Why CM Punk/Kevin Nash Makes Sense

This article comes on the heels of CM Punk's commencement over the past two months to what is being labeled as the "Reality Era". Anyone reading this probably already knows the details of Punk's resume these past couple months: a scathing worked-shoot promo, an epic match with a Wrestlemania meets Super Bowl-esque atmosphere, a departure from the company, a return, another great Pay-Per-View match, a title win, a title defense, a title loss, and a plethora of amazing, revolution-inspiring moments on the microphone in between. Let's face it, Punk alone has made watching wrestling funner than it has been in about ten years.

That leads us to the present and Kevin Nash's sudden involvement with Punk. First off, on the verbal confrontation between the two last Monday night, it was clear that, if it's possible to have ring rust, Nash had mic rust and got blown out of the water by Punk, who seemed to try as hard as he could to sell Nash's insults but to no avail. Not surprisingly Nash, who has always had a reputation for cutting promos that are too inside about the business while going over fans' heads, did just that, and got hardly the reaction that I'm sure WWE had hoped for.

With all of this, and the apparent fact that Punk is now out of the title picture with John Cena and Alberto Del Rio now verbally squaring off, the general consensus that I've gotten is that people are upset that Punk is not in the main event right as his star was rising at its highest. At first, I agreed. But the more I thought, the more it made sense that this is a great move.

For starters, if WWE wants to groom Punk into being a top-tier babyface to lead this revolution, he needs to be involved in a feud where one hundred percent of the audience can get behind him, not just half like with John Cena. Punk already has the adult males on his side; if WWE can grab him the women and children who will cheer for whoever the good guy is (see: Cena fans), he has the potential to eventually have the crowd behind him at Austin-levels down the road. This reason alone is enough that have this program between him and Nash make sense.

Secondly, for those saying, "well, Punk could have feuded with Del Rio for the title and been the total babyface with the crowd," while that's true, where does that leave Cena? The thing with Cena is, he is basically built around needing to be in the title picture to have an interesting storyline. There's just not a lot of layers to his character beyond that. Punk, on the other hand, doesn't need the title to have an interesting storyline. And in essence, once he finally bests Nash over the next few months, this puts him in an even better position down the line to go for that WWE title rather than the company blowing their load too soon.

Furthermore, this gives Raw a main event-calibur second program, along side the WWE title picture. This used to be the case all the time in the Attitude Era when stars were plentiful, when Steve Austin and The Rock could be in two different programs that both had Pay-Per-View closing quality. WWE needs to build more stars; this is the way to go. Also, more quality stories will mean less filler material, which will mean a rise in viewers, which will lead to higher ratings.

Another reason why this storyline will work is its unpredictability. Already, between CM Punk, Kevin Nash, Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, and John Laurinaitis, plus the prospect of not knowing who is going to end up being aligned with whom, this combo of people offer more branches on the storyline tree than ways to order a burger at McDonald's. Sure, you'd have to imagine that Punk ultimately wins what is going to become a feud with Nash, but wrestling is oftentimes more about the journey than the destination. Are Nash and Johnny Ace together? Is Steph in on it too? Will she and Triple H be on different sides here? Or will all of them be trying to take down Punk in a throwback to the Corporation vs. Austin? The only thing certain is that there will be more than a few swerves and jaw-dropping promos along the way, so we should just sit back and enjoy the story unfold.

Lastly, this storyline is not only going to push CM Punk, but Triple H's new role as COO as well. And hey, normally anything that elevates Mr. H's (as R-Truth would say) ends up self-centered and with the other parties involved buried. This photoshopped pic I found via Grantland.com, via somewhere else, just about sums it up (the fact that they put TNA's X Division title made me laugh out loud). But in this instance, where he really needs to come off as the guy in charge, it is necessary for him to get over with a storyline like this, whether he plays a protagonist or a heel.

Add this up while introducing Laurinaitis in his new on-screen role, while also bringing back Stephanie and Nash back into the mix after so long, and this storyline sets up beautifully to put over all parties involved, while most importantly pushing Punk as the program's top star and elevating him in the public eye as a legitimate "superstar". Just because he's no longer in the main event after one of the greatest stretches for a performer in in the past decade, don't fall asleep at the wheel for what comes next. In recent years, I would have said that WWE would screw this up and drop the ball. Not this time. The faith has been restored. They earned that in large part to CM Punk.

P.S. This is just fantasy armchair booking, but if Jericho were to come back in the semi-near future and enter a one-on-one program as CM Punk's antagonist, that would be wrestling heaven. Between the two of them being geniuses of the business, top-notch wrestlers, five-star talkers, and a stubbornness to settle for nothing less than greatness in a program, any storyline that they could produce would have a strong chance at being an all-time, legendary story.