PWTorch Roundtable Question 3/17: Do you agree or disagree with the direction WWE went with the C.M. Punk-Chris Jericho WrestleMania build-up by introducing alcoholism and Punk's alcoholic father?

Shawn Valentino, PWTorch specialist

I actually thoroughly enjoyed Monday's Raw. Concerning Jericho and Punk, I thought they went into some questionable territory, but I felt the two performers pulled it off well. I think the premise of the alcoholic father and trying to get Punk to drink was a little bit odd, but I liked that it added a personal element to the feud. The truth of what was said was irrelevant.

Jericho, in particular was excellent in his manipulative role, and you can tell he does take acting courses in his time off because he has plenty of the subtleties mastered. I also thought Punk was surprisingly very good in his reaction. I liked how he finally showed some vulnerability, and if he wants to remain a babyface, this should add to his character depth. I agree with any direction WWE goes within reason as long as it adds intrigue to a feud and the performers can pull it off well, and they did so here. (Read Valentino's regular Magic, Memories, and Mania column.)

Justin James, PWTorch contributor

I can tell you that I watched this bit with two other grown adults in the room, and all of us have had our lives touched by alcoholic, abusive people, and we all felt extremely uncomfortable with this. WWE needs to make up its mind right now: is Monday Night Raw a TV-PG product with a significant target audience of 8–14-year-olds? Or, is it a TV-14 product aimed at people who are 14 and older? This angle is simply inappropriate for WWE’s PG audience. Alcoholism and abusive parents are something that many people can unfortunately identify with. The angle is emotionally effective because of this. The problem is, for the younger people in the audience who can identify with it, they may be in the middle of a daily hell because of an alcoholic or abusive parent, one that they cannot escape or do a thing about. An older audience has the emotional maturity to separate their own personal bad experiences from the TV, but a young kid absolutely does not need this brought up.

This routine that WWE has been doing, where the TV-PG gets dropped any night that The Rock shows up or randomly during the Road to WrestleMania, is going to cost them viewers long-term. Parents who won’t let their children watch TV-14 simply cannot allow their kids to watch Raw right now on the off chance that stuff like this comes up, and they are going to certainly think twice about bringing their kids to live events. And, for many parents, having to leave the kids at home means that they won’t be going, either. WWE wants to know why their business and rating are flat? It’s because for every 30-40-year-old Attitude Era fan they lure in for a month or two, they alienate a PG Era family forever. Guess who is worth more to them long-term? Overall, I believe this angle is bad TV for the supposed target market, and it’s bad for business in the long run. (Read James's weekly NXT and Superstars reports.)

Shane McKinley, PWTorch Absurdity specialist

The Jericho-Punk feud needed to make a splash, so I agree with where this storyline is headed. To me, this wrestling angle isn't in bad taste. We've been privy to murder, necrophalia, and seriously awkward angles involving wrestlers's kid(s). I have never felt comfortable with those things, because they're see-through cheap heat. It makes sense for Chris Jericho to try to take advantage of C.M. Punk's fears. While this storyline unfortunately does ring true (C.M. Punk did grow up in a messed-up environment), I don't think that this story is in bad taste. Read McKinley's regular Absurdity columns on WWE and TNA topics.)

Michael Cupach, PWTorch contributor

I am rather indifferent to the alcoholic father angle they are taking with this match. I've seen it before with Punk and it is nothing new. To me, this is nothing but Jericho trying to gain the psychological advantage going into the match. I mean, he has been called "The Mental Mastermind of WWE" before, so trying to psych C.M. Punk out before the match is something his character would do.

I also think that this adds a good new dimension to the match because arguing over who is the best is something that two faces do before having a face vs. face match. If Punk and Jericho bickered for four weeks about who is the best, I don't think Y2J would have had a chance going into the match. This will at least give them a psychological angle to work with. (Read Cupach's alt. perspective Smackdown review every weekend.)

Anthony Beckingham, PWTorch review specialist

I have no problem with the subject matter of Jericho's promo - as seen in ROH many years ago, it can make for an engrossing storyline, but I don't necessarily agree with the way WWE went about it this past Monday. While Punk's straight-edge lifestyle is well-known, it's been a long time since it was properly mentioned aside from a backstage skit with Daniel Bryan. Jericho outing Punk's father was apropos of nothing and would have had a lot more impact had Punk been saying, in a non-arrogant way, about how his straight-edge beliefs made him a better wrestler in recent weeks. Or, even if he'd bumped into Jericho and spilled his beer by accident, then made some wisecrack about how Jericho might be champion if he wasn't busy drinking. Perhaps he could have used it as an example of something Jericho can't claim to have invented, even.

But, for Jericho to go there, unprompted, felt like a non-sequitur and consequently both cheap and heavy-handed. If they had more time to play with, Jericho could have gone deeper and deeper over the weeks (and had they thought about it, they have had the time as it's been a good few weeks since the Chamber) until he vowed to humiliate Punk until he drowned his sorrows. As it was, all coming at once, it was too unsubtle and unnuanced. This feud needed an extra level and I'm fine with it being this; I just wish it could have been built upon rather than all thrown against the wall in one go. (Read Beckingham's regular Shimmer DVD reviews.)

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