TSC Evaluation #7: CM Punk

[El Cocodrilo]

I gave him a 9, dude totally saved the WWE... they would have just kept pushing Cena only and signing all these green fukks until the wheels fell off but Punk and then D.Bry changed that bullshyt system... its still fukkery but way better than 2009 wwe

i lost some respect for him after i saw his ufc fight because it became apparent how delusional he was when he got mollywhopped but still to me i got him at

mic 9
personality/gimmicks 9
ring work 9

not in my mount rushmore, but def one of my favorites

 

[The Girl From Innsmouth]

Moses didn't get to go into to the promised land. In the same way, Punk redefined what a WWE wrestler was but didn't get to benefit like the indie guys who followed him did.

10 out of 10.

 

[DANJ!]

I give him a 10.

On the mic, I feel he could've stood with literally anyone. the Pipe Bomb will always be known as his most famous, but there were definitely others before and after.

In the ring, he was dope AF... there weren't a lot of times that he was gonna have a match and it wasn't gonna be the standout on the card. And when he was in the ring with equally talented people, that shyt stole the show every time.

The greatest thing about Punk is that given the many things he had going against him once he got to WWE, he still became the "real" top guy in 2011-12. Even with their stupid shyt and the times where they cooled off what was the hottest thing they had in years, he was #1 in the fans' eyes. What makes it even better was that he got to that level despite some people not even thinking he was gonna make it on the roster in the first place.

 

[The Rainmaker]

I was expecting this to be more fukkery filled, but aight.

Good promos when motivated or shooting, sloppy in the ring but enjoyed his Cena match and maybe others I can't remember right now. They could've done much more with the Straight Edge Society, that was great. New Nexus sucked. Never liked those long ass indy matches with Joe and Hero many people praise.

He gets a 7.

 

[DougFunnY]

The most influential wrestler of this generation, for many reasons that have already been stated. His only flaw imo was his ring work was a bit sloppy at times. 9

 

[mrken12]

Just for a heads up, tomorrow's weekly thread will evaluate Lex Luger by an earlier request from @Ed MOTHERfukkING G

 

[Cartier Murphy]

I had a long post typed out but I lost it, so basically I'd put him at about an 9 overall.

-Mic work/promos - 10

Could talk the audience into the building. Sometimes gave long promos without them feeling long winded or pointless, and never lost the audience during them. Had one of the biggest moments of the last decade with the Pipebomb in Vegas and subsequent promos like the contract signing with Vince were just as great. The Straightedge promos he cut in 2009 were quality and his ROH heel turn before he left is a top 5 ROH moment. When some of your most notable work is not what you did in the ring but what was said on the mic, that proves you're among the elite. Right up there with Rock, Flair, etc.

-Personality/gimmicks - 8

One of the most relatable (for me) characters I've ever seen in wrestling. And a character that maybe had the most consistent motivations of any WWE character ever. His straightedge character had a lot of potential that never fully got realized in the WWE and his rebel against the system phase was obviously enduring.

-Ring work (along with some of your favorite matches/feuds) - 8

I would say his weakest category just because of his penchant to occasionally be sloppy, and doing moves he maybe shouldn't have. Nearly all of his matches with Cena were classics, and two are among my all time favorites. The Hardy feud was really fun. His Mania match with Taker is one of my all time favorites.
His Indy matches with Joe are highly revered even if they're not totally for me. The Raven feud is legendary. His final ROH run is insanely fun to watch.

-Overall rating (which doesn't have to be an average of the above scores) 9

Had you asked me this a few years ago, it'd have been a 10/10 easy. I was a HUGE mark for this guy for a long time. Growing up more and maturing made me relate to him less and his post WWE career has soured me on him a bit. His whole UFC debacle, from the delays to the ducktales to the actual fight, was embarrassing to watch, all things considered, and his ego about it was annoying, something I could overlook when he was still producing quality work in the WWE. Post Summerslam 13 on he was noticeably a shell of himself, which hurts his rating. One of my GOATS but not as higher up as he used to be.

 

[Mr. Negative]

Just for a heads up, tomorrow's weekly thread will evaluate Lex Luger by an earlier request from @Ed MOTHERfukkING G

hell nawl.

 

[mrken12]

hell nawl.

What's the problem?

 

[stro]

Oh man, I have a ton of Lex gifs. Should be a fun thread.

 

[Heelish]

Just for a heads up, tomorrow's weekly thread will evaluate Lex Luger by an earlier request from @Ed MOTHERfukkING G

Already TSC Rafters status

 

[Here Comes the Pain]

An 8.5 is appropriate.

Good in ring worker and good on the mic

He was never great to me. I think the hype around him made him look better than he actually was.

 

[T'Challa Trillmonger]

Punk did nothing to change wrestling. This idea that he was some kind of trail blazing dude is crazy to me. WWE's thing going back to the early/mid 80s has been "take stars that were hot in smaller promotions and make them superstars here". They gave Randy Savage, who was smaller than Bret and HBK, a year long title reign during the biggest era of WWE (size and money wise) after being a super hot star in the Memphis area, traditionally the least respected territory of the era. Then in the 90s, they went with Bret, HBK, and Austin, all "average" sized guys in comparison to previous champions.

The indies are the modern day analogues of the post territory era. Punk getting signed and getting a push is about as big of a deal as any random dude in 1986 getting signed and getting a push. Paul London and Spanky got signed years early and got big pushes as well, especially considering how small they were and how they couldn't cut promos. Bryan getting over like he did had nothing to do with Punk. NXT becoming essentially a super indie had nothing to do with Punk and everything to do with getting the biggest stars they could outside of WWE, which happen to be indie and Japan guys.

Being surprised Punk got the push he got is like being surprised that Macho or Rude or Warrior got the pushes they got. Punk was just following down the path Savage/Bret/HBK made for him. He was an extension of that. He cut down no paths for other wrestlers.

London, Spank and those of that era never got serious pushes beyond tag team/crusier-weight title level tho

I am of those that believe Punk and Bryan are the 2 main catalysts of WWE finally acknowledge the difference in time and era and removing the negative stigma in the compant of indy darlings. The two of them got over organically and were consistently cheered by the majority of the crowd, they resonated at a level that a London or Kendrick never did unfortunately. Even in terms of their ROH/indy creds, they were considered ROH top tier hall of fame level performers along with guys like Joe, AJ etc.

 

[Playaz Eyez]

Lex Luger coming up huh? Well since I'm feeling apathetic already, I'll have a fairly elaborate 6.5 explanation for him

 

[Rayzah]

Agreed with most of this. Would only add he was GREAT at making a feud meaningful when he was motivated enough (and had enough time) to do so.

When I think of Punk I always go back to that word, motivation. He's performances varied greatly depending on how motivated he was.

Exactly

Mic work 7.5
He had great promos, but outside the occasional pipe bomb he wasn't top tier like a rock or Austin so I can't rate him that high. It seems like he mailed in when things didn't go his way.

In ring 8
Although sloppy and that gts looked horrible most of the time. I felt like he could do almost any ground based move and had excellent ring psychiatry

Personally/gimmick 8

While he was very charismatic and a bright spot during what I call the dark ages. He wasn't really a gimmick he really is that smug straight edge mark for himself that he pretended to be. His exit from wrestling the way he did and the fact that he is still bitter about it turns me off. Like he could have got them to give him some time off if he really wanted. But anyway

You know what I have to bump the score up because of that summer of punk angle when he walked out with the title that was top tier stuff. There I say classic

Overall 7.5

He was great when he wanted to be but he is overrated by marks (IWC) because he didn't always go out to put on the best show depending on his mood. And his moveset was sloppy as fukk.