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During a live broadcast of Raw on June 27, CM Punk sat cross-legged on the entrance ramp in a vintage “Stone Cold” Steve Austin T-shirt and delivered a monologue that has become the sports-entertainment equivalent of William Wallace’s speech to the war weary Scots at the end of “Braveheart.” A pointed, stirring battle cry that both indicted the enemy and roused the people, the call to arms led legions of WWE fans to unite under one word — change.
Frustrated with the direction of an industry he's loved his entire life, The Straight Edge Superstar wanted to see a younger generation take charge and in the weeks since his incendiary rant he fought an uphill battle to make it happen.
At WWE TLC, the “change” Punk spoke about finally began to take shape. On that night in Baltimore, not only did Punk successfully defend his WWE Championship in a thrilling main event, but Zack Ryder grabbed the United States Championship and Daniel Bryan won the World Heavyweight Title.
Something was stirring in WWE and Punk could feel it. It was an emotion he expressed bluntly on Twitter:
CM Punk tweet:
My march to Wrestlemania doesn't start after the rumble. It starts today. You're in or you're out. If you're out, you'll be left behind.
It's all in the reflexes.Pale and unshaven with a hood yanked over his sleepless eyes, CM Punk may not look like the new face of WWE, but the face is the least distinctive element of this champion’s appearance. What sets The Straight Edge Superstar apart from Hulk Hogan, Bob Backlund, John Cena and every other well muscled American man that’s carried sports-entertainment’s most coveted title is his alternative appeal — the garage rock aesthetic, the blue jean and black hoodie uniform, the arms as illustrated as the rack in a comic book store.
No matter how hard they tried to convince you otherwise, WWE Champions have rarely been cool. Bret Hart’s Michael Jackson-inspired pink leather jackets with military epaulets weren’t cool, Hulk Hogan’s Fu Manchu mustache and wispy golden hair weren’t cool and John Cena’s jean shorts and low tops were definitely not cool. The Rock and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin were cool, but in a way that was completely foreign to the average WWE fan. They were action heroes, larger-than-life caricatures that always knew the right thing to say to the bad guy before they offed him.
CM Punk is not larger-than-life, but that’s exactly his appeal. He’s as real as it gets. He likes ice cream and Kurt Russell movies. He used to post pictures on his Twitter of oozing cheese pizzas he’d devour entirely, one would assume, by himself. He can dislocate a man’s arm with his bare hands, but that doesn’t stop him from staying up all night reading graphic novels. He’s flawed, frustrated and in love with professional wrestling — the type of guy a WWE fan can relate to.
Zack Ryder is much the same. A young Superstar who had early success as Edge's lackey in 2006, he floundered in preliminary matches for the remainder of the decade before building his own fanbase through social media. By urging fans to like him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter during his self-produced YouTube show, "Z! True Long Island Story," the kid from the L.I. started what he called the “Ryder Revolution” — a grassroots campaign to get the attention of WWE. What started with a Flip camera in Ryder’s roommate’s bedroom soon became a national phenomenon. Before long, WWE fans were pumping giant foam fists and wearing spiked hair wigs as they cheered Long Island Iced-Z to a United States Title victory over Dolph Ziggler at WWE TLC.
Daniel Bryan wins the World Heavyweight Title at WWE TLC.Daniel Bryan may be the most unlikely success story of them all. A humble, 200-pound phenom from Aberdeen, Washington, the submission expert wrestled his way across the globe for a decade, earning repute as one of the world’s greatest technicians in the process. He even locked up with CM Punk in armories on the east coast when the two were standouts on the indies. But, in spite of being trained by Shawn Michaels and William Regal, Bryan never fit the preconception of what a World Champion should be. He’s pale, he doesn’t eat meat, you won’t see him riding in a limo or a leer jet and his shoes probably don’t cost more than your house.
Still, at WWE TLC, Daniel Bryan became the World Heavyweight Champion by cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase and pinning Big Show. Suddenly, two competitors who learned their craft in the dingy gymnasiums of the independent wrestling scene were WWE’s top titleholders and a hardworking Broski was right there with them. The following night on Raw, the three Superstars stood triumphantly in the ring with their titles in hand and the WWE Universe completely behind them.
Six months removed from Punk’s sermon on the mount, change had come. [/quote]
No turning back now WWE, goddammit.
If they turn back on this now I swear that's it. Believe you me, I've never said that before. If you're going to do this, go all the way.[/quote]
I'm starting to think that WWE is really sincere about this movement, and I can't help but applaud. I think maybe their only flaw is that they have been so outward with it that fans have either become cynical and pessimistic that the WWE is trying to screw with their feelings, or become disgusted at WHO these new stars are. But eh! to them, because this is WWE's chance to make good. Not because they positioned CM Punk as the main face, not because they made Daniel Bryan and Zach Ryder champions, and not because Tyler Black, Jon Moxley, and the Kings of Wrestling are potentially on their way to WWE TV. They are making good because they have shown that they have a direction and are putting all of their resources behind it.
They are writing excellent and actually thought provoking articles on WWE.com, they are experimenting with vignettes again to get people over upon debut; things that seem obvious, but they have ignored for so long it seems. These tactics are working because WWE hires talented people. They have tremendous video editors, successful writers, and of course probably one of the most talented rosters they've ever had. We've known these things for a while now, and maybe WWE did too, but I think now we are finally seeing WWE become self-aware for the first time in a while, realizing that things do need to be shaken up, new faces need to be hovering around the top, and the fans want to get back to actual WRESTLING, even if its under the banner of "Sports Entertainment."
I think "The Revolution Era" sounds excellent, and I hope they use it, as I think it fits; and again, it's not because IWC faves are at the top. What else could you call the ending of RAW that ho-hum summer evening when Punk sat on the stage? Has there been anything else in the last five years that has drawn as much media attention or fan interest besides Benoit? And for the good of wrestling? It was the right time to run an angle like that, and Vince, being the not stupid guy he is, realized that what Punk wanted to do, was something that would shake up WWE for the better.
For the first time in a long time, I personally have the relationship with WWE programming where I'm not just saying, "Oh that's an interesting feud, I'll see how that develops" , instead, I'm wondering what the heck might happen if I miss a show. There is an ultimate rush to be part of a very good television moment, and in the last few months, WWE has given us several, and look keen to be supplying more as different people (people they would have kept away from each other on the cards) are going to be interacting. WWE, for as ignorant as we like to think their braintrusts are, are well aware of what the internet is talking about with wrestling, and I think they are armed and ready to not just "give us what we want" but to give us something that reminds us why we like wrestling in the first place; to challenge us and surprise us, and I think that is a very beautiful thing to behold as a fan.
