Dante, The Voc
Main Eventer
If I'm not online, I'm on the toilet
Joined on: Dec 5, 2010 9:48:02 GMT -5
Posts: 1,374
|
Post by Dante, The Voc on Oct 29, 2013 18:19:10 GMT -5
CM Punk was white-hot as a face following the "Pipebomb/Contract Dispute" summer of 2011, and turned a heel in summer 2012. Since we've had a half a year to digest the entire CM Punk heel turn as a whole, how well do you think it was played out? Were there missed opportunities during the timeframe? Let's get a quick recap.
Raw 1000: Lays out The Rock, Jerry Lawler accuses him of turning his back on the WWE Universe. Summerslam '12: Beats Big Show and Cena cheapishly. Raw (August-October): Disrespects and fights legends from Vince McMahon to Jim Ross. Fights Jerry Lawler in a bloody cage match. Night of Champions '12: Fights Cena to a draw in Boston, lays him out, cementing his heel status. Hell in a Cell '12: Acquires a cheap HiAC win over the undefeated Ryback. Survivor Series '12: Beats Cena and Ryback with help from the debuting Shield. Raw 1/7/13: Proclaims his deity-like status while in a heated promo with The Rock. Royal Rumble + EC '13: Loses to The Rock, along with his 434-day WWE Title reign. Wrestlemania 29: Loses a classic vs. The Undertaker, culminating weeks of disrespect toward the late Paul Bearer.
Personally, until he came back from the minor injury in January Punk was boring. The only way he could get legitimate heat was through cowardly acts, and that led to some repetitive "I demand respect" promos and lack of Punk competition week in and week out. His matches on the PPV stage were still stellar, however. The confronations with legends from Bret to Foley were really good and gave you a feeling of a fantasy match--you wished that Bret or Foley would be next to challenge for his belt.
I consider his entire work on the 1/7/13 Raw to be better than his Pipebomb promo, and he showed he can handle the stick with (hell, better) than the likes of The Rock. His matches with Rocky were pretty good, and the gradual split from Paul Heyman began to surface. Then he had a great feud with Undertaker, although without Paul's unfortunate death there wouldn't have been much practical build-up at all. His WM match this year stole the show (on an average card) and was definitely Match of the Night, definitely the best PPV match of 2013 IMO.
Overall, I thought the heel Punk project was good, but there were some flaws. It was boring and repetitive early on to have Punk come out and say that he demands respect week after week. They had great ideas with the legends coming in, but the execution wasn't necessarily all there. The WWE was (and still is, go figure) in need of finding a top heel, someone that anyone'll pay money to see get beat. Just like Orton and Trips now, Punk was too big of a face for too long to be able to get real heat from the entire audience. His match quality work was top notch, though as always.
The question's there. I'd love to hear your input on the heel Punk project.
|
|
|
Post by ASR (therockisback) on Oct 29, 2013 18:29:16 GMT -5
The days of Punk/Heyman were always gold. Without those two in 2012 Raw would have been unwatchable. Punk's current face run is much better then his previous one since these days he isn't such a cheesy ass kisser. The time he went crazy on that fan not long ago was the best thing hes ever done since his return.
|
|
Arthur Speaks
Main Eventer
Writer
Joined on: Aug 9, 2012 11:42:20 GMT -5
Posts: 1,726
|
Post by Arthur Speaks on Oct 29, 2013 18:57:42 GMT -5
If it wasn't for Punk's mic work and in-ring work, this heel turn would've been terrible. He just came off like a stereotypical coward most of the time.
|
|
|
Post by hbkbigdaddycool on Oct 29, 2013 19:13:21 GMT -5
The heel turn really made no sense. It wasn't needed at all. And I know it took a while for fans to actually realize Punk was a heel and accept it.
I would have rather seen Punk lose the WWE Title as a face, and go heel on a quest to win it back, then him turning heel just so he could drop it to The Rock, so he could drop it to Cena.
It felt like Punk's title reign didn't mean anything, cause he was just holding it so he could lose it to Rock, and that it was a huge slap to the face of every Punk fan that put their emotion and time into enjoying Punk's reign.
|
|
Arthur Speaks
Main Eventer
Writer
Joined on: Aug 9, 2012 11:42:20 GMT -5
Posts: 1,726
|
Post by Arthur Speaks on Oct 29, 2013 19:20:48 GMT -5
The heel turn really made no sense. It wasn't needed at all. And I know it took a while for fans to actually realize Punk was a heel and accept it. I would have rather seen Punk lose the WWE Title as a face, and go heel on a quest to win it back, then him turning heel just so he could drop it to The Rock, so he could drop it to Cena. It felt like Punk's title reign didn't mean anything, cause he was just holding it so he could lose it to Rock, and that it was a huge slap to the face of every Punk fan that put their emotion and time into enjoying Punk's reign. I wholeheartedly agree with this. After turning heel at RAW 1000, his title reign was on a feeding tube.
|
|
|
Post by cordless2016 on Oct 29, 2013 19:39:05 GMT -5
It made no sense considering his character called himself the best in the world. He went from a face would take on any challenge to a generic coward heel who ran from Cena and Ryback and then had the Shield doing his dirty business. Heyman and Punk were enjoyable when giving promos but come match time his character made no sense. It also solidified him as the #2 guy behind Cena.
|
|
|
Post by CMPUNKISGOOD on Oct 29, 2013 19:59:23 GMT -5
Good but had low points
|
|
|
Post by Brad on Oct 29, 2013 22:05:21 GMT -5
The days of Punk/Heyman were always gold. Without those two in 2012 Raw would have been unwatchable. Punk's current face run is much better then his previous one since these days he isn't such a cheesy ass kisser. The time he went crazy on that fan not long ago was the best thing hes ever done since his return. Totally agree Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using proboards
|
|
|
Post by Booger Red on Oct 29, 2013 22:46:07 GMT -5
Punk's promo work as a heel was excellent, however, I always believed that Punk shouldn't have ever turned heel in the first place. As Cordless pointed out, Punk went from the guy who fought all comers and didn't compalin about it to generic cowardly heel champion #72.Hell, Punk had to resort to using cheap heat tactics to get the crowd to boo him. In fact, his whole title reign was mostly Punk playing second fiddle to Cena. It's absolutely sad how Punk and Bryan had a great match for the WWE Championship at Over The Limit in 2012 and the main event of that show was Cena vs JOHN LAURINAITIS!
I've felt that if WWE would have still went with Punk giving Rocky the GTS to end the show, I think WWE should of had Punk as a tweener, and if they were dead set on turning Punk heel, it should have happened in the Royal Rumble with Punk getting help from Paul Heyman to retain the title over The Rock. You would have Cena win the Rumble and from there, they can set the Triple Threat match between Punk, Rock, and Cena for the WWE Championship as the main event.
|
|
|
Post by Jack on Oct 30, 2013 2:56:03 GMT -5
His heel promo work is very good. His promo on The Rock before the Rumble was excellent and stands out to me.
|
|
Deleted
Joined on: May 2, 2024 21:20:08 GMT -5
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 30, 2013 4:37:36 GMT -5
It was watchable. I'm just glad that Ambrose got called up because of Punk's heel turn. Definitely the highlight of the heel turn. And I loved the NOC match against Cena. Smart finish.
|
|
|
Post by punksnotdead on Oct 30, 2013 7:49:58 GMT -5
The only real low points were him getting hurt and him not getting at least one win over The Rock imo. I thought everything Punk did as a heel was pretty great. He doesn't control where he gets put on the card or who he feuds with, but everything that he could control was good stuff. His heel turn on The Rock at Raw 1000 was one of my favorite turns of all time. Plus, I think all of that made him the babyface that he is now. Punk is an awesome face now and that was something he looked uncomfortable with during his early days with the WWE Title.
Punk's greatest heel work to-date was from the Hardy feud in 09 through the SES run. I wish they would let that stuff go on around the WWE Title but Punk was pretty much doing what he wanted on Smackdown because it was the B show and no one payed too much attention to him back then. So when we get a more generic heel Punk, it's hard not to compare what he is doing versus what he is capable of doing imo. I do wish they would have made him look a bit more strong and a little less chicken sh*t.
|
|
|
Post by greenjack1992 on Oct 30, 2013 8:03:01 GMT -5
Good with low points.
|
|
|
Post by HVMMONS on Oct 30, 2013 8:32:14 GMT -5
The only real low points were him getting hurt and him not getting at least one win over The Rock imo. I thought everything Punk did as a heel was pretty great. He doesn't control where he gets put on the card or who he feuds with, but everything that he could control was good stuff. His heel turn on The Rock at Raw 1000 was one of my favorite turns of all time. Plus, I think all of that made him the babyface that he is now. Punk is an awesome face now and that was something he looked uncomfortable with during his early days with the WWE Title. Punk's greatest heel work to-date was from the Hardy feud in 09 through the SES run. I wish they would let that stuff go on around the WWE Title but Punk was pretty much doing what he wanted on Smackdown because it was the B show and no one payed too much attention to him back then. So when we get a more generic heel Punk, it's hard not to compare what he is doing versus what he is capable of doing imo. I do wish they would have made him look a bit more strong and a little less chicken sh*t. I 100% agree
|
|
|
Post by tg11 on Oct 30, 2013 8:34:39 GMT -5
Love Punk better as a heel than as a face
|
|
TheHotshot
Superstar
Joined on: Jun 4, 2013 12:01:46 GMT -5
Posts: 775
|
Post by TheHotshot on Oct 30, 2013 8:43:25 GMT -5
I have no idea why they turned Heyman against Punk! His entire documentary was Punk saying how Heyman was solely responsible for Punks success etc and then they totally destroy that by turning Heyman against Punk. If they wanted Punk as face and Heyman as heel they could have just faded Heyman away rather than creating a big storyline between the two! Them two were gold together and it makes my blood boil watching them two fight.
|
|
RollinsFan44
Main Eventer
12 UK Classifieds Refs.
Joined on: Feb 27, 2013 13:05:53 GMT -5
Posts: 4,160
|
Post by RollinsFan44 on Oct 30, 2013 8:47:19 GMT -5
Bad with some high points.
|
|
|
Post by J12 on Oct 30, 2013 9:47:37 GMT -5
Some of it was okay, but for the most part, I didn't enjoy it. Punk is a great heel, but there's absolutely no reason for him to be a coward when he's in that role. He has a naturally villainous personality that would have gotten him plenty of heat. They didn't need to make it a point to have him cheat to win every single match he was involved in and constantly whine. The whining is what really got to me, especially after everything they'd done with him the year prior.
|
|
|
Post by jessem52 on Oct 30, 2013 9:50:00 GMT -5
Don't get me wrong I thought his promos where still good but I just got tired of him being the generic cocky/cowardly heel that demands respect every single week.
|
|
|
Post by Punk on Oct 30, 2013 9:57:48 GMT -5
|
|