An open letter to UFC’s CM Punk
Dear Phil (or Punk whichever you prefer),
Speaking on behalf of the WWE Universe and beyond, it’s been a while. Aside from a few mentions on RAW here and a few tweets there, we as a fanbase haven’t exactly been treated to much of your work in terms of professional wrestling over the last few years.
Thankfully, of course, your venture into mixed martial arts and the mainstream media has provided us with an outlet to get our fix of the Straight Edge Superstar. I'm not going to make jokes about your UFC debut, because hey, there are more than enough of those out there for you to deal with.
Instead, I want to pose one very simple and one very straightforward question to you: could you consider coming back, please?
Yes, yes, I'm well aware that you’ve probably been posed this question several times since January 2014. Unfortunately for you, our own personal statute of limitations has run out when it comes to this matter, and we’re just about at our wit's end with the whole ordeal.
You provided us with memories that will last a lifetime during your ROH and WWE tenure, and I can never thank you enough for all of that. Alas, in my mind, I feel like this particular chapter of your iconic story has been left unfinished and fans just can’t deal with that.
Obviously, it’s up to you as to what you want to do with your career, but let’s be honest, MMA isn’t the way to go and that became crystal clear when you lost to Mickey Gall at UFC 203.
That isn’t us being harsh either, it’s just us facing the reality of the situation which is something that I think you’ve probably done quite a few times since that fateful night in Cleveland.
I'm not here to plead for you to return because it’s the ‘cool’ thing to do; in fact, it’s quite the opposite. If anything, the legions of supporters who chant your name week in and week out are more damaging to Raw and SmackDown Live than anything in all of pro wrestling.
I want you back because it just makes sense at this point. Not only is there a huge gap in the market when it comes to bringing in big name superstars, but the divide between the Red brand and the Blue brand leaves the door open for you to really elevate some of the guys on either roster.
Some people will think that as a veteran coming back into the game, you’ll need to put everyone over, but I most certainly am not in that camp (and it’s not just because I'm writing this letter).
You see, the likes of AJ Styles and John Cena have proven that competing in your late 30s/early 40s doesn’t necessarily hinder your chances at succeeding. If anything, the experience you’ve gathered means that you’re much more likely to get everything you’ve ever wanted and then some.
By this point, you’ll probably know that we’re subtly referring to your WrestleMania main event desire, and trust us: we want to see you climb that mountain top too.
But we don’t want to see Vince hand it to you just because you feel like he owes you one, and that brings us onto the next topic of conversation – what you feel you’re owed.
Now I'm not going to pretend like I know you on a personal level Phil, but even from an outsider’s perspective, you seem to be quite an arrogant guy from time to time.
Whether that stems from childhood issues or you’re just misunderstood doesn’t really matter, because there is certainly blame on both sides when it comes to your exit a few years back.
The reason I'm bringing this up is because I want all sides to realise that life is short, and a pro wrestling career is even shorter. Grudges shouldn’t be held over issues no matter how big or small in this business, and both you and ‘The Game’ need to accept that there were errors made by all.
It’s a bitter pill to swallow, but do you really think we as fans are going to sit around and let your career end like this? You may believe that we have no real say in what happens one way or another, but given our many years of fandom, we feel as if we at least deserve an explanation one way or another.
You could go to ROH for a bit; maybe to NJPW – but everyone knows where you belong and that’s inside the squared circle wrestling for World Wrestling Entertainment.
The feuds, the storylines, the promos; there’s so much to look forward to if you can swallow your pride and shake Vince’s hand one more time. Who knows, perhaps you can even get your moment in the sunshine next year in New Orleans.