I feel like something's "missing" with CM Punk right now...
 

He was so hot last summer and kinda seemed like the next mega-star of wrestling. I'm usually pretty good at deciphering what it is that isn't clicking with a guy for me but I can't quite put my finger on this one. Maybe it's the fact that he's been so on the back burner behind Taker, Triple H, Rock, Cena and Lesnar that it just feels weird that he's got the title. Even guys like Bryan, Swagger and Sheamus originally who I didn't think were ready for a title run were atleast the focal point of their respective shows at the time.

It just feels like since he blew up last summer he hasn't been on that path to eventually solidifying himself as THE guy. I'd usually blame the booking since it's generally godawful but I don't think the Jericho feud is actually being poorly booked. There's nothing specific I can point to and say "This is why Punk isn't reaching that next level" yet somehow him as a whole just isn't clicking right now. Weird.

Thoughts? Does he need to start feuding with the more solidified stars on a regular basis like Cena, Lesnar, Rock, Orton... maybe even throw in Kane? But wouldn't Jericho count as one of those solidified stars? Does he just need to keep winning consistently and eventually it'll be a "the big guys have to take notice now" thing. Maybe he just doesn't have the size/look. I don't know. Gah. So confused.

He's not as edgy as he was in the past and is more a victim of pipebombs than the deliverer (if that is a word).... He still gets the biggest pop on Raw in most cities.....

Orton-Punk has been done. Cena-Punk has been done. He needs to work with guys who are over enough to get buried by the pipebomb and it not kill them completely.

<font color=goldenrod>Honestly I've been disappointed with this Punk/Jericho feud. It's just been Jericho insulting him on the tron week in week out and it's gotten old. Both guys are obviously great talkers, but the overall concept of the feud just felt generic - and at times even silly (I still don't get how being a bastard in 2012 is meant to be a big deal).

Showing Punk in a pub does seem like it could lead somewhere interesting though. And at least the matches will continue to be very good.</font>

I think it's just because he's not the true center of attention right now. It's Cena and Brock and before that it was Cena and Rock.

He's still the WWE Champion and is having a great feud with Jericho.

I think he needs to update his Pepsi tat. They haven't had that logo in years. Get with the times.

Yeah as decent as his feud wit Jericho is going, the WWE has been more focused on what Cena is doing the past few months than really making what the champion is doing as the main focus. They do have a bad habit of every so often making the champion the second fiddle to someone else for a while.

Punk also doesn't have that shock factor he had initially during the early stage of the Summer of Punk when he was questioning everything but that's due to him turning into a face wrestler.

Punk's not doing as well now because he's being booked as the 'underdog champion' at the moment. During the summer of Punk he was booked as a cocky, skilled, showoff and given a chance to drop pipebombs on a regular basis. Now we're lucky if we get a decent insult out of him. It's all "You're gonna go there? Well I'm gonna kick your ass!". He's almost getting a hybrid of Mysterio's underdog and Cena's superman gimmicks.

He's a straight edge bitch.

Makes it sound like he's really not all that versatile.

Everyone realised Vince Russo did that pipebomb gimmick way better 12 yrs ago.

Russo didn't have pipebombs he had stinkbombs.

I agree that he's being outshined by some of the bigger stars right now. But he'll find a way to deal with that.

As long as he has programs with more of these huge names though, he's going to be there when the smoke clears.

idk, as much as i like cult of personality as a song, i felt the switch in themes killed a lot of his momentum..i really dont know why. cult just feels corny as a theme. this fire made him seem really awesome

His theme has nothing to do with it...imo.

One of the only reasons I watch Raw. he's fine in my book.

give him 5 minutes mic time
let him say what he wants
brace for pipebombs

simple

the wwe 'universe' really digs the rebellious guy that isn't afraid to use 'in jokes' and rip the other wrestlers with a bit of 80's/90's nostalgia thrown in, it hits with the main demographic of wwe/wrestling i.e guys like us, guys of our age.

This.

Yeah, it's called ratings.

I agree with a lot of the opinions being made here: CM Punk really has seem to have lost some of his edge these past few months, his attitude now is almost in complete contrast to how he was. His feud with Jericho has also been a tad lackluster, and to be honest, I was slightly disappointed by their Mania match. While what they have now does show signs of promise, I think it would have been good to continue that whole "Best is The World" thing, though once again, Mania basically diffused that pipe bomb.

A bit off topic, but with all the references to alcohol, is there a possibility to a CM Punk/Austin feud in the horizon? I feel it's something that been hinted for a while, but if I'm not mistaken, Austin isn't in match condition, which is a shame, because they would play off of each other quite well.

i shudder to think if some arent loving this y2j fued, what theyll think when hes feuding with tensai next....

But CM Punk does it better because...Ponies?

That's a lame reason.

lol

OH SNAP

Straight edge people aren't cool. Nobody likes a guy who doesn't drink, smoke and do at least SOME drugs. He needs to be heel. Wrestling fans love pills and crack just like rasslers.

he's no longer pissed off and saying things that WE THINK make the suitdouches cringe. therefore, meh.

*sigh* KK stinks up another thread.

Good points have been made by some, though. Punk and Jericho have worked really hard to make this feud pretty cutting edge, but something is missing from it. I think it's just being overshadowed by names like The Rock and Brock Lesnar coming in and doing their thing. Punk and Jericho haven't really been the story.

Competing against Jericho in Chicago will hopefully light a fire under the Punk movement again. The dude is so over and has consistently delivered in his spot. I don't see him losing it any time soon, even though he does chase away the kiddies and the ladies (not the adult males, though). When Brock Lesnar decides he wants to be the WWE Champion, CM Punk will again be in the central storyline of the WWE, and that will make a difference to how he is perceived, I think.

The "kiddies" and "females" make up the vast majority of the audience. Catering to fat smarks is not the way to go, nor has it ever been. How's ROH been doing with that lol

What CM Punk needs is a little RVD.

These two posts combine basically explain it for me.

1. He's not the focus
2. He's not in control of the feud

Thinking about how The Rock and Austin used to come off in their feuds, they pretty much owned their opponents even if they lost the big match (rare). When they were face nobody ever seemed to get under their skin...or at least that's how I remember it.

I think I agree with what is being said about the Jericho feud...it is good, but only because it is two good characters and wrestlers coming together.

SCSA said in an interview very recently that what Punk is lacking is intensity and I can totally see that. This feud is corny and I don't really buy into any real emotions between the two. It looks like a thrown together reason to get the two of them in a ring.

Give him a story where fans can get involved...have him continue to laugh and make fun of things, then have him taken out by Lesnar, a realisation upon coming back that he needs to step up, get serious and get in peoples' faces, could give him that intensity and serious story which could push him over the top.

(And for the record, he was laughed at above, but the guy that said the theme change did him no favours, in my opinion, has a point. It is not a major deal, but it is a more relaxed theme and persona. Fire at least added that intensity upon his entrance and coming down to the ring)

Don't mind Noid. He's just here to stink up another thread. :p

The Rock lost quite a few big matches.

I think this highlights part of the reason the Rock is actually great and Punk is not.

The Rock and Austin also didn't really need to be forced as the focus; it came naturally.

Actually, we could probably come up with a top ten list of major ways Punk isn't even remotely close to the Rock and Austin.

Yeah, it always bugged me how Rock was constantly booked to not be able to back up his shit talk. It is a pretty bad formula for getting a face over in general.

Lost in the shuffle which to me is the norm whenever your WWE champion is NOT John Cena. I still enjoy CM Punk even though he hasn't been the focal point. I love his work in the ring and this stuff with Jericho is actually pretty interesting. I can actually point out ONE major way Punk isn't even remotely close to the Rock and Austin yet, and that's John Cena. If Cena was out of the picture, and CM Punk was the guy to take WWE to new heights, he would definately be up there with Austin/Rock. Atleast that is what I think.

it's plan & simple cm punk was being overshadowed by cena vs rock and now cena vs brock and it's not going to stop until it's cena vs punk again.

Even his feud with John Laurinaitis has been pushed out of the way for Johnny Ace to "feud" with Cena using Brock.

If Johnny Ace wanted to make Brock the face of the WWE, wouldn't it have made sense to go after the WWE champion, a dude who it is well known he already detested as champ? Instead of the dude who lost at Mania?

Ohhhh "toolbox", a box people put tools inside. I get it now Punk, when you called Johnny Ace a "toolbox" you were saying that he was like a pincushion for cocks.

It seems to me that there are two issues plaguing Punk right now:

1.) While he's still definitely solid on the mic, his promos have become boring and stale. I can see that they're trying to freshen Punk up by having him feud with Jericho and playing up the whole "Can Punk resist alcohol and stay 'straight edge' and retain the WWE Champion after everything Y2J has done to him in recent weeks?" angle, but it doesn't seem to be working nearly as well as planned.

2.) Punk seems to have also lost a lot of his charisma from last summer, when he started dropping "pipe bomb"s and fresh, creative promos that really got the fans drawn in. He was also pretty much at the peak of his in-ring performance at that point in time.

If Punk could find a way to rectify those issues, he'd go right back to being one of the TRULY best wrestlers in the world today.

You're going to make the fat virgins here cry. Stop it!