WWE Payback Review: Analyzing 5 Biggest Talking Points

3. CM Panting

The match that most were looking forward to prior the event was the return of CM Punk against one of his greatest ever opponents, Chris Jericho. The build-up for the match had been rather stilted due to the absence of Punk, and so it was left for Jericho and Paul Heyman to create tension for the match. But, as soon as Punk entered the arena and the crowd went crazy, you knew that this was going to be an awesome encounter. However, despite the quality and drama that this match provided in spades, as you would expect due to the immense work ethic of both wrestlers, purists across the watching audience would get the impression that Punk looked exhausted, and at certain points it was pretty apparent that Jericho was carrying Punk back into the action. The rest stops were frequent, but fortunately they were surrounded by moments of classic interaction between the two Best in the Worlds. My question is not so much how WWE let Punk wrestle in a high-profile match looking this out of shape, but rather was this the impression that they were intending to translate to the audience? If the commentary team were picking up on the tiredness of Punk, it is quite likely that he was feigning his fatigue for dramatic effect, rather than being genuinely off his best. Why would this be in anyway useful? Well, Punk has obviously had a long lay-off from the business after his loss to the Undertaker, and came into this match with little story behind it or for the near future. But his somewhat stilted performance and the less than positive interaction between Punk and Heyman may be a foundation to bring about the split between the two and the return of Punk to his babyface role. That is just my opinion, but I think it is too easy to believe that Punk was actually out of shape. A perfectionist such as him would not have taken such an extensive amount of time off without some care taken to ensure his return was a special occasion.