WWE Breaking News: CM Punk and Vince McMahon; Punk and Cena for Summerslam

CM Punk has been the big favorite for many in pro wrestling over the past month among both fans and those within the wrestling industry for seemingly reviving viewer interest in a stale product where John Cena and Randy Orton are the big faces of the WWE. It seems WWE Chairman Vince McMahon is taking that interest to heart.

According to WrestlingInc.com and Pro Wrestling Scoops, Punk has reportedly been offered a five-year deal with the company and is now being allowed to bounce ideas off McMahon over the direction of his character.

While there is no official word on whether any kind of deal has been approved between Punk and the WWE and how long said deal will last if it has been approved, it does appear that ideas from Punk have been taking effect.

As seen on WWE Raw last week, CM Punk returned with new entrance music in the form of Living Colour's "Cult of Personality," his old theme music from indy wrestling in Ring of Honor. Reportedly, Punk was able to talk McMahon into getting rights to use the song, which the chairman normally would not be swayed easily into doing.

Punk is set to be on Raw tonight and given mic time to follow up his return last week following John Cena's WWE Title win against Rey Mysterio at the end of the show, which I look forward to seeing.

I've been excited over seeing the ongoing rivalry between Cena and Punk over the past month. Not only has it elevated Punk back onto the main event scene and allowed him to continue showing off his impressive mic skills week by week, but it has given a new direction for John Cena's character in recent weeks, where he is shown to be more serious on the mic and more vulnerable.

I have seen a number of folks already ripping on the WWE for bringing back Punk too early and Cena getting back the WWE Title after having lost it a week earlier. But with Summerslam in two weeks, the WWE needed something to ignite viewer interest in the PPV and taking advantage of the Punk/Cena feud while it is red-hot seems the best choice of action, especially as a big follow-up to the success coming off Money in the Bank.

Two weeks allows enough time for the match to be built up for Summerslam and to hook fans on the inevitable title unification match between Punk and Cena. Bringing back Punk much later would likely lose the viewer interest WWE gained in their company in recent weeks thanks to Punk.

Having Rey Mysterio remain as WWE Champion for another week or up to the PPV would blow up in the company's face considering Rey's former reigns as World Heavyweight Champion haven't been so memorable in the eyes of long-time WWE fans. And of course, we have already seen enough matches between Punk and Mysterio.

Also, look on the bright side regarding Cena. His mic work has been better in recent weeks, as he isn't spouting out childish remarks in regards to his current storyline with Punk. Cena had credibly passed himself off as a man willing to walk out on the WWE if Vince McMahon swung his power abusively and to oppose Punk's mentality over their match leading up to MITB, depicting a more serious tone in his delivery of lines.

In addition, the past couple matches Cena has had with Punk and Mysterio show him to actually be vulnerable and not pulling his typical SuperCena in-ring work that he pulled on The Miz and R-Truth. Both matches were of great enough quality where they gave me the impression that they were close to the wire, and the Cena-Punk match at MITB gave the WWE its first 5-Star Match rating from Wrestling Observer Newsletter editor Dave Meltzer in years.

Let's not also forget that behind-the-scenes, it was Cena who convinced Vinnie Mac to start up the storyline between him and Punk for this summer in the first place.

If that doesn't convince John Cena haters that Cena is capable of pulling great mic work and quality matches if booked right, then I don't know what will.

All I can say is that the ongoing rivalry with John Cena and CM Punk is perhaps one of the best storylines I have seen from the WWE in recent years and has done enough at making CM Punk look like serious main event material at long last since debuting in the company six years ago. As long as the WWE doesn't screw things up with the feud, I look forward to seeing a rematch between these two at Summerslam in two weeks.