In 2011, Punk delivered his "Pipe Bomb" promo during the final moments of the June 27 episode of Monday Night Raw. In the midst of John Cena's domination of WWE, Punk spoke the truth. A truth that hadn't hit the live broadcast in many years.
("I've grabbed so many of Vincent K. McMahon's imaginary brass rings that it's finally dawned on me that they're just that. Completely imaginary.") -CM Punk, June 11, 2011
After that promo, the internet exploded. The sports world exploded. Everyone was talking about CM Punk and what he said on live television. He trashed the McMahon family. In essence, he questioned why hard work doesn't translate into success on WWE TV.
At this point in Punk's career, he truly believed that he was leaving the company the next month. There was nothing that could keep him under the WWE umbrella. But things changed. Everyone that follows professional wrestling or WWE knows the story of the conversation Punk had with Joey Mercury. In short, Mercury told him that he couldn't change anything within WWE from his couch in Chicago. Punk re-signed with the company and won the WWE Championship from John Cena at the Money In The Bank PPV in July. It was a moment that no one saw coming. It blurred the lines between script and reality. Wrestling was alive again. For many, CM Punk was the man that resurrected it.
Then things seemed to skew. Punk's momentum seemed to be halted, almost intentionally. The angle was so hot that it seemed like the only logical direction was to go with Punk. The best way to describe the rest of 2011 is WWE went with Punk, but at the same time, didn't. Inexplicably, Punk lost to Triple H in a no disqualification match at Night of Champions in September of that year. He was then involved in a tag team match, facing off against the Miz and R-Truth at the following PPV, Vengeance. Questions remain to this day. Why derail the momentum of a man that nearly turned the wrestling world upside down just months earlier? Why give Triple H a win that he didn't need against a man that was wrestling full-time for the company? Simply, many still just ask....why?("Vince McMahon's going to make money despite himself. He's a millionaire that should be a billionaire. You know why he's not a billionaire? It's because he surrounds himself with glad handing, nonsensical, douchebag yes men, like John Laurinaitis, who's going to tell him everything that he wants to hear.") -CM Punk, June 11, 2011
Punk eventually won back the WWE Championship at Survivor Series 2011, defeating Alberto Del Rio. His title reign lasted 434 days, the sixth longest in WWE history. This is a profound accomplishment in WWE and it seemed the change Punk had envisioned may have finally been in motion. Though at times during his reign, it seemed that Punk was taking a backseat in terms of positioning. John Cena was still frequently featured as the main event. In 2012, at Wrestlemania 28, John Cena and The Rock took the main event spot, while CM Punk's WWE Championship defense against Chris Jericho took place in their shadow. Punk has made it very clear that his goal was to headline the show as the main event, going on last. This never happened.
Leading up to the 2013 Royal Rumble event, Punk entered a program with The Rock, resuming another installment of his part-time run. Punk delivered what may have been his best WWE promo on January 7 of that year. After removing the WWE emblem from his microphone, he began to speak.
"The time has come to tell you something very personal. See, I keep my ear to the ground and I hear everything everybody says and for the past year and a half the words pipe bomb have been completely misunderstood and misused. It doesn't seem anybody in the 'Universe' understands what it means. Anybody in this company doesn't understand what a pipe bomb is. Basically, what a pipe bomb is in its truest form is the truth."
It's difficult to decipher truth and fiction in this scenario. But if there's a quote from Punk that's important above all, it's this one:
"Don't be mistaken. I meant everything I said when I said it....(June 27, 2011) But I was shortchanged and I was disrespected and sure, I could've just swallowed that bitter pill and accepted my position in the company like everyone else in the back. Or I could've left. Instead, I made a conscious decision and I sold out. To you, to you I sold out. To me, I cashed in. See, I created this persona, this rebel, this anti-hero that you all loved to cheer for because I knew that you all love to cheer for your superheroes."
Punk continued saying, "Here's the truth about Las Vegas, here's the truth about the WWE, is it doesn't matter if you're the best wrestler. It doesn't matter if you're the best talker. It doesn't matter if you're the best overall performer. It doesn't matter if you make the two clowns sitting to my left on commentary look like amateur hour. There is a glass ceiling and nobody is allowed to break it."
You could feel the frustration in his words. Though a part of the feud, it was easy to tell that underneath the storyline, Punk again was underlining the segment with truth.
Eventually, The Rock entered the ring. The two had a back and forth, as designed. But in Punk's eyes you could see that the situation was much more real than the show let off. It was as if he was staring into his demise. The end of his reign. On one side of the ring stood the old guard of wrestling. On the other, the new guard. A man that had somehow beat the odds and had dominated a company that didn't allow just anyone to carry their title long term.At the Royal Rumble, the reality of WWE set in. The Rock beat CM Punk for the WWE Championship and then dropped it to John Cena at Wrestlemania 29 in their second straight headlining match at the annual event. Punk wrestled the Undertaker at that 'Mania, a match that was heralded by fans and his colleagues as the best match of the show.
In 2013, Punk had lost to The Rock, then to The Undertaker, and then to Brock Lesnar. All were part-time performers that the company valued ahead of Punk.
CM Punk left WWE following the 2014 Royal Rumble. His frustrations had come to a head. The realization of the companies' priorities had led him out the door, and though his effort was valiant, change was not achieved. The company had their champion, Randy Orton. Daniel Bryan (Bryan Danielson), an unlikely champion, was able to force his way into the main event of Wrestlemania 30, a spot on a show Punk so desperately wanted. Bryan defied the odds that night, beating Triple H to open the show, then defeating Orton and Batista to capture the WWE Championship. Bryan is one the few, if only examples of a non-company picked wrestler to headline the biggest event of the year and win the company's most important prize. The outcry of fans to implant Bryan into the title match did much to sway WWE in their decision. Injuries forced Bryan to relinquish the title, though it was reported that WWE planned to have him lose it Brock Lesnar at the Summerslam event later that year. The scheduled loss would've marked another example of WWE getting their way and putting the championship on a part-time worker that they viewed as more important, regardless of any outside variables.
Fast forward to now, the year 2016. Triple H is champion, while WWE's handpicked star, Roman Reigns pursues him for the gold. Regardless of many fans' disdain for Reigns, it seems he is destined to win back the WWE Championship in the main event of Wrestlemania 32 this April. Things seem to be the same as they were before CM Punk's initial "Pipe Bomb" promo. The company has its chosen one and the story remains predictable.
Will things ever change? It seems that the answer to that question is no. Declining ratings hasn't swayed WWE from what seems to have been their end goal for quite some time: Roman Reigns as champion. The storyline return of Shane McMahon and his declaration to save WWE from its pitfalls raises excitement and hope. But the past tells us that it's just a facade, a distraction in the middle of a predetermined destiny.
Many fans still clammer for change in WWE, much like CM Punk did in 2011. As he said, "After I'm gone you're still going to pour money into this company. I'm just a spoke on the wheel. The wheel's gonna keep turning, and I understand that."
Well, the wheel's continued to turn.
There are many fresh faces in WWE, but none that seem to be destined to hold the title long term. Not because of their lack of potential, but because of history. Punk did, but still, he was eventually crushed by the part-time stars of yesteryear, as well as the ones selected for success. Yet, many of us still watch, still hoping for our own hero to rise above the corporate monsters and plant his own flag atop of the WWE's peak.
Somewhere in Chicago, CM Punk has moved on. The realization that change wasn't possible within WWE's corporate structure has led him to a new chapter in his life, training as a fighter for UFC. For many of us, Punk will always be a symbol of hope and rebellion against the machine that seems to always get its way. Most likely, he will never return to WWE. The bridges have been burned. But we will still hold onto hope that somehow, someway things will change. That we won't surely know what's going to happen next.
Wrestlemania 32 may hold the answer, but the answer may not be what we want to believe.
Brady Sauvageau
-The Heater
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"Unlike a lot of people I'm glad you're back. I don't care what your schedule is. I don't care if you work here 16 days a year or 365 days a year. You could be Santa Clause and have his schedule, one day a year. I'd still kick your ass. I don't care how many movies you film every year. I know how hard that schedule probably is, but every time you come back, whenever you decide to grace us with your presence, I'm gonna kick your ass. Because this isn't candy land. I'm like nobody you've ever faced before. You can make fun of the color of my t-shirt and you can talk about pie and you can sing songs and you can rhyme and you can do your tired, lame-ass schtick. I just want you to know that come Royal Rumble, and you have about three weeks to realize this, I'm gonna kick your ass 'cause I'm the best in the world. I'm the best thing going today. I'm the best guy you've ever stepped foot in the ring with. And you need to understand, congratulations, Rock, you just graduated from the kiddie table, but you just bit off more than you can chew. You're playing little league with your little insults and your rhymes and your 'millions and millions' and your 'finallys'. And I'm in the big leagues and I'm swinging for the fence. You need to understand that your little jabs and your insults, it's all kiddie games. You can't leave a mark on the champ's face. Come Royal Rumble, understand, when you step in the ring, your arms are just too short to box with God."
-CM Punk, face to face with The Rock (January 7, 2013)
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