right into Davies' company and told him that no matter what was between then, that was the mother of his children and if he didn't apologize, he was getting knocked the f*** out.  Gold then nailed the hardest slap you could imagine and dared the guy to step outside.  In the end, Davies apologized and was emasculated before his peers. 

Had WWE taken a similar tact with Punk and Orton, with the hurt Orton smacked and then forced into apologizing because he can't defend himself, it would have given Punk some legitimate comeuppance and given Orton a reason to want revenge, because now Punk had "Punked" him in his moment of glory.

Instead, we get neutered CM Punk.

WWE, this is not how you make a star.  This is how you devalue one.

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I had the chance yesterday to catch up on a few Ring of Honor DVD releases - Death Before Dishonor VI and Northern Navigation, the former being the company's return to the Hammerstein Ballroom and the latter being their debut in Canada.  ROH is in a really strange position right now as fans claim to less and less interested in wrestling because of the product they see on national TV, but ROH, which focuses on athletics and more serious storylines, doesn't pick up a good percentage of that disenfranchised audience.  Moving to PPV for a cheap price (especially considering the quality of the wrestling) hasn't helped them grow the audience beyond the current level.

In a lot of ways, that's a real shame because if you are looking for strong, innovative, top-tier wrestling that you liked watching Japanese tapes or on the undercards of the glory days of ECW and WCW, ROH is the closest thing.  I'll be the first to admit it's not always the most accessible company to begin following, which is why I suggest both titles for first time viewers.

Death Before Dishonor, held at the Hammerstein Ballroom in NYC, features a great four way for the ROH title with Nigel McGuinness defending against Bryan Danielson, Tyler Black and Claudio Castagnoli, all of his most persistent challengers in recent months.  It tells an awesome story and features some great wrestling.  Danielson may be the absolute best performer from an in-ring standpoint in the world right now when it comes to meshing the European style and fluid mat-wrestling.    There is a really strong tag match with TNA's Motor City Machineguns taking on Kevin Steen and El Generico, two Canadian stars that the ROH audience have claimed as their own personal favorites.  There's also a major babyface turn for Necro Butcher, a very good NWA title match between Brent Albright and Adam Pearce (the NWA title hasn't looked this important since Shane Douglas threw it down) and a fun Briscoes tag match.

Northern Navigation, named for the company's debut before a hot Toronto crowd sees Canadian hero Steen challenge Nigel McGuinness in a really solid match.  I'm not on board the Steen bandwagon yet personally but I can see how much he's improved and how well he's connected with the audience.  There is a tremendous Tag Team No DQ bout featuring the Age of the Fall vs. The Briscoes, plus Danielson and Castagnoli having a good match, and the always fun Naomichi Marufuji vs. Roderick Strong.

Both are well worth taking the time to order at www.rohwrestling.com.

Mike Johnson can be reached at Mike@PWInsider.com.

 

 

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