The Best Moments Of Punk: Part 1
With Punk being added to the WWE Alumni section of WWE.com – and regardless of the meaning of that particular occurrence – I’ll take it as a good excuse to, as the man himself gets some rest, go back and look at some of the great moments he put together. 5 now, and 5 tomorrow. Let’s do it!
1) A Simple Yet Unique Debut
When ECW was re-launched under the WWE umbrella, there was celebration for the return of a brand that made a lot of impact in the wrestling world.
But there were also a degree of skepticism, which grew and grew, as it became clear WWE wasn’t taking the project where Heyman & Company (& a lot of us) wanted it to go.
But, in the middle of the clash between ECW Originals and the “New Blood” WWE was bringing in (Kevin Thorn, Marcus Cor Von, etc.), there was one man whose debut was clearly causing excitement.
Yeah, the straight-edge guy.
The video below is his debut, which I write down as a big moment, not only for what I got into above, but also because of the creative approach that was chosen: he is just an intense guy, who loves to wrestle and wants to be the best in the world.
In hindsight, it feels like the recipe for the most watered-down wrestler ever. Yet, Punk makes it work. And, more importantly, he’s very quick to capture people’s imagination. If you feel like going down memory lane, the video is below. Take a look. I’ll meet you after the video.
2) The Negotiator
I have to give this segment the highest of praises, because it was unpredictable, it was intense and it had me guessing what the hell was going to happen next.
As the story went, Punk was the #1 Contender for the WWE Title and his contract was almost up. This meant Vince was very worried Punk would win, and take the title with him, should he not sign. This was a smart spin on the story, a throwback to the Madusa-throws-the-WWF-Women’s-Title-into-a-garbage-can days, and even to the Montreal Screwjob days, where Vince was adamant a WCW-bound Bret Hart didn’t finish his tenure as the reigning WWF World Champion.
Obviously, common sense dictates a promoter does not want an out-of-contract champion to hold him hostage. Well… that’s exactly what Punk did.
A free agent after his upcoming title match, he forced Vince McMahon into a live contract negotiation on Raw and pushed the chairman, literally and figuratively, every which way.
From outrageous demands like having his own jet (“not your jet… your jet smells”) to bringing back the WWE ice cream bars, Punk threw an assortment of funny, out-of-left-field contract clauses in McMahon’s face. The angrier Vince got, the more the crowd loved it.
He even made McMahon apologize for firing wrestlers like Colt Cabana and Doc Gallows, another point on his “Punk Shoots On Live TV” scorecard.
Start at the 5:00 mark to skip the entrances.
3) Happy Birthday, Princess Aalyah
Whether a heel or a face, Punk was very consistent in delivering the goods on the microphone.
(Especially) As a heel, the key is to go the extra mile, right into “I can’t believe he went there” territory. And Punk loved going there.
This segment is a prime example of his great ability to create genuine, crowd-hating heat. Let’s set this up:
Rey Mysterio is in the ring with his family, asking the crowd to sing “Happy Birthday” to his 9-year daughter Aalyah (we assume she’s his because Eddie never claimed her).
Punk shows up and quickly gets in all of the family members’ faces, treating all of them with the same disrespectful, spit-in-the-face attitude: not just El Cirurgico, no… but also the daughter, the son and the wife!
4) And Then There Were 2 WWE Champions
Back to the Summer of Punk, which did this for a good deal of late-teen, adult fans:
“@Declan_Celtic: @Heelbook The summer of Punk 2011 got me watching regularly again.” Me too
— Chris Garcia (@sportsbrain) July 16, 2014
Punk was fresh, he was edgy, and he made being anti-establishment cool again, a type of magic WWE had been trying to recapture since a bald man from Texas reluctantly called it a career at Wrestlemania 19. And the crowd’s reaction to this moment shows us Punk was starting to get some of that mystique.
A little background: John Cena has just become the official WWE champion, after defeating Rey Mysterio (I won’t get into how that happened), in the wake of CM Punk‘s unresolved free agency.
Poor Cena just wanted to celebrate his title win, but someone had other plans:
5) The Commentator
Who… WHO did not love Punk as a commentator? I’ll let the man’s work speak for itself. And tell you what, come back tomorrow and I’ll be back with #6 through #10. Meanwhile, enjoy this video.
Stay Heel!
