THE RAGER! CM Punk and Daniel Bryan Take a Road Trip to the Mid-Card.

Columns, Top Story

It felt pretty nice to watch that main event on Raw this past week, right? I mean, what’s not to love about CM Punk & Daniel Bryan teaming up against The Shield with a run-in involving the Wyatts, Usos and Codust? It made me feel hopeful about Survivor Series and the possibility of an elimination tag team match like we had hoped for as well as give the story some momentum to justify big names like Punk and Bryan to be involved.

That good feeling was essentially crushed when I heard the news that Punk and Bryan have been booked into a mere tag team match against Eric Rowan and Luke Harper, not even the member of the Wyatts we give a crap about. My hope at this point is that WWE just wanted to have a match booked that they can go ahead and advertise and add to it the closer we get to Survivor Series. However, until that happens, I can’t help but think that CM Punk and Daniel Bryan’s (hopefully) brief trip lower on the card is being wasted. I had my boy, Blair ask about this for Classy Ring Attire and he’s got a point. We’re nearing the point of Wrestlemania season, specifically that one that promises to be chock full of returning wrestlers. The point that’s being made is that certainly regulars are going to end up sort-of taking a back seat to the part-timers but to what extent and will an extended trip to the mid-card hurt Punk and Bryan’s place on the card during this season? I still stand by my assumption that Daniel Bryan could manage to dominate in the mid-card, win the rumble and resume right back to the top without a problem. I believe Punk could absolutely close out Mania, regardless of who else is on the card given the correct build. For instance, Punk’s build with Undertaker was quite brilliant and worthy of closing out the show if it weren’t for Twice in a Lifetime and probably would’ve had a much better crowd reaction than the boo’s Rock and Cena got. My assertion stands even if Punk had been dipping his toes in the midcard in the months prior. Besides, Heyman’s promo this past Monday was essentially a guarantee that Punk will get a rematch against Brock between now and then, hopefully sooner than later. So yes, it is disappointing if the Survivor Series card stays the way it is because it does nothing to elevate Bray (sprained ankle or not) and it serves nothing for Punk and Bryan other than something to keep them occupied for now. All I know is that WWE better come up with something better than this if they expect us all to sit through a Big Show and Randy Orton main event.

Going back to Paul Heyman’s promo, I found it interesting that he’s resorted to breaking things off with Ryback even though the guy he’s currently backing is quite useless. Yes, I’m not a fan of Ryback’s by any stretch but at least he has somewhat of a personality (never said it had to be a good personality but it’s better than a non-existent one) and a distinguishable finisher. Curtis Axel does decent work in the ring but if you’re not going to have no other ability to cause you to stand out, you better let your work do the talking. Kofi’s promos are pretty horrendous and probably has a lot to do with him treading water in the same spot on the roster for years but what is keeping his head afloat is that he has an interesting wrestling style that differs than the majority of the others. Curtis Axel just has done nothing to separate himself from the pack other than aligned himself with Heyman. And yes, part of this rant has to do with Axel getting a clean pin over Dolph this past week. Bad WWE, bad! You go stand in the corner and think about what you’ve done.

I apologize for the shortened column this week. It’s been a rough couple days personally and I’m afraid that if I go on for much longer then my statements will become increasingly incoherent. You all have my word that THE RAGER will return next week in all it’s full glory.

In the meantime, follow @CRAttire on twitter and subscribe to Classy Ring Attire on iTunes.

Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do twice,
Chris

The Answer: “There’s plenty of clingy and emotionally unavailable fish in the sea.” This is why I win at giving advice and I deserve my own daytime talk show. Now if I could come up with a title…

Chris is a writer from Fayetteville, NC. He's the co-creator of Irrelevant But Awesome Productions which produces podcasts you all know and love like Classy Ring Attire, Trashy Ring Attire and The Disney Magic Podcast. You can keep up with everything on twitter by following @IBAStudios and @CWSanders39