Report: Big Push and Promotion Of CM Punk Planned

Just to dispell any lingering doubt that Punk has had his 5 minutes of fame....

According to PWInsider, that while CM Punk may have lost momentum since his the summer because he has been put on the back burner, sources claim that this isn't the case.

WZ had an exclusive about CM Punk becoming the new number one in merchandise sales. It seems that this surprised the WWE but also impressed them. The company wants to find ways to capitalize on the CM Punk popularity. Talk of WWE Studos looking for projects for him also a possibility of a CM Punk book because the WWE has decreased the amount of books they have put out recently.

More CM Punk merchandise is expected along with a big part of WWE's plan in 2012. CM Punk will be heavily featured in pay-per-views and all WWE programming. The report claims that WWE will be going "full blown" when it comes to CM Punk.

The plan still remains for Punk to headline several PPV's with WWE Champion Alberto Del Rio. If and when John Cena gets involved is not yet known but WWE wants build sympathy for CM Punk when he loses as they grow to something much bigger.

Personally my gut instinct is that Punk will absolutely no question win the Royal Rumble.

I just hope he'll stay as an anti-heel/tweener rather than fully face

He's not a tweener though, he is a full on babyface.

sounds like a wm title win

WWE going back to traditional wrestling booking of making the heel look strong so that when Punk is finally able to win it will be huge? I hope so. Also hope that whomever wins the RR this year will actually be able to win the big one at WM.

If Punk was to win the RR then surely it means the WWE title won't be on either Rock or Cena at WM?

MIG wrote:If Punk was to win the RR then surely it means the WWE title won't be on either Rock or Cena at WM?

No, I would imagine that it would be a non-title match.

Then again, I have heard a rumour (WrestleZone I believe) that the WWE want the face team at SS to be HHH, Cena, Rock, Punk and Austin with Cena v Rock and Punk v Austin then facing off at WM. The alternative is apparently for Taker to be involved. Either way it looks as though Punk is firmly in the very top bracket of the WWE if he is to be competing with those guys.

JoshSansom wrote:

MIG wrote:If Punk was to win the RR then surely it means the WWE title won't be on either Rock or Cena at WM?

No, I would imagine that it would be a non-title match.

Then again, I have heard a rumour (WrestleZone I believe) that the WWE want the face team at SS to be HHH, Cena, Rock, Punk and Austin with Cena v Rock and Punk v Austin then facing off at WM. The alternative is apparently for Taker to be involved. Either way it looks as though Punk is firmly in the very top bracket of the WWE if he is to be competing with those guys.

If that is true, would that not be overkill? Yes I know Rock v Cena and Punk v Austin (with maybe Undertaker v ???? streak match) would be a great card (not to mention the WHC match). But would it not be better to do Punk v Austin in 2013 at wrestlemania?

And where would Del Rio and HHH feature? I still think there will be a Vince v HHH match at WM this year, or at least Vince represented by someone. I thought this would have been Punk myself, but he would be tied up with Austin.

xTwistx - really not sure, after all it is only a rumour. Arguably they card would be too top heavy in this format though Austin has maintained that if he returned he would want to face CM Punk.

The alternative would be fore ADR and Punk to face for the WWE title (hopefully with ADR keeping it until then), Orton v someone for the WHC, streak match, Cena v Rock and something involving HHH and McMahon.

Then again, if they went for ADR v Punk with Vince in ADR's corner and HHH in Punk's then they could do a HHH heel turn on Punk a la WM16 on Rock.

That seems the most likely outcome. Im sure the current storyline is building up to a Vince return.

In my opinion I would not have Taker back at all this WM. I would have it in 2013 with a Punk v Austin main event. I don't know what Austin's film considerations need to be taken into account, but logistics wise it would be better having it in 2013.

Then have Undertaker v Cena as well, unless a bigger name either gets pushed (unlikely) or appears. The Sting rumours may surface again, and maybe Hogan (god help us) would be interested. For me, Cena v Taker looks the only viable option.

I can see Hogan getting a farewell WM match next year against someone who will job to him, maybe a Big Show or someone else that he has faced before.

I have always said that I can see Taker now being at WM28 and waiting a year - though this is not an opinion held by many! That said I am not sure if the WWE would want Cena to lose to Undertaker and I don't think that the streak will be broken. That is why I don't see it happening, just in the same way as Taker never faced Austin, Rock, Michaels, Hart etc in their prime in the 90s.

In terms of fantasy booking I would love to see HHH v Austin at WM as (as far as I remember) they have never met at the big one.

Without turning this into another streak conversation it all boils down to whether or not you think Taker should lose it or not. I don't see the harm in Cena losing to Taker, in fact the streak has got to the point where it would be expected.

In regards to CM Punk and WM, I am going to go with Punk v ADR (Punk winning the rumble), Cena v Rock, Orton v ????? for WHC (undecided, as I don't think Henry will hold til WM) and HHH v Vince (control of WWE match)

One thing is for certain. I think "Phil" will have a very busy 2012, 2013 and beyond.

Unless there is a definite reason to see the Streak end I don't think that they will do so. It is worth too much in WM merchandise, books, DVDs etc for it to end. In terms of who he faces and where they go with it I suppose it depends on how the landscape looks at the time. Taker can't beat the company's #1 guy though, it makes the whole organisation look weak so until they have a true rival to Cena in that respect I think that they need to keep those two apart.

I think that they need to decide whether it is to be a legends match, or a old v young match in future. The issue is whether or not two older guys can last a 20 min + match and the potential damage it would do to the younger competitor if they lose to Taker (depending on scripting of course).

Personally I think that they had Taker v Edge too early, I would have built up his streak to be huge and then have had them compete (barring his injury of course).