My thoughts on one of the biggest moments on RAW in the last 5 years
Well what can I say what hasn’t already been said?
CM Punk delivered what is being classed as the ‘3:16 moment’ of our generation with his shoot promo this past week on RAW. CM Punk not only managed to captivate the live crowd, he captivated the watching audience and people who don’t even follow wrestling anymore.
Arguments instantly arose when people asked whether it was a shoot, a worked shoot or whether it was scripted. Punk aired some thoughts which were genuine concerns; he aired things you are not allowed to say. He mentioned, Colt Cabana, ROH, New Japan Pro Wrestling, WWE backstage staff, Brock Lesnar, Paul Heyman and even mentioned the possibility of the WWE being better when Vince McMahon is dead and gone… Shocking stuff!
Jaws dropped and everyone in the wrestling WORLD hung on every word coming out of Punk’s mouth. It was delivered with precise tones and executed with true emotion.
These are not things that Punk has been just told to say… These are things that deep down Punk (even if only slight) must believe.
I’ve mentioned for quite some time that I feel that Punk has a new contract signed, and I still believe this is the case. Whether this means Punk disappears from the scene for a few months or whether they find a direction to go in with this I’m not sure. Moments after the show went off air, the live crowd was told that Punk had been suspended and a new Number one contender will be announced on tonight’s edition of RAW. I can’t help but imagine that Vince and the Writers have sat down and just said to Punk that he can say whatever he wants and we’ll cut you off when time expires or when we feel it is appropriate. At most Punk may have asked whether he can mention certain things and got it cleared before he went out there. I had a mental image of Vince laughing in the back when this was all unfolding as he knew that big money was drawing in.
There aren’t many wrestling fans who will decide not to tune into the MITB PPV after what we witnessed last week. This of course depends on what direction WWE decide to go into heading into the PPV. If a new contender is announced and Punk is left high and dry then I feel he will still be at the PPV to do something ‘shocking’
Personally I think WWE would be extremely foolish not to keep Punk in the main event as the buy rates have just shot through the roof and will easily challenge WrestleMania numbers.
What happened on RAW this past week isn’t just another small stunt or basic storyline. It was genuinely one of the great moments of this generation in the WWE. It is a moment that people will talk about for a long time to come and rightly so. It is the first time in over 5 years I have sat at the end of a RAW with my jaw dropped and desperately wanting to see the next week’s episode.
These are moments that are extremely rare, they are moments that truly make careers and they are moments that change an industry. Whether the segment was a shoot, whether it was a worked shoot or whether it was all completely planned… Who cares? Did it make you suspend your belief? Did it make you for one second doubt what direction they were going in? Did it make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up? Then that is truly the point. This is something that was done for those 10%’s as it seems to be called these days and it was a smart move to entertain and shock wrestling fans of all ages and all levels of knowledge.
When people have argued about the reality of wrestling to me in the past I have always responded by asking if they have ever got emotionally involved into a movie. If a film can suspend your belief for an hour and make you have an emotional reaction then it has achieved its goal. You know they are actors, you know it took months to film and you know it isn’t real, yet you will sit and cry at something that pulls on your heart strings. Why can’t wrestling provide that same entertainment? I know they plan everything they can, I know its scripted, I know that Michael Cole can’t be as big as a twat as he appears on TV, but Punk made me sit down and suspend my belief for a single moment… That single moment made me realise why I love this industry… Punk managed to deliver something that I believed in. Anyone could have come out and said what he did and people would have said they have gone off the deep end, but when Punk stated his case, he showed true emotion and conviction. This isn’t something you can teach, this was something that deep down he believes in… For that I tip my hat to CM Punk and for WWE for still caring about the long term fans who know the basic processes that happen outside of the ring…
Let’s just hope that WWE don’t drop the ball and make history with this storyline.
I’ve been listening to some podcasts recently and an interesting idea came up with Dave Lagana’s I Want Wrestling podcast. The sheer chance of a new faction being created with people like CM Punk, Brock Lesnar, Low Ki (Kaval) and MVP could be a storyline that could shake the industry to its core. If they randomly started attending events and sitting in the crowd and causing chaos it could truly be the angle that the Nexus storyline was supposed to be. We can sit and hope but hopefully this might ignite a fire with Vince to make him realise that ‘Controversy does create Cash’ (can’t believe I’ve just quoted Eric Bishoff) and that angles can still be created which captures the hearts and minds of the fans whether they are a casual fan or a hardcore follower of the industry!
If you want to get in touch about one of the single biggest moments in recent WWE history then please feel free to email me at [email protected] or get in touch with me via Twitter @BeansOnToastUK
Martyn.
