WWE: 10 Questions You Most Want Answered (March 8)

7. Will CM Punk's Absence Hurt WWE?

From @bdc038: Do you think the absence of @CMPunk on Monday will eventually lead to more people tuning out the product?

I don't think WWE has to worry about fans tuning out the product. Nobody is bigger than the company. As much as I like Punk, he's not the biggest star on the show. John Cena is. If Cena left the company in the same manner and had no interest in coming back then that might turn off some fans. I don't think Punk can have that effect that it will hurt WWE much at all. The other argument for people tuning in or out of the product is that fans may tune in more just for the possibility of Punk showing up unannounced somewhere. We don't know when he might come back or if he does at all, so that uncertainty is something WWE can use to their advantage. Look at what they did at Raw. They played his music. He didn't come out. They used Paul Heyman in the segment as a way to get massive heal heat and then turned into a way to promote the Lesnar/Undertaker match. It was a brilliant way of playing on the emotions of the fans and pissing them off at the same time. CM Punk is a great performer that makes the WWE product better, but I don't think his absence will hurt WWE in terms of viewers too much. The machine rolls on.