Survivor Series 2006 – Not capitalizing on CM Punk’s obvious popularity.
We’re in the business of listening to the audience, right? I don’t usually take that shot at WWE, but in this case, I think it’s clear the audience was being thoroughly ignored. In a traditional Survivor Series match, you had a team with Shawn Michaels, Triple H, and The Hardy Boyz, yet before the match began, the ENTIRE audience was screaming for one man – CM Punk. Now, this was during WWE’s failed attempt at an ECW revival, and Punk was toiling away on the third show, far from the main exposure of RAW or Smackdown.
Now, in full disclosure, the event took place in Philadelphia, a crowd base you’d expect to gravitate towards an up-and-coming talent like Punk at the time, but it wasn’t as if it was Chicago, Also, aren’t crowds like Philadelphia, New York, Boston, and the other wrestling haven’s said to be given more credence by the “powers that be”? So wouldn’t Punks ringing endorsement while surround by so much established talent (all of whom were also very “over” at this point in time. Heck, this was the Hardy’s first appearance together in 4 years) be a clear sign that Punk’s stock was ready to rise? How did WWE capitalize on this obvious momentum?
By having Punk be the first man eliminated in an ECW Elimination Chamber match the following month, an afterthought in the ECW World Title race, and then having him feud with names like Hardcore Holly and Matt Striker. For all the grief Punk gets nowadays, there was some validity to some of the gripes he vented on during his early WWE years.
