The week after when he made Vince McMahon apologise

*warning: feelings*

I don’t know about anyone else, but I did not see CM Punk coming. I’d only started watching wrestling again earlier in the year and thought New Nexus was stupid and pointless. I thought Punk’s #1 contender position just meant that he’d be the baddie that was getting fed to Cena that month.

What I didn’t expect was for CM Punk to sit on a ramp and speak to me. What I didn’t expect was for him to speak about me, and many of the wrestlers I had grown to care for. I had only been watching regularly again for a matter of months, but it was enough for me to realise that although I was a fan that consumed the product, I didn’t really exist. Not in the company’s eyes, anyway. Watching Christian win his first world title meant the world to me, especially after having to get over Edge’s sudden departure. It clearly meant the world to him as well. But it only meant two days to them. 

So I got used to the fact that, pardon the corniness, I didn’t really have a voice when it came to these things. I was just a fan, and as long as I supported wrestlers that weren’t in the ‘upper echelons’ of the company, I was destined for the same bitter disappointment I felt reading about Christian’s title reign.

Then one Monday a very tattooed, very angry looking wrestler wearing a Stone Cold Steve Austin T-shirt sat down on the stage and spoke. He mirrored the feelings that had been accumulating in my mind almost word for word, and called himself “the voice of the voiceless”. Suddenly, I existed. Whether by mistake or otherwise (let’s face it, none of us were sure sure at the time) I was represented.

The wheels were put in motion, and the chess pieces aligned for what my money says is the best wrestling angle I have ever witnessed. Punk, the voiceless. Vince McMahon, the tyrant. John Cena, the company man. The WWE’s prized championship that Punk promised to take away come July 17, to punish them for their sins. And he did. He won the title, and the faith of everyone that ever considered themselves ‘voiceless’ in the WWE.

In the midst of ugly-crying after Edge’s retirement I realised this isn’t something that a casual/part time fan would go through. Same thing when I happy cried for Christian’s title win.

And then CM Punk sitting down on the stage. I cannot use words to describe what I felt that night and pretty much every day up until Money in the Bank. A shocked euphoria is probably the best stab I’d give.