The CM Punk Movement Was Over Before It Began
In November 2001, Vince McMahon was completely out of ideas and quitefranklynotwithstanding, out of patience. He turned, listlessly at the last, to Paul Heyman.
With the Invasion story as good as dead - "I'm sick of this Alliance crap, this Invasion crap" was McMahon's worked shoot challenge for that year's Survivor Series - the company allowed the future 'Advocate' time to cut a bollocking-dressed-as-a-promo of his own on the go-home SmackDown. The ex-ECW gaffer spat scalding hot truths in a noble effort to add some last minute heat to an ice cold angle.
He incinerated McMahon to his reaction-less face with references to his late Father along with several of the bodies and minds broken by The Chairman's rampantly capitalistic approach. This strategy wasn't necessary back in July when the feud first started, but the booking had strangled all the novelty out of the programme. Heyman's refreshing realism was required here, just as Punk's was several years later.
Both men, united in an obvious distaste for a man and his methods. Permitted to creatively flex those distastes by...making money for that man and his methods. No matter how much they tried to change the game, neither could win it. It was rigged against them from the beginning.
CONT'D...