Thoughts on the CM Punk rumor

Yours truly made a ton of noise yesterday afternoon after hosting a Stage on my Discord server, during which I revealed a rumor about CM Punk that had been circulating in certain circles of the pro wrestling industry. I followed up with a Twitter thread and a post on the F4W Board for those who weren't able to hear the audio, and Wrestling Twitter quickly buzzed. I've been accused of fabricating a story out of thin air because of my strong dislike of WWE and CM Punk himself, and the typical Fedcels have come out in droves to Stand Up for WWE. 

I knew going public with a saucy rumor would invite personal attacks, but I'm a big boy who's capable of taking the hits. I'd like to take this opportunity not only to expand on what I heard (and when) but also to explain what I was hoping to gain from this. Let's jump right into it:

The WWE Pay Cut "Reporting"

I'm still pretty angry about how this was handled, though I have to accept that "off the record" means "off the record" (and, to be even more fair, it's something I often ask all of you to respect whenever I can't speak on specific matters). 

That being said, it's still an underreported story with potentially horrible ramifications for the future of the pro wrestling industry. We're talking about active performers choosing to accept as much as a 50% pay decrease for a company that often touts its fiscal dominance. It's something that could be disastrous for anyone looking to be employed by the company currently being sued for a multitude of sex crimes against women and children. 

Why I went public with the Punk story:

It genuinely sticks in my craw how these performers are so handled with kid gloves. These performers decided to accept pay cuts, yet they're shielded from public exposure for helping TKO set such an awful precedent. It's outrageous, and I am continuing my efforts to expose their identities. 

When I started to hear the Punk chatter, I grew frustrated with yet another "do not run" from multiple sources. I'm all for responsible journalism, but the amount of negatively slanted WWE-centric rumors I've heard over the years borders on being laughable. I'm sick of these types of stories popping up years later during softball interviews, where the talent can be significantly more guarded and careful with what they say. 

I totally understand and accept legitimate reasons to stay quiet on a story: an untimely death, a mental health crisis, family issues, legal issues, and so on. 

But why are we staying silent on this kind of rumor? Further, why does Punk deserve any sort of graciousness? Punk is a soft crybaby who has made things incredibly difficult for people across the entire pro wrestling spectrum. He's assaulted fans on camera, abandoned every single publicly stated conviction, and nearly brought a new promotion to its knees over pure stupidity. 

The answer was, "Well, it may not be true." Okay, great. Let's get that on the record, then. Let's find out what's noise versus legitimate news. 

The man has been absent from television for nearly two months, and one of his last on-air proclamations was that he wasn't going to take a vacation. Well, here we are. He's allegedly on the shelf, waiting to be brought back for a big marquee match at Summerslam -- or, depending on who you believe, creative doesn't have anything meaningful for him until later in the summer. 

I'm actually willing to believe they're intentionally icing him until then, even though it doesn't pass the sniff test. WWE is struggling. I'm not suggesting they are in any danger of dying (sadly), but they're clearly nowhere near their peak from a few years ago. Their PLEs have become ad-shares with 5 mediocre matches sprinkled in here and there. LA Knight, who was annoyingly all over my timeline a few years ago, is starting to air grievances publicly. 

Brian James recently said that working for WWE was no longer fun, and he even touched on TKO's genuinely evil greed as a contributing factor. Ariel Helwanni, who hosts a show on WWE's streaming partner ESPN, has repeatedly called the promotion "soulless." WrestleMania was built around two insufferable, MAGA-lovin' idiots. They didn't just fumble multiple retirement tours -- they were flat out terrible in nearly every way imaginable. 

NXT is the drizzingly shits. The malcontents they imported from AEW? One of them is back in AEW (and doing some of the best work in recent years), and the other was just released for a second time. Royce King was iced for months following his debut at The Royal Rumble; Blake Monroe has yet to debut on the main roster; Ricky Saints has yet to build any sort of connection with the WWE audience; and Rey Fenix essentially lived in catering prior to capturing one of the meaningless AAA titles. 

It's also a company that has struck out on massive free agent names such as Will Ospreay and Kazuchika Okada. Hell, I also revealed yesterday afternoon that Disney Streaming is very upset with how WWE has performed on their platform. 

So with all that said, it's difficult for me to believe that money-hungry TKO, who have absolutely zero respect for pro wrestling, would be okay with one of their (presumably) high-priced stars being iced because creative can't figure out how to reintroduce him to their television until the build toward Summerslam. It would make sense if he suffered an injury, but that doesn't appear to be the case (other than an old and beaten-up body needing more time to recover). 

But I do appreciate Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select choosing to address the rumor. It's what should become the norm. 

What is the exact rumor?

I can expand a bit more on the crux of the rumor: Punk was allegedly pressuring AJ Lee to change the finish of her WrestleMania match with Becky Lynch, which gained him heat with the "creative" forces. WrestleMania comes and goes, and it's sometime shortly after where he was allegedly asked - and declined- to take a pay cut. 

Note: I never said he accepted it, and immediately noted another source threw cold water on this particular aspect. 

The rumor continued with Punk and TKO entering into renegotiations of his deal, which allegedly turned so sour that Punk threatened legal action to secure his release from the company. 

Additionally, another source told me of another WWE star - someone who could conceivably be one of their World Champions - who was extremely frustrated and allegedly wants out. I was asked not to reveal this person's name, but I actually don't know if I buy this particular rumor for a multitude of reasons, mostly because they were presented with a very real opportunity to jump to AEW but ultimately decided to stay with the Epstein Class' favorite Sports Entertainment promotion. 

CM Punk vs. Cody Rhodes at Summerslam

A few people who heard a very similar rumor had also heard Punk was slated to face and beat Cody Rhodes for one of their World Titles at Summerslam. We'll see if that comes to fruition. 

What's with Disney Streaming?

The final piece of yesterday's puzzle: Disney Streaming is allegedly unhappy with WWE's performance on their ESPN+ platform. I did hear WrestleMania was their best performing PLE on the platform, but the gap between their performance and internal projections was "the size of the Grand Canyon," according to a source. 

Fightful Select Report

Sean Ross Sapp has released a report in which his WWE sources denied the rumor, which is ultimately what I was hoping for, because WWE must be challenged more. As stated above, Punk's absence simply doesn't pass the sniff test. The media should report more on credible rumors, even if they turn out to be false. 

I am sick and tired of WWE talent being so carefully guarded (evidently, except when they're in hotel rooms during WrestleMania weekend). We've fallen into this bizarre reality where discussing any unflattering rumor is akin to committing murder, and I frankly don't understand it. 

WWE talent are human beings who deserve basic respect and professional courtesy, yet they seemingly hold great power over the media...but that's a piece for another day. 

My DMs are open as always, and I'd be happy to answer any questions. Take care.