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RADICAN'S TAKE
RADICAN'S RAW REAX 7/30 - Punk's heel turn lacking necessary depth to connect with viewers

Jul 31, 2012 - 1:20:55 PM
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By Sean Radican, Torch columnist

WWE television can be fun to watch sometimes. In recent months, many people have turned their attention to the fact that C.M. Punk hasn’t been in the main event of any PPV in 2012 as WWE Champion. WWE planted the seeds for a Punk heel turn recently and the flower on that turn began to bloom on Raw. Punk’s promos were good last night. It wasn’t an over-the-top heel turn, but instead Punk made excuses for his actions against Cena and targeted the Rock as someone who stole the spotlight from him.
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Later in the show, Punk cut Cena off during a backstage segment and took a shot at Cena for not being able to put Rock in his place like he did on Raw 1000. During the main event, Punk talked about how the WWE Champion should be respected while Lawler supplied the clues on commentary that perhaps the title should be respected, but not necessarily the person holding the title. After Show tossed Cena into Punk at ringside, Punk got in the ring and broke up an AA from Cena on Show. Punk took the spotlight in the end through less than honorable actions and told Show and Cena that they’re both losers.

Of course, A.J. came out and told Punk that he would be facing Cena and Show in a Triple Threat match for the WWE Championship at SummerSlam, which made Punk very angry, but perhaps his anger is misguided.

Although Punk is angry about the way Rock’s character has treated him, shouldn’t he be angrier at the people that have stolen his spotlight in recent months. When WWE writes good television the characters are three dimensional and remember things that have happened to them in the past and their current emotions reflect things that viewers have experienced with them in the past. Daniel Bryan’s character is a perfect example of this where Bryan has portrayed a character with thoughts, feelings, and experiences that he remembers and drive him to be who he is right now on television. These things that Bryan portrays on television are all things the WWE fans have experienced with him.

Punk’s recent heel turn doesn’t seem to go hand in hand with what viewers have experienced with Punk on television. Punk has been defending the WWE Championship on the undercard for months and months and the only person he’s mad at is the Rock for stealing his spotlight and ignoring him on Raw last week.

Punk has been critical of Rock in interviews in the past, but that’s not something that has been brought up on television. Punk called Rock a delusional movie star on television, but for Punk’s new heel character to truly resonate with fans beyond some issues just brought to the surface having to do with Rock, it would have had a much more resounding impact if Punk’s issues with not having the spotlight as champion and his issues with the Rock had been brought to light sooner.

Another issue here in the depth lacking from Punk’s change in attitude is that the person he should really be mad at is the people that put John Cena in position to headline the majority of PPVs this year or John Cena himself for hogging the spotlight. It’s a question that hasn’t been answered, but on the surface, Punk’s character has a much more logical case for being mad at Cena and the powers that be as opposed to the Rock.

Furthermore, why isn’t Punk mad at Triple H and Brock Lesnar hogging the spotlight at SummerSlam? Neither man is a full-time act and would seem to be a logical choice for Punk’s stance that the main event spotlight should always shine on the WWE Champion, although Punk has indicated that there’s more to it than that with the current direction of his character.

It would be nice if Punk’s turn felt more three dimensional with various facets for his turn in attitude put out there for the audience to sink their teeth into. As for now, the fans are only getting tiny snippets and although it adds up, there’s not enough attention to detail from creative to make this turn feel really important.

We are months away from a potential Rock-Punk match at the Royal Rumble for the WWE Championship. Instead of focusing all of his anger towards the Rock, Punk’s character should have more venom for the people that are surrounding him right now and doing the same things that the Rock did, yet somehow Punk is only concerned about the Rock.

It will be interesting to see how Punk’s storyline develops in the coming weeks, as it doesn’t seem there’s enough friction between Punk and his opponents at SummerSlam for the match to grab the attention of people, which leaves Brock-Triple H to do the heavy lifting when it comes to popping a buyrate for SummerSlam.

***

Please click HERE and click “like” to join the Radican’s Wrestling Community Facebook fan page.

Follow Sean on Twitter at Twitter.com/SeanRadican

Contact Sean at PWTorchSean@gmail.com


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