WWE: Did the WWE Drop the Ball by Turning CM Punk Heel?

Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of heel CM Punk.  I was also excited to see him turn heel during the 1000th episode of RAW.  However, now that I've had some time to think it through, it's hard not to wonder if the WWE dropped the ball by turning Punk heel.

Of course the WWE Universe needs a big heel character.  We can't rely on a guy like Brock Lesnar who is on a limited schedule, or a current WWE superstar like Alberto Del Rio who has not only had some injury bad luck, but also has yet to really deliver as a heel.

Sure, we have Big Show, but at this point he just seems to get in the way instead of actually do anything worthwhile.

Turning CM Punk heel then seems like the perfect solution, right?

Before you answer that, just hear me out on a couple of issues.

The WWE Never Believed in Punk

Besides needing a heel character, the WWE turning Punk has to make you question if they ever truly believed he could be the face of the WWE.  He had a solid run—it’s been over a year since he dropped his pipe bomb and gained massive popularity—but if the WWE truly believed he could carry the company, why turn him heel?

Punk receives a bigger reaction than Cena, and was also more exciting as the WWE Champion than Cena arguably was.

Still, Punk was never the main event during pay-per-views when he held the title, and now to turn him heel on top of it makes it seem like the WWE didn't care about how popular he was as a face wrestler.

Was the WWE done with seeing if the CM Punk experiment would work?  Will he turn heel only to be buried in the future?

Maybe the WWE really isn’t sold on his popularity.

Regardless, turning Punk heel even though he was clearly the WWE's most popular face wrestler, has to make you wonder of the WWE ever believed Punk could be the face of the company.

Cena Will Never Turn Heel

If there was ever a time to turn John Cena heel, the RAW 1000th episode would have been it.  I get it, he’s popular among the little kids, but so was CM Punk.  Cena is such a polarizing character at this point that the WWE capitalizes on it by selling the anti-Cena shirts.

Cena's character is so stale at this point that a heel turn would have been something to make a lot of fans want to see him in the main event again.  Don't get me wrong, I know Cena is always in the main event, but do you really want to see him there constantly as the Super Cena we have known him as for years now?

Cena turning heel would have been a bigger shock than Punk flipping sides.  It would have also been more believable.  Cena hasn't held the title in over a year, with the Big Show constantly getting in his way, and being the first person to cash in his Money in The Bank contract and not win, it would have been acceptable for Cena to go over the edge.

Sure, maybe some little kids would have had nightmares about Cena turning heel, but they would have had CM Punk as their new hero.

You could always argue that, at this point, it's almost impossible to turn Cena heel because of everything he does outside of the ring.

But shouldn't we separate what a wrestler does outside of the ring from what they do inside of it?

Turning Cena heel at the 1000th episode would have been an amazing opportunity that the WWE missed out on by turning Punk heel instead.

Ignoring the Real Problem

The WWE seems to have a problem with heels.  More specifically, they lack any that are a major threat.  Turning Punk heel while he has the title easily changes that.

The problem, though, is that the WWE is ignoring the real issue.  There are talented heel wrestlers in the WWE as we speak.  Chris Jericho, for example.  Daniel Bryan, though he gets a big reaction from fans, is another.

The WWE has failed in making any of its heels a real threat.  Look at Bryan for example.  How many times did he go up against Punk and lose?  Jericho was in the same situation.

Even the Big Show can't seem to win when it matters.  Why try to build these wrestlers up as threats if the WWE was going to make them lose during the big events?

Alberto Del Rio, while maybe not a favorite, is just a joke because of how he never beats Sheamus.

You can't make a heel look legitimate if they never win against the face wrestler they are feuding with.  How are we supposed to believe Big Show is any type of threat if he can't beat Cena at a pay-per-view?

Making Punk heel only hides the fact that WWE has messed up with all their other heel characters.

Don't be surprised to see Punk end up the same way.