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There's been an article floating around the internet about Punk leaving WWE.

http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/headlines ... ng_WWE.php

Obviously you have to take this with the obvious caveats that these internet wrestling journalists are wrong 90% of the time. Having said that, this reminds me a lot of RVD. Punk has been on the main roster for five years and the only times he's been injured he was still on TV. So he's basically been on the road non-stop the last five years. Easy to get burned out that way. And while he's got a good spot I don't think he'll ever be one of the top 2-3 guys in the company. I don't think they see him as the kind of guy who can go on Leno and Conan ala The Miz and especially Cena. I stumbled upon a Colt Cabana podcast from last August where he was talking to Punk. And Punk was careful not to badmouth the WWE in an overt manner but it seemed pretty clear that he felt that they didn't put nearly the effort into marketing him whether it was through tv appearances, movies, tv shows as they could.

I could see him taking time off. But he wouldn't leave WWE for TNA. He would be like Jericho, the guy could have a contract whenever he wants.

The Punk-RVD analogy wasn't to imply that Punk would go to TNA. I mentioned RVD because he left because he was burned out whereas Jericho's primary reason appeared to be to focus on music and his book. Plus there was an almost 3 year gap between RVD leaving WWE and joining TNA. So he didn't really leave for TNA.

How do you get burned out with today's schedule? Wrestlers had a grueling schedule many years back but today it is so much easier. Matches on Raw tend to be short so basically it's a few house shows and one big Pay-Per-View match(many of which aren't generally longer than 15 minutes). I hope it's not true as he will be missed.

Celtsfan1980 wrote:How do you get burned out with today's schedule? Wrestlers had a grueling schedule many years back but today it is so much easier. Matches on Raw tend to be short so basically it's a few house shows and one big Pay-Per-View match(many of which aren't generally longer than 15 minutes). I hope it's not true as he will be missed.

It's not the actual wrestling, it's the traveling. One week you're in Chicago, then the next Boston. The weeks of house shows, you'll be in a different place every other day. That would be very grueling.

Edit to add: Cliff Levingston doesn't blame Punk for being upset with his position. He's better than both Del Rio and the Miz yet is behind them in the heel totem pole. He's so flippin' awesome that he should be at the top of the card but he isn't.

Del Rio and Miz being ahead of Punk is probably the best example of WWE's current priorities. Miz is ahead of Punk because he's better doing the mainstream shows, and ADR is ahead of him so that they can appeal to the hispanic audience. A guy like Punk who because of his persona and that he is, admittedly, not the warmest persona doesn't have the crossover appeal of Miz and he's a white guy unlike ADR.

If Punk leaves I'll be pretty pissed off. He's one of the main reasons I still watch Raw faithfully.

Damn, i don't for sure, but wasn't Punk dating that hot girl Maria at one point? Now he's going with Beth? really? She could probably beat him up if she wanted too., haha

Cliff Levingston wrote:

Celtsfan1980 wrote:How do you get burned out with today's schedule? Wrestlers had a grueling schedule many years back but today it is so much easier. Matches on Raw tend to be short so basically it's a few house shows and one big Pay-Per-View match(many of which aren't generally longer than 15 minutes). I hope it's not true as he will be missed.

It's not the actual wrestling, it's the traveling. One week you're in Chicago, then the next Boston. The weeks of house shows, you'll be in a different place every other day. That would be very grueling.

I thought the traveling schedule was much, much more hectic back in the 1980's than it is today. Ric Flair claims he traveled 100,000 miles in one year. What wrestler today has done close to that?

Guys like Ric were traveling 300 days a year. Guys like Punk are traveling 200-250 days a year. It is a significantly lighter schedule, but if you're on the road 4-5 days a week for 5 years like Punk has its still easy to get burned out.

Better not. Big reason why I watched raw.

Punk is pretty much the only reason I started to watch wrestling again. His personality/mic skills/move set is unmatched by any heel in the company and he is one of the only wrestlers in the WWE to make others look better. I see him putting Mason Ryan over before he heads out for awhile to take a little break. Hopefully he's back in time to start a feud with someone before Mania.

Stanford wrote:

id hit it, there is something about her though to me...shes not that great looking, maybe its the fact she can wrap her legs around my head and crush it

Update on Punk at this LINK.

The hold-up on a long-term deal is Vince wanting Punk to sign the rights to his name over to the WWE.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Stuff like that is why Mcmahon is a prick and alot of good wrestlers have no desire to work for him

It's also a shrewd business move. I'd be willing to bet Vince isn't losing any sleep because some wrestlers don't want to work for him. Where else will they go? The only other promotion with a TV deal is TNA and they use talent just as poorly as WWE, if not worse.

Its a small fire but I think Vince is still playing with fire. Punk has a very, very loyal following and its a different following than the one Jeff Hardy had. Hardy was extremely popular within the confines of the WWE roster but once he leaves those confines his popularity dissipates significantly. I think a lot of Punk's fans go with him wherever he goes. And then he's obviously a much, much, much more dependable and better worker than Hardy.

And then there's my view that if the two companies were on equal, or near equal, footing and Punk were a free agent I think the better move would be TNA. WWE's got a few guys that can really work but almost all of them are mid-carders. TNA's got quite a few top-level guys that can keep up with Punk on the mic and in the ring, Robert Roode, The Pope, Kurt Angle, Samoa Joe and a couple of guys that probably can't keep up with him on the mic but can in the ring in Styles and RVD.

I think TNA would give Punk pretty much full creative control over his charachter like they've done with Angle. And I think about Punk feuding with some of those guys and it's extremely unlikely but some of those feuds have the potential to be very, very special. In five years no one will be talking about the John Cena-Miz feud but a Robert Roode-CM Punk feud, its a lot more likely.

When I look at TNA over the past few years they keep trying to catch lightning in a bottle by doing these big angles. Getting Punk and having a long feud with someone that's can keep up with him in the ring and on the mic, its not likely but it could happen.

safi wrote:Hardy was extremely popular within the confines of the WWE roster but once he leaves those confines his popularity dissipates significantly. I think a lot of Punk's fans go with him wherever he goes.

I don't see it. If those fans are new to TNA, they'll probably give it a try for a few weeks, maybe months. I doubt it makes them lifetime fans though. There's lots of wrestlers I love to watch on TNA, but you couldn't pay me to watch Impact week after week.

Stanford wrote:

safi wrote:Hardy was extremely popular within the confines of the WWE roster but once he leaves those confines his popularity dissipates significantly. I think a lot of Punk's fans go with him wherever he goes.

I don't see it. If those fans are new to TNA, they'll probably give it a try for a few weeks, maybe months. I doubt it makes them lifetime fans though. There's lots of wrestlers I love to watch on TNA, but you couldn't pay me to watch Impact week after week.

I'm not necessarily saying they would. But getting someone to watch your show is the hardest thing. Right now is the time of the year when a bunch of TV shows are getting cancelled. And there are a few examples to the contrary, The Event being an obvious one, but for the most part the shows that got cancelled especially the first year shows were over before they started. They were either not marketed well enough prior to there premiere and/or they just didn't pique the interests of enough people prior to there premiere. You very rarely see a show that didn't premiere with strong ratings but is able to then expand that audience.

I bring this up because getting CM Punk would probably grow your audience. After that the onus is on you to keep that audience, but you've already done the hardest part.