The Post’s Joseph Staszewski brings you around the world of professional wrestling in his weekly Post Match Angle.
It took some time for my head to wrap itself around it, to process and think back a little bit as to why creatively CM Punk and not Seth Rollins or Brock Lesnar was the best fifth man for Roman Reigns’ Survivor Series team.
There is the obvious reason for Punk’s star power and his strong connection to Paul Heyman that a call from The Wise Man — after he reconnected his phone – made sense, as long as they don’t start calling him CM Uso.
But as I thought about and factored in two key pieces of information, I started to appreciate Punk’s presence as not some callback to something in The Bloodline story, but the potential for a fresh and unfiltered voice in it – a chance to turn up the volume even more.
After Punk helped clear the ring of Solo Sikoa’s Bloodline, Reigns looked confused at his presence, asking him – inaudibly – why he was there.
Punk, the original Paul Heyman guy, told Reigns, it’s not about you but him — pointing to Heyman. Reigns replied by saying “He’s my Wise Man.” Punk quipped back with, “We’ll see.”
An X user then posted Punk’s lone interaction with Sikoa’s crew back in June, when a scared-for-his-life Heyman asked “The Voice of the Voiceless” to “take me with you” away from the new Bloodline.
Heyman hinted in August during an interview with Sam Roberts that his return would set up a year’s worth of storyline.
Then, it clicked.
Punk’s role in this can have three prongs.
He should be seen as a threat by Reigns to take Heyman away from him and Punk helping out the OTC should further irk Rollins whenever it’s time for their feud. But more importantly, Punk needs to be an independent voice to call out Reigns for all the damage he’s done.
Give Punk a microphone next Friday and let him absolutely tear into Reigns.
“You know why I’m here? I’m here to help clean up the mess you left after WrestleMania,” Punk should say. “I’m here because you packed up and went home after losing to Cody Rhodes. You left Paul on his own, scared for his life as Solo moved into the void you created and it ultimately got him powerbombed through a table at Madison Square Garden while you were nowhere to found. Where were you?
“So I’m here to make sure that never happens again and to help take out the people who hurt my friend Paul. I’m not here for you. I’m here for him because as long as Solo has any power, Paul’s not safe. I’ve shown you can’t be trusted to keep him safe. I’ll always look after him because he always looked after me, even if it means taking him far away from you.”
Sure, Reigns can make a quip about Punk taking his ball and going home for 10 years. Punk can tap into having a hand in Reigns’ success after picking him to be in The Shield, but it will be hard for him to argue with anything that’s said.
It immediately creates the riff needed to make fans ponder if this union is actually going to work at Survivor Series and foreshadow the eventual explosion between Punk and Reigns.
We kind of know how Rollins and Lesnar’s interactions with Reigns here would end. Punk’s presence is much more open-ended for both he and Heyman — which could even include a betrayal.
Let the next act begin.
The 10 Count
If Kevin Owens hadn’t taken out Randy Orton with a banned piledriver, he made a compelling case to be the babyface in this story with his promo on SmackDown — no lies detected. It obviously touched a nerve with Cody Rhodes and brought out a rage while attacking Carmelo Hayes we’ve rarely, if ever, seen from him since he arrived in WWE.
The Julia Hart vignettes really have been some of the highlights of AEW TV the past few weeks.
Maybe the best part of the behind the scenes footage of CM Punk’s return that WWE release is the look of nerves and joy and disbelief on his face right before he goes out.
When the time is right, Johnny Gargano really should turn on his friend Alex Shelley and the Motor City Machine Guns. Mega-heel Johnny Gargano sounds like a fun thing to explore instead of another split with Tommaso Ciampa.
Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods crushed their explosive argument on Raw after all the boiling frustration heading into the New Day’s 10-year celebration. It was raw and nothing was off limits — even Kingston’s WWE championship loss to Brock Lesnar.
I wondered why the Chris Jerichi-Ishii contract signing was starting in the locker room, but it made a lot more sense as Jericho tried to escape to the ring without signing. A nice twist on an old concept.
The field for the second Continental Classic is better than the first, though I was hoping to get Jay White back in to eventually face Continental champion Kazuchika Okada. Instead, I’m hoping for a first-time match between Okada and Ricochet in the final.
If Finn Balor isn’t careful, he may suffer the same fate Damian Priest and Rhea Ripley have by trying to be Judgment Day’s leader.
Bayley helping Bianca Belair … a true gesture of trust or a decoy before a heel turn? Naomi sure looked suspicious too when the attack on Jade Cargill was brought up on Raw.
Congrats to Ring of Honor Pure champion Lee Moriarty, who will have his painting debut at NADA Miami 2024 during art week from Dec 2-8.
Moriarty’s paintings attempt to capture the duality of wrestling, often showing wrestlers in masks enjoying leisurely activities or embracing their more delicate nature.
Social Media Post of the Week
Wrestler of the Week
Kyle Fletcher, AEW
It was a coming-out party for the 25-year-old Aussie, who has spent a lot of time as a tag team wrestler. He got the biggest win of his career beating Will Ospreay at Full Gear on Saturday. Fletcher went toe-to-toe and move for move with arguably the best in-ring performer in the world and showed real promise in his ability to tell a story in the ring with his facial expressions and intensity.
Next up is a spot in the Continental Classic, where the sky is the limit moving forward.
Match to watch
Roman Reigns, CM Punk, Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso, Sami Zayn vs. Solo Sikoa, Jacob Fatu, Toma Tonga, Tonga Loa, Bronson Reed: Men’s WarGames at Survivor Series (Sunday, 6 p.m., Peacock)
This will be the OG Bloodline’s first match together since they won WarGames two years ago, but will now include the combustible element that is CM Punk. So much of where the Bloodline story goes depends on the outcome of this match. A win by the OGs and they could be done with the new group. A loss, and Reigns will likely have to face Sikoa one-on-one for the right to be Tribal Chief. The Rock will find his way into this story eventually, but Sunday feels too soon.