Sittin Pretty with eldandy – Fifty Shades of Punk

[eldandy]

Sittin Pretty with eldandy – Fifty Shades of Punk

There is a lot of talk about CM Punk’s actions from this past Monday night about whether Punk turned heel or not. Truth be told, there was a certain bit of ambiguity in the manner in which Punk reacted to the situation with regards to not helping John Cena as he was beaten down by the Big Show, and even his attack on the Rock seemed to puzzle fans more than enrage them. At the same time, it’s very apparent that there has been a shift in the CM Punk character that is decisively more… selfish.

On the outset, it certainly appears that CM Punk has turned heel. The buildup over the past few weeks has depicted a subtle heel turn coming for Punk in a desperate attempt to maintain his place as Champion. Dissention between he and John Cena combined with aggressive reaction to Cena’s challenge would certainly indicate that Punk was well on his way to becoming an antagonist with an eventual showdown at Summerslam.

At the same time though, everything that we’ve seen happen to CM Punk would completely justify his turn to the dark side. Constant slighting when it comes to his position on the card despite being the WWE Champion, and a continual overshadowing by the likes of John Cena, Brock Lesnar, Triple H, the Undertaker and the Rock would certainly put a man that thrives on being the centre of attention at odds. Combine that with his passion for holding that goofy spinner belt and his desire to retain it at all cost, and you’ve got a recipe for bitterness that is ultimately justified in the eyes of some fans.

The truth is, CM Punk is a much better heel than he is a face. As easy as it is to cheer CM Punk on as he drops science both in the ring and on the mic with everybody he comes into contact with in the WWE, deep down the CM Punk persona is at its heart a heel persona. I remember lamenting the fact last May and June that CM Punk needs to be the top heel in the organization, and his talents were being wasted in his feud with Randy Orton. Even the tone of his June 27th promo last year was decisively heelish, and had he not received the pop that he did from the audience, I’m a firm believer that he would have continued down that road.

To top that off, nobody can deny that Punk’s edge has been decisively dulled over the last twelve months. There was a lot of talk last summer that Punk’s programs with the likes of Kevin Nash and Triple H were attempts to bury him as a top draw, but the truth of it all (in hindsight at least) is that they were actually the first steps on the road to him becoming another vanilla babyface under the guise of a tattooed rebel with a rapier wit.

The key to CM Punk firing on all cylinders is when he’s aggressive and angry about something. Punk exudes an aura of superiority over virtually everybody he works with, heel or face. Punk’s greatest gift; greater than his wrestling ability, his charisma and the way he presents himself to fans and opponents, is his intelligence. Sure, guys like Damian Sandow or Alberto Del Rio act like they’re better than everybody else, but Punk actually is better than everybody else simply because he’s smarter than everybody else. It’s what made him a great foil for the almighty John Cena, and it will make him a great opponent for the Rock and potentially even Steve Austin.

As a face, Punk is often forced to take the moral high ground against the dastardly tactics of his opponents, and his verbal jabs become of a sarcastic and comical tone, watering down the passion that he obviously has for being a wrestler. Even something like his feud with Chris Jericho, which should have sent him over the edge with the personal attacks regarding his family and his own sobriety, was punctuated by segments like his sobriety test with Teddy Long. Not exactly a “pipebomb” caliber moment.

It’s an interesting quandary that the WWE have placed upon themselves, but one that I think they’re actually anticipating. If you look at John Cena’s most successful angles over the last year, they’ve all featured opponents that have divided the audience. Whether it be the Rock, Brock Lesnar or CM Punk, it seems like the WWE gets off on having dueling chants during their main event, and whether it hurt John Cena as a dominant babyface or not, having other people face him that fans can support beyond the fact that they are simply the guy that’s opposing John Cena is a dichotomy that they enjoy having.

The truth is; people are going to like CM Punk whether his designation is face or heel. Smart wrestling fans and people that are tired of being told who to blindly cheer tend to gravitate towards the heels that are talented and interesting simply because they want to see them succeed. Dolph Ziggler, Cody Rhodes and Daniel Bryan regularly receive huge crowd pops because they are talented workers that people want to see on top. Despite the obvious heel attributes of Chris Jericho, it took nearly a month for him to actually get over as a heel simply because people liked his work and they were happy to see him back.

What this essentially all comes down to is that the WWE have finally made a firm decision about the direction that they want to take their company in. For the longest time, it seemed as though they had tons of pieces on the board, but they never actually set anything up to play. Names continually floating about and potential feuds were a-plenty, and yet week after week we were being subjected to the same roundabout booking with no direction is sight. CM Punk as a heel (or whatever fans believe him to be) opens up doors with not only John Cena, but also the Rock and potentially (and hopefully) even Stone Cold Steve Austin.

So, is CM Punk a heel or not? Simply put: Yes, he is. Will he be booed out of the building louder than Jinder Mahal, Michael Cole and Vicky Guerrero combined? No, he won’t. Does that make him less of a heel? Not at all. At the end of the day, a heel is nothing more than a foil for the babyface to play off of, and if Punk has proven anything, it’s that he is an excellent foil for the top babyface in the company. In addition, he’s proven that he can work with virtually anybody, heel or face, in the WWE. That kind of versatility may in fact make him even more valuable than he was in his former role as the alternative babyface to John Cena.

When all is said and done, I think that CM Punk (and the WWE creative team for that matter) has done himself a huge favour by turning heel. Whether he is booed or not is almost inconsequential at this point for the sole reason that his motives mimic those of a selfish perfectionist that will do whatever it takes to win. That is something that a lot of people can either relate to, or strive to be. Is that a good thing? Well, not exactly; but if society is anything, it certainly isn’t clean cut – black and white. It’s the shades of grey that are truly the most intriguing, and as it stands; CM Punk is providing the shading that the WWE needs to make for some of the most compelling television we’ve seen in a while.

[Dannokaboom]

When I first watched the show I couldn't help but feel disappointed by the turn, then I started to think about Punk's reasoning for his actions. Not being in the main event and having to play second fiddle to part timers are reasons enough but the moment when The Rock and Cena talked backstage and effectively setting a date for a rematch at the Rumble without considering Punk is what peaked my interest.
Like you said, Punk is better as a heel, I take this as a positive step for the creative department.

[TripleR]

Read this earlier. You know I'm all for Punk getting some new energy put back into him, whether it be a heel turn, or whatever it is he's doing right now. Punk really is one exceptional talent, but I've felt like he's been going through the motions a bit. This is a nice little twist.

Liked the column, don't know that it broke any new ground in the CM Punk territory, but as usual, you can take a beat to death topic and make it interesting. This was a really nice read- no doubt you are one of the tops when you put something out.

[Skulduggery]

Firstly, the title is very apropos, especially because nowadays it seems that most heel/face dynamics are at least a bit ambiguous. Cena, Ziggler, Bryan - they're all getting cheered by some and booed by others. I have a lot of confidence that Punk will still receive some cheers even if he turns full-fledged heel.

Overall, this is a great column. I'm sure you don't need to be told this, but you're a very talented writer.

I guess the other side of the coin would be to think about (not necessarily this specific turn, but turns in general) the frequency of face/heel turns. It doesn't massively bother me, but I have seen others mention feelings of frustration with turns that occur far too commonly. To be honest, Punk was a heel only a little more than a year ago; then he turned into a babyface over time; now he's flip-flopping again. Like I said, I personally am not as irked about this as some others may be, but it is something to think about.

[Sidgwick]

This was extremely well-written, and you've articulated the reason why Punk operates better as a heel very well.

If I have one complaint, it's that you haven't really considered where WWE could be going with the turn.

I don't necessarily think it hampers quality of the piece, but you seem to have an astute understanding of the business and an engaging narrative voice. It would have merely been a bonus. Perhaps this could be the focus of your next column?

[Double Murder Josh]

I liked this column. I think you accurately and succinctly explained why CM Punk as a heel is in his and the company's best interest. Unlike Sidgwick, I also thought you were quite clear on where the WWE is going with this - Punk will be feuding with Cena, then Rock, and then, if possible, Austin.

The fact is, the IWC has been ranting and raving about having these legends come back and feud with a rising talent - well, if that is/was ever going to happen, they had to have a mega-heel to feud with. Now Punk is that heel.

I have to add that, like Skulduggery, I think the only flaw in the Punk heel turn was that it simply happened too soon. Had this occurred in November, I think the shock would have been bigger because Punk would have been a babyface for longer. Instead, Punk continues to switch allegiances every year like clockwork.

[Sidgwick]

Just to clarify: I said "not really considered", not "not considered".

It was a very minor complaint - your opinion interested me and I wanted you to expound on this area, even though it did not significantly affect the quality of the column one way or the other.

[Mizfan]

I seem to be alone in believing that Punk hasn't necessarily turned heel yet. You're all probably right, it just felt extremely odd all things considered. More like a tweener than an actual heel, but then again you did a great job of explaining why Punk is a heel and yet is also justified. In fact, I suppose I often think heels in the WWE are far more justified than the face commentators would have you believe.

ANYway, I couldn't agree more with your commentary on just how dull Punk has become since around this time last year. I still enjoyed what he was doing, but sometimes I felt like I was the only one who noticed the drop in quality. Punk probably did turn heel, or will at least complete the heel turn come Monday, but any which way you slice it I'm just glad that there has been a shift in his character. It's a strange thing that WWE only seems to be able to book their heels as interesting characters, so for that reason I'm glad to see Punk take the plunge back to the dark side. On the other hand, WWE also universally makes their heels look ridiculously weak, so now I fear for the man as well. It's tough to trust the WWE, isn't it? Here's hoping, at least.

Smashing good column Dandy, as always.

[eldandy]

Danno – I actually thought that the Rock’s segment with Cena was a nice bookend to the interchange he had with Punk earlier on in the night. As for the turn itself, I think that had the crowd caught on sooner, it might have been a little bit more effective. At the same time though, because it’s the final segment of the show, you know that they wanted to leave it dangling until next week.

Wait until the opening segment on Monday and the promo that I’m sure Punk will cut. Something tells me you’ll feel MUCH more satisfied after that.


Tripper – I don’t really know if there IS much more new ground to break on CM Punk. He’s without a doubt the most written about/overanalyzed wrestler of the last year, and there has been so much discussion about where his character is going and what he’s done/doing for the industry that regardless of what he does, it’s going to either have been predicted or analyzed to death already. My reasoning for this column wasn’t necessarily to throw more gas of the fire, but rather to put things into perspective for people that were either on the fence about the turn, or weren’t really sure if it was a good idea. Thanks for the read.


Skully – I probably would have touched on the frequency or turns a bit more if PT hadn’t touched on it a few weeks ago. I think that there has been a lot of flip flopping over the last year (R Truth, Christian, Kane…) but with Punk, it’s completely different because I don’t think he was necessarily ever supposed to turn face in the first place. The fact that he will better serve that company as a heel than as a face (merchandise sales be damned) tells me that the mistake wasn’t turning him one year later, but rather that they did so in the first place.


Wicker Man – My big thing for Punk is to become Cena’s equal rival. Everyone complains about how Cena beats everybody and he never looks weak. It’s not a coincidence that he’s never beaten Punk, and it’s not only elevating Punk, but it’s also making Cena seem more human and hopefully for the WWE more likeable to the average fan. The thing about faces is that they need to overcome some sort of adversity in order to seem like heroes. If Punk continually beats Cena (clean or not), and Cena actually sells his losses (not just brushing them off in his next promo) it will make him much more identifyable to fans and make everything more successful. From there, I’m not really sure where to go with Punk. Truth be told, this is something that they could carry on for a very long time as long as it works well.

Appreciate the feedback


Double J – It’s interesting that you think that they should have pushed his turn back later because I’ve always felt that he shouldn’t have been a face in the first place. To a certain extent, I understand the stance that him flip-flopping is a bad idea because it confuses fans and hurts his credibility, but I think they’ve pretty well paved their road to wrestlemania between this and the Rock’s announcement for the Rumble. That’s long term booking, and I think that after their experimenting with it last year, they’ve learnt their lessons and they’ve got a good basic framework to follow now (more so than a goofy Twitter battle for 8 months…). Thanks for the feedback.

Wick (again) – I totally get what you were saying. I don’t think I’d really thought about it much. I’ve been pushing for Punk/Austin for a long time, but apart from that, I don’t really care who he worked with, face or heel. Part of me would almost like to see he and Jericho work together again with reversed roles, but it’s obviously too soon. A lot of the faces in the WWE are so vanilla and one dimensional that they need to develop some sort of personality in order to work with Punk effectively. Christian would be fun, and if they could give Kofi Kingston a bit of character development beyond the smiling fake Jamaican with the interchangeable tag-team partners, I think that he and Punk could have some classic matches. Nothing concrete, but just some of the people that I’d like to see him work with.


Mizzy – Heels these days are very much products of the Attitude Era, which makes it almost impossible to hate unless they’re legitimately detested. Unfortunately for someone like Punk (who’s very real and identifiable) it makes smart fans attracted to him regardless of his tactics in and outside of the ring. Nowadays, unless you’re getting legitimate “X Pac Heat” from the crowd, there will be a segment of the population that will cheer you on. In addition, characters are more realistic than they used to be, and that makes it hard to have somebody (particularly somebody as talented as Punk) hated by everyone compared to say the Iron Sheik at the height of the Iranian conflict in the early 80’s…

I think that a lot of people were feeling the staleness of Punk, but he was partly propped up by his great ring work with Jericho, Ziggler and Bryan, and partly because they didn’t want to criticize their hero. That being said, I haven’t heard a legitimately great Punk promo in months, compared to when he was a heel and was dropping science (whether appreciated or not by the masses) on a weekly basis. There needs to be more than just great ring work when you’re at the top of the card (or at least holding the title), and Punk had become a watered down caricature of himself.

Thanks for reading!

[The Doc]

The column header on Mizfan's latest piece caught my attention...

Very interesting peek into the mind of the Punk. That's definitely been the main thing on my wrestling brain since Monday, with curiosity building to see what Punk has to say about his actions. I'm not sure if he fully turned heel yet or not, but I think - like you mentioned - it doesn't really matter. I'm at a point where heel or face doesn't matter as much as to me, as a fan. Cena has torn down that wall, to a degree, by being the face that gets jeered. Why can't Punk be the heel that gets cheered? The dichotomy has changed. At this point, it's whatever makes the characters more interesting. I'm definitely interested in Punk's character more so now than I have been since last year at this time.

Fifty Shades of Punk - I dug it