7 Better Ways WWE Could've Returned CM Punk
CM Punk has returned to wrestling in all the wrong ways. How could WWE have got it right?
"Just when they think they’ve got the answers, I change the culture."
That's the quote we got in a studio filled with a literal handful of people applauding. To say this was a bit odd for redebuting CM Punk is an understatement.
Yes, the deal is with Fox and not WWE. This was reiterated again on his return to Backstage.
There is no guarantee he will step foot back into a ring or do anything outside of this show for WWE again. But still, come on Vince.
Close down a couple of those XFL teams for a year and give that money to the crowd chanter loud banter Chick Magnet Philly Brooks.
I might have lost you there. My point was that if Fox was able to make the call to Brooks despite everything, why wasn't WWE? Maybe that'll pan out yet, but either way WWE Backstage feels like a waste of resources.
Drawing a putrid 49,000 viewers for the premiere, it seemed as if it were destined for WWE Network filler. Watching it now, despite great Punk-isms throughout, the show still feels like a hollow attempt at a SportsCenter WWE. Why one of the biggest returns in modern wrestling was allowed to occur here is baffling.
It raises an eyebrow when you consider that not long ago, it seemed like Punk coming back to wrestling at all was impossible, let alone for WWE. And weeks into the schedule after it already began? Even more impossible.
Which raises the question: why not...
7. Have Him On WWE Backstage From The Start
It is worth stating once more: 49,000 viewers for the premiere episode.
WWE does not normally taste that level of failure, but their botching of delivering any hype on the show was too egregious not to pan out this way.
Despite the huge promotion for SmackDown, little mention was made of WWE Backstage on Fox or by WWE. This ramped up a little more as the debut neared and around the time of the draft, but a full network show was still treated lesser than or equal to a WWE Network special.
The timing was all wrong as well, both in the time slot and premiere date. Coming over a month after the jump to Fox, the first official episode aired on 5 November. This is after the numbers were already declining for SmackDown, the show they spent massive amounts of promotion and marketing dollars on already. Why they thought this show would succeed off of the WWE name alone in a graveyard slot is beyond me.
If CM Punk would have been announced alongside Renee Young as was rumored from the beginning, this would have been a game changer. None of the other details would've mattered. Hell, if you could've gotten the deal done prior to SmackDown's debut, the viewership for THAT may have gone up. That is the power of suggestion, folks.
The timing is simply baffling, but the real sticking point is of course: why bring him back this way? So let's start fantasy booking some better ideas.