That headline isn’t indicative of how I feel about WWE, rather how at least a few people within the company feel about WWE. Raw and SmackDown now feature at least two people calling out the company that signs their checks for playing politics, not respecting the fans, and telling us how the place kinda stinks. Interesting strategy to sell tickets to their biggest event of the year, but oh we’ll get to that part in a few.
CM Punk as a character can spout off his feelings about WWE and its parent company since he, like Deadpool, can easily break the fourth wall. He’s the rebel who plays by his own rules and often talks truth to power. If this were 2011, I’d buy every word he said about why the company loves Roman Reigns so much despite how hard those initial pushes didn’t work. I’d buy him saying he can’t be controlled. I’d even nod in agreement as he called out Pat McAfee and PAt’s agent, who just so happens to run TKO (Ari Emmanuel). Punk telling Ari to lower the ticket prices for Mania would track and feel so real.
But this isn’t 2011 anymore. While I’m sure Phillip Brooks truly believes some of the things he said, most notably about the ticket prices and calling Pat “MagaFee,” it feels like an act now. It’s necessary to the CM Punk thing rather than a natural reaction to everything. It’s almost sinful if he and WWE don’t try to recreate his Pipe Bomb promo in some shape or fashion. They want to manufacture viral moments as much as possible. Punk lends himself to those moments because his nature is to say whatever he wants, whenever he wants, and think nothing of the consequences.
Those lines aren’t blurred anymore. We know he’s not going to catch heat for anything he said. Especially with Cody and Pat saying similar things on SmackDown. Cody takes issue with TKO once again interfering in his Mania moment. Pat believes the product is soft and that’s the reason so many tickets are still available. Then there’s Punk telling us all that the guy WWE positioned as the guy is safe, boring, and trash. That he’s a company man willing to shine shoes and eat dog crap if it means bettering his position in this sucky company. He also says if the company wants to move more tickets, maybe they should lower the prices.
I see they should. You see they should. Even Ray Charles sees they should and he’s not only blind, but also dead. At the same time, those high ticket prices are part of the reason Punk has the “f you money” of which he spoke. He benefits from the company he berates, just like Cody. But his message to sell the Mania main event is that his opponent is a spineless yes man, WWE’s parent company sucks, The Rock is more like a pebble in the ocean, and the ticket prices are too damn high. Why am I buying this again?
Punk is trying to rage against the machine but the raging is hollow when he is the machine. His bank account echoes louder than anything he says into a microphone. Also part of the problem being an “old man” shaking his fist at people and problems that benefitted him at the end of the day. He may dump on Roman for being a company man but it was him on stage at the Tudum event. He’s also the same cat who vowed not to work in Saudi Arabia for very good reasons only to do the exact opposite.
So yeah, all of that, plus he thinks the company needs to change how they do business. WrestleMania Los Vegas Part Deux is shaping up to be a regular grieving fest.
My issues with Punk’s opening segment aside, this was a satisfying Raw. The energy acknowledged the big show is almost here, the stories picked up, and most happenings felt important. That’s all I can ask for this time of year, so I’m happy they delivered on that.
What say you, Cagesiders? Is WWE playing with fire working two angles with multiple people telling us how bad the company is?
