WWE News: 5 Reasons CM Punk vs. Alberto Del Rio for the WWE Title Means Nothing

The WWE recently booked an expected WWE title match between CM Punk and Alberto Del Rio. This will be the WWE Championship for Survivor Series, one of WWE's four big pay-per-views—that said, it is far from the main event, both figuratively and literally. 

With very little momentum behind neither Punk nor Del Rio, the WWE's newest top feud will be a tough sell on a pay-per-view that is being built around the return of The Rock. 

Six months ago, a possible Punk-Del Rio feud would have been very intriguing, but through a string of careless booking and an oversaturated TV product, the WWE has relegated an otherwise high-profile showdown to just another match.

1. CM Punk's Character Has Been Watered Down Since His Peak in July

Once upon a time, CM Punk was the hottest commodity in pro wrestling. Following his memorable shoot promo on RAW, CM Punk's character took off to the point where even rival company TNA was trying to profit off of the red-hot rebel. 

Since CM Punk's instantly classic WWE Championship match against John Cena at WWE Money in the Bank, many elements of CM Punk's "shoot" promo have come to fruition (thus devaluing the promo with every return/debut of the likes of Triple H and John Laurinaitis), and CM Punk has slowly but surely taken a gradual step back into his 2010 funk. 

While Punk has received more emphasis, and is now the no. one contender for the WWE Championship, he has taken a loss on three straight pay-per-views and has zero momentum going into his match against Del Rio at SummerSlam. 

2. Alberto Del Rio's Character Has Been Watered Down Since His Debut

Alberto Del Rio has been WWE's next best thing for quite some time now.  But the more of a push he gets, with the same gimmick, the more he seems like the Mexican version of Mr. Kennedy. 

Del Rio's first major title win at SummerSlam came a bit too late considering how hot his character was several months ago, and now that he's the WWE Champion it has hurt the title more than it has helped his career. 

Del Rio is often plopped in the middle of free TV, and a recent unceremonious loss to the Big Show served as a microcosm of his rather uneventful WWE Championship run. 

Sure he's champion, but the WWE has done nothing to protect him nor their richest prize. 

3. The WWE Championship Means Next to Nothing

Since Alberto Del Rio's WWE Championship win last month, he has hardly played the part. 

Constantly booked as a supporting player with a big gold strap on his shoulder, Del Rio hardly main events RAW, and has inexplicably become an afterthought as WWE Champion. 

With John Cena serving as an uncrowned champion as the WWE prepares for Cena-Rock, Alberto Del Rio's WWE title run has taken a severe hit with Del Rio still trying to find his footing as the WWE Champion. 

4. Survivor Series Marks the Rock's Much Anticipated in-Ring Return

Anything involving the Rock and the WWE means more than the WWE Championship, regardless of who's champion.  The fact that the WWE's current champion is an afterthought hurts anything pertaining to the title, feuds for the title, and its champion. 

With the Rock making his in-ring return at Survivor Series after almost a decade, any jump in the buyrate, which is a direct indicator of interest in this pay-per-view, will be mostly generated by the People's Champion. 

The Rock's tag-team match with Cena will be by far the most anticipated match on the card, thereby neutralizing all other matches on the card including Del Rio's showdown with CM Punk.  Throw in a lackluster feud and two WWE superstars who no longer stand out from the crowd, and the WWE Championship match for Survivor Series becomes much less intriguing. 

5. We've Seen Del Rio-Punk Before...for Free!

Back when CM Punk was still hot, he was fed Alberto Del Rio in the middle of a free RAW show en route to his SummerSlam rematch against John Cena. 

Punk went over clean in a match that may have well served as the curtain jerker for WWE Superstars. 

The match was an obvious detriment to any potential buyrate for a pay-per-view featuring these two stars, which is a caveat that seems to have already hurt this program. 

Even if CM Punk and Alberto Del Rio have a standout match come Survivor Series, the fact that the two locked up in a meaningless match with a clean finish on free TV does no favors to the luster of Punk-Del Rio. 

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