The real, painful, uncomfortable truth that all us Punk fans don't want to confront. Even if this whole situation is fixed, if Punk changes his mind and wants to come back, if WWE are willing to forgive him for walking out and renew his contract again, if this all goes away and the fans forgive him and the wrestlers in the back all agree to call it water under the bridge and everything is absolutely rosy. The fact remains that in the next few years, Punk is going to leave anyway. Punk has gone on record as saying that he wants to go out at the top of his game, and that he doesn't want to be still wrestling well into his 40s like so many others. And he should be commended for that, really. Its admirable that he doesn't want to be another Hulk Hogan or Ric Flair who continue to wrestle despite long being past it. Whether he would stay on as an announcer or on air personality, who knows? I'd like to think so, he was very funny during his stint behind the announce table. But I cant see it being that likely, Punk is the kind of guy who when the time is right says "Right, I've made my money, I've done everything I wanted to do, I'm out". So why should WWE bend over backwards to bring back this guy who will only be around for another two or three years tops? In the past week, WWE showed the whole world how committed they are to the future when they made NXT ArRIVAL the first live broadcast on the WWE Network (the review of which can be read here) where most people saw for the very first time the talents of Sami Zayn, Adrian Neville and others. Besides that, they have guys on the main roster right now who are just destined for the main event picture in Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, Bray Wyatt, Cesaro, Big E, Roman Reigns etc. They are not going to struggle for main eventers in the future, so as much as we all love Punk, does it really make sense, financially or otherwise, to struggle to keep him around for a little bit longer when you have younger guys who are just as talented as he is, ready and eager to take his spot? Despite all I've said in this, I'm still a CM Punk fan, and a big part of me would love to see him back in a WWE ring. But when you take everything into account, when you put yourself in the mindset of Vince McMahon who's always trying to think three years ahead, when you're really honest with yourself.... Is a CM Punk return really best for business? Let me know your thoughts (and potential hate mail and hurtful remarks) in the comments section!
Stephen Maher has been a rock star, a bouncer, a banker and a busker on various streets in various countries. He's hung out with Robert Plant, he was at Nelson Mandela's birthday and he's swapped stories with prostitutes and crack addicts. He once performed at a Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras by accident. These days, he passes the time by writing about music, wrestling, games and other forms of nerdery. And he rarely drinks the blood of the innocent.
