WWE Veterans Unimpressed with CM Punk Storyline on RAW

Talk to virtually any professional wrestling reporter, blogger or message board commenter, and you will be bombarded with praise for the ongoing CM Punk storyline on WWE RAW.

But, according to F4WOnline.com, the exact opposite would ring true, with “no exceptions,” if you had the conversation with many veterans of WWE and the wrestling business at large.

The report says that numerous pro wrestling veterans have no confidence in the storyline’s ability to draw money. And though it is always important to get fans talking, as the Punk worked-shoot storyline has undoubtedly done, the most important metric is the angle’s impact on the business.

Though doubters reshape their arguments for different scenarios, rarely do wrestling insiders point to “worked-shoot” storylines as compelling from a business perspective. And while few would doubt Punk’s dynamic with John Cena and Vince McMahon has produced better material than the typical “insider references” delivered in professional wrestling, there is still doubt about whether that increase in quality will be enough to buck the trend and create legitimate business value.

Doubters got their first bit of support with the rating for Monday’s WWE RAW, which came in at a disappointing 2.9 in the cable coverage numbers and a 1.5 among adults 18-49. Below the rating from the angle’s kick-off point two weeks ago, the viewership level indicated that none of the online buzz was translating to renewed interest in the RAW television program.

And while it is true that the final segment with Punk, McMahon and Cena showed impressive growth from start-to-finish, the length of the overrun made a positive viewership trend a certainty. A main-event segment in excess of fifteen minutes is going to attract eyeballs. Plus, part of being a “draw” is building interest in the show around oneself–even though his segments were the truest attraction, when The Rock returned for the WrestleMania build, there was an overall increase in the business.

Still, the first real test, as far as the WWE bottom line is concerned, comes with Sunday’s Money in the Bank. If a positive impact on the buyrate can be credited to the current RAW storyline, the news would more than make up for the soft RAW performance. Converting viewers to pay-per-view buyers is a key objective for WWE and one that is becoming increasingly difficult–last year’s Nexus storyline, for instance, generated more television buzz in its early stages than the CM Punk angle, but the early buyrate impact was disappointing.

Of course, a strong buyrate should not necessarily be viewed as a positive statement on the worked-shoot nature of the storyline. Beyond the references to his contract negotiations and points of frustration with WWE, Punk, according to most critics, has simply been delivering the most engaging promos in quite some time. Cena, meanwhile, has also seemed to step up his game, and the build to the actual CM Punk vs. John Cena match has garnered critical praise as the best WWE has done this year. People who did not appreciate or enjoy Punk’s inside references still have ample reason to care about the match.

The counter-point, of the chicken-and-the-egg sort, is that it is the material itself that seems to have fueled Punk’s impressive promo delivery. If Punk had not delivered content that seemed authentic and controversial and instead played a usual heel (rather than a “for the WWE fans” anti-hero), his game might not have risen to the current level, and the match build would not have been as strong.

For the long haul, another key test will be whether the angle turns CM Punk into a high-profile star. Punk has been a reliable upper card performer who can work angles with the big names, but he has never shown signs of being a significant independent draw. If, as a result of this angle, he becomes an attraction for WWE (following the hiatus many believe he will still be taking), any skepticism veterans had about the storyline would be nullified.

That, of course, could be as much about how WWE scripts the Money in the Bank outcome and follow-up as it is the reception to Punk’s promo.