Should WWE Go With CM Drunk In The Future?

[PlayTheGame]

I've always thought that CM Punk's character can be taken in numerous different ways due to his straight-edgeness in an effort to keep him fresh. I've also kind of always thought that eventually, at some point, one of his heelish enemies would get him to (kayfabe) drink, and it would make for a compelling personal struggle. You could get comedy moments out of a CM Drunk as we saw this week on Raw, and his character could even go down a dark path via him turning to alcohol, maybe even a method in which to turn heel by becoming so dark and unhappy.

When it appeared that Jericho had gotten CM Punk to become "CM Drunk" this past week, I thought that they may have been going this route to turn CM Punk darker and possibly add a new dimension and chapter to his character. Possibly the most compelling chapter of his character ever. But, instead, it was all a ruse, as many thought, and CM Punk has still to succumb to alcohol.

So, they teased Punk falling into alcohol here, which makes me think that him actually turning to alcohol and becoming dark could be a possibility in the future. A possibility, in my opinion, that would make for an extremely compelling new chapter of Punk's career. A chapter chroniciling his descent into alcohol, him becoming a darker/heelish character for a time, and then eventually have him rise back to being kayfabe. I think that if nothing else, it would make for a great heel turn for Punk, if and when they ever turn him heel again.

What do you think? Do you think WWE should turn CM Punk into CM Drunk in the future as the next evolution of his character?

 

[trinidad716]

No I highly disagree. The thing is that would be against evey thing he really stands for not just character-wise. I don't think its a good look. Straight edge is a perfect heel thing in the same vein as Daniel Bryan's Vegan lifestyle. The both could be heel simply by saying Im better than you because I don't do this. I think the CM Drunk was fun but I dont want to see it as a character change at all.

 

[HBsam31]

Bad things tend to happen when a drunk character is used. They did this with the Legion of Doom some years back where they used Hawk's drinking in a storyline and I believe it ended with him falling off the Titantron. It did not come off well at all, and I believe it was the end of the tag team. I believe Hawk died not long after. They did a similar thing with Scott Hall, and again it wasn't funny at all. I had mentioned in another thread that I am a sucker for when a heel pours booze down the throat of a face not wanting to drink. The examples I used were Jerry Lawler doing it to Jake Roberts then we saw it again last week on Raw. I have to admit it is a great heel tactic, and obviously real alcohol is not used. Taking it any farther than that seems to take the humor away from it for me. Now the difference here is Punk presumably has no real substance problems so if he was ok with it and it was done right it might work to add a darker edge to his character. This idea itself isn't bad, but I am not sure that it would translate well to TV. I was honestly surprised they had Jericho pour it on Punk due to the amount of kids watching the show these days. Maybe during the attitude era this would have worked, but to be perfectly honest I can't seen any reason to do this with his character today. With the wellness policy as it is, and the amount of substance abuse in the industry, I just can't see them going in this direction.

 

[Nate DaMac]

I don't think so. He was pretty entertaining Monday night, but if he was supposed to actually be drunk and had his title stripped, that entire segment would have been a total bummer with no entertainment value.

Besides, it completely tarnishes his character if he breaks his vow. He would never be able to go back to being straight edge, no one would buy it.

 

[Str8Edge]

It never will happen. Also, as a Straight Edge person myself I would never play such character. Even watching Punk play the CM Drunk character had me in disgust and disbelief. It felt surreal watching Punk walk out like that. I look up to the guy as a role model and the only thing that played through my head was, - if Punk really is dunk, kayfabe or real life, I would stop watching WWE.
I really like this story line too with Jericho for the reason that I can relate and can relate to Punk's character. If they changed him to this drunk character It would go against for everything he stands for.
If you're not Edge, I could understand you idea for his character, but being Straight Edge is much more than that and its too much pride. Even if it was just kayfabe purposes.
Punk's character is being Str8 Edge and it never will change because it's also his lifestyle. It's like having a hardcore Christian come out as an Atheist character. Would be ok/funny for a one time thing but definitely NOT ok for longterm.

Also, Jericho pushing the CM Drunk thing on Punk's face is just part of the storyline to further it. Not something that will happen.

 

[oldmanfan]

I personally think it is one of the worst storylines ever. Couldn't the genius in creative come up with something less deplorible? I mean, C'mon,dumping booze in the man's mouth,sending a basket of bottle's,running down his family,telling him he's going to succumb? what a family friendly idea. What about the people in real life that have to deal with these problem's? What about the cool school bullies that hold down the kid and dump booze in his mouth that said no to a drink at a party? It Happen's! Maybe they could write it as Jerico bieng the one with the drinking problem try'ing to pass his guilt off on someone else, then make him go away. {He's leaving anyway} I'm surprised A.A. or M.A.D.D. or some other group hasn't filed a gripe about this. What's next? What about the Hardy Boy's or Scott Hall? The knucklehead{s} could have a blast with those stories!

 

[Azane]

Straight Edge means I'm better than you is far superior, CM Drunk is bad mojo for the demographic that they're going with right now. Especially because there's no way it would end good for Punk.

They have so many better ways to push him heel (But why push him heel now? He's still not stale as a face)

 

[trashboy]

I personally think it is one of the worst storylines ever. Couldn't the genius in creative come up with something less deplorible? I mean, C'mon,dumping booze in the man's mouth,sending a basket of bottle's,running down his family,telling him he's going to succumb? what a family friendly idea. What about the people in real life that have to deal with these problem's? What about the cool school bullies that hold down the kid and dump booze in his mouth that said no to a drink at a party? It Happen's! Maybe they could write it as Jerico bieng the one with the drinking problem try'ing to pass his guilt off on someone else, then make him go away. {He's leaving anyway} I'm surprised A.A. or M.A.D.D. or some other group hasn't filed a gripe about this. What's next? What about the Hardy Boy's or Scott Hall? The knucklehead{s} could have a blast with those stories!

Well, Scott Hall's real life problems actually have been on TV, remember WCW? Yeah, they had Hall come out drunk on TV and even "throw up" on Eric Bischoff. It was funny TV, but knowing about his real life problems, it wasn't that funny.

 

[akathelaw]

It's a bad idea to kill his straight edge credibility. CM Punk is a positive role model to millions of kids like Cena, even if he's covered in tattoos and looks like Charlie Manson. All it would do is cement Punk's status as a heel, which is a terrible idea for any wrestler who can successfully get over. Much like another poster stated, he could never go back to the straight-edge persona which has defined his entire career.

Jericho and Punk came up with an awesome swerve that played out very well on TV because of the psychology behind it. Jericho wanted to see Punk's credibility vanish because he actually has it, and Punk used Jericho's predisposition to trick him into getting a beatdown. Props to WWE creative for pacing it well between other segments and additional props to Punk for his hilarious drunk impersonation.

 

[JaceEvans]

Well I think what you guys are missing the posters point is that Punk in real life doesn't have a alcohol problem. This character could add a wrinkle to his persona that would keep him fresh and entertaining. It wouldn't be sad or mean because its just a character nothing to do at all with the real Punk. I think it can be entertaining as long as you have the right performer play the character and as far as I know Punk's a pretty level headed guy.

 

[Indeed]

I'd like to see CM Punk eventually go in a Benoit type of direction with his character. A ruthless face battling a lot of demons kind of deal. This would be a perfect setup for that down the line.

 

[Rockyfolifebo!!!]

I don't like the idea either. I'm in love with the storyline, however. I like how personal it's become with Jericho insulting Punk's family and even pouring the beer on him were all good. I just didn't like that segment on Monday. I really thought he was drunk, and was about to change the channel. I kept thinking "this can't be happening. WWE creative cannot be serious with this". Good thing Punk was just playing.

 

[cmpunk4lyfe]

I personally think it is one of the worst storylines ever. Couldn't the genius in creative come up with something less deplorible? I mean, C'mon,dumping booze in the man's mouth,sending a basket of bottle's,running down his family,telling him he's going to succumb? what a family friendly idea. What about the people in real life that have to deal with these problem's? What about the cool school bullies that hold down the kid and dump booze in his mouth that said no to a drink at a party? It Happen's! Maybe they could write it as Jerico bieng the one with the drinking problem try'ing to pass his guilt off on someone else, then make him go away. {He's leaving anyway} I'm surprised A.A. or M.A.D.D. or some other group hasn't filed a gripe about this. What's next? What about the Hardy Boy's or Scott Hall? The knucklehead{s} could have a blast with those stories!

u are a fucking idiot......how would that be entertaining? how would a drunk chris jericho be entertaining? Thats ur best idea? for jericho's short run in the company is for him to be a drunk? i bet people never ask for ur opinion a lot because u tend to give them stupid ass responses like that. the WWE is a live soap opera, they did this storyline because of the fact that people actually go through this and they wanted to make the story more relatable to people who are going through this issue or have already gone through this issue. but i wouldn't expect a complete ****** like u to understand. they say drunk people say stupid shit...since ur already saying stupid shit maybe u should go drink so u can have a more intelligent answer to give next time. #BOOM

 

[WWEIsLife2]

It could work if done right but overall I think CM Punk is perfect being the Straight Edge guy he is both on and off screen. Now what he did on Monday was hilarious from playing like he was drunk,saying the Alphabet backwards,and to walking the straight line. Probably some of the funniest stuff ive seen on RAW and CM Punk continues to be awesome at what he does.

 

[Fugazi]

Yeah, no. I don't like the idea at all because it's not a gimmick, it's his way of life. I really wonder what he would even say if something like this was brought up to him. I'm sure he would throw a fucking fit. I mean sure, he could jump on twitter and say shit like "i'm not even drunk" but really why go down that path when Punk could be a great face with hilarious promos and segments. There's no need to go down this path. If you watched him pre-WWE you can see it will take a long time for him to lose his freshness. I mean look at Cena. He's had the same kind of gimmick for years and years and the WWE never changed it, so why would they change Punk when he's only been face for like a year now?

 

[#hamler]

On anyone else but CM Punk, I wouldn’t have the slightest problem with it. But there's no turning back if the WWE went with that direction with Punk's character. Punk's character is probably one of the greatest characters we've seen in a good while or so. His Straight-Edge gimmick can be utilized fully as a snobby heel or as a role model face. It's not worth the risk of tarnishing that for a few short weeks of a character that may or may not last long depending on how well the crowd takes it. Think for a minute, Punk changes his character to CM Drunk. After a year or so, his character starts slowing down and he makes a full face turn. What happens then? Do we just forget the entire last year or so that Punk was a drunk? Who wants to cheer him after that? It’s too much on the line for that and I’m sure even Punk wouldn’t be cool with it. CM Punk is doing well with his character right now for the most part; I'd rather see him evolve his current direction rather than playing a drunk.

 

[Ruby Soho]

I don't think it would be a good idea. Punk seems like a real stand up guy and I don't think anyone would really buy that he fell off the wagon. He has built his entire persona on being someone who sticks to his guns and doesn't succumb to pressure from anyone. This would essentially throw all of that right down the drain.

 

[Psyclone]

it would be one of the stupidest ideas ever to do anything close to cm drunk... I don't love the current storyline, nor do I outright hate it, but if it ever gets to the point where punk willingly drinks alcohol it will ruin cm punk... You don't need a main eventer like punk to do "humorous" vignettes or segments while "drunk"... You need any mid card/lower card talent to do them... Hell I bet Santino could be hillarious if he ever was shown having to much to drink before something... (LEt it be known that I am against any storyline involving drunkeness mostly due to teh storylines mentioned previously with scott hall, but most notably with Hawk...) If you really feel you NEED to get that drunk storyline across, you don't do it with a main eventer... Especially not someone who is straight edge (IRL and kayfabe) like punk... IT would just be moronic, and I don't even know why you suggested it OP.... Keep punk where he is... Keep him fighting the good fight (as a face) and only have him change to the "YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF FOR DRINKING" if he's gonna be a heel... that should be about it.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Definitely no. For one thing, as others have pointed out, Punk would lose a lot of genuine credibility all for a wrestling angle. Remember, being Straight Edge isn't just something Punk says or does as part of a character, it's an essential part of his lifestyle and who he is as a person. To be perfectly honest, I don't think Punk would agree to do it even if WWE wanted him to, not that I blame him really. Even today, principles are worth something.

Also, why go the route of changing something that's obviously working? Punk continues to be, quite possibly, the most overall popular wrestler on the WWE roster. He gets massive pops whenever he comes out to cut promos, his matches are often the best on the card, and fans are grabbing up his merchendise like a biscuit sops up gravy. Punk's not broken, so there's no reasonable logic in trying to fix what's obviously working.