WWE: 9 Reasons CM Punk Is a Better Promo Man Than Kevin Nash

CM Punk could teach Kevin Nash a thing or two.

Nash returned to the WWE at SummerSlam a few weeks back—not long after Punk cemented himself in wrestling history with one of the greatest worked shoots ever—and he immediately made Punk his prime target.

Nash powerbombed Punk and cost him the WWE Championship, thus winning the initial battle. But...Punk is undoubtedly winning the war.

The war of words, that is.

As good as Nash was on the mic at the peak of his career, he can't even hold a candle to Punk these days. The Straight Edge Superstar is proving just how great he is on the mic, and it's coming at the expense of Kevin Nash.

Here are nine reasons why Punk is a far better mic worker than Big Sexy.

9. Punk's Inside Jabs

When CM Punk and Kevin Nash had a heated verbal confrontation on Raw two weeks ago, Kevin Nash attempted to make a couple of inside jabs—such as the infamous "short order cook from a Pikeville Waffle House" line—but they all fell flat.

Punk, on the other hand, has been golden when he mentions things that the casual fan might not be aware of.

Fast forward to the 7:50 mark of the video to watch Punk bring up Nash's history of burying fellow talent and the fact that Nash was most relevant in wrestling about 15 years ago.

It's subtle quips like those that make Punk so great. It's clear that he's a guy who knows a lot about the history of the wrestling business, and he uses that to his advantage when cutting promos.

Punk did it in his epic worked shoot promo (about 185 times), he did it in this exchange and he'll continue to do during his feud with Nash.

And you know what? No one does it better. 

8. Punk, the Leader

Though CM Punk has been fantastic when riding solo as of late, he's arguably at his best when leading a stable.

He was phenomenal as the cult-esque leader of the Straight Edge Society, and he was even great as the leader of the New Nexus, despite the fact that the rest of the group was pretty terrible.

There's something about the way Punk carries himself as a stable leader that reminds me of a god-like figure, a guy who has complete control over his followers.

His superiority over Serena, Luke Gallows, Michael McGillicutty and a number of others resonated whenever he cut promos.

Whether he was standing on the top of the titantron or forcing his followers to shave their heads, Punk's promos have always come accompanied with plenty of shock value.

Kevin Nash was never quite the leader that Punk was/is, primarily playing second fiddle to Hulk Hogan at the high point of his career.

7. Punk Excels as a Face, Heel or Tweener

As a face, CM Punk comes across as the role model type. He doesn't drink, he doesn't smoke, he doesn't do drugs and everyone respects him for it.

As a heel, Punk preaches the same values that he does a face, only he does it an arrogant, narcissistic manner. Because he doesn't do those things, he is "better than you."

As a tweener, Punk makes it cool to be an a**hole. He often says things that would make a heel be considered a jerk or turns a face into a heel, but he does it in a way that is usually incredibly clever or downright hilarious.

Punk is the ultimate example of a wrestler who can make any character work, largely because of what he does when he has a mic in his hand. 

6. Punk's Mannerisms

How awesome was CM Punk's promo in which he sang "Happy Birthday" to Rey Mysterio's daughter?

Easily one of my favorite moments of the PG era.

The reason Punk's promo worked so well was because of the little things—his hand gestures, his facial expressions, the tone of his voice, etc.—that he does to increase the effectiveness of his words.

Much like an actor, Punk doesn't simply rely on what he's saying to get his point across. He relies on everything else that comes along with those words, too.

5. Punk Can Go Scripted or Unscripted

CM Punk has a very rare ability: He can be handed a script, rehearse his lines and a cut a promo that doesn't seem even remotely rehearsed, or he can go out in the arena with only a basis of what he's going to say, wing it and entertain the crowd with some classic lines.

Very few wrestlers have been given the leeway that Punk has when cutting promos, and it's a true testament to just how good he is on the mic.

He's spent the majority of his career saying what the WWE writers had written for him, and it worked. Now, he's essentially coming up with his promos on the spot.

Guess what? They work, too.

4. Punk's Promos Are Unique

Aside from Chris Jericho on a couple of occasions, who in recent memory actually sits when cutting promos?

Better yet, who does so with a megaphone? The answer to both questions: CM Punk.

Whereas most wrestlers do the typical "enter the ring, stay standing, cut a promo" return, Punk managed to turn something so minuscule (sitting on the ground Indian style) into something so unique.

When Punk sits in that position, people watch. People listen.

We all like to see wrestlers who bring something different to the table, and Punk certainly does that.

3. Suspending the Disbelief

The No. 1 job of an actor is to suspend the audience's disbelief—that is, to make the viewers think that what they are watching is real rather than a scripted television show.

CM Punk does that better than anyone else on the WWE roster.

The reason for that is simple: Punk is not playing a character, he's being himself.

The most successful wrestlers—guys like the Rock, Stone Cold and Chris Jericho—are those whose wrestling personas are the real-life versions of themselves, only turned up a notch or two.

When Punk's cutting promos, he's not a bad actor reciting rehearsed lines. He's CM Punk.  

2. Punk is the Best Talker in Wrestling Today

Kurt Angle can work the mic. So can the Miz, John Cena and Christian.

But CM Punk is on another level when it comes to cutting promos.

He's been good on the stick since debuting with the WWE in 2006, but it was in 2009 when the Straight Edge Society formed that Punk truly began to shine as a first-class promo man.

I've already mentioned a number of reasons why Punk should be considered the best mic worker in the business, so I'll leave you with a question.

If Punk is widely recognized as pro wrestling's best talker, then isn't it a given that he's better than Kevin Nash?

1. Punk Completely Destroyed Nash on Raw

On the Raw after SummerSlam, Kevin Nash came out to cut a promo and was interrupted by none other than CM Punk.

Complete ownership ensued.

For more than 10 minutes, Nash and Punk exchanged verbal shots with each other, but Punk was the only one whose shots actually landed.

Whereas Punk seemed calm, cool and collected, Nash seemed lost, confused and utterly bewildered at times. If he wasn't a step behind Punk, it was because he was 10 steps behind him.

I expect Nash to get more comfortable as he gets more mic time, but his initial promo wasn't good. In fact, it was pretty bad.

If he can't turn it up a notch or two, then it'll stay official: Punk is Nash's daddy on the mic.