CM Punk on Talking Dead Talking About Wrestling???

   Out here in the WWE Universe we have been nervously awaiting the slightest hint of news to speculate upon. We have been searching desperately for the tiniest clue as to whether or not CM Punk will return to the WWE soon.  His contract with the WWE only remains until July.  

   This year, July is approaching a little too quickly for our tastes and things are starting to become very uncomfortable.  CM Punk hasn't made the slightest public peep as to his intentions and neither has the WWE.  His twitter feed has gone silent yet still ominously remains.  Aside from the first, single statement made to the conveniently and almost suspiciously present TMZ reporter after being screwed at the Royal Rumble, nobody has any real info on Punk and Vince Mcmahon's only public statement about Punk is that he is "on sabbatical".

    When it was announced before last week's Raw that Hulk Hogan would be making a special announcement, we were elated with anticipation that this would surely be the announcement of CM Punk's return.  As cool as the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal is, we were crushed anyways when we found that was all that Hogan had come to proclaim.
    
    We have driven ourselves to the brink of madness attempting to imagine every possible WWE story line that could have Punk returning by Wrestlemania, which is now just weeks away.  Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday however, we find those hopes dashed as the paths to those stories become hopelessly blocked off.  As much as we may be proud participants in this YES movement and devout fans of Daniel Bryan, some hopeful dream was crushed last week when it was revealed that it would be Bryan finally luring Triple H back into the ring at Wrestlemania and that Daniel Bryan would also be the much needed face to step into the bizarre and unthinkable heel vs heel scenario that has become the championship match.  We are left clinging now to only the slimmest thread of hope that by some miracle CM Punk will surprise us all with some kind of appearance at Wrestlemania.  It is out of sheer self-preservation that I do not let my mind linger further over the complex myriad of events that would have to take place for that to happen.

    When CM Punk was spotted sitting next to Dana White at a UFC event, the internet lit up.  Instantly the rumors spread that we’d be seeing CM Punk trying his hand at MMA as a professional and possibly even stepping right into the UFC like some other Paul Heyman guy had done a while back.  Still though, there was no official comment from Punk of the sort, no word from the WWE and not a single word from Dana White about his guest that evening. 

    
    On Sunday night though, CM Punk made his first televised appearance since, at a live taping of Talking Dead; a roundtable discussion show about AMC’s The Walking Dead.  We tuned in, again anxiously anticipating some hint of Punk’s intentions.  Our hopes were high for just the slightest nod to a possible return to the squared circle of the WWE.  It was clear right away however that great care had been taken to keep from revealing anything of Punk’s career, leaving us instead with only a rich and perhaps very layered subtext to decipher.

    He was introduced on Talking Dead as “Phil Brooks a.k.a. CM Punk”.  When the other guest, Yvette Nicole Brown was introduced, she was introduced as being from the television series Community.  Melissa McBride, even on a discussion show about AMC’s The Walking Dead, was even introduced as “Melissa McBride who of course plays Carol (on The Walking Dead).”  I owe it to my wife for pointing out the strangeness that there was no frame of reference provided for watchers unfamiliar with wrestling as to who CM Punk is.  He was not introduced as being a WWE Superstar or former WWE Superstar.  In fact, there was no mention of wrestling at all during the show. 

    We cannot help but allow this to get our hopes up.  If Punk is truly finished with Mcmahon and the WWE for good, wouldn’t the news already be out about the end of their contract?  Is it possible that CM Punk’s presence or lack thereof within the WWE wasn’t mentioned on Talking Dead because there are some negotiations taking place between Punk and the authority or even maybe because the mysteriousness and the worry among the WWE universe has been written into a WWE story line that we have hardly seen the beginning of yet? 

    There were a few times during Talking Dead Sunday night in which it seemed CM Punk’s view toward the state of the zombie apocalypse might just bleed over into his own life a bit.  He was accused by Yvette Brown of “being sweet tonight” and made one bold gesture of saying that he’s a new person, stating almost gleefully a newfound penchant for forgiveness.  Could he have been thinking of the WWE when saying this?  With this being his first real, scheduled television appearance since the Royal Rumble, how could he have not been thinking of the WWE? 

    Our hearts stir with these possibilities; perhaps the last hope that CM Punk will return to the WWE soon.  In wrapping up the show, host Chris Hardwick stated that watchers can follow Phil Brooks on twitter under the handle @CMPunk and the camera panned over to Punk just in time to catch him raising his eyebrows to the audience in a gesture that suggested, “Maybe….but maybe not.”  For the time being, you can still follow him on twitter but CM Punk certainly isn’t saying much.  Our hope wanes ever more as July draws near but hope is just one of those funny things… and maybe, just like CM Punk, it isn’t down and out just yet.

WHO'S THAT ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD TO WRESTLEMANIA?

     We are speeding recklessly down the road to Wrestlemania and the twists and turns along this route have always excited me to no end.  We'll be there soon but there is just enough time for some very interesting things to happen along this journey.  I think it's safe to say that whatever happens, there are three men that we all hope to see at Wrestlemania when we get there; Daniel Bryan, Triple H and CM Punk.  There is still much to be fulfilled though if any of these men are to compete on that hallowed night in April and to understand what remains to be done we must look back on what we've already seen.

     First; John Cena has now wandered into a full blown war with the Wyatt family, who basically hates him because of his chipper attitude all of the time.  (If that seems like a dumb thing to become violently mad about, go try to have a ten minute, adult conversation with a Disney Store employee.)   At the same time, the Wyatt’s war with the Shield continues but is losing steam as Roman Reigns becomes more powerful and the rift in the Shield grows. 

     Dean Ambrose is definitely getting under Roman’s skin and has failed to put his belt on the line for quite some time.  There may be a Wrestlemania match there to finally crown Roman Reigns as a new solo powerhouse.  Part of the Shield may stay together just so there’s at least one more duo in matching outfits to challenge the new Tag Team Champions; Jimmy and Jay Uso.  It remains to be seen where the Shields chips may fall but that will all be sorted soon enough. 

     However, Cena was injured in an attack by the Wyatt family, cementing his need for vengeance at Wrestlemania against Bray Wyatt (aka Husky Jesus as he's been dubbed by @WWECreative_ish on Twitter), and preventing him from interfering in the Wyatt’s match with the Shield that might have finally caused the final split on Raw the other night.  This war with the Wyatts is well serving to keep John Cena from being the much needed face in another match that we still have to discuss here.

    Daniel Bryan, at the height of his popularity has issued a challenge to Triple H and has been fighting Kane repeatedly for several matches now as punishment.  Though Triple H says he won’t fight Bryan at Wrestlemania, it’s been rumored for a while that he will indeed be fighting someone at Wrestlemania and recent murmurings about the official poster for Wrestlemania 30 suggest that Triple H is indeed depicted upon it in his wrestling trunks. 

     Thus far, Daniel Bryan has been trying for two weeks to lure the King of Kings into this match with him.  Triple H though is a pinnacle player and he has a good point when he says that it’s not worth even putting the trunks on just to fight a B + wrestler.  So the question remains; can Daniel Bryan get Triple H to fight him?  If Daniel Bryan could go into the ring and absolutely lay waste to both of the men headlining Wrestlemania, then nobody could argue that he too is a pinnacle player and Triple H would have to step up.  

    However, Daniel Bryan has barely squeezed a win out of his matches with Corporate Kane; a guy who doesn’t even try to be a wrestler anymore. So it’s going to be hard for Daniel Bryan to argue his worthiness.  However, he could maybe get under Triple H’s skin enough to make him fight at Wrestlemania.  If you study WWE history enough you will know that brazen attacks on someone’s car or a quick kidnapping or assault of their spouse will usually do the trick to lure them into Pay Per View.  So it is still possible that Daniel Bryan gets his fight but then again he might just fight a very upset Kane in some special match at Wrestlemania and maybe there will be another; some mysterious A + wrestler with a vendetta against the authority who could challenge Triple H; someone who was screwed by the authority out of his chance to headline Wrestlemania who seems to meet all the criteria of a worthy opponent to Triple H.

    Then again, there still remains Wrestlemania’s main event to discuss; Randy Orton vs. the recently returned Dave Batista for the Championship (which still remains strangely signified by two very separate belts).  For months, Randy Orton has been a whiney, ungrateful champion.  He has completely lost favor with the crowds and even seems to have worn out his welcome with the authority.  He’s beat up a few people’s dads along the way and has sold himself as the perfect heel.  But then Batista has done his fair share of insulting the crowds in the last few weeks as well.  He says that he wants to destroy all our heroes on his way to being the champion but then he’s caught in a rivalry (a little more his speed honestly) with Alberto Del Rio.  Whaaaaa?  Can this guy just walk back in and become the new champion?  The crowds are hating him right now. 

     So, we have this weird dilemma…two hated heels fighting to become the face of the WWE at Wrestlemania.  That doesn’t feel right does it?  Wrestlemania has been the bold display of good triumphing over evil in epic battle for thirty years. 

There’s still that guy though, out on the side of the road to Wrestlemania perhaps that we all want to see; the hero; the anti-hero.  The perfect face; an X marked fist raised into the air in defiance of the authority of WWE, a man whose name we heard chanted loudly upon the lips of an entire city last Monday night on Raw for over three hours straight…could he be out there?  Could he be working his way slowly along the side of the road to Wrestlemania with his Cubs hat pulled low over his eyes and an anger burning in his heart?  Could we see a third challenger enter into the main event at Wrestlemania? 

    There is still just enough time for the pieces to fall into place before that big night in April and I have to wonder if the magic of Wrestlemania still hangs in the air before us like it has in the sparkling days of our mystified youth.  In the night my mind reels with these possibilities and I ask myself if Wrestlemania XXX can capture that sacred magic once more, defy all odds and logic and make champions out of my heroes and vindicate the mistreated of our world. 

     Then the night around me is quiet and cold and a strange shiver creeps up my spine… and from some place far away I can hear the answer uttered as if from the lips of some old ghost clutching some strange, brassy urn out in the ether somewhere...the bizarre, high pitched voice that answers, “Oooooooooooohhhh Yeeeeeeeeesssss!” and I know it to be true.  (His boy is back and you know he’s watching)   Wrestlemania 30 ladies and gentleman….Westlemania effing 30.