Backstage Heat on CM Punk over Tweets?

Is there backstage heat on former WWE champion CM Punk regarding some of his hockey tweets during a recent Raw? As crazy as it sounds, one recent report suggests this may be the case.

The problem apparently stems from the mediocre rating for the June 24 edition of Raw. As WrestleZone notes, the show garnered a dismal 2.9 rating, partly due to stiff competition from the Stanley Cup Final on NBC.

Now, as anyone who follows Punk on Twitter can tell you, the wrestler is a huge hockey fan. Indeed, much of his recent sabbatical was spent going to various high-profile hockey games around the country. The star even tweeted about a Boston Bruins vs. Chicago Blackhawks game live while it was ongoing.

As Dave Meltzer notes in this week's (subscribers-only) Wrestling Observer Newsletter, some in the company have even blamed Punk's tweeting for the low number:

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Speaking of Punk, one person in the company commented that the 6/24 Raw rating was hurt partially due to Punk. It was said as in facetious in the sense we all know it means nothing but people in the company were talking like it did. The idea was that because he was tweeting so much about the Chicago Blackhawks and the Stanley Cup, and went to so many of their games, that it turned wrestling fans who weren’t hockey fans into NHL fans, and with how great the series was, it caught on.

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Meltzer goes on to call the idea that Punk damaged the rating "pretty ridiculous" and it's difficult to argue.

It's rather obvious that those in power in WWE are looking for any excuse to explain the bad viewership number.  

I mean, come on, who was going to switch over just because Punk was tweeting about how great the game was? It's laughably absurd. (Really, no celebrity has that much power over their followers, with the possible exception of Justin Bieber.)

Granted, Punk constantly talking up one of the company's competitors might not be the best idea, especially if he does it when Raw is actually airing. And that might be something for management to talk to the wrestler about.

But to claim a bunch of tweets affected Raw's ratings? Now, that's a stretch.