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Post by ChitownKnight on Sept 4, 2023 18:15:02 GMT -5
So imagine the guy either keeps quiet, maybe makes some smart remark every now and then or possibly apologizes. Will he be in the good graces of the fans again? Will the fans look at his legendary run? Or has he forever torched his reputation? I don’t think the guy is bill Cosby or Benoit where he deserves to be torched but I think a lot of his accomplishments do deserve the praise it gets. I mean he was one of John Cena’s top two advisaries and you can argue he helped get MJF to the main event
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Post by EoE: Well There's Your Problem on Sept 4, 2023 18:16:45 GMT -5
Wanted to be the agent of change in pro wrestling but didn’t want to do the leg work to get it done outside of WWE, ending up latching onto and eventually growing resentful of the guys who did.
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Lupin the Third
Patti Mayonnaise
I'm sorry.....I love you. *boot to the head*--3rd most culpable in the jixing of NXT, D'oh!
Join the Dark Order....
Posts: 36,332
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Post by Lupin the Third on Sept 4, 2023 18:21:30 GMT -5
Legacy-Wise: You either die the hero (2014) or live long enough to see yourself become the villain (2023).
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Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]
FANatic
Writer, Lover of all things Wrestling. Analytical, Critical, Lovable (hopefully). Lets all have fun!
Posts: 236,209
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Post by Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-] on Sept 4, 2023 18:22:49 GMT -5
Legitimately great and game changing wrestler in his WWE run with stuff like the Pipebomb. And a great storytelling wrestler as well in both companies.
The AEW run overall however, ruined that mystique and everything he built up for himself. He essentially never should have come back to wrestling it turns out. A What If that should have stayed What If.
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Post by Doo Doo Dickhead on Sept 4, 2023 18:24:01 GMT -5
One of the best all around performers of his generation and a dumbass manchild whose own worst enemy is himself.
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Post by THE FVNKER on Sept 4, 2023 18:25:43 GMT -5
I don't know how people will perceive his time anywhere else other than AEW as that's his only body of work I've seen, but as far as his time there goes:
A "mega-star" who was given the unique, probably once in a handful of decades opportunity to be the face of the only competition WWE faced in modern history, that competition being a massively successful and outrageously well funded, almost idiot proof venture.
And instead of playing ball and trying to blend in to that culture he had to have things his way, at every turn to the detriment of the entire staff (wrestlers and non-wrestlers alike), anything that would've been well remembered is forever marred by stupid BS.
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Dub H
Crow T. Robot
Captain Pixel: the Game Master
I ❤ Aniki
Posts: 47,879
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Post by Dub H on Sept 4, 2023 18:26:58 GMT -5
A Very Talented Narcissistic Manchild.
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chazraps
Wade Wilson
Better have my money when I come-a collect!
Posts: 27,989
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Post by chazraps on Sept 4, 2023 20:37:41 GMT -5
Let's say we never hear from him again, in 10 years he'll be remembered as -
This generation's Brian Pillman. His early work was as an unforgettable ceiling breaking talent, his most famous work was an ahead-of-his-time highlight of a program during its rough years, but ultimately he got into his own way and needlessly caused his own downfall waaaaay too many times to truly be etched among the greatest and most important and influential names of his era or reach the peak of his potential.
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Post by Denny Zen is Cooking™ on Sept 4, 2023 20:42:51 GMT -5
If he doesn’t have a final great run in WWE to repair his legacy (which doesn’t necessarily seem outside of the realm of possibility) I think this AEW run, which could have cemented his spot on professional wrestling Mount Rushmore, has placed him among the likes of Sid and the Ultimate Warrior in pro wrestling history.
A bona fide star, who, for brief flashes in the pan was perhaps the biggest star in the whole business, but who will ultimately be remembered as a difficult to work with asshole who couldn’t set his ego aside for long enough to truly reach his full potential.
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Post by BorneAgain on Sept 4, 2023 20:49:54 GMT -5
For much of his career, a tremendous worker that was Bret Hart like in becoming a main event talent despite not being seen by the office as such and later an Eddie Gilbert like figure that simply couldn't get out of his own way and let his issues greatly limit the impact he could have had.
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Chiral
Salacious Crumb
Posts: 73,790
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Post by Chiral on Sept 4, 2023 21:18:24 GMT -5
With his perfect first return it seemed like he was gonna set his place as one of the best ever, now after some of the worst years I've ever seen from a wrestler even just onscreen content wise his legacy feels completely tarnished and he accomplished that entirely on his own which is really impressive. In 10 years I feel like there's gonna be so much confusion about what the f*** could have happened to this guy to make him reject the silver platters he got in AEW when he comes up.
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Post by This Player Hating Mothman on Sept 4, 2023 21:22:19 GMT -5
Wrestlers get redemptions all the work, even ones with way more demons than Punk has. I think Punk's obstacle is going to be in not changing it. His legacy will always have the asterisk of his issues on it now, and I think his name won't really be softened with time unless he can straighten it up and chill the f*** out. He'll be an Ole Anderson or a Superstar Billy Graham otherwise. A Low-Ki. A guy who never mended fences and never said anything in public to shift his reputation back or make people think he was relaxing.
Even the Ultimate Warrior, a relentless bigot who people sure seemed to have lots of very unkind things to say about, got his redemption before death and stuff got wiped away pretty fast. He didn't have to take back the vile stuff he said. He didn't have to do much but make amends with the right people and get a moment to be thanked.
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Mozenrath
FANatic
Foppery and Whim
Speedy Speed Boy
Posts: 121,127
Member is Online
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Post by Mozenrath on Sept 4, 2023 21:24:38 GMT -5
People will make fun of him, but time has a way of smoothing stuff out, so people will latch onto stuff like the Joe match or the MJF dog collar match.
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dbsot
Bubba Ho-Tep
Posts: 614
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Post by dbsot on Sept 4, 2023 21:26:43 GMT -5
He will go down as a fairly average muffin advertiser.
Jokes aside, I wish we had sales data for Mindy's Bakery and Kailen and Kailen Pickles. The online discourse about who the bigger draw is between Punk and MJF would be great comedy.
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Allie Kitsune
Crow T. Robot
Always Feelin' Foxy.
HaHa U FaLL 4 LaVa TriK
Posts: 46,162
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Post by Allie Kitsune on Sept 4, 2023 21:29:20 GMT -5
A Man out of Time.
One who spent 7 years out of the business and seemed to think he was coming back to the same environment he'd left, and shit all over everything that had been built in his absence.
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Post by Fake Jesus on Sept 4, 2023 21:30:36 GMT -5
I don't think we've seen the last of Punk. In 15 years when he can't go he'll be back as a manager like Tully Blanchard. This run proved how much he likes latching onto younger talent.
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Post by Fake Jesus on Sept 4, 2023 22:04:28 GMT -5
Let's say we never hear from him again, in 10 years he'll be remembered as - This generation's Brian Pillman. His early work was as an unforgettable ceiling breaking talent, his most famous work was an ahead-of-his-time highlight of a program during its rough years, but ultimately he got into his own way and needlessly caused his own downfall waaaaay too many times to truly be etched among the greatest and most important and influential names of his era or reach the peak of his potential. If you're saying CM Punk isn't in the very upper echelon of his era, who on earth possibly could be? There are no metrics you can judge wrestlers by where CM Punk isn't one of the very top names of the long interboom period unless it's "most like Mr Rogers". It's fair to say the end of this run has damaged his legacy, but it's really really silly to pretend it's transformed him into a what-if. This man was in some of the hottest angles and matches of the 21st Century, world champion in multiple promotions, universally acknowledged as one of the two greatest rivals of Cena's career, faced the Rock on PPV, was the top heel or #2 face of WWE for years, main evented and won in what is generally considered either the best or second best WWE PPV of the entire 2010s... it's just strange to pretend he wasn't an absolute top shelf name or people ('People' in general being more pro-Punk than FAN, a very small community which stands out for having a low number of people willing to overlook his dickbag behaviour) will somehow just forget that
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Kalmia
King Koopa
Happy to be here
Posts: 11,713
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Post by Kalmia on Sept 4, 2023 22:11:00 GMT -5
He'll be remembered as a great talent in front of the camera and a frustrating asshole backstage. The question will be which of those two will dominate the conversation and that's going to depend on how the next few years go.
A successful run in another company (even only on a legends deal or something similar) will push the view towards his talent. Lawsuits and controversial podcasts will push most people towards him being an asshole.
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Post by Some Guy on Sept 4, 2023 22:54:39 GMT -5
Let's say we never hear from him again, in 10 years he'll be remembered as - This generation's Brian Pillman. His early work was as an unforgettable ceiling breaking talent, his most famous work was an ahead-of-his-time highlight of a program during its rough years, but ultimately he got into his own way and needlessly caused his own downfall waaaaay too many times to truly be etched among the greatest and most important and influential names of his era or reach the peak of his potential. Pillman just never came close to the heights that Punk did in any company at any point, though. He also you know died in the middle of a program. Punk reached the top of 3 different companies in 3 different decades, something very very few have ever really been able to pull off. In general though if he's still alive, he'll be remembered more as one of the most fascinating/important/talented/quasi destructive and/or out of time guys of the specific time. I still think eventually this will warm over and he'll have the better things to be remembered on, so that's my guess for ten years. People just don't care enough to let stuff like this fester over time the way it does with abuse/sexual assault/racism/homophobia or what have you.
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Post by ace on Sept 4, 2023 22:56:27 GMT -5
His legacy is guy who was so bad at fighting it cost him two careers.
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