Why is arguably the most highly anticipated match on the SummerSlam card, Drew McIntyre versus CM Punk, the one match on the card – at least right now – that doesn't have a championship belt on the line?
How was WWE able to craft a story so engrossing, so meme-able, so gosh darn engaging that fans are desperate to see how it shakes out in front of 50,000 or so fans at Cleveland Browns Stadium in Ohio? It certainly isn't because of their previous matches as this is their first singles match of this or any program.
What gives? Well, in DM Hunk's humble opinion, it's because fans genuinely love to watch personal rivalries shake out in the squared circle, as he explained in an interview on Busted Open Radio ahead of SummerSlam.
“That means a lot. I heard it a few times since I got here. The fans were asked, they didn't even know I was there, ‘What do you think the main event should be?' They said, ‘Punk and McIntyre.' The deep, layered storytelling we can do it. Personal rivalries is where it's at,” Drew McIntyre told Busted Open Radio via Fightful. “That's where the money is at. That's what makes people feel. If they're feeling something out of this Punk and McIntyre feud, they should because it's real. It does mean a lot to me. If anyone is on after us, good luck, folks.”
Is McIntyre on the mark? Do fans really prefer to see wrestlers duke it out over beefs instead of belts, a critique WWE fans have been throwing at AEW – rightfully or wrongly – for years now? If that's the case, fans should be very excited, as it's borderline impossible to imagine this feud ending in the ring this weekend, no matter who secures the victory.
CM Punk hopes WWE doesn't unleash the F-Bombs on Netflix
Speaking of fandom building, CM Punk recently stopped by the SI Media Podcast, where he talked to Jimmy Trainia about RAW‘s forthcoming move to Netflix.
While some wrestlers are excited about the ability to curse on television, for Punk, the real excitement comes from being in front of so many new fans, as that is where WWE can grow even bigger and better.
“I feel like we're pushing the envelope now, and I don't want people to use Netflix as a crutch to say the F word. I feel that's immediately where everybody goes, ‘We're going to get to swear.' No. If everybody swears, it doesn't mean anything. If everybody is throwing the bird, it doesn't mean anything. If every show, someone is bleeding and they fall off a building, it doesn't mean anything,” CM Punk told the SI Media Podcast via Fightful.
“The only thing that excites me about Netflix is what should excite everybody about Netflix; we are going to be seen by billions more people. It's unfathomable to a lot of people what the Netflix deal means to a wrestler in WWE. USA Network has broadcasted professional wrestling for WWE for decades. Raw has always been on USA. For it to go to a streaming service. I don't have the USA Network app on my phone, but I have the Netflix app on my phone. I guarantee it's like that worldwide. We are going to have doors kicked in in a lot of different markets and countries all over the world. To me, that's exciting.”
Asked if he expects his fellow wrestlers to have even more freedom now that the constraints of network television have been removed, Punk noted that, in his opinion, some filters are good, as they can keep people on the right track.
“Yeah, but I think a lot of people need a filter. A lot of people need somebody to produce them and say, ‘No, we're not going to do that.' Netflix doesn't mean you're going to get all these wild l**bian angles or something like that, as wrestling fans seem to think,” Punk noted. “Maybe we can be a little more edgy, maybe. I already feel like, since Vince (McMahon) is gone, a lot of what people thought were kind of strange, like not calling a hospital a hospital, calling it a medical facility, all that is in the past. I'm looking forward to the reach Netflix has.”
Whoa, deja vu, am I right? Punk has been pushing similar sentiments since what, a few weeks into Collision? Say what you will about the “Best in the World,” but hey, at least he's consistent in his messaging.
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