Why WWE Needs To Take The Biggest Risk EVER

by Michael Sidgwick
CM Punk
WWE

It felt like, were WWE to attempt to harness that energy more often, the “haters”, those who can’t sanction that synthetic, produced WWE quality irrespective of the story beats or the level of talent in the ring, might actually watch it more often. And those fans make up quite the number: WWE spent a huge chunk of the 2010s pissing a lot of people off to high heaven.

WWE could get even bigger, and prevent the post-WrestleMania doldrums, by being slightly less like WWE. The formality works for them, and only a fool would rip up a winning formula, but letting these madmen off the leash every once in a while really could do something. WWE shouldn’t do it too often, lest it die a cringe death of becoming a contrived “thing” unto itself, but that energy made almost everything else feel lightweight.

On CM Punk specifically, he badly needs to turn heel. He presents himself as a wholly unlikable megalomaniac, but one from which you cannot stop staring. Rewinding. He generates that which wrestling rarely can achieve: heat. The proper stuff. He is the best practitioner of a lost, vital art. It makes too much sense.

Punk obviously needs to work with Drew, to finish that story, but after that, he needs to enter a full-blown programme as a full-blown heel against Cody Rhodes.

Punk is the most perpetually gotten-to man in all of pro wrestling, and Cody did what Punk could never do. Punk’s psyche would be ill-equipped to deal with a weekly reminder that somebody changed pro wrestling in Chicago, and it wasn’t him.

But who wouldn’t want to watch that?

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!