WWE: Is the Heat Between CM Punk and John Laurinaitis a Waste of Time?

John Laurinaitis and CM Punk's feud is supposed to be the 2012 equivalent to Vince McMahon vs. Stone Cold, The Rock, Triple H or whoever else he was feuding with.

McMahon is getting up there in years and cannot perform as the boss on screen forever—he needed to pass that torch to someone who was on the road every week and was willing to take on-screen abuse from superstars.

Enter Johnny Ace, or as we know him, John Laurinaitis. He has been the face of WWE management ever since CM Punk blasted him in a promo and John Cena stopped him from repeating the Montreal Screwjob at Money in the Bank.

CM Punk is in a weekly feud with Laurinaitis which has seen the interim GM place him in matches that seem to be designed to destroy the straight-edge champion.

Is this feud working? That is the most important question.

CM Punk is getting a little bit of the blame for the decline in ratings because WWE sees this as a direct reflection of his title run.

Laurinaitis is in most of these segments too. Is it possible he is one of the reasons fans tune out? Is he exciting enough to keep people's attention or is he too bland for anyone to care that he is the bad guy?

One thing I like about Laurinaitis is his dry wit. CM Punk has mentioned numerous times that Laurinaitis bears a striking resemblance in both appearance and voice to Bob Einstein's character on Curb Your Enthusiasm, Marty Funkhauser.

This helps make, what I feel, are great comedic moments that probably do not get appreciated by the younger audience. When Laurinaitis looked right into the camera and wished Morrison the best in his future endeavors, I busted a gut.

It was a little behind-the-scenes humor and it showed that he has the capacity to be funny, but not quite funny in the way the younger crowd will appreciate. Some of them probably saw it as a personal jab to Morrison, but I am sure it was nothing more than a funny way to get Laurinaitis over.

Another notable funny moment between Punk and Laurinaitis was when Johnny Ace came out to Punk's music, wearing his shirt and doing Punk's "top of the ramp" routine.

This certainly got him the heel reaction WWE has been looking for, which they had not been getting by having him repeat his 20-word long job title every single time he appears on camera.

"

I am the Executive Vice President of Talent Relations and Interim General Manager of Monday Night Raw, John Laurinaitis

"

OK, so maybe it was 19 words instead of 20, but I was close.

Many people are questioning if this feud is working. Some may even say this is because WWE does not have any top heels for Punk to fight, so they have to have him fight management.

This has worked in the past, but right now the angle is treading water. Few people seem to care if Laurinaitis and Punk have interactions at all, except those who appreciate Laurinaitis' humor.

In my opinion, this just needs more time. You cannot expect Laurinaitis to become an instant heel just because he screws over a few baby faces. You have to give the fans time to grow to hate him.

Do I think the storyline between Punk and Laurinaitis is a waste of time? No, but I do think it needs to get better soon or WWE will have no other choice than to put the belt back on Cena and hope for the best.

What do you think? Is the heat between CM Punk and John Laurinaitis a waste of time?