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Post by gnr123 on Mar 20, 2022 15:49:37 GMT -5
Some peoples heads are going to explode if/when Punk goes back. I don’t know in what exact capacity but whether it’s wrestling, commentary, hall of fame or whatever I won’t be shocked at all if he’s cashing a WWE cheque within a decade. He’s already said he’d go back if the money was right and was doing a media tour in late 2020 practically begging them to make him an offer. Too many people think the “voice of the voiceless” gimmick is the real life Punk and he has these huge upstanding morals. This is the guy who was in a legal battle with his best friend. Cheated on Daffney with Traci Brooks in TNA and somehow she’s the one who stopped getting booked because of it. Said it wasn’t right for part-timers to waltz in and main event big shows based on their name then did the exact same thing in UFC. Scolded AEW wrestlers for talking about WWE too much and telling them to focus on themselves then a year later he’s in AEW and taking shots at WWE every other promo. Ripped into Miz for taking Saudi money then later said he wishes Bret could still go and get that money. He could come out and point blank say “I will never return to WWE” and I still wouldn’t trust that it’s true until like 20 years pass without it happening. Yeah, wasn't he also on the WWE Backstage show on FOX? Even though it was FOX doing all the work, it still was affiliated with WWE, still had current WWE stars on it and I remember he even cut a promo on Seth Rollins during the show. It's possible that there was some talks between him and WWE around that time. I also remember when the initial reports came out of CM Punk returning the wrestling, it was initially said he was coming back to WWE. Obviously plans didn't happen that way, but the fact he was talking to WWE shows you he has interest in going back there. Another post said CM Punk where only come back "when hell freezes over," I don't see it. I think there's a good chance he'll be back in WWE sooner rather than later. Why do people have this mindset that Punk's never coming back to WWE? Because he cut on "shoot" promo's on them, because he said how he "left professional wrestling in 2007 and came back in 2021." Or the "2 for one, 1 night extravaganza" line? People don't seem to understand, that's what AEW fans want to hear, they want to hear him talk bad about "The Fed." Just like how people used to come from WWE to TNA and talk about how they came from "up north," or "over there." TNA fans ate it up, "yeah f*** WWE!" Now it's the same with AEW. Remember Miro "you can take your brass ring and shove it up your ass," he would have said the same thing if he went to TNA in 2010. It's just a way to score points with the fan's. CM Punk defiantly has a right to be frustrated with WWE considering the way he left the company, but since he was in initial talks with WWE, I don't why those talks can't happen again. I guarantee we'll hear Cult of Personality in a WWE arena again.
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Post by eJm on Mar 20, 2022 15:53:48 GMT -5
He was squashed most weeks to build up feuds with nothing to do with him, “put over” EC3 with a the motivation of 10,000 Sasha faces and only didn’t get killed by Nia Jax because of Network mandate. If that was one of the best, I’d hate to see what one of the worst was. The definition of a send off is a party or celebration for someone who is leaving and that is exactly what The Shield network special was. But that network special doesn’t override everything else that happened on the actual programming that matters. Like, Austin’s send off at the time was his team losing valiantly at Survivor Series, him doing a speech and then getting to beat up Coach and hit some stunners. The literal last thing that happened to the guy on television even after the special was his head getting kicked in by Drew McIntyre.
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Post by gnr123 on Mar 20, 2022 16:01:26 GMT -5
The definition of a send off is a party or celebration for someone who is leaving and that is exactly what The Shield network special was. But that network special doesn’t override everything else that happened on the actual programming that matters. Like, Austin’s send off at the time was his team losing valiantly at Survivor Series, him doing a speech and then getting to beat up Coach and hit some stunners. The literal last thing that happened to the guy on television even after the special was his head getting kicked in by Drew McIntyre. Bret Hart's WWE "sendoff" was getting screwed out a match, spitting in Vince's face and writing "WCW" in the air in one of the most controversial moment in professional wrestling history. Than the stroke happen and Bret was never the same again. He came back 12 years later. Bret had it MUCH worse on his way out than just losing a match, yet he came back.
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Post by eJm on Mar 20, 2022 16:06:09 GMT -5
Why do people have this mindset that Punk's never coming back to WWE? I mean, the many stories of his troubles with the company, with management, the fact they fired him on his wedding day and the fact they basically made him hate professional wrestling to the point of bashing it whenever it came up for 7 years seems like a good reasons to think that.
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Post by eJm on Mar 20, 2022 16:09:26 GMT -5
But that network special doesn’t override everything else that happened on the actual programming that matters. Like, Austin’s send off at the time was his team losing valiantly at Survivor Series, him doing a speech and then getting to beat up Coach and hit some stunners. The literal last thing that happened to the guy on television even after the special was his head getting kicked in by Drew McIntyre. Bret Hart's WWE "sendoff" was getting screwed out a match, spitting in Vince's face and writing "WCW" in the air in one of the most controversial moment in professional wrestling history. Than the stroke happen and Bret was never the same again. He came back 12 years later. Bret had it MUCH worse on his way out than just losing a match, yet he came back. I never said he wouldn’t come back, just the idea that it was “one of the greatest send offs of all time” is just a weird thing to say considering it’s referencing one segment that was shunned onto the network.
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Post by eJm on Mar 20, 2022 16:13:21 GMT -5
My wider point is why are we trying to assume things of people who made it clear what the problems were when they were in WWE?
Punk hated working with HHH and Vince. He’s said this countless times. Why do we think he’s working the boys about it?
Moxley liked working in WWE, he just hated the way Vince managed talent and the shows. So if he were to come back, it’d likely be in a scenario where Vince isn’t in charge of the company. That sounds logical to me.
Bryan loves talking with Vince even if he wasn’t going to get to do everything he wanted so he’d likely go back in that scenario. Same, to some extent, was Adam Cole.
I don’t get why we’re going ahead and adding things or psychoanalyzing when the people themselves have said it and you can find what they said.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 20, 2022 16:17:23 GMT -5
IF HHH and Stephanie take over to running things (Steph more than HHH due to obvious) I think we will see alot of the departed NXT people come back.
Keith Lee Adam Cole Gargano
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Evil Homer
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Post by Evil Homer on Mar 20, 2022 16:23:44 GMT -5
Jericho will no doubt return for hof induction someday
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Post by A Platypus Rave on Mar 20, 2022 16:25:39 GMT -5
My wider point is why are we trying to assume things of people who made it clear what the problems were when they were in WWE? Punk hated working with HHH and Vince. He’s said this countless times. Why do we think he’s working the boys about it? Moxley liked working in WWE, he just hated the way Vince managed talent and the shows. So if he were to come back, it’d likely be in a scenario where Vince isn’t in charge of the company. That sounds logical to me. Bryan loves talking with Vince even if he wasn’t going to get to do everything he wanted so he’d likely go back in that scenario. Same, to some extent, was Adam Cole. I don’t get why we’re going ahead and adding things or psychoanalyzing when the people themselves have said it and you can find what they said. Yeah, that's pretty much what I said...I can think maybe since Punk seems happier... but I doubt it's enough to deal with Vince. MAYBE he'll be more willing to work with Hunter.
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Post by Cyno on Mar 20, 2022 16:30:06 GMT -5
My wider point is why are we trying to assume things of people who made it clear what the problems were when they were in WWE? Punk hated working with HHH and Vince. He’s said this countless times. Why do we think he’s working the boys about it? Moxley liked working in WWE, he just hated the way Vince managed talent and the shows. So if he were to come back, it’d likely be in a scenario where Vince isn’t in charge of the company. That sounds logical to me. Bryan loves talking with Vince even if he wasn’t going to get to do everything he wanted so he’d likely go back in that scenario. Same, to some extent, was Adam Cole. I don’t get why we’re going ahead and adding things or psychoanalyzing when the people themselves have said it and you can find what they said. Yeah, that's pretty much what I said...I can think maybe since Punk seems happier... but I doubt it's enough to deal with Vince. MAYBE he'll be more willing to work with Hunter. I think if anything, Punk hated working Hunter way more than Vince, though.
Moxley was cool with Hunter and there's a situation where I could see him coming back. But that situation would almost certainly have to be "Vince McMahon is either dead or retired."
I'm not going to say it's never going to happen, but having another company in a strong position in the industry also makes it a lot less likely than when it was when Vince was playing his own personal game of Monopoly.
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Post by eJm on Mar 20, 2022 16:30:25 GMT -5
Yeah, that's pretty much what I said...I can think maybe since Punk seems happier... but I doubt it's enough to deal with Vince. MAYBE he'll be more willing to work with Hunter. Like I think he’s happier because he’s in an environment where he doesn’t constantly feel hindered by what the WWE system is like so maybe a HHH revamp might help that but I also sort of get the hint that HHH isn’t a Punk fan himself. Having said that, one of the crazier things WWE did for me was not negotiate with Fox when he was still under contract with them to do some wrestling post Backstage since, well, they wouldn’t have had to pay him and they’d be getting someone they could have one occasionally rather than all the time. Sort of felt like a win/win but what do I know?
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Post by polarbearpete on Mar 20, 2022 16:35:11 GMT -5
Why do people have this mindset that Punk's never coming back to WWE? I mean, the many stories of his troubles with the company, with management, the fact they fired him on his wedding day and the fact they basically made him hate professional wrestling to the point of bashing it whenever it came up for 7 years seems like a good reasons to think that. Why ignore all of the evidence that in recent years he was angling to come back to the company, but they seemingly never stepped up to offer him a big deal to return, though? That’s after all of those things you’re saying above. No one think he’d come back to work a full 100-date a year schedule, but a few matches and/or induction seem possible if he ever gets tired with AEW.
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Post by eJm on Mar 20, 2022 16:45:00 GMT -5
Why ignore all of the evidence that in recent years he was angling to come back to the company, but they seemingly never stepped up to offer him a big deal to return, though? That’s after all of those things you’re saying above. Would you be able to post said evidence? I might not have been aware of it or forgot, you have this way of assuming you always have to be in the right about situations and it’s, frankly, getting really annoying.
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Post by Cyno on Mar 20, 2022 17:02:48 GMT -5
I never heard anything about Punk angling to come back to WWE via Backstage. I remember hearing Fox was pissed at WWE for not even bothering to make him an offer, but Punk's role on WWE Backstage came off as "being paid by Fox to shit on WWE without any actual consequence from WWE."
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Post by polarbearpete on Mar 20, 2022 17:40:23 GMT -5
Why ignore all of the evidence that in recent years he was angling to come back to the company, but they seemingly never stepped up to offer him a big deal to return, though? That’s after all of those things you’re saying above. Would you be able to post said evidence? I might not have been aware of it or forgot, you have this way of assuming you always have to be in the right about situations and it’s, frankly, getting really annoying. Sorry if I came off some sort of way, wasn’t trying to do that at all. Feel free to PM me if you think I’m doing something wrong. Jindrak Mark and I both posted about it earlier. Punk mentioned in interviews it would take a whole lot of cash and some interesting opponents but he was open. Meltzer had some rumors of Punk looking for a blank check essentially. This was all late 2019-ish right before the pandemic hit. There were Punk’s own words after he signed with AEW where he said he started getting intermediaries from WWE reaching out to him to sign around when he signed with AEW but he felt they were playing games and not being fully serious, which also goes hand in hand with the reports about FOX being upset.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 20, 2022 17:53:01 GMT -5
Jericho definitely, and I also think Bryan is pretty likely to go back. Don't think many others will.
Keith Lee, Malakai Black and Adam Cole have recent first-hand experience as to how ass-backwards the company's creative and corporate culture is, which are issues that go beyond even Vince at this point.
Mox literally wrote a book about how miserable his time in WWE made him.
And CM Punk, for all his hypocrisies throughout the years, just got out of a lengthy court case with WWE that cost him his best friend and almost cost him his marriage. For a dude that holds grudges the way he does, I can't see Punk going back to the company that caused him such personal misery.
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Post by Jindrak Mark on Mar 20, 2022 19:10:14 GMT -5
My wider point is why are we trying to assume things of people who made it clear what the problems were when they were in WWE? Punk hated working with HHH and Vince. He’s said this countless times. Why do we think he’s working the boys about it? Moxley liked working in WWE, he just hated the way Vince managed talent and the shows. So if he were to come back, it’d likely be in a scenario where Vince isn’t in charge of the company. That sounds logical to me. Bryan loves talking with Vince even if he wasn’t going to get to do everything he wanted so he’d likely go back in that scenario. Same, to some extent, was Adam Cole. I don’t get why we’re going ahead and adding things or psychoanalyzing when the people themselves have said it and you can find what they said. I thinks it’s because everyone always says they won’t go back. Until they do. If there was a decent list of names to point to as precedent that not everyone goes back it would be one thing but there isn’t. What there is is a long list of names who spent years, sometimes even decades, badmouthing the company or saying they wouldn’t return until they eventually did. The only major name who never returned was Savage but that was because WWE wasn’t interested. There are clips of him from 2002-03 practically begging to be brought back and saying Vince/HHH are afraid to do it. And honestly even Savage was probably about to come back within a year or so. A few months before his death he started doing video game related stuff which Goldberg and Sting did shortly before they debuted/returned too and there were rumors of him headlining the next hall of fame in Florida the year the big Rock/Cena match happened but of course he didn’t make it to then. I’m not saying CM Punk will definitely return. I’m saying if he doesn’t it won’t be for moral reasons like a lot of people are suggesting (“he would never work with Vince or HHH”). It will be for money reasons. He’s admitted so himself. Go listen to his first interview on Renee’s podcast. If WWE offered him crazy money to return in 2019-20 he would have went back. They weren’t interested in negotiating with him though. Like with Savage though I’m sure there stance will soften over the years and they’ll eventually want to at least put him in the hall of fame. Who knows if he would accept though. Some people will say yes he would and some people will say no he won’t. It’s a pointless discussion though because it could be 5/10/15/20 years before we get a definitive answer.
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Post by welshpenguin on Mar 20, 2022 19:38:53 GMT -5
I wouldn’t mind Christian coming back for one last run with Edge. I don’t see Punk coming back unless it’s for a one off appearance like the HOF. He is obviously more content in the aew environment & I don’t think the higher ups in wwe particularly want him back.
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Post by Baldobomb-22-OH-MAN!!! on Mar 20, 2022 19:43:39 GMT -5
Might be off topic but I do wonder how much cache "we'll put you in the non-existent HOF" still has now that WWE aren't the only game in town and don't own significant parts of a lot of wrestlers' legacies anymore.
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Post by dgenerationmc on Mar 20, 2022 20:29:36 GMT -5
Some peoples heads are going to explode if/when Punk goes back. I don’t know in what exact capacity but whether it’s wrestling, commentary, hall of fame or whatever I won’t be shocked at all if he’s cashing a WWE cheque within a decade. He’s already said he’d go back if the money was right and was doing a media tour in late 2020 practically begging them to make him an offer. Too many people think the “voice of the voiceless” gimmick is the real life Punk and he has these huge upstanding morals. This is the guy who was in a legal battle with his best friend. Cheated on Daffney with Traci Brooks in TNA and somehow she’s the one who stopped getting booked because of it. Said it wasn’t right for part-timers to waltz in and main event big shows based on their name then did the exact same thing in UFC. Scolded AEW wrestlers for talking about WWE too much and telling them to focus on themselves then a year later he’s in AEW and taking shots at WWE every other promo. Ripped into Miz for taking Saudi money then later said he wishes Bret could still go and get that money. He could come out and point blank say “I will never return to WWE” and I still wouldn’t trust that it’s true until like 20 years pass without it happening. Why are we pretending like Punk and WWE didn't have a contentious relationship from the time he signed in 2005 to now? If the guy was gonna go back, he would've during the Fox talk show run where he was taking shots at the company then on their own damn show. He didn't. You cite the legal battle with Colt but what about the legal battle with WWE right before that? It's not about Punk's morals or lack thereof, it's about a man and a corporation being at odds for almost 20 years now, during his tenure working there and then 8 years (and counting) after. It seems like you're projecting your own feelings about the guy instead of looking at the events have been laid out over all this time. When he said that he'd go back to WWE for a "big bag," I took it as yet another game of Chicken between the two sides acting like assholes. "Literally give me all the money in the world and a cushy schedule, so I can say I got one over on you and laugh. Because you're not going to get the last word, I am." Same goes for the Bret quote, I took it as Punk wanting Bret to get one last laugh over an industry/company that "broke" him. Sound familiar? It's all the same "stick it to The Man" thing with Punk. The man lives to tell people to go f*** themselves, WWE included. There are no "good guys" in this scenario, just a bunch of petty assholes squabbling with each other forever.
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