C.M. Punk winning the World Heavyweight Championship in surprise fashion was the right call

Tuesday, JULY 1 – 10:16 A.M.

-C.M. Punk is the new World Heavyweight Champion. I wrote that because I still barely believe it myself. I, like many of you, was worried that WWE was going to reverse the very intelligent move of putting the belt on Punk by immediately having him drop the title to JBL. I would not be surprised to see a title change to JBL down the road, but I am very glad they did not pull the trigger on that last night.

I thought the move to put the belt on Punk was 100 percent the right decision. WWE hit a home run last night. A lot of people have argued that Punk should have been built up before winning a title and that his win last night was a fluke. I disagree. While Punk winning in “Edge-like” fashion last night would normally be considered a heel move, it made perfect sense.

First of all, I like when they blur the line with traditional faces and heels. WWE made a lot of money doing this during a little time we call the Attitude Era. Punk’s character is someone who is very intelligent and calculating. Every single match he has is competitive. Whether he is facing Bastion Booger or Ric Flair in his prime, Punk’s victories are always hard fought. Thus, it would not fit his character to have him win multiple matches in a row without struggle.

Punk, like Edge, would wait for the perfect opportunity to cash in the briefcase. The difference between Punk and Edge however, is that Punk agreed to defend the title later in the show when Edge would not have. Some will say he was coaxed into the title defense by a manipulative JBL, but in my mind, Punk will always be open to competition and is not in the least bit naive.

-Fans have been clamoring for change in the top programs. Punk, while he has not always been pushed as such, is a believable top guy. Dot Net reader Brian Moore and I figured out that since September of 2002, one of the following stars: Triple H, John Cena, or Randy Orton have appeared in all but two Raw title matches on PPV. I would say this change is welcome and long overdue.

-This begs the question: will Punk’s title reign mirror the title reign of Rey Mysterio? I doubt it. Mysterio was the underdog champion. Punk is not going to be a dominate champion, but he is not a traditional underdog either. I see Punk winning competitive matches with high workrates in order to keep his title. Every time he successfully defends the title, the fans will say he did so by the skin of his teeth. This is perfectly okay with me as the element of surprise will keep his reign fresh.

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