Why CM Punk Needs to Keep Talking

CM Punk was always noted for his well-around abilities in the ring and on the microphone.  His ability to sell himself to the audience was always good, but it's taken on something close to mythological proportions as of late. 

It does place him in a certain stratus of exclusive wrestling talent, provided he never shuts his trap.  Some of the best there have been have built their careers on this ability to cut a promo.  The "Voice of the Voiceless" needs to keep speaking for various reasons, but mostly because it is who he is.

A Rock and a Hard Place

In 1996, a wrestler debuted at Survivor Series.  He displayed a rather limited move set, using the Flying Crossbody and punches mainly.  He eliminated both Crush and Goldust, pinning the latter with a Shoulder Breaker. 

Yep, he pinned the two time (at the moment) Intercontinental Champion with a Shoulder Breaker.

Pushed hard due to his looks and his charisma (thanks in part to his communications classes he took in college), he turned from a cookie cutter babyface to a dynamic heel, then into the biggest star of his generation. Cutting some of the best promotions anywhere and any time, fans were enraptured with the catchphrase spewing "People's Champion."

The Rock won over fans mainly because of his ability to talk and communicate with the audience, in knowing what they needed to hear and wanted to here.  Eventually, this paid off fantastically and translated into an acting career and the ultimate status as a WWE Legend. 

Other such wrestlers included Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels, Dusty Rhodes, Ric Flair, Steve Austin, Kevin Nash and Bret Hart, who possessed similar ability, though not to the same degree.  Regardless, the ability to vocally sell your gimmick, and yourself by proxy, is the hall mark of wrestling legends.

Technical proficiency can be taught, and there exist methods to learn about selling in the ring and out, but the ability to connect with the audience seems to be a rare one.

The Summer of Punk

CM Punk gained minor fame when he was working on the Independent Circuit.  Drawing a following through his ability to sell his real lifestyle as a wrestling gimmick in addition to his ring ability, he became a multiple time world champion in various organizations.  He was signed the WWE to a developmental deal and went to OVW in 2005.

Since debuting on ECW in 2006, Punk has proven a highly versatile wrestler, transitioning between face and heel easily, ably leading various stables, working great matches and promos and becoming a multiple time World Champion.  For most wrestlers, this is a career.

Fate, it seems, is a strange mistress.

The WWE built a storyline based on Punk's real life contract issues, even going so far as Punk announcing he would leave the organization with the WWE Championship. On June 27th, Punk grabbed the microphone and proceeded to let loose on everyone from Vince McMahon and Triple H to John Laurinaitis and the fans themselves

He managed to burn Rome in order to, as it turned out, save it.   The general consensus was that it, perhaps, was one of the best promos ever delivered.  Talent such as Foley and Austin raved about it, and guys like Paul Heyman were applauding.  MVP went so far as to call it Punk's "3:16" moment. 

A few weeks later in Boston (Cena's home town), Punk turned face when he force Vince to apologize for his treatment of Punk, his friends and the fans over the years. He even managed to turn "The Champ's" hometown crowd against him.  All because of his ability to get the fans buy into what he said. 

Over a span of three weeks, they created a storyline built purely on promo work that wound up paying off handsomely for the WWE.  The WWE saw a 20 percent buy-rate increase for the PPV from the previous year, and Punk eventually became the No. 1 merchandise seller, dethroning Cena, who had held the position for five years. 

Heroes get remember, but Legends never die

Punk has always built his promos and his gimmicks on himself.  Legitimately living a straight edge lifestyle (but with a fetish for Pepsi) and using various aspects of the "culture" associated with the lifestyle in his gimmick, he is able to translate this to the audience because he legitimately lives the character.

Kurt Cobain once said, "Wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are."  In wrestling, a gimmick is most effective if there is some truth in it.  The Rock came across as a larger-then-life tornado of comedy and pleasant arrogance.  Hogan came across as an true blue American, while Jericho first came across as the personification of Rock and Roll, then faded over a suit wearing, arrogant, cerebral business man.

The ability to make the audience believe in you is entirely based upon a belief in yourself.  Guys like Jericho, Flair, Hogan, Triple H, Dusty Rhodes and Austin became legends because their gimmicks and personifications were always based on some personal truth that they never betrayed.

Where does this leave Punk?  Having just turned 33, he is in the prime of his career.  Already reaching staggering heights in wrestling, where does the horizon end for him?  Who knows.  Ultimately the best talker of his generation, a large portion of his success is built upon the ability to simply be himself for the fans, as he is apt to say. 

In the end, though, Punk must keep talking simply because it is who he is.  It is who he must be.  And the fans will continue to worship him for it.