As entertaining as CM Punk has consistently been since joining WWE (actually, since ever), there was something lacking following his comeback at Payback 2013. He was still the same top-rate in ring performer, but his promos, once arguably the best and most original in the entire industry, began to feel tired and repetitive. The programs he was working didn't help matters, of course. As exciting as his feud with Brock Lesnar got (at times), it felt like things were too evenly-matched -- painting Punk as more of a hopeless underdog might have enhanced the program. From there, he went on to feud with Curtis Axel and Ryback -- sure, it was under the guise of a war with Paul Heyman, but the matches were a waste of Punk and did nothing for any of the men. To make matters worse, verbal sparring with Heyman only hammered home how far removed Punk was from his performance the previous year. Overall, his character work was half-hearted, a sure sign that what had been a passion had become a job.
Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried.
*Best Crowd of the Year, 2013
