On one hand, not having CM Punk at WrestleMania may end up being a good thing. With his departure, someone had to take his planned match against Triple H. That man ended up being Daniel Bryan, which actually makes a lot more sense. It was Bryan who was screwed over again and again throughout the course of the year by his boss and not Punk. Not long ago, Bryan was scheduled to take on a heel Sheamus in their third WrestleMania go-around. Due to Bryan's overwhelming popularity, that slot on the card was well beneath him. So things have worked out very well for one talent, but it can't be denied that WrestleMania is a little less exciting without The Second City Saint. Not only is WWE missing one of their biggest stars this year with Punk gone, but he's also been one of their most reliable WrestleMania performers. Last year he stole the show with The Undertaker, and the year before that he had a solid WWE Championship match with Chris Jericho. Punk has also won Money in the Bank at Mania XXIV and XXV, and could potentially have created another classic Mania match this year. Unfortunately, his dream was to headline a WrestleMania, and this was not his year. Whatever he was booked to do, he wasn't happy with it and he went home. And unless WWE and Punk decide to find common ground, we may never see him perform at another WrestleMania.
As Rust Cohle from True Detective said "Life's barely long enough to get good at one thing. So be careful what you're good at."
Sadly, I can't solve a murder like Rust...or change a tire, or even tie a tie. But I do know all the lyrics to Hulk Hogan's "Real American" theme song and can easily name every Natural Born Thriller from the dying days of WCW. I was once ranked 21st in the United States in Tetris...on the Playstation 3 version...for about a week.
Follow along @AndrewSoucek and check out my podcast at wrestlingwithfriends.com
