More Wrestling Talk

It's no secret to anyone over the age of 20 and still watching wrestling that the storylines have been stale as of late. Ever since WWE decided to move away from their Attitude Era and go PG so that Linda McMahon could run for office, the product has been stagnant and drove a lot of hardcore fans away. Finally, it looks like it is moving in the right direction again...and we have a guy named CM Punk to thank for it.

For a review of the recent weeks happenings, check out this Grantland piece by The Masked Man. Basically, WWE has allowed Punk to blur the lines between reality and fiction. It is not an entirely new idea, but it looks like they are actually going to use social media to their advantage. In today's world of Twitter and Facebook, we get to see the real thoughts of wrestlers like Chris Jericho and The Miz. Their words are not a work, which creates an uncomfortable mixture of real life and fiction for WWE fans. Anyone with half a brain can realize that who they are on screen is different than who they are on a computer. Everyone knows wrestling is fake, but you don't need to blatantly advertise it.

Enter CM Punk...his leaving of the WWE is obviously a work. I mean, there is no way that the company lets him walk off their pay-per-view with the championship and then trash it on another station. He obviously re-signed with the company. However, he is using social media to further the storyline and give the appearance that he is not coming back and is keeping the belt. After winning the title, he tweeted a picture of the belt in his refrigerator. Then on Monday he was at a Cubs game with the belt instead of at Raw. Finally yesterday he crashed a talk by WWE's 'new executive' HHH at Comic-Con in San Diego.

I am just so excited by this angle because it is being perfectly scripted. Nothing in this world is private anymore and WWE knows it. If Punk was to have done this 10 years ago, only the people in the room would have known it. In 2011 it is all over the internet...and Punk suddenly seems like the coolest guy in the business. By covering all basis and making it seem like he really is an anti-establishment guy even in the real world, he is gaining tons of heat. I love where this is going and can't wait to watch more.

No one who reads this blog will care, but I just needed to express my giddiness.