The Last Outlaw

CM Punk has reportedly left WWE. This story will run for a while, and, like Steve Austin and the Ultimate Warrior and Bruno Sammartino before him, he'll be back at some point, whether it takes eight months or eighteen years or however many millions of dollars Bruno valued his soul at.

What this undoubtedly means, however, is that Punk is seriously unhappy with WWE.

I don't blame him. WWE, as proved by Sunday's audience reaction at the Royal Rumble, has moved so far away from a traditional approach to presenting wrestling that it is barely even wrestling any more. Stories are illogical, characters have no constitution, titles have been devalued, wrestlers are punished for being popular with the fans, the promotion and its wrestlers constantly remind the audience in a sycophantic, approval-seeking way that the on-screen product is fake and it's all just about "entertainment". The top heels in the promotion trample over wrestlers and storylines because of their own selfish and stubborn desires to prove some kind of point to the locker room and the viewers at home, rather than adhere to a consistent narrative. Just ask Dusty Rhodes, who hasn't appeared on TV for months because he ad-libbed during a promo segment with Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. Or better still, ask his son Cody, who was showing signs of being a breakout star at that time, but now probably faces another two years in the mid card - at best - before he's given another chance to achieve his potential.

And you know what? None of it matters. WWE is succeeding regardless. Raw ratings are much higher than they have any right to be, and well above what many (myself included) were predicting when the show expanded to three hours a week. The share price, buoyed by the WWE Network announcement, is as high as it has been for over a decade. There is a massive windfall on the way in the form of a new television deal. Business is booming, in spite of all the mistakes WWE is making.

The wrestling audience has even been trained to accept the oversights and inconsistencies. Their loyalty to the WWE brand is such that they accept that this is just the way wrestling is these days. WWE is an entertainment fix, for viewers who don't want to think too much (indeed, the less you think, the easier it is to digest). Those who do like to follow the inner workings of the business are often the most blindly loyal of all.

CM Punk doesn't fit into that world. CM Punk is a wrestler. To use a phrase that has lost much of its true meaning, CM Punk is old school.

For most of the past year or two, Punk was been marooned on an island where storylines made sense and characters were clearly defined. His feuds often moved at a notably different speed to the rest of the show, and were usually the highlight. It's probably fair to assume he had a lot of creative input into those feuds. It's definitely fair to credit him as much as anybody for the fact that Raw ratings didn't go through the floor when the show was initially extended to three hours.

CM Punk got to the top the hard way. His sheer talent and force of personality overcame the prejudices towards "indy guys", towards tattoos (quaint as it now seems, there was a time they were very much frowned upon in WWE), towards his body type, and his attitude. Especially his attitude. Punk had no intention of toeing the line and kissing backsides. There was no way he should have made it as far as he has.

A couple of years ago, in the build up to their match at Wrestlemania 28, Triple H described himself and The Undertaker as "the last outlaws"; a throwback to a different age in wrestling, with different rules, when men were men. It was laughable: Triple H never had to earn or justify his spot, in the traditional sense. He's undoubtedly a hard worker, he paid his dues without question, he's clearly got a lot of ability, but he's the ultimate corporate wrestler; he got to the top mainly by behaving himself and making friends with the right people, and once in power he gripped onto it with his life. Triple H wasn't put in main events because his talent or charisma or popularity made him impossible to keep down. There's a reason why he is nicknamed ‘The Game’.

As for The Undertaker, there are lots of things to admire about the way he has protected his character, and evolved as a performer, but he's hardly James Dean. Sacrilegious as this may seem to some, he's well and truly under the thumb. He may feel justified in the lengths he will go to please Vince McMahon, and I'm sure there are many valid reasons for that loyalty, but The Undertaker is a company man.

Punk doesn't exist to please Vince McMahon. He is driven by strong principles and values, and is extremely reluctant to compromise those for anybody. They may be text buddies, but Punk sees McMahon for who he is: a ruthless control freak motivated by money and power, with a trail of dead bodies, drug addicts and broken lives left in his wake. That's why his loyalty to him will only stretch so far. Punk sees that there is a wider world outside WWE, more than his bosses, more than his colleagues, and more than a lot fans.

If Punk is done full-time with WWE - and, in truth, I doubt that - what would his options be? Going to TNA could be career suicide, as much as I would personally love to see the promotion revolve around him. Certainly I would urge TNA to offer him whatever it takes to get him on their roster, but I think he's too smart to even consider such an offer. Punk seems like a man who would be just as happy helping Ring of Honor grow its audience. He may be driven more by a desire to be a part of the best storytelling in the business than whatever money can be thrown at him, especially with a few million already in the bank.

Either way, he needs a rest, and he needs to spend some of that money he's built up over the last few years. Punk hasn’t had a decent break since arriving in WWE eight years ago; it shows in those bags under his eyes.

An extended absence from WWE might make them realise just what a phenomenal talent CM Punk is, and could prove personally lucrative in the long term. If and when Punk returns, I can't see him being booed like Batista, and WWE wouldn't dare try to publicly embarrass him the way they did with The Rock. It could be that this is the best career move he ever made.

Great write-up, enjoyed reading that, if this doesn't make the V2 Journal nothing will!

If if ends up on the v2 journal, wrestletalk might not be happy!!!

I would definitely love to feature this in the V2 Magazine should Punk still be off screens come the end of the Feb! But agreed with Marky...great great read!!

Hit the nail on the head as did Punk during the pipe-bomb promo...the way the audience is now & the money generated from TV Deals & Sponsors means that he is simply a cog in the wheel and even if he departs and his legions of fans follow suit...the difference will barely be but a small tremble in the WWE!

CM Punk could take candy from a baby and internet fans would praise him for tackling childhood obesity