In case you missed it, CM Punk appears to have quit World Wrestling Entertainment. The are a few rumors making their way across the internet in regards to why the self-proclaimed “Best in the World” decided to leave. Those rumors include: Punk’s unhappiness with the return of Batista and his WWE Championship match at WrestleMania, Punk’s unhappiness with his potential WrestleMania match with Triple H, Punk’s unhappiness with the use of Daniel Bryan and Punk’s general unhappiness.
Do you see a trend in the above mentioned rumors?
Punk as we all know is a Paul Heyman guy. I consider myself to be a CM Punk guy. I like many others could argue that Punk is one of the best in the world at what he does. Despite all of that, it doesn’t excuse Punk’s actions this past week.
Sunday night, Punk put forth an incredible 40 plus minute effort in the 2014 Royal Rumble match. Per multiple news sources he showed up to Monday Night Raw and had himself a heated exchange with Vince McMahon. The result of that heated exchange was Punk telling McMahon that he was going home. Whatever transpired in that conversation, whatever feelings and emotions Punk had built up in him boiled over and he walked out.
Punk’s walk-out has been cheered by the vast majority of the internet wrestling community. Although fans are not happy with him leaving, they share the same views as he is believed to have. The fans feel as though Daniel Bryan is being held back by the WWE and they feel that Batista and other part-timers shouldn’t be allowed to come back and main event WrestleMania. WWE fans are allowed to feel anything that they want too and for that matter so is CM Punk. However, Punk is under contract with the WWE and regardless of what he feels he should not have walked out.
Punk’s contract is up in July. There indeed have been numerous rumors that Punk was going to square off with Triple H at WrestleMania. There have also been just as many reports that following that match we were going to be treated to a “Summer of Punk” similar to the one that we saw two years ago. Was this ever going to happen? Honestly, there is no way of knowing for sure. If this was going to happen, was it just going to be a ploy to re-sign Punk? I’d say it would be safe to say that any talent getting a push right before their contract is up is an attempt to retain them.
All of that being said, the truth is that none of it really matters. Whether Punk feels it or not, he is one of the faces of the company. As one of the faces of the company he should be held to a higher standard. Punk walking out on the WWE wasn’t just a slap in the face to the WWE, it was also a slap in the face to all of his fans. There is nothing professional or acceptable about walking out on a company just because you didn’t get you own way.
Make no mistake about it, this situation is mostly predicated around Punk not getting his own way.
Naturally, it’s 100 percent possible that Punk is burned out and just needed time off and went about it the wrong way. If that were the case though wouldn’t there be more reports of such claims? Instead, the internet is inundated with claims of Punk not being happy about this and feeling slighted about that. Does anyone think that Punk would have walked out if he had won the Royal Rumble? Does anyone think that Punk would have walked out if he was slated to be inserted into the title match at WrestleMania? Punk is not a martyr for a bigger issue in the WWE, he is selfish and upset that he isn’t getting his own way.
Many people have begun to compare the CM Punk walk-out with the Steve Austin walk-out from 2002. It’s true that the two situations are very similar, in fact their thought processes are almost identical. The situations are also similar because Austin was just as wrong and selfish as Punk is being now.
How would the WWE Universe respond if John Cena were to walk out on the company because he decided he didn’t want to wrestle Bray Wyatt at WrestleMania (this is rumored to be Cena’s opponent). Fans and critics alike would destroy Cena if he ever did something like that. If Cena walked out because he didn’t like his opponent, wasn’t in the main event, was unhappy with his character or felt he deserved more of a push he would be seen as public enemy number one.
So why is it that Punk gets a free pass here?
The fact that Punk is generally more liked than Cena doesn’t mean that he deserves a free pass. The fact that fans agree with some of the issues that Punk has doesn’t mean that he shouldn’t be held to a higher standard. I understand that it’s an employees right to quit their job whenever they want too, but this isn’t your typical 9-5 job. One of the perks of having one of the coolest jobs in the world is that you get to experience things that most people never will. With those perks come higher expectations and Punk should be held to a higher standard, or at least a similar one to anyone else in WWE.
Over the next few weeks, it’s almost a guarantee that WWE live events will be overtaken by “CM Punk” chants. Fans anger over the loss of Punk are sure to be noted but it’s impossible to say if it will change anything. Generally speaking, cooler heads do indeed tend to prevail. After all, Austin did make a return to the company in 2003 so it’s quite possible that we will see Punk again. Whether Punk comes back or not though, it doesn’t change the fact that his actions and the fans support of him are both completely out of line.
