Characters In Wrestling Part 3: CM Punk

This is the third and final Character In Wrestling thread from a JA606 poster called Torres's Psychologist. This is about CM Punk:

So here i come to my final and probably most controversal chapter of my 'characters in wrestling' trilogy. The first two represented both extremes in personal character growth, while today will focus on WWE's biggest shade of grey character.

Chapter Three : CM Punk

Unlike the first two chapters where i ran an analysis of the character's on-screen back stories in relation to their current pushes, this'll adapt a more spitfire approach as i go through the list of pros/cons on both the relevance and appeal of CM Punk's major character transition shift in that four week build up to 'Money In The Bank', the moment wrestling became engaging again. Everything from the characters evolvement to the keyfabe factors surrounding that evolvement as Phil Brooks took it upon himself to usher in an era of any kind.

Okey doke, i'll naturally start with the pros so i can leave a bad taste in all your mouths lol ..... first off, the second Punk began generating the electricity like only name dropping Lesnar and Heyman can, he automatically deserved admiration for crossing a barrier WWE had handicapped on it's own mid-card for an entire generation, a handicap WWE naively brought upon themselves with their crippling abuse for the integrity of their belts. In this lost and confused era, CM Punk prior to even his SES days had been given probably the most broken push in WWE history, with Sheamus running a close second (i only wish that was an exaggeration). Though his character at the time was unique enough not to get seriously affected, what WWE threw at him was nothing short of a creative joke. Winning no less than three world titles, an IC title and Tag Title before creativity getting his feet off the ground??? Ridiclous. But it was just an unfortunate side effect of the climate he was working in, countless others in WWE's mid card suffered similar fates (and still do), but for him to engineer himself out of that state of limbo deserves massive props. And that leads me nicely onto the next positive....

Throughout the more recent eras, you can really sense when a wrestler himself has put alot of effort into his own gimmick and transition into his next one. Though we all know now, even at the time you got the feeling HHH was almost entirely responsable for his own transition into 'The Game'. Then there's "The Miz" whose said publicly that he created that alter ego some time ago off his own back. Then you reach the epitome that is "Y2J" Chris Jericho who basically writes himself. Well taking aside all the keyfabe teasers throughout that MITB feud with Cena, you do get the feeling that Punk himself engineered that situation to get himself out of the dumps rather than have WWE ruin him any further. He did in four weeks through reality what Nexus couldn't do in 12 months through fantasy. And further more, he read the current state of WWE and played to it perfectly, exposing the chasm sided elephant in the industry and WWE's pathetic attempts to dress it up and sell it off - with a quick jab at those stupid enough to buy it lol

But the one shining light out of Punk's lightening fast ascention is it's long overdue capability of producing a credible Cena alternative. As an admirer of wrestling's fictional elements, i will NEVER get behind a character like Cena regardless of whose around him, but that's just me. For others who look at wrestling from a more flexable standpoint, people who don't particuplarly like Cena but find solace in other parts of the business, a character in CM Punk's mold was fast becoming a necessity. If you're gunna commit to having a character as one-dimensional as Cena spearheading your company, you've got to balance him out with an anti-Cena figurehead ..... Superman needs Lex Luthor, Batman needs The Joker, Spiderman needs The Goblin, Hogan needs Piper and The Warrior, etc... and John Cena needs a rebellious nemesis. Not someone he has to constantly confront, just someone there to give the product a sense of balance. All fantastic so far, yes??? Wrong - it's pipebomb time!!!

Think many of you who've stuck with me throughout these mini-blog entries will have clocked onto the fact i can't ignore inconsistency. Having dualities is fine, that's what forms the foundation of interesting people and indeed interesting characters. What i can't ignore are complete u-turns in a characters basic philosphy, it sends flashing lights around my brain and i'm automatically disconnected from the character. CM Punk is a constant flashing beacon. Everything that surrounded the creation of his character i'm in full support of, and CM Punk was as good a choice as any for the role, it's the character himself that sends me round the bend.

I can understand people getting lost in the heat of what was undoubtedly a very exciting feud between himself and Cena, but i'm AMAZED that i've only found one other person who noticed that the circumstances surrounding his return after the MITB PPV made no creative sense??? In a cheap effort to squezze out minimal ratings for a 4/5 week period, the WWE instantly ruined the integrity (literaily) of Punk's character by rushing him back so quickly. Stripping the situation apart, CM Punk spent the entire build up to MITB proclaiming he was going to spite the WWE by robbing them of their belt, which he achieved. So begs the question, how was HHH able to tempt him back into the ring after a collosal 2 WEEKS??? The on-screen reasoning if i remember correctly was because he had some sort of moral epiphany ..... really? It's like the character completely forgot about the mountainous leverage he had at his disposal. Pretty much everything that followed in the feud against HHH from a storytelling prospective he could've avoided by demanding HHH's resignation as a clause in his new contract, he had the leverage to demand ANYTHING. The only possible way that angle would've worked the way they did it is if he'd have played on his own morality upon his return, but the fact that he continued to try and be this revolutionary leader portrayed him as being either incredibly stupid or easily manipulatable - two of the worst qualities to have in a 'leader'. And to put it bluntly, Del Rio cashing in and beating him at Summer Slam was EXACTLY what his character deserved.

But fast forwarding to after his feud with HHH, and his reclaiming of the championship at Survivor Series. At this point, i was just starting to forgive his character's idiocy mentioned in the last paragraph because Phil Brooks himself was extremely entertaining. He was practically redefining the ancient 'contract signing' segment, floating around that fantastic borderline between face and heel, while his intensity and showmanship on the mic were stellar. But just like every other face in WWE, with a realisation that he was fast becoming a staple of the company came the traditional dilution of his character. Now while it's bad enough on other wrestlers, on a character that's foundations are build around a rebellious mentality it's dreadful ..... and the result has been just that. The intensity disappeared, the directness only arrived as a spot apposed to being a part of the characters natural demeanor, the constant deflection of the point he used to call Cena out on started creeping in, everything in complete conflict with his rebellious nature yet he still upheld those morals when WWE needed a mark out moment. So he was essentially becoming "the rebellious boy scout" lmao .....

It's only recently Chris Jericho, the miracle worker he is, that has started resurrecting that edgy freedom fighter that closed out 2011. But Y2J isn't going to be around forever, sooner or later Punk's going to have to maintain a consistent character to keep my attention cos atm i can see him going in either direction. As i mentioned in part 1 of this chapter, he worked so hard to dig himself out of a grave no other superstar has gotten out of in the E era, it would be a tremedious shame if he were to go off the creative rails now.

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Thoughts?

I agree with the point about him needing a nemesis to play off of. People make out like he's the second coming, but he's just like any other wrestler, without a believable nemesis, it's all a bit pointless. Stone Cold had Vinny Mac, Hogan had Slaughter (his best feud IMO), Mankind had Taker, Bruiser Brody had Abdullah the Butcher (bit of a dated reference but sod it).

I've been loving his work with Jericho as of late, mainly because, as stated in the article, it allows his character to fully shine through without being diluted, and I do think he needs someone THAT good to get the best out of him. I don't for a second think that he couldn't carry someone in a match, but i think his character needs someone to carry it, it's not enough to just take the character for what it is and accept it as great.