CM Punk: 7 Reasons Why the WWE Champion Is Better-Suited as a Heel

CM Punk started his heel turn on the historic 1,000th episode of Raw, but just like the last time he went bad, his turn appears to be a gradual one.

Although the WWE champion was cheered loudly at the beginning of this week's Raw, he slowly turned those cheers to boos with his heel-like actions, including his verbal and physical attacks on John Cena.

Punk may not be a full-fledged heel just yet, but make no mistake about it: that's exactly where he's headed.

And it's a smart move on part of the WWE.

Here are seven reasons why CM Punk is better-suited as a heel.

7. His Sarcasm as a Heel

Face or heel, CM Punk is probably the most sarcastic superstar in recent WWE history.

But man oh man, he just takes it to another level as a heel.

I remember enjoying the heck out of his sarcastic comments both during his promos and as a commentator at the end of 2010, and he didn't disappoint when he sat back at the announcers' table on this week's Raw.

Punk did what thousands of fans have probably wanted to do over the last couple of years: blasted Jerry Lawler for his poor commentary.

This was heel Punk at his finest, a reminder of the smartass attitude that helped get him over in the first place.

If Punk were supposed to be a full-on baby face, there's no way that he would have verbally attacked "The King" in front of the WWE fans. Yet, that's exactly what he did.

Punk is so quick-witted when he's not held back by the restraints of being a baby face and is allowed to to have what seems like his naturally sarcastic persona shine through.

6. His Look

When you look at John Cena, what do you see?

Well, I see a clean-cut, nice guy with a kid-friendly demeanor and a genuinely happy personality. 

In other words, I see a baby face.

But when I look at CM Punk, I don't see that.

This is not meant to be disrespectful to Punk in anyway, but I don't see someone who I'd want my daughter to date or someone who comes across as a good guy.

I don't see a face. I see a heel.

I see a tattooed, edgy rebel, who doesn't have the appearance of a family-friendly hero that someone like Cena has.

Yes, these are all stereotypes based on Punk's attitude and his appearance, but the bottom line is that most can agree he doesn't look like your typical baby face.

He looks like a bad guy. The WWE should portray him as one.

5. He's Been Overlooked as a Baby Face

Sure, CM Punk has held the WWE Championship since November 2011.

But Punk himself even touched on this on this week's Raw: he's been overlooked.

Despite holding the most prestigious title in the company for roughly nine months, he's often been pushed to the side in favor of the WWE's other top baby faces.

During the build to WrestleMania 28 and at the PPV itself, his match was the third-most important bout on the card.

Who was he behind? Four other baby faces, three of which are part-time: The Undertaker, Triple H, The Rock and John Cena.

Of course, his struggles to get the spotlight didn't stop there.

The momentum he built up last summer was instantly cut short by Triple H at Night of Champions, and so far in 2012, he has yet to main-event a pay-per-view.

There's no way to deny that Punk has been overlooked as a baby face, and despite his increasing popularity, he's yet to be the guy.

But now that he's going heel, he will finally be where he belongs: in the spotlight.

4. The Real-Life Aspects of His Heel Character

Is it just me, or does the heel CM Punk seem more like what he'd be like in real life?

As a baby face, Punk seems as if he's playing more of a character, as if he's trying to be someone he's not rather than an amped-up version of his real-life personality.

But as a heel? Punk just seemed so natural.

Examples of this are when he incorporated his straight edge lifestyle into his gimmick, or when he cut that epic worked shoot in which he blasted the WWE for overlooking him.

Those frustrations seemed real because, well, because they were.

Punk is really straight edge, and he was really frustrated with his position in the company.

But is Punk actually the smiling, happy-go-lucky good guy that the WWE has turned him into over the last year? I sure don't think so.

While Punk's been fine in that role, it hasn't seemed as genuine. It hasn't seemed as real.

Punk as a heel, however, seems like the Punk you'd meet on the streets.

3. Promos

It doesn't matter if CM Punk is heel or face—he's going to cut great promos regardless.

But when you think back to his last run as a bad guy, it's hard not to be more impressed with his promos as a heel.

Sure, he dropped that big-time pipebomb last summer that generated the baby face reaction and launched him into superstardom. But as a whole, I find his heel promos to be much more enjoyable than his face ones.

Look back, for example, to his promo in that video in which he mocked Jeff Hardy back in 2009 or his creepy rendition of "Happy Birthday" to Rey Mysterio's daughter.

Punk was fantastic in his heel role on these occasions, in large part because his promos were both eerie and riveting.

He captured our attention in some way whenever he grabbed a mic, whether it was by standing on top of the titantron as the leader of the New Nexus or shaving the heads of members of the Straight Edge Society.

Of course, Punk's been great as a face mic worker, too.

But I'd argue that more of his memorable promos came when he was a sinister heel who did over-the-top and outlandish things in order to get under the skin of his opponents.

2. The Cookie-Cutter Nature of the WWE's Top Baby Faces

I say this all the time: There's nothing all that different about the WWE's baby faces.

I mean, when you really think about it, how is CM Punk that different from John Cena? Or how is Sheamus all that different from Triple H?

Other than minor characteristics, they're all cut from WWE's cookie-cutter baby face mold.

For whatever reason, the creative team loves to book its top baby faces in essentially the exact same way. Faces do the right thing at all times, hardly have any depth to their character and generally do little to separate themselves from the pack.

Sure, guys like Punk, Cena and Sheamus all have their strengths that make them top WWE stars and small characters traits that make them somewhat unique.

But it's the standard baby face booking that does very little to distinguish those top baby faces from each other.

Since they're all good guys, the WWE feels this incessant need to make them the same type of good guys, and in a way, it's held Punk back tremendously since his baby face turn.

He's not the same edgy rebel that cut that epic worked shoot just over a year ago. He's the WWE's watered-down version of what Punk should be.

Is he still entertaining? Of course.

But has he been held back by creative as a face? I'd say so.

1. The WWE's Need to Turn One of Its Top Stars Heel

Guys like Big Show, The Miz, Dolph Ziggler, Wade Barrett, Alberto Del Rio and Cody Rhodes are all fine heels.

But is any one of them viewed as the top heel in the company? Nah, not really.

The WWE's had a major problem with establishing someone as a major No. 1 heel, and this is in large part because its four biggest stars (Sheamus, CM Punk, Randy Orton and John Cena) have all been baby faces.

The lack of a true No. 1 heel has really hurt the WWE because it's limited the number of possible feuds, and it's made rivalries too predictable because its biggest heels don't have enough credibility to go over its top baby faces.

That's precisely why a Punk heel turn not only makes sense, but is necessary.

The WWE needed to turn one of its top four stars heel, and while I would have been more than fine with Orton or Cena going bad, I'm not going to complain about Punk being the one to turn.

He's one of only a handful of WWE stars who can go bad and quickly become a top heel because he's already viewed as arguably the No. 2 star in the company.

Especially with Chris Jericho now a baby face, someone needed to go bad.

Punk was a smart pick.

Drake Oz is a WWE Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter and ask him any wrestling-related questions on Formspring.