For those asking about the CM Punk promo last night, PWInsiderElite.com has been told that it was very similar to the original Pipebomb promo, in that the company had a plan for what they expected Punk to say, but then he went out there and cut a different promo from the heart.
Punk, coming off extremely angry, took shots at Roman Reigns (which made sense for their match at WrestleMania in several weeks), but The Rock, Pat McAfee, Vince McMahon, and even TKO — which was referenced by name — also caught strays. Punk referred to The Rock as a "former" Hollywood star and "bloated," knocked the company for its high ticket prices, and referred to McAfee as "MAGAfee." McMahon was referenced not by name, but as a "weird old man" who made Roman "eat dog food" (which may have been a euphemism for sh**).
We have not heard of any fallout from the promo, but we are also told much of what Punk said mirrors backstage frustration among talent over the last several weeks. We have heard from several talents who have expressed frustration with the fact that tickets are priced so high, that there are so many left for the top show of the year, and that while there are so many available seats, only two comp tickets are being granted to talent for the night they are performing. Anything additional, they would need to purchase themselves.
There were absolutely talents throwing their hands up this past week over the inclusion of Pat McAfee in the Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton storyline, not just because it didn't make storyline sense, but due to a feeling that a match involving those two and their history didn't "need" to extra element. McAfee's comments on Smackdown, which he has said were off the cuff and not scripted, didn't help either. While we are told Rhodes didn't "sell" the McAfee pivot to anyone, there was still a feeling of sympathy for him having to now have to "carry that additional weight", as one talent said, leading into Wrestlemania. One talent told me the Punk comments leaned closely into how some in the locker room felt about McAfee's remarks on Smackdown.
We have been asked about WWE not immediately uploading the Punk segment to YouTube. We have not been able to confirm why there was a delay, but in watching the video, there are no major edits to what was stated by Punk. It may have been the digital team wanted to confirm they were cleared to release it, given the nature of the comments.
