In a recent interview with the UK Sun, Stone Cold Steve Austin had the following to say about potentially having a WWE return match with CM Punk: “Maybe Punk’s not the guy to go against. He needs to pick up his intensity. We’ll have to see what I do, I’m happy now doing what I am.”
Austin continued, “In a perfect world, where I could step back into the ring for one last match, I would be willing to have that discussion with management.”
From where I sit, this is just the latest “tweak” by Austin on Punk in what has been a highly entertaining war of words that has mostly been relegated to the WWE Twitter-verse. However, there was one gem of a WWE TV interaction between Stone Cold and CM Punk that did make its way onto Monday Night Raw, back in June 2011:
I am not always one to hang my hat on one promo that aired months ago, but in my opinion the WWE needs to give Stone Cold Steve Austin one more match, and Stone Cold Steve Austin needs to give that match to CM Punk.
In fact, I look at the current Punk-Jericho feud as a delicious appetizer for a Punk-Austin showdown. With Jericho, Punk is having his Straight edge lifestyle questioned and his self-imposed no-alcohol rule tested. Jericho is trying to lure Punk into changing his moral code, and should Punk prevail over Chris Jericho, it will make Punk more proud of his Straight edge principles than ever before.
In addition, this whole feud with Jericho had made Punk even more weary of alcohol and what it represents, and it has also brought to the forefront Punk’s deeply personal reasons for choosing a zero tolerance policy to liquor and beer, etc.
And it is this new sense of conviction in his character that can serve CM Punk very well in a WrestleMania 29 feud with Stone Cold Steve Austin next year. In this story, Punk would obviously have to play the heel because Austin returning for his final match will easily make him the fan favorite. As a result, Punk can take what Jericho is doing to him now and spin it on its head, and even if Jericho loses these matches to Punk, he then will get the satisfaction of knowing that he was able to break CM Punk in a way that brought him back to the darker side of his character when it comes time for Punk to heel it up against Austin.
And that, to me, sounds like something worth investing in, exploring and exploiting should WWE want to draw up a long-term plan that ends with Austin vs. Punk at WrestleMania 29.
That’s all from me — CB.
