CM Punk
CM Punk is my favorite active wrestler. In making that statement, I drew my conclusion from his entire body of work in the WWE. I admired his public stand as a straight edge wrestler and I thought he was the quintessential cult leader of the Straight Edge Society and Nexus. Best of all, CM Punk delivered the greatest promo in WWE history.
Like most wrestlers, CM Punk has wrestled as both a face (good guy) and a heel (bad guy). He is extremely talented on the mic and everything he says makes sense regardless of his character's moral standing. But is CM Punk better as a heel or a face?
Face
I quickly realized CM Punk's brilliance as a performer when he got over as a face in the WWE while preaching the straight edge lifestyle. Remember that just a few years earlier, WWE fans were cheering "Stone Cold" Steve Austin whenever he popped open a cold one in the ring.
For the last year, CM Punk has been the WWE's top face among teenage and adult males. His long WWE title reign is a sign of the promotion's faith in him. However, CM Punk began a heel turn on the 1,000th episode of Raw by committing the mortal sin of attacking The Rock.
Heel
What many WWE fans have forgotten is that CM Punk was a heel, not a face, when he delivered his epic promo on Raw in 2011. However, he delivered the promo so well, that the WWE had no choice but to make him a face after fans began cheering him.
After a year of watered-down face promos, CM Punk was back in his heel element on the July 30 edition of WWE Raw when he confronted Jerry Lawler. Everything Punk said as a heel resonated with me, as I have also grown tired of Lawler's tired agenda to put over every WWE face and Diva.
Conclusion
Despite reaching a certain demographic as a face, CM Punk will never be the WWE's top face as long as John Cena is around. To me, CM Punk makes a lot more sense as a heel and that is his strength. The WWE will be a lot more interesting going forward with CM Punk as a heel.
Patrick Michael lives in New Orleans and has always been a big fan of pro wrestling. Patrick's favorite wrestling promotion was Mid-South Wrestling back in the 1980s. Patrick's favorite wrestling angle of all-time was the NWO and his favorite wrestler was Roddy Piper. Follow Patrick Michael on Twitter at patmichael84.
Sources
"CM Punk," wwe.com
Personal knowledge of pro wrestling
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